Portraits of Wise Men (pictures from the Internet)
Translator’s Note:
The vernacular version of Yuan Liaofan’s “Secrets of Meditation” has been published to date (VIII), and more than half of the full text has been published. (8) The first part of the chapter on breath adjustment introduces the Six Wonderful Gates. The meditation method written by Yuan Liaofan is inherited from the Tiantai Zen method. The third ancestor of Tiantai in China is also the actual founder of the Tiantai Sect. In the Sui Dynasty, Zhiyi wrote "The Six Wonderful Gates". 》One article (if tracing back to South India Nagarjuna is the first ancestor, Zhiyi is the fourth ancestor) , because the length is not long, the translator opened this translation unit before finishing the "Secrets of Meditation" for readers See hatchback. I hope the two vernacular articles can be completed at the same time.
According to the "Preface to Small Walking Meditations " written by Shi Yuanzhao of the Northern Song Dynasty, there are four parts of Tiantai Walking Meditations: square, gradual, indefinite, and Tongmeng Walking Meditations. Among them, "Yuan Dun Zhi Guan", also known as "Maha Zhi Guan" or "Dazhi Guan", was taught by Zhiyi in his later years at Yuquan Temple in Dangyang, Hubei Province. His disciple Zhang An's initiation was recorded in ten volumes. The "circle" in the title means perfection, and the "dun" means suddenness and transcendence, which means the method of samatha and vipassana that is perfect and transcendent. It is also the most essential and complete work among the four works of samatha and vipassanā. "Gradually Stopping and Viewing" was taught by Zhiyi at Wakuan Temple in Nanjing today. The disciple Fa Shen recorded it in thirty volumes, and the initiation and treatment in ten volumes, which is "The Paramita Steps of Shi Jian". The title means "Explanation to reach the other shore of enlightenment" The order of meditation practice." The Immortal Contemplation was written by Zhiyi in response to the request of Chen Shangshu Ling Mao Xi in the Southern and Northern Dynasties . It was written in Waguan Temple, Nanjing today. It is one volume, namely "Six Wonderful Gates", also known as "The Six Wonderful Gates of Zen Practice". ”, “Six Wonderful Doors of Zen”. "Tong Meng's Shima-Kuan" is "Little Shima-Kuan", also known as " Essentials of Practicing Shima-Vipassana and Sitting Meditation", which was written by Zhiyi for his lay brother Chen Zhen.
Zhiyi was a great master of our country during the Chen and Sui dynasties. In 591 AD, the eleventh year of Emperor Kaihuang's reign in the Sui Dynasty, Yang Guang, the then King of Jin Dynasty, was given the title of "Wise Man" and was later known as the Master of Wisdom. According to Zhang An's initiation "The Biography of Master Tiantai Zhizhe in the Sui Dynasty", Daoxuan "Continued Biography" Volume 17 "The Biography of the National Master Zhizhe Tiantai Mountain Guoqing Temple Shi Zhiyi", and Mr. Tang Yongtong and Mr. Lu Cheng and other related articles summarize his life as follows:
Guoqing Temple, Chengguan Town, Tiantai County, Taizhou City, Zhejiang Province (pictures from the Internet)
Zhiyi, a native of Jingzhou, Hubei Province today, with the common surname Chen and the courtesy name Ande, was born in 538 AD. , that is, the fourth year of Datong reign of Emperor Wu of Liang Dynasty. Zhiyi lived through the Liang, Chen and Sui dynasties in his life. It is said that Zhiyi's mother showed many auspicious phenomena during pregnancy and childbirth.
Zhiyi was born with double pupils. He has been different from ordinary people since childhood. He behaves neatly and respects the sages. When he was seven years old, he went to Jialan Temple, where he was taught orally to the general class of the general class. He could understand it and understand the sentences by himself. boy Zhiyi experienced the ruin of his home and country, the displacement of his relatives, the loss of his parents, and his thoughts were drowned in the vast dust. At the age of eighteen, Zhiyi resolutely bid farewell to his brother and joined the faxu sect of Guoyuan Temple in what is now Changsha. He received the Ten Precepts and received full precepts at the age of 20. Later Zhiyi traveled north and studied the Mahayana Dharma at the lawyer Huikang's office. After reciting the three classics including the Lotus at Daxian Mountain, you will be able to understand its meaning in about twenty days.
In 560 AD, the first year of Tianjia reign of Emperor Chen Wen, Zhiyi set out for Zen Master Huisi of Dasu Mountain in Xinyang, Henan Province, to seek the Dharma. Huisi is also known as Master Nanyue, and later generations revered him as the Second Patriarch of Tiantai. Huisi said that and Zhiyi have a destiny, and Zhiyi taught the Dharma the four kinds of happiness. One day, when Zhiyi was reciting the Lotus Sutra and reached the sentence "'...This is true diligence...'", he suddenly fell into concentration and enlightenment. Since then, he has developed his habit and observed wisdom without hindrance. spreads out like a lotus, asked Once he knew ten, he began to gradually teach the Dharma on behalf of his teacher. Except for "Three Samadhi" and "Three Insights Wisdom", which still need to be discussed and approved by Huisi, other Dharma meanings can be announced at will. Huisi also listened to the lecture in person and said to the disciples around him: This is my method, but it is a pity that my concentration is a little lacking. It is also said that Zhiyi is the first to say that asked Zhiyi to enter the world and spread the light.
When he was thirty, Zhiyi said goodbye to his master, and 27 people including Faxi went to Jinling (now Nanjing), the capital of Chen, to spread Zen Buddhism. The teaching of the Dharma may not go smoothly at first, and there may be few knowledgeable people.At that time, Taifu Qing He Kai's cousin was an old monk named Faji, who had always studied Zen. Seeing Zhiyi still lying in bed, he asked: When someone enters concentration, he can hear the vibration of Qixia Mountain in the distance. Why is this Zen? Zhiyi answered: This is paranoia side concentration, the invasion of evil ways. If you insist on this situation and tell others, it will destroy your concentration. Dharmaji was impressed, stood up, apologized and said: I once achieved this state of mind, and I told others about it, but as a result, I lost my state forever. You are not only good at understanding the Dharma, but you also understand people's hearts. So he informed He Kai of the matter, who was a powerful minister, and then informed his colleagues. Zhiyi quickly became famous in both the government and the public. All literary heroes in this world serve them respectfully. In 567 AD, Emperor Chen Fei the first year of Guangda, Zhiyi was invited by Kaifu Yitong Sansi Shen Junli to stay at Waguan Temple in Jinling, where he gave lectures on the Lotus, established sects, interpreted the classics, and opened up a generation of religious views. .
Zhiyi stayed at Waguan Temple for eight years, and there was an endless stream of people who came to ask for advice on the teachings of the Dharma. In addition to the Lotus, Zhiyi also performed "The Great Wisdom of " and "Steps of Zen", as well as "Small Samatha-Kuan" and so on. In 574 AD, in May of the third year of Jiande in the Northern Zhou Dynasty, Yuwen Yong, Emperor Wu of the Zhou Dynasty, ordered the destruction of scripture temples and ordered the Taoist monks to return to secular life, causing many people to flee south to Jinling. I was very moved. At the same time, he also felt that although the number of disciples around him was increasing day by day, the number of people who had truly attained the Dharma was decreasing day by day, so he felt like resting in the mountains and forests, pecking at the peaks and drinking from the streams.
The "Fish Le Kingdom" in Guoqing Temple (picture from the Internet)
In September 575 AD, in the early autumn of the seventh year of Emperor Chen Xuan's reign, Zhiyi and his disciples left Jinling and entered Tiantai Mountain and founded Jialan. For the next ten years, he was stationed in Tiantai, so later generations also called him Tiantai master . During this period, Zhiyi once lived alone at the top of Huashan Mountain in Tiantai Mountain, where he went on a Buddhist pilgrimage and meditated day and night. One day in the middle of the night, I suddenly saw a strong wind uprooting trees, thunder and lightning moving the mountains, monsters and demons surging from the distance like black clouds, the sound was like thunderbolts, Zhi Yi suppressed his mind and remained motionless, the sky was empty, and the terrifying scene soon disappeared naturally. After a while, Zhiyi felt pain in body and mind again, as if being burned. A while later, he saw his deceased parents holding pillows on his knees, wailing and complaining. Zhiyi remained as motionless as a mountain, relying on Dharma and forbearance, thinking deeply about the truth, and then all these signs of sorrow and suffering naturally disappeared. When the morning comes, the morning star rises slowly in the eastern sky, and a god from the Western Region appears to speak to Zhiyi. Zhiyi asked what Dharma the gods said, how to learn it and how to spread it. The god replied that the true meaning of this Dharma name should be learned with prajna and proclaimed with great compassion.
Empress Chen sent envoys many times to invite Zhiyi to come out of the mountain. In 585 AD, in March of the third year of Emperor Zhide's reign, Zhiyi was ordered to return to Jinling and live in Lingyao Temple. Empress Chen invited him to lecture on the Theory of Great Wisdom and the Benevolent King in the Taiji Hall. Later Zhiyi moved to Guangzhai Temple to teach the Dharma Flower. At this time, the initiation was already under way. The meeting between the master and the disciple was an unparalleled success in the world. was initiated into when he was twenty-seven years old and in his prime. He began to listen to scriptures and many years later recorded them into "Sentences of the Lotus" and handed them down to the world.
When Chen died in 589 AD, Zhiyi planned to go to Jingxiang (Hunan and Hubei). One day, he dreamed that an old man came and said: You have to protect the golden Manjusri in Donglin Temple in Mount Lu. Zhiyi then went to Kuanglu. It is said that Jin Manjusri was originally The Eastern Jin famous general Tao Kan obtained it from the sea when he was the governor of Guangzhou. Later, the golden statue was moved to Hanxi Temple in Wuhan. Tao Kan wanted to take it away when he was transferred to the post, but Jin Manjusri sank again. Get into the water. Many years later, Huiyuan prayed by the water, and the golden Manjusri reappeared in the world. Huiyuan enshrined the golden statue in Donglin Temple in Lushan, which he founded. Zhiyi once wrote an article "Book of Kuangshan Temple Written by the King of Jin", in which he mentioned that he stayed at Donglin Temple in Lushan Mountain for a short stay, wandering in the mountains and living tirelessly every day. Not long after Zhiyi arrived in Lushan, a rebellion broke out in Xunyang City (now Jiujiang, Jiangxi Province). Many temples were burned down, but Donglin Temple, where the golden statue was enshrined, was not disturbed.
In 591 AD, the eleventh year of Emperor Kaihuang's reign in the Sui Dynasty, King Yang Guang of Jin was the general manager of Yangzhou. He sent an envoy to Lushan to summon Zhiyi to Yangzhou. On November 23rd of the same year, Zhiyi served Yang Guang in the Jincheng Palace. teach.The following year, Zhiyi returned to his hometown of Jingzhou and established the Yuquan Temple in Yuquan Mountain, Dangyang County. During the two years from 593 to 594 AD, Zhiyi gave lectures on the profound meaning of the Lotus and Mahasamatha and Kanpa at Yuquan Temple, which were collected and recorded in the initiation.
In 595 AD, the fifteenth year of Emperor Kaihuang's reign in the Sui Dynasty, after Zhiyi's frequent speeches, he went to Yangzhou again at the invitation of Yang Guang and wrote the Jingming Jingshu. In the spring of the next year, he resigned and returned to Tiantai. Zhiyi loved springs and stone forest streams all his life. After returning to the mountains, he once sighed: "Although I am in the world, I will never forget the mountains and wilderness. Wouldn't it be joyful to enjoy the deep valleys, enjoy the quiet nights, and see the clear spirit shining in myself?" At this time, Zhiyi was fifty. Nine years old. One night, the bright moonlight shone in front of the bed, and Zhiyi sat alone and preached for a long time. The next morning, the waiter Zhixi asked why. Zhiyi said that last night he first dreamed of a strong wind destroying the pagoda, and then he saw Nanyue's mentor and fellow disciples. They told him to tell him that he should go elsewhere. Recalling my childhood dreams, I had always wanted to return to this mountain, but now I know that my chance has expired.
The Guoqing Temple Repaying Enlightenment Pagoda built by Jin Wang Yang Guang (picture comes from the Internet)
Zhiyi showed his illness. Jizang Jizang of Jiaxiang once sent a letter to Tiantai to invite Zhiyi to preach the Dharma at Jiaxiang Temple in what is now Shaoxing. Zhiyi was unable to make the trip due to illness. Later, he dictated "Guanxin Lun" to his disciples while he was ill. In October 597 AD, in the winter of the seventeenth year of Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, Yang Guang returned to Tibet and once again sent envoys to the mountains to welcome him. Zhiyi followed the envoys out of the mountains and traveled to Shicheng (now Xinchang County, Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province). He was seriously ill and could not go. OK. When the waiter offered the medicine, Zhiyi said, "Can the medicine cure diseases and preserve old age?" The disease is not the body, how can medicine cure it? Age is not our own, how can medicine save it? Don't let all the confusion about medicine bother you. The waiter served another vegetarian meal. Zhiyi said: A mind that is incapable of observing within and a state that is incapable of external conditions is the true state of mind. The existence of the body does not require too much toil. When you die, you can rest, and the journey home is pleasant. He also dictated a suicide note, instructing his disciples to hand over the incense burner Ruyi and other items to Yang Guang as a souvenir. Then he asked the disciple to take out his three robes and one bowl, and sweep them clean.
The last two sutras that Zhiyi listened to and thought about were the Lotus Sutra and the Shuangjuan Sutra. Zhiyi praised the Lotus and said: The Lotus is the parent of all Dharma schools, from which wisdom and understanding are born. Its roots and manifestations are both incomparably vast and subtle and unpredictable. It's a pity that my experience of more than 40 years is now like Ziqi's death Boya Jueqin, and Ying's death as a craftsman's stone. The two scrolls of praise said: Forty-Eight Wishes , the majestic land, the colorful pools and precious trees, it is easy to go but no one can go there. Even the sentient beings who have fallen into the train can go there if they can repent and change , let alone those who are able to practice the Tao. Practitioners will definitely make contributions without giving away. The sound and appearance of the Sanskrit sounds are genuine and without deception.
Zhiyi then declared that the ten principles of the Dharma are: four non-generations (all dharmas do not originate by themselves, do not originate from others, do not originate symbiotically, and do not originate without a cause), three concepts (the three concepts of emptiness, falseness, and middle), and four Siddhantana ( Xi, universal meaning; Tan, the meaning of giving. The four Tan are divided into world Tan , Tan Tan for people, Tan Tan the first meaning), four truths, twelve branches, . Six degrees of . He also said: Every dharma is integrated with all dharmas, and all can lead to the original mind and a cool place. Those who have mastered these dharma, even among the sick, are still strong enough to be entrusted with the burden of a hundred catties of gold. Apart from that, Zhiyi didn't want to say anything more.
A disciple named Zhilang asked three more questions: where did the master get his position; where is he going; and who can he rely on in the future. Zhiyi replied: If it were not for leading others to practice, he would surely reach the sixth rank of pure disciples. But now that he harms himself in order to benefit others, he can only reach the fifth rank of disciples. When I leave, my teachers and friends will come to greet me along with the Attendant Saint. After I leave, you must take precepts as your teacher and samadhi as your clear guide. It will teach people to let go of heavy burdens, heal their bodies and free them from bondage, adjust their Zen taste, break away from arrogance and arrogance, get out of the fire pit of inaction, and escape from great sorrow and difficulty. Only this master, Jie, can be the refuge of all sentient beings.
Statue of a Wise Man (picture from the Internet)
At noon on November 24 of the same year, the master passed away in , Xinchang County, today. Before his death, he taught Master Vena: When a person is about to die, hearing the sound of the bell can increase his righteous thoughts. The sound of the bells and chimes will only last forever, until their popularity is exhausted. Do not wait until your body has cooled down before ringing the chime. Weeping, changing clothes, etc. should not be done by people in the world.After finishing speaking, Zhiyi sat down with his legs crossed, as if entering samadhi, sitting down with a feast. He was sixty and forty years old.
The following year, Jin Wang Yang Guang founded Tiantai Temple for Zhiyi. In 605 AD, Yang Guang succeeded to the throne and renamed the temple Guoqing Temple.
Various biographies of Zhiyi in later generations are all based on the "Farewell Biography" of the Enlightenment and the "Extended Biography of the Eminent Monk" of Daoxuan. The "Extended Biography of Eminent Monks" records that Zhiyi passed away in the sixties of the spring and Autumn Period, which is different from the "year of sixty" in the "Farewell Biography" of the initiation. Mr. Chen Yuan, Mr. Tang Yongtong and other scholars have determined that the wise man's theory of "sixty years of life" is correct, and the theory of "sixty-seven" is a misinformation, so there is no need to dispute this matter. There are also discrepancies in other content, such as the year and month of the event, and translators often choose one to keep the context connected. The ancient writings are worth their weight in gold. Translators do not study history and do not seek a thorough understanding of time, place and personnel. The above narration of Zhiyi's life is also summarized in detail, especially the records of Zhiyi 's teachings to the world before his death. Because they are very precious, a more complete quotation is made. As for studying Zhiyi 's life deeds from other angles such as history and politics, it can also open up worldly wisdom. Among them, there are people who are sophisticated and compassionate, but due to the nature of this series, we have not studied it in depth here, so we will not express it. For those who are interested Readers can do derivative reading and thinking.
In addition, the Yanmen Huiyuan, Nanyue Huisi, Zhang'an Initiation, and Jiaxiang Jizang mentioned in the article are all saints of a generation who have learned and practiced profoundly. They have great wisdom and deeds, and are still famous. They are still benefiting future generations.
- Du Wenjuan
(note: some languages have been changed)
