廬山蓮宗寶鑑 4.35

4.35

The Book of Rites states: "To praise one's ancestors where they had no merit is deception; to fail to know of their goodness is lack of clarity; to know it and not transmit it is unbenevolence. These three are the shame of the noble person." Ah! For us followers of the Buddha's learning, how could it be otherwise? Our ancestor Master Yuan was illustrious in his practice and stages, vast and great in merit and virtue. I foolishly partake in his teaching as a descendant of its endstream; unworthy, unsophisticated, shallow in learning, and sparse in talent, I have been unable to inherit and continue the ancestral lineage, and indeed have disappointed his compassionate shelter. Whenever I read the Mingjiao ji, how could I not feel deeply ashamed? Furthermore, I once observed Dhyāna Master Xiu of Shishi stating in his comprehensive treatise: "One hundred years after Confucius, there was Meng Ke; at that time the Way of Confucius was on the verge of decline. Ke thereupon vigorously practiced his Way and revived it. Humbly considering the eastward flow of the Buddhist teachings, after altogether three hundred years there was Master Yuan. At that time the śramaṇas were gradually flourishing, yet none had stood out independently to codify standard models and become the universal ancestral teacher of the realm as Master Yuan did; through him the Buddha's Way first revived. Indeed, one may say that Master Yuan possessed great merit regarding the Śākya clan, just like Mencius in the school of Confucius. Together with eminent monks and court officials he cultivated the Pure Society; his Way moved emperors and kings, and his Dharma flowed throughout the realm." Later practitioners of buddhānusmṛti do not know the beginning and end of our ancestor and have lost his source and stream. One often sees those of scarce fortune and icchantikas in the world falsely compiling the Record of Attaining the Way on Mount Lu, adorning it with empty words, all of which are groundless claims; they deceive and confuse faithful devotees, widely circulating among people's ears and eyes, and even down to the present day it has not been corrected. Thereupon, consulting the Great Canon, the Hongming ji, and the Biographies of Eminent Monks, examining their essential details, I briefly raise seven matters to shatter the assembly's delusions, for those of discerning knowledge to judge: Master Yuan was ordained under Dharma Master Dao'an of Mount Taihang; the false tradition that his master was the Venerable Candana is the first falsehood. Falsely regarding Dao'an as Master Yuan's disciple is the second falsehood. Master Yuan's shadow did not leave the mountain for thirty years, and his feet did not enter the secular world; falsely claiming that he was kidnapped at Baizhuang is the third falsehood. The Jin emperor summoned him three times, but Master Yuan pleaded illness and did not go; falsely claiming that he sold himself as a slave to Chancellor Cui is the fourth falsehood. Dao'an had a flesh bracelet on his arm; falsely attributing this to Master Yuan is the fifth falsehood. His dying command was to expose his corpse beneath the pines, and his whole body was buried on the western ridge, as attested by the Ningji Pagoda standing today; falsely claiming that Master Yuan boarded a decorated boat and ascended to Tuṣita is the sixth falsehood. Dharma Master Daosheng lectured on the sūtras at Tiger Hill, pointing to the stones as a pledge, whereupon the stones nodded; falsely attributing this to Master Yuan is the seventh falsehood. How sorrowful that treacherous and flattering people in the world do not know the Patriarch's true virtue, listen on the road and speak on the street, falsely adorning so many insolent matters, broadcasting ugliness to later generations, inviting ridicule from all quarters, and slandering and desecrating holy virtue! When discerning people see this and do not investigate its origins, how can they not disdain and insult our Patriarch? How could this not be the crime of shedding the Buddha's blood among the five deadly transgressions? I once observed that during the Yuanjia era of the Song dynasty, the monks Caiguan and Huiyan, along with Xie Lingyun, retranslated the Nirvāṇa-sūtra, adding and subtracting from its words; as a result, they dreamed of a divine being rebuking them: "How dare you lightly desecrate the sacred scriptures with ordinary sentiments!" Guan and the others were terrified and stopped. Furthermore, Huilin found favor with the emperor through his talent and learning, known at the time as the "Black-robed Chancellor"; he personally authored the Baihei lun disparaging Buddhism, and immediately contracted an evil disease, his flesh ulcerating until he died. If it is like this, when falsely fabricating biographies of the Patriarch, can one not fear the three wretched paths and the hells? All of my like-minded comrades, scrutinize Master Yuan's true deeds from beginning to end, proclaim them painfully to all quarters, and illuminate the ancestral Way, so that the injustices suffered by the former sage may be vindicated here.