廬山蓮宗寶鑑 4.61

4.61

The gentleman's taboo name was Jie, and his courtesy name was Cigong; a native of Wuwei Commandery, his Daoist title was Wuweizi ("Master of Non-action"). Possessing heroic talent and extraordinary ability, he passed the imperial examinations at an early age and rose in office to Director of the Bureau of Receptions in the Ministry of Rites and Surveillance Vice Commissioner of Liangzhe. Furthermore, he revered the Buddha-Dharma and clearly understood the Chan lineage, regarding even those who wielded sticks and shouts under the Linji lineage of Jiangxi as ordinary fellows. He also propagated the teachings and contemplations of Amitābha to guide newcomers. Summarizing what he discussed, he maintained that the capacities of sentient beings include the sharp and the dull, and that which is proximate and easy to know, simple and easy to practice, is solely the Western Pure Land. If one can only single-mindedly contemplate and recollect, gathering in the scattered mind, and rely on the power of Amitābha's vow, one directly transcends to Sukhāvatī, definitively securing success without any other destination. This is what Nāgārjuna termed the Path of Easy Practice, because it relies on other-power. The gentleman composed the "Preface to the Tiantai Ten Doubts Treatise", the "Preface to Wang Gu's Direct Pointing to the Pure Land Resolving Doubts Collection", the *Mirror of the Dharma Jewel Sangha*, the *Record of the Precious Pavilion of Amitābha*, and the *Thirty Praises of the Land of Peace and Bliss*, fully setting forth the essential regulations of the West, truly serving as a guide for rebirth across myriad generations. The gentleman had the *Collection for Assisting the Way*, devoted to recording the Buddha Vehicle. Dongpo composed a preface for it, which stated in brief: "Wuweizi was endowed by nature with spiritual capacity and visited good spiritual friends far and wide. Wherever there were those said to possess the glittering vajra eye, Cigong saw them and the Way was present therein." In his later years, when serving as a surveillance commissioner and commandery prefect, he painted a sixteen-foot image of the revered Amitābha, which accompanied him as he traveled and practiced contemplation. When his life came to an end, he was met by the Buddha's arrival, and passed away sitting upright. His farewell verse stated: "In birth there is nothing to cling to; / in death there is nothing to abandon. / In the midst of the great empty space, / mere grammatical particles! / Making the best of the mistake, / the Western Sukhāvatī." During the Xuanhe reign, the wife of the Prince of Jing had her spirit journey to the Pure Land, where she saw the gentleman sitting upon a lotus flower; thus his rebirth was certain. Indeed, among the scholar-officials of our dynasty who grandly praised the Pure Land and entered the stage of right determination, there were only the gentleman and Vice Minister Wang Minzhong. How could it not be that when Heaven wishes to perpetuate its Way, the world must give birth to such men?