佛祖統紀 13

English (machine translation) 13

Language: English

13.1

Composed by Śramaṇa Zhipan of Donghu in Siming during the Jingding era of the Song

13.3

Dharma Heirs of Dharma Master Guangzhi (Second Generation)

Dharma Master Shenzhi Jianwen
Dharma Master Fuzong Jizhong
Dharma Master Chaoguo Weizhan
Dharma Master Siming Ruji
Dharma Master Jingshe Quanjiao
Dharma Master Kuocang Yixun
Dharma Master Siming Yungong
Dharma Master Jinwen Chongxiao
Dharma Master Fachang Bencheng
Dharma Master Shaoliang of Japan

13.5

Dharma Heirs of Dharma Master Shenzhao (Second Generation)

13.6

Dharma Master Fazhen Chuxian
Dharma Master Shenwu Chuqian
Dharma Master Zha'an Youyan
Dharma Master Nengren Fabao
Dharma Master Tiantai Baoxian
Dharma Master Chengtian Huaiya
Dharma Master Chengtian Yuancao
Dharma Master Qiantang Yiquan
Upāsaka Tiantai Zuoshen

13.7

Dharma Heirs of Dharma Master Nanping (Second Generation)

13.8

Dharma Master Cibian Congjian
Dharma Master Qunfeng Taichu
Dharma Master Fazhao Yongwen
Dharma Master Chaoguo Huixian
Dharma Master Fahui Zongzheng
Dharma Master Dong'an Jingchu
Dharma Master Nanping Lingwan
Dharma Master Dongwu Wenxu
Dharma Master Qiantang Ruxun

13.9

Dharma Heirs of Dharma Master Sanxue

13.10

Dharma Master Sanxue Ruoshui

13.11

Dharma Heirs of Dharma Master Fushi

13.12

Dharma Master Jingyun Wenqi
Dharma Master Tianzhu Shouzi
Dharma Master Fushi Huaiyue
Dharma Master Wunü Ridong

13.13

Dharma Heirs of Dharma Master Guangci

13.14

Dharma Master Miaowu Xizui
Dharma Master Repentance Master Fazong
Dharma Master Miaoguo Ziliang
Dharma Master Yuqing Sibian
Dharma Master Fushi Weiqing
Dharma Master Longquan Tanyi
Dharma Master Leifeng Jiezhu

13.15

Dharma Heirs of Dharma Master Guangzhi (Second Generation)

13.16

Dharma Master Jianwen was a native of Siming. He was bestowed the title Shenzhi ('Divine Wisdom'). He was the foremost of Guangzhi's Dharma heirs. Succeeding to the seat at Nanhu, he extensively propagated the teachings of his patriarchal predecessors. He once said, 'It is through Śākyamuni Buddha that I was able to leave home and hear the Way. It is through Great Master Zhizhe that I was able to rely on a master and study the doctrine.' Thereupon, his daily practice consisted of reciting the names of the Buddhas and patriarchs a thousand times, and prostrating a thousand times at night, using this to repay their kindness. He never abandoned this due to mundane affairs.

13.17

Dharma Master Jizhong's courtesy name was Fachen. He belonged to the Qiu clan of Yongjia. His parents prayed for an heir at a Buddhist shrine, and both dreamed of a monk presenting them with a fine son, saying, 'The Venerable of Luoxi entrusts him to you to rear.' As soon as his mother became pregnant, she felt an aversion to meat and blood. From childhood, whenever he saw a Buddha image, he unfailingly paid reverent homage. At the age of eight, he entered Kaiyuan [Monastery], and was ordained through imperial favor. He immediately went to Nanhu to study under Guangzhi. Suffering from illness due to hard toil, he practiced the Invocation of Guanyin Samādhi. Receiving the Great Being's radiance and anointing of his crown with water, his illness was cured at once. Soon afterwards, he had a penetrating awakening to the doctrine and contemplation without any obstruction. Guangzhi held him in high esteem and frequently had him lecture in his place. Chan Master Xuedou Xian saw him and sighed with praise, saying, 'The Way of Siming has indeed found a successor!' The gentry and commoners of Yongjia invited him to reside in the eastern pavilion of Kaiyuan. He then moved to Miaoguo and Hui'an, and later retired in seclusion to Jiangxin to investigate the subtleties of meditative contemplation. Coming forth, he presided over Faming at West Lake, where students gathered in great numbers. When someone wished to renovate and enlarge his residence, the master said, 'The donor is just now receiving his merit; how could I bear to tear it down?' Every year on the eighth day of the first month, he conferred the bodhisattva precepts and performed the release of living beings in the commandery; the gentry and commoners who gathered often numbered in the tens of thousands. He would always make a vow to the assembly, saying, 'May all who enter my bodhimaṇḍa and take refuge in the Three Jewels, even if they have not yet attained the Way, not lose human rebirth life after life, leave home with right view to seek the unsurpassed Way, and practice the Lotus, Golden Light, Amitābha, and Guanyin samādhis without passing a single day in vain.' When he recited dhāraṇīs to cure ailments, the divine efficacy was unfathomable. Whenever he walked into the marketplace, those seated stood up, and those walking yielded the path, raising their heads in deep reverence and hailing him as the Precept Master. On the eighth day of the tenth month in the fifth year of Yuanfeng, he bathed, changed his robes, assembled the congregation to preach the Dharma, formed a mudrā, and passed away seated. People saw a red radiance illuminating the open sky. Quanjiao of the Pure Society dreamed of a warrior in golden armor who told him, 'Tonight a man of the Way enters extinction.' Ximiao of Qing'en dreamed of a divine being who told him, 'Dharma Master Zhong has already been born in Tuṣita.' The master had long practiced the distribution of food [to spirits]; though someone continued it afterwards, birds chirped mournfully and did not descend for three days. He was buried at Mount Ruilu. Those who received his Dharma numbered up to a hundred. He composed the *Fuzong ji* (Collection for Supporting the Tradition) in fifty fascicles, compiled the *Shijian* (Ten Remonstrances), *Zhimi* (Pointing out Delusion), *Juemo* (Removing the Cataract), *Shimen xinan* (Resolving Difficulties in Ten Sections), and the *Shiyi shu* (Book on the Ten Meanings), so as to illustrate that Siming alone obtained the orthodoxy of the patriarchal way. As for the recorded *Kouyi* (Oral Meanings of the Two Masters), later people found it somewhat redundant and mixed.

13.18

Dharma Master Weizhan belonged to the Song clan of Yiwu. His parents encountered an extraordinary monk who said to them, 'You shall bear six sons; the fifth should be allowed to leave home.' Later he entered the Way at Shuanglin and was ordained through imperial favor. He first visited Shenzhao, and not long after went to rely on Guangzhi. He once addressed Zhi, saying, 'What the Great Master has taught, I do not doubt. But as for the purport of the perfectly sudden and absolute, one must realize it oneself.' Later, under Guangzhi's words, he suddenly attained awakening. When he debated with eminent contemporaries, none failed to yield to him in admiration. He first lectured at Chaoguo in Yunjian, broadly spreading the path of transformation. That the Tiantai school flourished in the Three Wu regions began with the master. On the eighth day of the third month in the sixth year of Xining, he established an assembly for the *Golden Light [Sūtra]*. Suddenly he addressed the assembly, saying, 'My karmic conditions of retribution end here.' He then brought up the bequeathed teachings of the *Nirvāṇa [Sūtra]*, earnestly entreating them, sat cross-legged, and passed away. During the cremation, relics sparkled brightly; a stūpa was erected for them at Mount Xiyu. Ruoyuan of Haihui was the foremost of his disciples.

13.19

Dharma Master Ruji was a native of Siming. (Preface 6 to the *Oral Meanings of the Two Masters*.) He studied under Guangzhi and grasped his purport. Seeing that the collections compiled by predecessors lacked order from the start, he consulted the texts of the Three Major Works, abridged them, and arranged them into categories to circulate in the world. He once commented on the *Jinbei* (*Golden Scraper*); his words were concise and his meanings correct, so scholars took him as an authority. He resided at Yinguo in Qiantang.

13.20

Dharma Master Chongxiao studied under Guangzhi for a long time and was acclaimed as embodying his teachings. Early in the Kaibao era (under Taizu),

13.21

Dharma Master Quanxiao dwelt in the mountains of Damei. King Zhongyi of Wuyue revered his virtue and bestowed treasury gold to rebuild it into a cloister, along with a canon of scriptures. When the cloister was completed, it was named Jinwen. After Xiao passed away, his senior disciple Zhenghe succeeded him, and Xiao was the successor of He. Considering the dwelling somewhat cramped, the master, together with his disciples, moved and built beneath the Baiyan Peak, broadly opening the way of Guangzhi. In the fourth year of Shiping, it was reported to the court, and it was bestowed the plaque Huizhao. (Guo Ji wrote the record, and Guangzhi erected the stone tablet.)

13.22

Dharma Master Bencheng was a native of Fenghua in Siming. He relied on Nanhu to study under Guangzhi. His aspiration favored quiet retreat, so he lived at leisure in Fachang. Advancing in both meditation and recitation, people admired his hidden virtue. The cloister director rebuilt various halls, but could not complete them for a long time. The master sighed and vowed, 'In the past, Zhizhe built thirty-six monasteries and eighty-thousand images. Today, how could our assembly fail to accomplish a single monastery?' He immediately led like-minded companions, converted the townspeople, and obtained two million coins. Joining forces to construct it, the hall and the statues were both completed. Yu Chong, Gentleman of the Editorial Service, composed a record for it, stating that the master had realized the meaning of 'flamboyantly establishing [things] within ultimate emptiness.'

13.23

Dharma Heirs of Dharma Master Shenzhao (Second generation under Shenzhao)

13.24

Dharma Master Chuxian belonged to the Wang clan of Tiantai. His mother dreamed of white clouds coming from the western sky into the room and transforming into a white horse, whereupon she became pregnant. At the age of seven, he entered Guoqing [Monastery] to rely on a master. At fourteen, he received the full precepts, and sighed, saying, 'The Buddha Dharma is vast and grand. If one does not study with vigor, how can one see the Way?' He then went to Tianfeng to read the Tripiṭaka, completing it in three years. When he visited Shenzhao, he deeply understood the doctrinal purport. Courteously silent and humble, none could fathom him. Shenzhao once claimed illness and commanded the master to lecture in his stead; as soon as the assembly heard him, they all submitted in mind and bearing. He first resided at Chongshan in Chicheng. Li Tingzhi of Gusu, who was about to govern Taizhou, dreamed of a divine being saying, 'When you oversee Tiantai, beneath the Terrace of the Fifth Patriarch there is a dragon-head nine-nine; you, Venerable, should visit him.' Arriving at the commandery, he inquired about it, but none knew the meaning. Chen Bai, a scholar from Min, understood and said, 'The Fifth Patriarch of Tiantai formerly resided at Chicheng. Now Master Xian resides there, and was born on the ninth day of the ninth month in the bingchen year. Does that not refer to the dragon-head nine-nine?' Tingzhi was astonished and immediately went to visit him. The master conversed with him on the supramundane Way, deeply striking a chord. Because the monastery halls were cramped and lowly, they planned to move it. Tingzhi was the first to donate gold and silk, and they divined a site in the southeast. On the day of breaking ground, a bronze chiming stone was discovered in the earth. Junior Preceptor Lord Li revered him especially, invited him to preside over Bailian, and petitioned to bestow upon him the title Fazhen ('Dharma Truth'). He resided on the mountain for fifty years, and those who came to his gate to receive the Way numbered in the tens of thousands. In the first month of the first year of Yuanyou, the Dharma drum did not sound when struck for seven days. In the seventh month, he informed the assembly, 'On the twenty-third day, I shall depart.' He humbly distributed his robes and bowls and treated the assembly to a meal as farewell. He admonished his attendant, 'When the morning bell rings, you must notify me.' When the time came, he slowly arose, sat cross-legged, and peacefully transformed. He composed the *Sanhuilun* (Treatise on the Threefold Wisdom), *Guangming shiyuan wang* (Ten Vow Kings of the Golden Light), and a sequel to Shenzhao's commentary on the ritual procedures, which circulated in the world.

13.25

Dharma Master Chuqian belonged to the Pan clan of Yongjia. His mother was moved by a dream of an auspicious cloud entering her bosom, becoming pregnant and giving birth after three years. At the age of nine, he left home under Qineng of Changning. During the reign of Zhangsheng, he was ordained through imperial favor. (In the first year of Xiangfu of Zhenzong, when the Mount Tai sacrifice was performed, an edict ordered monasteries and abbeys throughout the realm to ordain one person each.) He then went to study at Tianzhu. Ciyun marveled at him, saying, 'This is one capable of being a pillar of our Way.' He also visited Shenzhao and greatly clarified the purport of the perfect and sudden. He burned three fingers as an offering to the Buddhas and patriarchs, praying for wondrous awakening. Before long, he was elevated to the first seat. Shenzhao handed him a set of the *Zhiguan* (*Calming and Contemplation*), saying, 'You shall erect the great banner of the Dharma; I only regret that I will not see it.' Afterward, he returned to his home district to succeed to Master Neng's seat. He relocated to Ciyun, Miaoguo, and Chicheng, and his propagation of the Way became ever more flourishing. Junior Preceptor Li Duanque invited him to preside over Bailian. The Prince of Beihai Commandery petitioned for the title Shenwu ('Divine Awakening') for him. Prime Minister Wang Anshi and the court worthies of the time vied with one another to compose songs and poems praising his virtue. During a great drought in the commandery, the master was invited to pray for rain. The master arrived at the Dragon Pool and addressed it, saying, 'You received the entrustment of Great Master Zhizhe: when encountering a drought, you should bestow sweet moisture; why do you not remember?' Suddenly a gale and dark clouds arose from the pool, and torrential rain poured down. After seventeen years, as he was about to return to Yongjia, the commandery prefect, gentry, and commoners firmly detained him to expound the teachings. Thereupon, he lectured on the *Shorter Prajñā[pāramitā]* at the Huilin Vihāra on Mount Jinzi. Later, Patriarch Wuze of Hangzhou invited him to Baoge, Zhao Xian invited him to Jingzhu, Academician of the Hanlin Academy Yang Hui invited him to Nanping, and Secretariat Drafter Chen of the Purple Secretariat invited him to Tianzhu. Ten times he presided over bodhimaṇḍas over forty years, lecturing and chanting untiringly. Three thousand people came to his gate, and thirty received the Dharma. On the bingyin day in the fourth month of the yimao year of Xining, he arose in the morning, bathed, changed his robes, and assembled the congregation to chant the *Fahua sanmei xingfa* and the *Amitābha Sūtra*. He then said, 'I have attained the daily functioning of non-arising for a long time; now through non-arising I am born in the Pure Land.' He immediately entered samādhi and passed away peacefully. His intact body was entombed in a stūpa to the right of Nanping. His disciple Liangbi requested Yang Jie of Wuwei to compose an inscription for his stūpa, which read: The master once explained the *Ten Non-Dual Gates*, entitling it *Xianmiao* ('Revealing the Wondrous'). Regarding the non-duality of form and mind, it says: 'Differentiating form and mind is duality within non-duality, which is the realm of delusion. Their essence being one is non-duality within duality, which is the gate of the wondrous.' Thus, through the general and specific, he eliminated the characteristics of duality and non-duality across the ten gates, making the coarse and the wondrous evident and the purport of the gates unobstructed. From this, one knows that the non-dual gate of the wondrous object lies within a single thought of form and mind. Attaining this gate, the precious vehicle is mounted, and the bodhimaṇḍa can be reached.

13.26

Dharma Master Youyan was surnamed Hu and hailed from Linhai in Taizhou. When his mother was about to conceive him, she fell prostrate in severe pain. Her elder brother, the śramaṇa Zongben, said, “This must signify something extraordinary. If a boy is born, he must leave home [as a monk].” Hearing this, his mother joined her palms in agreement, whereupon the pain immediately ceased. Indeed, a boy was born. At the age of six, he took refuge at Lingjiu to study under a master. At fourteen, he received the full precepts. Upon reading the Xinfu (Mind-Poem) of Dhyāna Master [Yongming Yan]shou, he had an awakening. He immediately went to Dongshan to study the path of the threefold contemplation in one mind and the practice of the Lotus Samādhi under Shenzhao; there was nothing he did not divinely comprehend and personally practice. At that time, Fazhen lived together in the assembly and told him, “Though you have emerged late, you will become a vessel of great distinction.” Once, when reading Zhiguan up to the inconceivable realm, [Youyan] stated, “The ten thousand dharmas are solely the one mind; outside the mind there is not a single dharma. Mind and dharmas are unattainable; hence it is named the wondrous three thousand.” Fazhen praised and admired him all the more. He initially presided over Wuxiang and Huiyin. When Fazhen moved from Chicheng to Dongye, he recommended the Master to succeed him. [The Master] often remarked that because the Buddha is long gone, people are deluded about their own nature; whenever he expounded, he invariably pointed directly to the one mind to make it easy to grasp, so that listeners were all able to attain entry. During the Shaosheng reign period, the commandery requested him to preside over Dongye. The Master said, “Before the Great Master Zhi[yi] reached the age of fifty, he had already dispersed his disciples. I am already old; how could I endure this?” Ultimately, he did not accept. He lived in reclusion on the eastern peak of his native mountain, building a hut beside a hawthorn tree, and thus named himself Zha'an (Hawthorn Hermitage; in his collected writings there is the Record of Zha'an, whose prose and principles are exceedingly wondrous). He kept only a single bowl and possessed no superfluous goods, gathering firewood and drawing water with his own hands, eating only the three white foods. For twenty years, he guarded the light and heavy articles of the Vinaya with equal care, dedicated exclusively to the pure karma [of Pure Land], taking the Land of Peace and Sustenance (Sukhāvatī) as his homeland. He composed eight poems on longing for the Pure Land; their diction and sentiments were deeply moving, and many took joy in reciting them. The samādhis he regularly practiced frequently obtained auspicious responses: he gave food to ghosts and spirits to dispel illnesses and repel baneful influences, and expelled snakes and ants and prayed to avert floods and droughts—whenever he performed recitations, responses came like echoes in a valley. When his mother suffered from eye disease, the Master faced Avalokiteśvara and visualized the sun-essence maṇi hand; his mother promptly dreamed that the Master held the sun before her, and upon waking her eyes were clear. In the first month of summer in the first year of the Jianzhong Jingguo reign period, while in meditative absorption, he saw a heavenly deity announce, “Master, your pure karma is accomplished.” He also dreamed of a great lotus flower growing in a pond, with heavenly music arranged on all four sides. He then composed a poem on bidding farewell and returning to the Pure Land. Seven days later, he passed away sitting cross-legged. He was stupaed in an earthenware vessel to the north of the hermitage. A light appeared over the stupa like the moon, vanishing only after three nights. The Master had an exhaustive mastery of the Tripiṭaka and was thoroughly versed in secular books and histories. He annotated the Chapter on Peaceful and Joyful Practices and Emptiness, wrote commentaries on the Faxiyin jing, the Xuanqian beijian, the Wenju jiannan, the Zhiguan zhulan, and the Amituo liwen, and compiled a volume titled Huodui (Dialogues of Queries), which debated the ancient and the modern, serving as an essential work on these matters.

13.27

Zuo Shen was a native of Linhai. He received the Bodhisattva Precepts from Shenzhao of Dongye, who expounded to him the essentials of the Great Vehicle teachings; [Zuo Shen] was suddenly awakened as if from past habitual practice. In front of the assembly, Shenzhao patted his crown and bestowed a prediction. From then on, he strictly observed the monastic precepts and never compromised his integrity when confronting worldly matters. He carved statues of the Three Holy Ones of the Western Realm, reverently serving them morning and night, and recited the Lotus Sūtra 3,400 times and the Diamond Prajñā Sūtra 20,000 times. In the autumn of the second year of the Shaosheng reign period, he fell ill and took to his bed. He instructed the monk Jingyuan to chant the title of the Lotus Sūtra and re-received the Bodhisattva Precepts. Soon he dreamed of three stately figures standing on a riverbank summoning him to board a boat, which swiftly glided westward. Shen knew his departure was imminent, so he requested monks to recite the Amitābha Sūtra. Before they had finished, he said, “I have already seen the Buddha's light.” He then bathed, changed his clothes, warned those around him not to weep or crowd before him, chanted the Buddha's name, formed a mudrā, and passed away.

13.28

Dharma Heirs of Dharma Master Nanping (Second Generation under Nanping)

13.29

Dharma Master Congjian was surnamed Mao and hailed from Songyang in Chuzhou. When he was young, whenever he saw Buddhist scriptures, he was spontaneously able to recite them. His father said, “He is a person from a previous rebirth.” At the age of nineteen, he was tested on the Lotus Sūtra and obtained ordination. He immediately went to pay respects to [Dharma Master] Biancai of Shangzhu, listening and studying day and night. He then went to rely upon Nanping at Jinshan, where his questions and debates flowed like water. Nanping praised him, saying, “My path shall be carried forward by you!” During the Xining reign period, he expounded the teachings at Mingqing, and his assembly grew increasingly numerous; he then moved to Jingzhu. At the beginning of the Yuanfeng reign period, people of Chuzhou built the Shousheng Monastery and welcomed him to dwell there. Three years later, when Biancai presided over Nanping, feeling aged, he humbled himself and invited the Master to lead the assembly, and the following year recommended him to succeed himself. In the fifth year of the Yuanyou reign period, the abbot's seat at Shangzhu fell vacant; Biancai instructed the commandery governor Pu Zongmeng, “This site of spiritual efficacy and supreme traces cannot be filled by anyone other than Congjian.” The commandery followed his advice and memorialized the throne to bestow upon him the honorific title Cibian (Compassionate Eloquence). The Supreme Patriarch Ŭich'ŏn (Yitian) came from Goryeo to seek the Dharma, and the commandery appointed the Master to respond to the request. Ŭich'ŏn admired the Dharma and lingered in the Central Kingdom, but the imperial court, because his mother longed for him, urged him to return. The Master admonished him, “The eminent monk Daoji carried sūtras on his travels for study, and because he could not abandon his mother, he carried both together on his shoulders, saying that neither the scriptures nor his mother could be turned away from. Now, Supreme Patriarch, you are far worthier than Daoji; how could you turn away from your mother for the sake of scriptures and cause her to worry and pine?” Ŭich'ŏn then resolved to return, requesting the censer, fly-whisk, and transmission robe. He went to the stupa of Zhiyi and made a vow, saying, “Having received the teachings and contemplations of Dharma Master Cibian, I will return to my homeland to circulate them; I pray for your unseen protection.” After returning, he established a temple, erected an image, and venerated [the Master] as the founding patriarch. In the second year of the Daguan reign period, [the Master] took leave to return to the school at Shousheng. Chexi Puming and nine others went to pay respects and inquire after the Master. The Master said, “You have traveled far to arrive here, but we will not meet again in the future. Why should an old monk not leave while the spirit moves him?” Thereupon, he bathed, changed his clothes, ascended the seat, preached the Dharma, wrote a verse, and passed away sitting peacefully. His whole body was buried at his tonsure monastery.

13.30

Dharma Master Huixian was an early and eminent disciple of Nanping. Initially he propagated the teachings at Chaoguo in Huating, where students gathered like a market. Whenever he was about to travel to teach in other districts, he would invariably find a mature assistant lecturer. He then struck the drum to assemble the community. That person answered before the assembly, “If I am truly to lecture on behalf of the venerable master, I must be permitted to refute all the principles you have expounded.” The Master said joyfully, “How fortunate that through refutation, the ancestral path may be illuminated!”

13.31

The commentary states: Nanping met Fazhi late in life, and the doctrines he established were sometimes contrary to [Fazhi’s]. As for what Master Xian taught, it was not accepted by his assistant lecturer. I suspect that this Master solely adhered to Nanping's words, which was why the assistant lecturer was able to refute them. Yet the world has never heard of his name; he may well be called a man of resolute character! For the Master joyfully permitted his refutation without taking offense—was he not truly worthy?

13.32

Dharma Heirs of Dharma Master Sanxue

13.33

Dharma Master Ruoshui was a native of Sanqu. Having long relied on Sanxue, he was known for his accomplishments. Desiring to engage in broad inquiries, he changed his name to Ruoshui, outwardly appearing as an unlearned novice while traveling everywhere. At first he dwelt at Chongfu on Mount Tianzhu, lecturing and expounding without weariness. He recited secret mantras with divine efficacy. As the anniversary of the patriarch's death approached, he instructed the cook to prepare bamboo shoots. The cook replied that they were out of season. At dusk, the Master spat bowl-water over the rear garden; during the night, crackling sounds were heard. The next morning, when they went to look, bamboo shoots were densely covering the ground. When the common people reported illnesses, he enchanted water with mantras and gave it to them to drink; those who were healed were beyond count.

13.34

Dharma Heirs of Dharma Master Fushi

13.35

Dharma Master Wenqi was a native of Jinhua. He studied the teachings under Fushi and became an accomplished talent. At the beginning of the Zhiping reign period, he repaired the old Jingyun Monastery north of the city to open a lecture hall. During a great summer drought, he daily expounded the Suvarṇaprabhāsa (Golden Light) Sūtra, reverently beseeching the devas; soon, sweet rain fell everywhere in abundance. The commandery governor, Lu Ge, memorialized the court to grant that site perpetual status as a place for the Tiantai propagation of teachings, and bestowed upon the Master the title Fayun (Dharma Cloud). He once fashioned images of the Nine Patriarchs, which were exceedingly exquisite and ornate. That the teachings and practices of Dongyang flourished was due to the Master's efforts. He had seventy-two disciples. Great Master Panyue Shansong presided over Cijue and transformed the entire area; Jushi presided over Jingde and was praised as a “tiger's cub.”

13.36

Dharma Heirs of Dharma Master Guangci

13.37

Dharma Master Xizui was surnamed Shi and hailed from Zhachuan. He was bestowed the title Miaowu (Wondrous Awakening). He left home at the age of four and obtained ordination through the imperial grace of the Tianxi reign period. At fifteen, he received the teachings and contemplations from Guangci; his fellow disciples both held him in awe and loved him, calling him the “Tiger of Doctrine.” During the Zhiping reign period, he first delivered lectures at Jiahe and Longping, and subsequently relocated to Shengguo. There was an empty chamber where a malevolent spirit dwelt; the Master enchanted earth with mantras and threw it in, retrieving a strip of paper on which was written: “Now driven away by the Dharma, when the Dharma’s power wanes I shall return here.” For several days, objects were struck, fires flared up, and a hundred varieties of strange occurrences arose. The Master scolded it, saying, “Have you not heard that whoever disturbs a Dharma Master will have their head split into seven pieces?” He then broadly expounded the causes and conditions of transmigration for it, while the assembly of monks chanted mantras to shatter its obstructions. Suddenly, with a loud roar in mid-air, a note written in vermilion was cast down, stating: “Shen Guang, a resolute warrior of the Han dynasty, deeply repents his faults,” and further stating that by virtue of the Master's preaching of the Dharma, he would be reborn in the Paranirmitavaśavartin Heaven. From then on, the hauntings ceased entirely. Because Jingjue had rebelled against the orthodox lineage, the Master presented the Ten Letters of Admonition. Fazhi composed the Jiebang (Dispelling Slander), to which Jingjue replied with the Xuebang (Clearing Away Slander). At that time, Fazhi was ill and did not reply again. Jingjue, residing at Lingzhi, boasted to the crowd, “Merely because I have driven the Master of Siming into a corner, who at Lingzhi dares open his mouth?” The Master was indignant, so he composed the Pingbang (Critique of the Slander) to refute him thoroughly. Its general outline stated: “Recently I examined the grand composition Clearing Away Slander, which claims to rescue the twofold body of birth and Dharma and clear away the two slanders of increase and decrease. However, while this book appears passable at first glance, upon closer examination it is flawed. Although the Dispelling Slander is already brilliant, the Clearing Away Slander remains frozen in stubborn clinging. Now, relying on the authoritative words of our Patriarch, I critique the Ācārya’s erroneous interpretations.” When Jingjue saw it, he remarked, “Can it be that the doctrines of Siming will ultimately prevail?” In the autumn of the gengwu year of the Yuanyou reign period, he assembled the community, wrote a verse, and passed away sitting peacefully. On the day of cremation, several hundred relics were obtained.

13.38

The commentary states: Jingjue had repeatedly composed treatises to refute his master, and when the Xuebang appeared, Fazhi was already ill and no longer debated. Thereupon, Jingjue considered himself victorious, without any dread or scruple. Had it not been for Miaowu, who could have critiqued him? In reviving the lineage of Siming so that future generations might place their faith in it, Miaowu's merit was the greatest.

13.39

Dharma Master Fazong was surnamed Yan and hailed from Qiantang. At ten, he took Guangci as his master, and at twelve, he received the full precepts, focusing exclusively on studying the teachings and contemplations. At nineteen, he went to follow Guanghui. He diligently served his first master for ten years; when Guangci retired to live in leisure, the Master returned to attend to him day and night, receiving his Dharma instruction in person. Relying on Zhiguan, he cultivated the Great Compassion Samādhi continuously for nine years; people regarded him as the “Penitence Master.” Whenever he prayed for matters or interceded for illness, he obtained sacred responses in every case. He established a Pure Land bodhimaṇḍa, carved statues of the Three Holy Ones of the Western Realm, and burned five of his fingers in offering to the Buddha. Each month, he gathered forty-eight people to cultivate the pure karma together; famous officials and worthy scholars frequently joined the assembly. In the spring of the dingyou year of the Zhenghe reign period, he suffered a slight illness and dreamed that the holy assembly of Amitābha reached out their hands to welcome and lead him. Three days later, he bathed his body, changed his clothes, rinsed his mouth, sat cross-legged, and suddenly passed away. The Master had previously heard of the supreme causes of the Tianzhu Golden Light Repentance period and participated in the joint cultivation. On the fifth day, in his meditative contemplation, he saw Dharma Master Ciyun attended by several tens of monks. The Master bowed and asked, “Have those who cultivated together in the past all attained rebirth?” Ciyun said, “Yuanzhao of later times has already attained rebirth. Zeying still wishes to propagate sūtras in the three lower destinies (later Master Ying indeed had this vow). You should practice diligently to accomplish your original vow.” Having spoken, he disappeared.

13.40

Dharma Master Tanyi was surnamed Du and hailed from Yuyao. He studied under Qingxu of Longquan. Meeting with the grace of the universal ordination of the Huangyou reign period, he received tonsure. He studied the teachings and contemplations under Mingzhi of Tianzhu. Later, he entered the chamber of Guangci of Leifeng, diligently inquiring and examining for twenty years without weariness. Having completed his studies, he returned to his home region to lecture on his native mountain, dedicated exclusively to the pure karma. He recited the Lotus Sūtra up to five thousand times, and the Samantabhadra and Amitābha sūtras ten thousand scrolls each. In the autumn of the first year of the Chongning reign period, he showed signs of illness. Assembling the community, he announced, “The time for my rebirth in the Pure Land has arrived; I shall board the golden dais and follow the Buddha westward.” He then bathed, sat upright, formed a mudrā, and passed away. His tongue remained unburnt after the cremation, and the relics resembled a string of pearls. (In this fascicle there are forty persons; the Basic Annals records only ten, omitting the remaining twenty-seven.)

13.41

Fozu tongji, Fascicle 13 (End)

Linked texts (1)

佛祖統紀 — 志磐, Classical Chinese