Huìlín Zōngběn chánshī biélù 慧林宗本禪師別錄
Single-juan “Supplementary Record” (biélù 別錄) of Huìlín Yuánzhào Zōngběn 宗本 慧林圓照宗本 (zì Wúzhé 無喆; imperial title Yuánzhào chánshī 圓照禪師, posthumous title Fǎkōng chánshī 法空禪師; 1020 – 15 February 1100, shìshòu 80), Northern-Sòng Yúnménzōng 雲門宗 master, dharma-heir of Tiānyī Yìhuái 天衣義懷 — appointed by Shénzōng in Yuánfēng 5 (1082) as the first abbot of the new imperial court-centre Huìlín chányuàn 慧林禪院 at the Dàxiàngguósì 大相國寺 in the Sòng capital Biànjīng. Xuzangjing X73 no. 1450. The juan-head byline identifies the compiler as “Sūzhōu Língyánshān Xiùfēngsì zhùchí sìfǎ Wújì dàshī 慧辯 lù 蘇州靈巖山秀峰寺住持嗣法無際大師慧辯錄” — Wújì Huìbiàn 無際慧辯 of Língyán Xiùfēngsì, Zōngběn’s dharma-heir and compiler.
Abstract
This is a formally supplementary volume: the biélù (as noted in the DILA extensive notice for Zōngběn) captures shàngtáng and jìsòng material that had not been included in the already-circulating main yǔlù of the three seats (Ruìguāng 瑞光, Jìngcí 淨慈, Huìlín 慧林) — hence the title “Yuánzhào chánshī biélù + Língyán jìsòng” 圓照禪師別錄并靈巖偈頌 given at the head.
The opening piece is particularly notable: the shàngtáng session held by Zōngběn at the imperial Fúníngdiàn 福寧殿 on 4 October 1085 (元豐八年四月初十日), at the summons of the just-ascended Emperor Zhézōng 哲宗, “in front of the spirit-throne of the late Emperor Shénzōng 神宗” 神宗皇帝靈駕前 — a remarkable documentation of Chán preached within the imperial mourning liturgy at the heart of the Northern-Sòng court. The body of the biélù continues with further shàngtáng from the Huìlín seat and the Língyán jìsòng from Zōngběn’s later retirement at Sūzhōu Língyánshān.
Zōngběn was a native of Wúxī 無錫 (Chángzhōu), lay surname Guǎn 管. Entered religion at nineteen at Sūzhōu Chéngtiān Yǒngānsì 承天永安寺 under Dàoshēng 道昇; served as jīnshì 巾侍 for ten years before taking the precepts; a further three years of service, then wandering. Attained awakening under Tiānyī Yìhuái at Chízhōu 池州. Opened public teaching at Ruìguāng 瑞光; moved to Jìngcí 淨慈; summoned to Huìlín as its inaugural abbot in 1082; retired to Sūzhōu Língyánshān in his late years. Died seated without illness on the 28th of the 12th month of Yuánfú 2 (15 February 1100). Posthumously styled Fǎkōng chánshī 法空禪師.
Compilation datable to the post-1100 decade, with terminal reference to the closing Língyán jìsòng of Zōngběn’s retirement years; a conservative date-bracket runs from the 1085 Fúníngdiàn session through to c. 1105.
Translations and research
Zōng-běn is a major figure in Northern-Sòng Yún-mén / imperial-court Buddhist history: see the entries in Xù-chuándēng-lù juan 8 (X64), Bǔ-xù gāo-sēng zhuàn juan 8 (X77), and Jìng-tǔ shèng-xián lù juan 3 (a Pure-Land-tradition inclusion). His main yǔlù proper is preserved separately (not in the Kanripo KR6q division); the bié-lù here is the supplementary volume edited by his heir Huì-biàn.
Other points of interest
The 1085 Fúníngdiàn session is the clearest surviving documentary witness to Chán teaching within Sòng imperial-court funerary ritual. Zōngběn’s opening incense-prayer (“Let my holy ruler open the Buddha-selection court; this was entrusted by the Vulture-peak Buddha in person; I, minister-monk, today relay the proclamation” 福寧殿上祝名香。聖主令開選佛場。此是靈山親付囑。臣僧今日代宣揚) is a remarkable specimen of imperial-liturgical Chán discourse.