樂邦文類 3.131

3.131

The gentleman's taboo name was Jie, his courtesy name was Cigong, and he was a native of Wuwei Commandery; his religious name was Master Wuwei. With heroic talent and exceptional brilliance, he passed the civil service examinations at an early age. He reached the post of Director of the Bureau of Receptions in the Department of State Affairs and Judicial Commissioner of Liangzhe. Furthermore, he revered the Buddha-Dharma and had a clear awakening in the Chan school, regarding even those under the Jiangxi and Linji lineages who could bear the blows and shouts as merely ordinary followers. He also propagated Amitābha's teachings and contemplations to guide those who came. Summing up what he discussed, he maintained that the faculties of sentient beings are sharp or dull, and that which is close and easy to know, simple and easy to practice, is solely the Western Pure Land. If one can only single-mindedly contemplate and be mindful, gathering together the scattered mind and relying on the power of Amitābha's vows, one will directly transcend to Peaceful Nurture without taking any other rebirth, and success is definitively attained. This is what Nāgārjuna called the path of easy practice, because it relies on the power of another. The gentleman composed the "Preface to the Tiantai Ten Doubts on the Pure Land," the "Preface to Wang Gu's Collection Resolving Doubts on the Direct Pointing to the Pure Land," the "Record of the Monastic Supervisor Fabao's Amitābha Precious Pavilion," and the "Thirty Hymns on the Land of Peace and Bliss," fully setting forth the essential crossings to the Western Direction, which truly serve as an enduring model for rebirth across ten thousand generations. The gentleman authored the Collection in Support of the Way, dedicated to recording the Buddha Vehicle. Su Dongpo composed a preface for it, which stated in brief: "Master Wuwei was endowed from past lives with spiritual acumen, visiting good friends everywhere. In every case where someone was said to possess the śakra-eye, as soon as Cigong caught sight of him, the Way was present therein." In his later years, when the gentleman served as an intendant and commandery administrator, he painted a sixteen-foot image of the Honoured Amitābha, carrying it with him to contemplate. When his life came to an end, he was moved by the Buddha coming to welcome him, and passed away upright in a seated posture. His verse bidding farewell to the world read: / 'In life there is nothing to cling to, / in death there is nothing to abandon. / Within the great empty sky, / the grammatical particles "zhi, hu, zhe, ye." / Making the best of a mistake, / the Western Ultimate Bliss.' / In the Xuanhe reign era, the wife of the King of Jing traveled in spirit to the Pure Land and saw the gentleman seated upon a lotus flower, so his rebirth was certain. Thus, among the scholar-officials of our dynasty who vastly praised the Pure Realm and entered the definitely determined stage, there were only the gentleman and Vice Minister Wang Minzhong. How could it be other than that when Heaven wishes to preserve its Way for long, the world is sure to give birth to such men?"