[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [佛祖統紀](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2035) › 9.56 # 佛祖統紀 9.56 佛祖統紀 9.56 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [9.56](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2035.9.56) 徐陵。字孝穆。東剡人。母臧氏。夢五色雲化為鳳集左肩上已而誕。陵年數歲。家人携以侯沙門。寶誌摩其頂曰。天上石麒麟也。光宅雲法師見陵歎曰。顏回之儔也。八歲善屬文。少仕於梁。陳大建中。官至尚書左僕射。嘗夢其先人曰。禪師是吾夙世宗範。汝宜一志事之。陵奉冥訓資敬盡節。參不失時拜不避濕。每蒙書疏則洗手焚香。冠帶三禮。屏氣啟封對文伏讀。儀同沈君理請開法華。陵預聽席。以為餘年得逢妙說。致書自慶。後對大師立疏發五願云。弟子思出樊籠。無由羽化。既善根微弱。冀願力莊嚴。一願臨終正念成就。二願不更三塗。三願不高不下處託生。四願童真出家如法奉戒。五願不墮流俗之僧。憑此誓心以策西暮（二書見百錄）陵後身果為法華第六祖嗣章安之位。陳後主在東宮。召陵講大品。義學名僧自遠雲集。陳既破。嘗隨智者研精法要。晉王求淨名義疏。大師續為撰成二十八卷。陵與柳顧言並應奉文義。 > Xu Ling, courtesy name Xiaomu, was a native of Dongshan. His mother, of the Zang clan, dreamed of five-colored clouds transforming into a phoenix that alighted upon her left shoulder, and soon after gave birth to him. When Ling was several years old, his family brought him to visit the śramaṇa Baozhi, who patted the crown of his head and said, 'He is a stone qilin from Heaven!' Dharma Master Yun of Guangzhai saw Ling and sighed in praise, saying, 'He is of the kind of Yan Hui!' At eight years of age, he was skilled in literary composition. In his youth, he served in office under the Liang. During the Dajian era of the Chen, he rose in office to Left Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs. He once dreamed that his deceased father told him, 'The Dhyāna Master is my model of ancestral reverence from past lifetimes. You should serve him single-mindedly.' Ling upheld this instruction from the unseen realm, offering respect and exhausting his fidelity; his visits never missed the proper time, and he did not shun the damp when prostrating. Whenever he received a letter or writing \[from the master\], he would wash his hands, burn incense, put on his cap and sash, make three prostrations, hold his breath, open the seal, and read it prostrate before the text. When Equal to the Three Excellencies Shen Junli requested the expounding of the Lotus, Ling was present in the audience. Believing that in his remaining years he had encountered this wondrous exposition, he sent a letter congratulating himself. Later, before the Great Master, he drew up a petition and made five vows, saying: 'This disciple longs to escape the cage, yet has no wings to ascend. Since my roots of goodness are weak and faint, I hope to adorn them through the power of vows. First, I vow that at the point of death, right mindfulness will be perfected. Second, I vow never again to pass through the three wretched destinies. Third, I vow to take rebirth in a station neither too high nor too low. Fourth, I vow to leave home while still in pure youth and uphold the precepts according to the Dharma. Fifth, I vow not to fall into the ranks of vulgar, worldly monks. Relying on this resolute mind of vow, I spur myself on toward the sunset of my life.' (Both letters appear in the Bailu.) In his next rebirth, Ling indeed became the sixth patriarch of the Lotus \[lineage\], succeeding to Zhang'an's seat. When the Last Ruler of the Chen was in the Eastern Palace, he summoned Ling to lecture on the Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra, and eminent monks versed in doctrine gathered like clouds from afar. After the Chen fell, he accompanied Zhiyi in investigating the essentials of the Dharma with precision. When the Prince of Jin requested a commentary on the Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa, the Great Master subsequently composed it in twenty-eight fascicles; both Ling and Liu Guyan attended to the text and doctrinal meaning. > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 9.55](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2035.9.55) - [Next: 9.57](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2035.9.57) - [Up: 9](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2035.9) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2035~en-mt.9.56) — English, machine translation ## Linked texts (2) - [國清百錄](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1934.2.26) — Classical Chinese - [樂邦遺稿](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1969b.1.109) — Classical Chinese --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2035.9.56](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2035.9.56) · Pramāṇa