佛祖統紀 9.31

9.31

禪師大志。會稽顧氏。依智者出家。以其志趣高放。為立此名。每誦法華音聲清轉聽者忘疲。既獲聞禪要。乃於廬山甘露峯行杜多行。投身猛虎虎輒避去。山粒或絕終日忘餐。或得餅果繼命而已。如是七載。禪誦不休。晚住福林。會大業中屏除佛教。師素服哭於佛像前者三日。誓舍身申明正道。遂往東都上表曰。願陛下興隆三寶。貧道當然臂報國。上許之。遂集七眾設大齋。絕糧三日。升大棚。布裹其臂。灌蠟作炬。度火然之。光耀巖坰。見者莫不心痛。師面色不變。讚佛誦經為眾說法。聲未嘗絕燒畢下棚。入定七日跏趺而終。撰願文七十紙。廬山諸寺。除夜眾集。讀誦此文。為之酸結。

Chan Master Dazhi was of the Gu clan from Kuaiji. He left home under Zhiyi; because his aspirations were noble and untrammeled, Zhiyi gave him this name. Whenever he recited the Lotus Sūtra, his voice was clear and melodious, making listeners forget their fatigue. Having received the essentials of Chan, he practiced dhūta austerities on Ganlu Peak of Mount Lu. When he threw himself before fierce tigers, the tigers always avoided him and left. When mountain grains occasionally ran out, he would forget food all day long, or just sustain his life with a little cake and fruit. For seven years like this, his meditation and recitation never ceased. In his later years, he dwelled at Fulin. When it happened during the Daye era that Buddhism was being suppressed, the Master dressed in plain white mourning clothes and wept before the Buddha's image for three days, vowing to sacrifice his body to clarify the true path. He then went to the Eastern Capital and submitted a memorial saying, 'I pray Your Majesty will make the Three Jewels flourish; this poor monk will surely burn his arm to repay the state.' The emperor granted permission. Thereupon he gathered the sevenfold assembly and held a great vegetarian feast. Having fasted from grain for three days, he mounted a high scaffold, wrapped his arm in cloth, poured wax over it to make a torch, and lit it with fire. The radiance illuminated the cliffs and wilderness; none who saw it were not heartbroken. The Master's countenance remained unchanged; praising the Buddha, chanting sūtras, and expounding the Dharma for the assembly, his voice never ceased. When the burning was finished, he descended from the scaffold, entered absorption for seven days, and passed away sitting cross-legged. He composed seventy sheets of vow texts; on New Year's Eve, when the assemblies gathered at the various monasteries of Mount Lu, they recited this text and were choked with grief.