佛祖統紀 26.33

26.33

劉程之。字仲思。彭城人漢楚元王之後。妙善老莊旁通百氏。少孤事母以孝聞。自負其才不預時俗。初解褐為府參軍。謝安劉裕嘉其賢相推薦。皆力辭。性好佛理。乃之廬山傾心自託。遠公曰。官祿巍巍欲何不為。答曰。君臣相疑吾何為之。劉裕以其不屈。乃旌其號曰遺民。及雷次宗周續之宗炳張詮畢頴之等。同來廬山。遠公謂曰。諸君之來豈宜忌淨土之遊乎。程之乃鑱石為誓文以志其事（文見廬山集）遂於西林㵎北別立禪坊。養志安貧。精研玄理。兼持禁戒。宗張等咸難仰之。嘗貽書關中與什肇。揚搉經義。著念佛三昧詩。以見專念坐禪之意。始涉半載。即於定中見佛光照地皆作金色。居十五年於正念佛中。見阿彌陀佛玉豪光照垂手慰接。程之曰。安得如來為我摩頂覆我以衣。俄而佛為摩頂引袈裟以披之。他日念佛。又見入七寶池蓮青白其水湛湛。有人項有圓光胸出卍子（卍音萬是佛具萬德之相）指池水曰。八功德水汝可飲之。程之飲水甘美。及寤猶覺異香發於毛孔。乃自慰曰。吾淨土之緣至矣。復請僧轉法華經近數百遍。後時廬阜諸僧畢集。程之對像焚香再拜。而祝曰。我以釋迦遺教。故知有阿彌陀佛。此香先當供養釋迦牟尼如來。次供阿彌陀佛。復次供妙法華經。所以得生淨土由此經功德。願令一切有情俱生淨土。即與眾別。臥床上面西合手氣絕。勅子雍積土為墳勿用棺槨。時義熙六年也。春秋五十九（廬山集載感應事迹甚詳）。

Liu Chengzhi, courtesy name Zhongsi, was a native of Pengcheng and a descendant of King Yuan of Chu of the Han dynasty. Exquisitely versed in Laozi and Zhuangzi, he was also broadly conversant with the hundred philosophical masters. Bereft of his father while young, he served his mother with celebrated filial piety. Proud of his own talent, he did not mingle with the mundane world. When he first took off his plain garments, he served as an adjutant in a provincial office. Xie An and Liu Yu praised his worthiness and successively recommended him, but he resolutely declined each time. By nature fond of Buddhist principles, he went to Mount Lu to devote his heart and entrust himself. Master Yuan said, 'Official emoluments are lofty and grand; why do you wish to decline them?' He replied, 'Ruler and minister suspect one another; what would I do there?' Because he would not yield, Liu Yu bestowed on him the honorific title of Yimin (Hermit). When Lei Cizong, Zhou Xuzhi, Zong Bing, Zhang Quan, Bi Yingzhi, and others came together to Mount Lu, Master Yuan said to them, 'Gentlemen, having come here, how could you avoid an excursion to the Pure Land?' Chengzhi thereupon engraved an oath on stone to record the event (the text appears in the *Lushan ji*). He then established a separate meditation chamber north of the ravine at Xilin to nourish his aspirations in contented poverty, meticulously study profound principles, and observe the monastic prohibitions; Zong, Zhang, and the others all held him in reverent awe. He once sent letters to the Guanzhong region to Kumārajīva and Sengzhao, debating the meanings of the scriptures, and composed 'Poems on the Buddha-Recitation Samādhi' to manifest the intent of single-minded recitation and seated meditation. After only half a year, in the midst of concentration he saw the Buddha's light shining upon the ground, turning it entirely golden. After dwelling there for fifteen years, while in right mindfulness of the Buddha, he saw Amitābha Buddha's jade-white curl radiating light, and his lowered hand consoling and receiving him. Chengzhi said, 'How might the Tathāgata rub my crown and cover me with his robe?' Soon the Buddha rubbed his crown and drew forth a kāṣāya to drape over him. On another day while reciting the Buddha's name, he further saw himself entering a seven-jeweled pond, where the lotus blossoms were blue and white and the water was crystal clear. A person with a round halo around his neck and a sauvastika on his chest (the sauvastika, pronounced *wàn*, is the sign of the Buddha possessing ten thousand virtues) pointed to the pond water and said, 'This is the water of eight virtues; you may drink it.' Chengzhi drank the water and found it sweet and delicious. When he awoke, he still felt an extraordinary fragrance issuing from his pores. He consoled himself, saying, 'My conditions for the Pure Land have arrived.' He further requested monks to chant the *Lotus Sūtra* nearly several hundred times. Later, when all the monks of Mount Lu gathered, Chengzhi burnt incense before the icon, bowed twice, and prayed: 'Because of Śākyamuni's bequeathed teachings, I know there is Amitābha Buddha. This incense should first be offered to Śākyamuni Tathāgata, next to Amitābha Buddha, and next to the *Sublime Lotus Sūtra*. That I am able to attain birth in the Pure Land is due to the merits of this sūtra. May all sentient beings be born together in the Pure Land.' Thereupon he took his leave of the assembly, lay on his bed facing west, joined his palms, and stopped breathing. He ordered his son Yong to heap earth for a mound and not to use inner or outer coffins. It was then the sixth year of Yixi; he was fifty-nine years of age (the *Lushan ji* records the miraculous responses in great detail).