佛祖統紀 11.34

11.34

Dharma Master Ruoyu was a native of Haiyan, of the Ma family, and bestowed with the name Fajian. He studied the doctrine under Biancai, and was reputed to have matured early. The commandery invited him to head Xingjiao Monastery at Nanping, but he did not accept. Serving Biancai's staff and shoes, he lived in retirement at Longjing for six years. Later, at Xiantan in Huzhou, he built a communal hall for hospitality, erected a large pavilion, made images of the Western [Paradise], and gathered Dharma companions to recite the Buddha’s name, often amounting to several hundred people. Over thirty years, many who participated in the assemblies were graced with the auspicious sign of the Buddha receiving them. In the ninth month of the bingwu year of Jingkang [1126], he said to his disciples: “In a dream a spirit told me: ‘Your fellow student Zezhang has attained the Samādhi of Samantabhadra's Conduct and Vows and has already been reborn in the Pure Land. He is waiting for you there; how can you linger?’ ” He then ordered the assembly to recite the Contemplation Sūtra; just as they finished, he said: “The holy appearance has manifested before me; I shall go!” He then left a verse saying: “In the sky, a netted canopy of a thousand flowers; / In a dream, the seven-jeweled lotus pond. / Treading securely upon the path of returning west, / There is not a single speck of doubt remaining.” Cremation yielded several hundred relics, which were enshrined in a stūpa in the eastern corridor. When he first entered the Way, he dreamed of a woman in white who gave him seventy-two divining sticks; later his life span indeed matched that number. (Below this, the basic annals omitted one person: Rūgao was after Zilin.)