廬山蓮宗寶鑑 4.39

4.39

The master's taboo name was Zhiyi, his courtesy name was De'an, and his surname was Chen, a native of Yingchuan. His mother, Lady Xu, dreamed of fragrant smoke of five colors encircling her body, whereupon she became pregnant. On the day of his birth, a divine light illuminated the room; his eyes had double pupils, and his eyebrows displayed eight colors. As a young child, upon seeing an image he would bow, and upon meeting a monk he would certainly prostrate. At the age of eighteen, he went to Guoyuan Temple in Xiangzhou to leave household life, reciting the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka-sūtra and also mastering the vinaya pitaka. By nature he delighted in practicing dhyāna; thereupon he traveled to Mount Dasu to pay homage to Dhyāna Master Huisi, serving him as a master. When Master Si caught sight of him, he said: "Formerly on Vulture Peak we listened together to the Lotus; pursued by past karmic connections, you have come again today." He then transmitted the Lotus Samādhi to him. For three weeks he recited the sūtra, arriving at the "Chapter on the Ancient Deeds of the Medicine King": "This is true vigor; this is called the true offering of Dharma." Upon reaching this sentence, his body and mind opened up, and in stillness he entered samādhi, illuminating the Lotus as Xihe shining upon the myriad phenomena, and penetrating all dharmas' marks like a pure breeze wandering through the great void. When he was about to report his realization to the master, the master said: "Were it not for you, none would have realized it; were it not for me, none could recognize it. What you have realized is the preliminary expedient of the Lotus Samādhi, attaining the revolving dhāraṇī; among those who expound the Dharma, you are foremost. Later you will propagate the Dharma in the capital of Ye, subduing the masters of the time. In your later years you will enter Tiantai, subduing Māra and advancing in practice." When his converting affinities had ceased, he manifested illness and announced his passing before the Great Stone Statue in Xinchang. When his disciples inquired about the direction of his rebirth, he replied: "My various masters and friends have all come with Avalokiteśvara to welcome me." By night, his attendants saw a Buddha arrive, twice the size of the Great Stone Statue. On the verge of passing, he expounded various Dharma gates, instructed them to chant the titles of the Wuliangshou jing and the Guan jing, and looking upon the great assembly, joined his palms in praise: "The forty-eight vows adorn the Pure Land; the flower ponds and jeweled trees are easy to reach, yet no one goes. When the marks of the fire cart appear, with a single thought of remorse and reform one can still attain rebirth; how much more so for the holy practice and power of the Way cultivated and perfumed by precepts and samādhi—truly it is not in vain!" Having finished speaking, he recited the names of the Three Jewels and suddenly passed away. Later, a monk sought to know the place of his rebirth, and dreamed of Avalokiteśvara's golden form tens of feet high, with Zhizhe following behind, who said to the monk: "Have your doubts been resolved?" Confirming it again, Zhizhe had indeed been reborn in the western direction.