廬山蓮宗寶鑑 4.65

4.65

王侍郎諱古，字敏仲，東都人也。曾任尚書禮部侍郎，因作發運使，遂居儀真。稟性至仁，寬慈愛物，大弘佛教，開闡化原。曩遇京師，乃尊宿叢林之淵藪，嘗與之論道。及游江西黃龍翠巖，與晦堂楊岐輩同為禪侶，深契宗旨。又悟彌陀淨土法門之勝，博考諸經深究往生，貫穿經文發明佛意，乃作《直指淨土決疑集》三卷，楊次公提刑作敘，載之本傳。侍郎纂集大彌陀經四十八願、十六觀經九品往生、馬鳴菩薩大乘起信論、忠國師對肅宗隨意往生念佛三昧寶王論，及諸經論，備陳往生淨土要門，該羅具錄，如稱念南無三十六萬億一十一萬九千五百同名同號阿彌陀佛，亦於藏經中節出。至於諸菩薩論淨土法門之要，皆悉編集。侍郎平日修行觀念之心未嘗間歇，數珠持念常不去手，行住坐臥悉以西方淨觀為佛事。有僧神遊淨土，見侍郎與葛繁大夫同在淨土而作佛事，乃往生安養之證驗也。弘通淨土開示要津，助阿彌陀普化一切，自廬山十八賢之後，繼此道以助佛揚化者，獨次公敏仲著名於當時流傳數百世之下。弘通彌陀大教，廣度攝化之盛無有窮盡，則晉代朝士之高致，唯二公獨得之，乃能光顯前賢、克繼其遺風也。

Vice Minister Wang's taboo name was Gu, and his courtesy name was Minzhong; he was a man of the Eastern Capital. He once served as Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites in the Department of State Affairs, and because he served as Fiscal Commissioner, he subsequently resided in Yizhen. By nature he was supremely benevolent, magnanimous and compassionate in cherishing all creatures, greatly propagated the Buddhist teaching, and unfolded the origins of transformation. Formerly, when he was in the capital, it was a gathering place of venerable masters of the monasteries, and he once discussed the Way with them. When he traveled to Huanglong and Cuiyan in Jiangxi, he became a companion in dhyāna with the likes of Huitang and Yangqi, deeply chiming with the essential purport. Furthermore, he awakened to the supreme excellence of the Amitābha Pure Land teaching. Extensively consulting the various scriptures, he deeply investigated rebirth, collated the scriptural texts to elucidate the Buddha's intent, and thereupon composed the three-fascicle Collection Resolving Doubts That Directly Points to the Pure Land; Judicial Commissioner Yang Cigong wrote the preface, which is recorded in his biographical account. The Vice Minister compiled the forty-eight vows of the Large Amitābha-sūtra, the nine grades of rebirth from the Sixteen Contemplations Sūtra, the Treatise on the Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna by Bodhisattva Aśvaghoṣa, National Preceptor Zhong's response to Emperor Suzong on the Treatise on the Precious King of the Buddhānusmṛti-samādhi on Rebirth at Will, and various other scriptures and treatises, fully setting forth the essential gateway of rebirth in the Pure Land, comprehensively encompassing and thoroughly recording them. Recitations such as 'Namo thirty-six trillion, one hundred and nineteen thousand, five hundred Amitābha Buddhas of the same name and title' were also excerpted from the canon. As for the treatises by the various bodhisattvas on the essentials of the Pure Land teaching, all were fully compiled. In his daily practice, the Vice Minister's mind of contemplation and mindfulness never ceased; with counting beads in hand, he recited continuously without letting them leave his hand. Walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, he took the pure contemplation of the Western [quarter] as his Buddhist practice. There was a monk whose spirit traveled to the Pure Land and saw the Vice Minister together with Grand Master Ge Fan in the Pure Land performing Buddhist practices; this was a verified proof of rebirth in Sukhāvatī. Propagating the Pure Land and revealing the essential ford, he assisted Amitābha in universally transforming all. Since the eighteen worthy ones of Mount Lu, among those who succeeded to this Way to assist the Buddha in spreading transformation, only Cigong and Minzhong were renowned in their day and handed down for hundreds of generations thereafter. In propagating the great teaching of Amitābha, the flourishing of his broad deliverance and gathering transformation was without end; thus, the lofty attainment of the court officials of the Jin dynasty was attained by these two gentlemen alone, enabling them to bring glorious renown to the former worthies and succeed to their bequeathed style.