樂邦文類 3.111

3.111

First: Master Shandao. It is not known where he was from. During the Zhenguan era of the Tang, seeing Chan Master Chuo of Xihe's nine-grade ritual sanctuary expounding and reciting the Contemplation Sūtra, Dao was overjoyed and said: "This is truly the essential ford for entering buddhahood. Practicing other deeds and disciplines is circuitous, remote, and difficult to accomplish; only this contemplation gate swiftly transcends birth and death." Thereupon he was diligent and ascetic, as if rescuing his head from fire. Later he arrived at the capital, rousing and inspiring the four assemblies. Whenever he entered the Buddha hall, he knelt on both knees and practiced buddha-mindfulness, never resting until his strength was exhausted, so that even in bitter frost and ice he was sure to sweat profusely. When he emerged, he preached the Pure Land teachings to others, not sleeping even briefly for over thirty years, practicing the pratyutpanna-samādhi path and making prostrations before the Buddha in the vaipulya repentance. With all the donations he received, he copied over one hundred thousand fascicles of the Amitābha Sūtra and painted over three hundred wall murals of the Pure Land transformation tableau. Monastics and laypeople in the capital who were transformed were beyond count. Someone asked Dao: "Does buddha-mindfulness bring rebirth in the Pure Land?" He replied: "As you practice mindfulness, your vow will be fulfilled." Dao then practiced mindfulness himself: with each recitation, a ray of radiant light emerged from his mouth, and with ten, a thousand, or a hundred recitations, the light was likewise. Later he said to people: "This body is repulsive; its various sufferings fluctuate and transform." He then climbed a willow tree, faced west, and made the vow: "May the Buddha receive me and the bodhisattvas assist me, causing me not to lose right mindfulness and not to give rise to retrogression and falling!" Having spoken, he cast down his body and ended his life. When Emperor Gaozong learned that radiant light emerged from his mouth and that his ascetic devotion was of this degree, he conferred on the temple the nameplate "Guangming" (Radiant Light). The Brief Account of Rebirths in India states: "The transformation body of Amitābha Buddha came to Chang'an on his own. Hearing the sound of the Chan River, the upādhyāya said: 'People can be taught buddha-mindfulness.' He then widely carried out exhortation and transformation; after three years, the entire city of Chang'an was practicing buddha-mindfulness." Later there was Great Master Fazhao, who was none other than Shandao's later incarnation.