樂邦文類 3.42

3.42

On such-and-such a year, month, and day, the Great Upādhyāya of Yuezhou passed away at Sheng'an Monastery. He had been a monk for a certain number of years, and his age was such-and-such; he had a personal name but no surname, and the world did not know his hometown, his lineage, or his undertakings. When someone inquired, he would reply, saying: 'Nature is my surname. Its source has no beginning; its lineage has no end; inherited from the Śākya Master, it binds to the root of the Dao. Am I without a surname? Fajian (Dharma Sword) is what is called my name. In reality, name itself does not exist—how then could my name remain?' He also said: 'The ocean of nature is my homeland, and the dharmadhātu is my dwelling. Precepts are its walls, and wisdom is its gates: guarded by them, one is secure; abiding in them, one is at peace. Are my village and neighborhood not complete? The gates of deliverance and the requisites of the path are infinite in number; the bodhisattvas and mahāsattvas are boundless in multitude. I am kin to them and they are not different from me. Is my lineage not grand?' What could be heard of his path was like this. Yet he solely recited the Lotus Sūtra and the Diamond Prajñā Sūtra, their recitations numbering in the tens of millions. Some criticized him for engaging in conditioned action, to which he said: 'I have never done anything.' Alas! As the Buddha's way grew ever more distant, deviant doctrines competed to arise, and only the Great Master of Tiantai grasped his teaching. The Upādhyāya inherited the original lineage and complied with the Middle Way, so that all who received his instruction did not lose their school's source. Living beings drift along, their destinations confounded and chaotic; only the direct path to Ultimate Bliss succeeds in being their refuge. The Upādhyāya diligently sought with upright sincerity to accomplish the ultimate vow, so that all who listened and believed were not deluded about its path. Some criticized him for leaving traces, to which he said: 'I have never walked.' At first, he lived at Longxing Monastery in Fangzhou, and later moved to this prefecture, establishing a bodhimaṇḍa on the northern peak of Mount Laṅkā, not stepping beyond the threshold for fifty years. Those whom the Upādhyāya revered and served were all exalted and virtuous persons of the age. When he first left home, the one he served and relied upon was Master Zhuoran, who resided at Mount Li in Nanyang and was buried in Yuezhou. The one from whom he received the full precepts was Master Daoying, who resided in Jingzhou. The foremost of his disciples was Master Huaiyuan, who resided at Anguo Monastery in Changsha, upheld the Vinaya methods of Nanyue, and came each year to attend upon the Master. Present at his passing, he thereupon buried him on such-and-such a day a certain number of paces east of Master Zhuoran's stūpa. The inscription reads: