廬山蓮宗寶鑑 1.10

1.10

The nature of the mind is employed amidst worldly dust and afflictions without being submerged or drawn down by them, just as a lotus grows in mud without having its substance defiled by the mud; thus it is directly designated as the 'Lotus'. The nature of the mind penetrates the various dharmas of the three vehicles without being overwhelmed or encroached upon by them; though branches diverge from the lineage, it does not forget its origin because of the branches; thus buddhānusmṛti is taken as the 'School'. The nature of the mind is like empty space, harbouring and nourishing all existence, like the four pearls in the ocean that produce an inexhaustible treasury; thus it is titled 'Precious'. The nature of the mind is bright and pure, illuminating and discerning physical forms, like a single mirror set upon a stand capable of distinguishing the beautiful from the ugly; thus it is named 'Mirror'. Master Youtan was of the Jiang family of Danyang in Zhejiang. For generations his family had served the Buddha and accumulated goodness. Endowed with keen intelligence from birth, when he reached the age of twenty he grew weary of worldly ties, renounced secular life, and had his head shaved. He first studied under Chan Master Bao Shan Hui of Longhua, who recognised his capacity at first sight and instructed him to knock at the doors of various senior masters, polishing and refining himself until he penetrated the Mind-Pure Land and saw the Amitābha of his own nature. Deeply lamenting that the ancestral path was fading into obscurity, he compiled warnings and essentials on buddhānusmṛti, entitling it 'Precious Mirror of the Lotus School', in which every word dispels delusion and everything is orderly and well-arranged. Chan Master Dongyan Yuanying Ri of Tiantong saw it and certified it, saying: 'Excellent, excellent! Thus it is, thus it is.' Following this, he went to the capital and opened the Dharma at the Dharma King Chan Monastery. Finding agreement in Dao with the Consecration State Preceptor, he presented the Precious Mirror in a memorial to the throne, and the Golden Wheel Emperor elevated the authentic lineage, issuing an imperial jade decree. Forgetting himself for the sake of the Dharma, he serves as an exemplary mirror for future generations, guiding humans and devas, and continuing the Buddha's wisdom-life. Truly a treasure among monks, he rectified the root and harmonised the branches, gathered the multitudes and returned them to the lineage, never abandoning his compassionate vows, harmonising the absolute with the mundane, manifesting a lotus within fire, and reviving the fallen traditions of Patriarch Master Yuan of Donglin after a thousand years. How could the so-called Precious Mirror of the Lotus School of Mount Lu be merely empty words? The prefaces, colophons, praises, and reviews of senior masters, prominent figures, and grand officials are all provided at the end of the fascicles. When later practitioners of pure karma read through this compendium, they will thoroughly illuminate the purports of the Buddhas and patriarchs, propagate this path, and pass it down endlessly. How could its merit ever be measured? Preface written with repeated bows by the monk Dazhong Dehe of Mingzhi Chongsheng Chan Monastery in formerly Wu, in the first summer of the jiayin year, the first year of the Yanyou era [1314 CE].