佛祖統紀 13.37

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.