廬山蓮宗寶鑑 1.8

1.8

According to what the sūtras explain, there is a world in the West named Sukhāvatī, and in that land is a Buddha named Amitābha. Lofty and vast, he surpasses the ancient emperors; without issuing commands or directives, conversion takes place naturally. The beryl pools and golden ground are untouched by a single speck of dust; the groves and waterbirds all expound suffering and emptiness. By the power of the Buddha's vows, he gathers those worldly dispositions; with a single thought of resonance, one ascends the golden terrace, and even those of the lowest grade of the low are born into the lotus blossom. The Venerable of Yanmen formed an association with distinguished persons and achieved merit in pure karma; hence the way of buddhānusmṛti was promoted and practiced in the world. Down to the present day, a thousand years later, it is called the Lotus School. Being far removed from antiquity, the transmission of the Dharma has suffered abuses: perverse paths have brought confusion, and the subtle meaning has grown obscure. For this reason, Master Youtan, riding upon the power of past vows, deeply lamented [the decline of] the authentic lineage, exerted a true mind to search out the essential teachings, arranged them systematically from beginning to end, and separated the false from the true, setting them down in ten sections titled 'Precious Mirror'. Taking it to Dadu, he consulted the Consecration State Preceptor Paṇḍita of Kashmir, who certified that it contained no superfluous clutter and was in accord with the Buddhist sūtras, whereupon it was memorialised to the throne. By imperial favour, it met with His Majesty, the Golden Wheel Emperor, whose sage wisdom penetrates Buddha-wisdom and whose Dao accords with Heaven's mind. His supreme illumination was impartial; he praised it as good and ordered that blocks be carved and printed to circulate the submitted work. An appeal was made to reinstate the teaching, and His Majesty consented, issuing an imperial decree to be carried out throughout the provinces, restoring the sun of the Buddha to shine anew in this sage era, and stirring the ancestral style to revive once more at Tiger Brook, urging diligence without remiss, inspiring icchantikas to certain faith, awakening the flowers of enlightenment to bloom in the mind-ground, and revealing the Buddha-nature present at the fundamental source, so that all may know to return to Sukhāvatī and completely receive the conversion of non-action. In his day, Master Mingjiao presented the Zhengzong lun to Emperor Renzong to quell the arguments of those who attacked Buddhism; in our day, Master Youtan offered the Precious Mirror Compendium to the Emperor to restore the White Lotus teaching. Though the eras are separated by time, their deeds correspond; their fame is equally fragrant without withering, and their merits are equally handed down without perishing.