大方廣佛華嚴經隨疏演義鈔 76.50

76.50

Regarding "Divine monks made it manifest in the numinous realm" and so on: The Record of Spiritual Resonances says: "During the Yuwen Northern Zhou, Mañjuśrī transformed into an Indian monk and came to travel to this land, saying that he wished to pay homage to the place where Buddha Kāśyapa preached the Dharma, and also go to the place where Mañjuśrī dwells, named Qingliangshan. In the early Tang, a monk from Siṃhala in Chang'an, who had ninety-nine rains retreats and was a person of the third fruit (anāgāmin), heard of these sacred traces, walked barefoot to this place, and paid homage to Qingliangshan." These are instances of "divine monks making it manifest." Regarding "Duke Xuan received instruction from the heavens above": The Nanshan Record of Spiritual Resonances says: "At that time there was a celestial being whose family name was Lu and personal name Xuanchang, who came and said: 'Your disciple was born in heaven during the time of King Mu of Zhou.' I then asked, saying: 'What is questioned within the realm has been handed down from antiquity: that Mañjuśrī is at Qingliangshan leading five hundred immortals to preach the Dharma. The sūtras state that Mañjuśrī has long dwelled in the Sahā world. Sahā is the general name for the great chiliocosm; how is it that he is specifically in this land?' The celestial being answered, saying: 'Mañjuśrī is the former teacher of all Buddhas; according with conditions for beneficial sight, his responsive transformations are not identical. The Great Being's great merits are not the realm of ordinary people; there is no need to assess or belittle them. Simply know that he mostly abides within the Five Terraces of Qingliang.' Frequently people have seen him, so one cannot but believe." Hence it says "received instruction from the heavens above." Furthermore, south of the mountain today there is Qingliang Prefecture and Wutai County, and north of the mountain there is Wutai Prefecture, which can also serve as a mirror of divination for ten thousand generations, so there is no doubt. Regarding the Commentary's statement: "Emperor Ming of the Han first inaugurated the lofty foundation; Emperor Wen of the Wei internally trusted in the utmost transformation": according to the Record of Spiritual Resonances, "Thirty li southeast of Mount Wutai today, there currently exists the Dafu Lingjiu Monastery, where the old traces of two halls still survive. To the south there is a flower garden, roughly two qing in area. It displays luster in all four seasons, and no one can fathom it. Some say it was established by Emperor Ming of the Han. Others say it was made by Emperor Wen of the Wei. The accounts differ from one another; how is it? The celestial being answered, saying: 'Both were made by the two emperors. At the time of King Mu of Zhou there was already the Buddhadharma; this mountain is numinous and extraordinary, the dwelling place of Mañjuśrī. King Mu built a monastery in it to make offerings. Furthermore, King Aśoka also erected a stupa based on this. At the beginning of Emperor Ming of the Han, Mātanga with the deva-eye also saw that there was a stupa, and requested the sovereign to establish a monastery. The mountain's form resembles Vulture Peak, so it was named Dafu Lingjiu Monastery. "Dafu" means to propagate faith; the emperor believed in the Buddhist principle and established the monastery to encourage people. The flower garden is now in front of the monastery; later rulers sometimes changed it to the Dahuayuan Monastery. When Empress Zetian Dasheng, together with the Khotanese Tripiṭaka [master], translated the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, seeing that the Bodhisattva dwells on Qingliangshan, she consequently changed it to the Dahuayan Monastery.' The five peaks cluster together, opening the mountain's center; Li, Kan, Qian, and Kun obtain their balanced principle. A thousand crags tower exquisitely, ten thousand ravines are deep and dense, plucking the immortal peaks of Vulture Peak to form a single leaf of the Avataṃsaka. Truly it can be called the ethereal office where all numinous beings soar and gather, the mysterious capital where one visits the worthy and pays audience to the sage." This is why it was said earlier that "Vulture Peak" acquired its name in this land. Regarding the Commentary's statement: "Northern Qi devoted the revenues of several prefectures": The Biography says: "Emperor Gao of the Northern Qi deeply revered the Great Teaching; he established more than two hundred monasteries on this mountain and allocated the taxes of eight prefectures to provide the requisites of clothing and medicine for the mountain community. To this day there are still the estates of the Five Bodhimaṇḍas." Regarding the Commentary's statement: "The nine emperors of the Tang turning their radiant attention": from our Great Tang down to the present sage, for nine generations in succession, none has failed to turn his sagely mirror here. As for "the present sage," this refers to Emperor Dezong, who admired the numinous mountain: imperial calligraphy and heavenly robes constantly illuminated the five peaks, imperial envoys with incense and medicine were uninterrupted through the seasons, and the Golden Pavilion towered amidst the clouds. Still doubting sagely transformation, bamboo groves stood densely beside the crags, just as if coming from heaven; thus all ministers submitted in reverence, and the nine provinces maintained offerings. Clouds gathering and mists coalescing, covering the earth and filling the mountain—were it not for our patriarch of all Buddhas accumulating ten thousand practices across vast kalpas, his compassionate clouds spreading broadly and universally covering, his ocean of wisdom serene and deep and embracing all, taking the dharmadhātu as his boundary and exhausting all sentient beings as his gateway of vows, who could respond and resonate like this? How profound must past good deeds be to encounter these surviving traces! My feelings leap without cease, expressing themselves in verse.