樂邦文類 3.61

3.61

The abbot monks of Yanqing Monastery in Mingzhou have had lecture seats for generations, taking the Tiantai contemplative practice as their school. Ever since Grand Master Fazhi Zhili, whose practice and learning were both lofty, the assembly of listeners turned their hearts toward him. Those who succeeded him were likewise all worthy men, now for more than a hundred years. Occasionally there were men of ascetic practice and rigorous cultivation who came to rely upon this bodhimaṇḍa. During the Yuanfeng era, the monk Jieran cultivated the method of the Western Pure Land, sitting without lying down for a period of three years. When his period was fulfilled, he said to his fellow practitioners, the monks Huiguan, Zhongzhang, and Zongyue: “Each of us occupies a single room to accomplish this supreme causal condition. But as later arrivals grow more numerous, the rooms do not increase. Now in the western corner of Yanqing there is still vacant land. If we could obtain more than twenty million cash, construct more than sixty bays of buildings, erect a precious pavilion in the center, set up a sixteen-foot body of Amitābha flanked by Avalokiteśvara and Mahāsthāmaprāpta, and encircle it with sixteen chambers—each chamber having two bays, with the images of the three sages arrayed outside and serving inside as a place for dhyāna contemplation; with the hall overlooking a pool of water, the water producing lotus flowers—then without leaving the midst of defilement, an unworldly realm would be thrown wide open. The stations of mindfulness would all be quiescent, completely devoid of disparate conditions, so as to solidify an unwavering mind and reveal the land of peace and bliss. Thus to comply with the Buddha’s compassion and requite the country's benevolence—how could it be for just the four of us alone? Such is my wish; can it be accomplished?” Huiguan and the others replied: “With a mind that operates naturally without artificial effort, we shall perform conditioned deeds of benefit. Siming has many generous and faithful donors; why worry that it will not be accomplished?” From then on, daily managing and monthly accumulating, seven winters and summers passed. Of all that Jieran wished to do, not one failed to accord with his intention. At the outset, Jieran burned two fingers of his hand, vowing that he would surely accomplish this. On the day of its completion in the third month of the second year of the Yuanfu era, he set out an offering to a thousand buddhas and further burned three fingers to augment his pure vow. Having accomplished what was difficult to accomplish, and having renounced what was difficult to renounce, yet when one traces the motive of his mind, there was no selfish intention. Thereupon, among those who saw or heard of it, none failed to rejoice in accord; men devoted to pure practice leapt with joyful celebration, and the sixteen chambers were never left vacant. Those whose terms were completed departed, and those who generated the aspiration arrived. As for those who relied upon this supreme realm and attained wholesome benefits, who knows how many people there were? Now, the teaching of the Pure Land was spoken by ancient buddhas; men of sincere mind accept it truly without doubt. In the Tathāgata’s account of the nine grades, utmost sincerity is taken as the very highest; in the Wise One’s composition of the Ten Treatises, the complete bonds of a doubting mind are shattered. When bonds are untied and emotional attachments forgotten, when consciousness disperses and wisdom appears, then why should one falsely seek Amitābha's pure realm elsewhere? It is like facing a bright mirror and seeing one’s own face: those who attain it do not do so through sensory consciousness, and how could the benighted understand it through emotion? Transcending the conditioning of consciousness without delusion, crossing beyond emotional dust to reach it alone—is this not solely through sincerity? Therefore it is said: “Sincerity is accomplishment”; accomplishing oneself and accomplishing others is simply this. It is like the pure full moon appearing everywhere in all waters: the reflections are not one, yet the moon's substance is not two; gathering the scattered streams, it equalizes their return, convening the ten directions to unify them into one. It is also like ten mirrors encircling [a center] with a single lamp burning within: their light and forms intermingle, so that east and west cannot be distinguished. Yet directions have their assigned positions, and it is not that the western mirror is absent; names are established following appearances, but the west is not inherently west. When wisdom and principle are fused, what realm could one cling to? How could one use the views of clinging to directions while still in bondage to measure the Tathāgata’s unobstructed realm? Cien said: “Commoners have heavy karma and produce greed everywhere. If one does not definitely point to one direction, how could one tether the mind in single-minded focus?” This good spiritual friend supported the teaching according to people's inclinations, specifically protecting the Dharma-character school. Yet when discussing the relative superiority of Peaceful Nurture and the Tuṣita [Heaven of] Contentment, to promote rebirth [in the Pure Land] is deemed the most supreme. Thus we know that penetrating men are without stinginess, for stinginess breeds much selfishness. That the object is strong and habits are heavy is because contemplation is shallow and the mind is superficial. That it is easy to go yet no one does is truly because doubt is deep and hindrances are heavy. If one wishes to eliminate all defilements and hindrances completely, one must make determination one’s mind. Though wet firewood be like a mountain, a tiny spark can ignite it; a dark room of a thousand years is suddenly brightened by the sunlight. Śākyamuni’s skillful means were exceedingly deep; the Immeasurable Life [Buddha] expounds the Dharma without interruption; Avalokiteśvara is like a mother mindful of her child; Mahāsthāmaprāpta is like a child remembering its mother. How could one not follow the tracks and models of the ancient sages? What is there to renounce in an illusory, empty realm? Elder Vimukta did not go to the Land of Peace and Bliss, while the Great Being Samantabhadra personally beheld the Immeasurable Light. The one who personally beheld did not move in the first place; the one who did not go went in just this way. Only when there is universal fusion without obstruction are the empty and the provisional both the middle; if distinctions are not forgotten, how can one avoid mutual disputes between the provisional and the real? If it is like this, there will be no day when the mind is at peace; when could forbearance ever be attained? Thus one knows that only when every thought is present right before one will there definitively be no retrogression. Therefore it is said: “If I do not definitively achieve equal and right awakening, I vow not to take bodhi. If there is retrogression from the bodhicitta, I vow not to take right awakening.” These were Bhikṣu Dharmākara's fundamental vows, and what all superior wholesome persons follow and learn. If one generates such a mind, practices such practice, gives rise to such vows, and aims for such fruit, without contravening Dharmākara's great vows, then those who lodge their tracks in this monastery and dwell their minds in these chambers are all persons of avaivartika. How could there be an end to its supreme benefit? When the monk Jieran voiced a single wholesome thought, the faithful of Siming responded like an echo. And as for how he benefited an entire region, its breadth was like this. Could one fail to record this affair? The current abbot of Yanqing, Great Master Mingzhi (Zhongli), is the great-grandson of Fazhi. His religious practice is complete and substantial, trusted and admired by others. Capable of cultivating the Pure Land contemplation with a sincere mind, he greatly assisted in Jieran's enterprise; hence I record it together. On the first day of the eighth month of the first year of the Daguan era, recorded by Chen Guan of Yanping.