四明尊者教行錄 7.23

7.23

When the Way operates in the world, / its enduring depends upon Heaven; / when the teachings are spread by sages, / their assistance depends upon the worthy. / Sovereign was the True Awakened One, / who first bequeathed conditions for transformation, / revealing the one nature, / pervading the trichiliocosm. / Extraordinary people appeared in succession, / alternately proclaiming the ancestral style; / grand was Zhizhe, / who wondrously penetrated the Golden Immortal. / The true vehicle was clearly expounded; / the Dharma torch illuminated the mats. / The Yin River succeeded him, / shining brightly over the four seas. / The Purple Palace added extraordinary honors; / foreign lands expressed devotion. / The three contemplations uniquely illuminated; / the ten thousand practices grew ever firmer. / The nature of jade is fundamentally pure; / the shape of a pearl is naturally round. / Serenely stepping onto the ground of awakening, / giving up his body at the lecture mat: / "If the Dharma is not awakened by me, / the good hope to move the multitude; / if you all remain negligent, / my body can be cast away." / Hoping that people would be alerted and awakened, / they received his instructions back and forth. / Court worthies held him dear; / companions of the Way were earnest and devoted. / All harbored longing and admiration, / not permitting him to burn himself. / His benefit grew broader by the day; / his mind became ever more dedicated. / There was nowhere his transformation did not reach; / there was nothing his teaching did not elucidate. / Having borrowed the world for his karmic recompense, / the wisdom sun sank into the abyss. / The Master's workings of the Way / cannot be fully described in words; / the Master's traces of transformation / may be carved into stone. / Inscribing it upon the stūpa, / the fragrant renown will be handed down forever.