Dharma Master Beichan Jingfan
Dharma Master Bailian Shangui
Dharma Master Dezang Zeying
Dharma Master Jinhua Zifang
Dharma Master Shou'an Liangbi
Dharma Master Jingzhu Sizhao
Practitioner Yixiang Zongli

14.13

Dharma Heirs of Dharma Master Zha'an Yan

14.14

Dharma Master Tiantai Falin
Dharma Master Tiantai Yingtong

14.15

Dharma Heirs of Dharma Master Cibian Jian (Third Generation under Nanping)

14.16

Dharma Master Chexi Zeqing
Dharma Master Huijue Qiyu
Dharma Master Yuanjue Yunci
Dharma Master Puming Rujing
Dharma Master Tianzhu Yingru
Dharma Master Fayun Zongmin
Dharma Master Fozhi Ciyun
Dharma Master Fozhao Zhijian
Dharma Master Huijue Qingyue
Dharma Master Yuanming Puxian
Dharma Master Shangzhu Mingyi
Supreme Sangha Controller Ŭich'ŏn of Goryeo

14.17

Dharma Heirs of Dharma Master Qunfeng Chu

14.18

Dharma Master Fanci Zhipu

14.19

Dharma Heirs of Dharma Master Nanping Wen

14.20

Dharma Master Xianzhang Zhongmin

14.21

Dharma Heirs of Dharma Master Chaoguo Xian

14.22

Dharma Master Jingwei Yanlun
Dharma Master Qingbian Yunqi
Dharma Master Baoji Yanduan

14.23

Dharma Heirs of Dharma Master Jingyun Qi

14.24

Dharma Master Jueci Shansong
Dharma Master Jingde Jushi

14.25

Dharma Heirs of Dharma Master Shenzhi Wen (Third Generation under Guangzhi)

14.26

Dharma Master Zhongli was surnamed Chen of Yin. He was bestowed the title Mingzhi. His mother dreamed that the sun entered her bosom, whereupon she became pregnant. Unless she bathed three times a night, he would not stop wailing. At nine years old, he left home at Qixin in Yongdong. Having received a scripture, a single recitation ensured he never forgot it. During the Zhiping era, he sat for the scriptural examinations in Kaifeng Prefecture, passed, and was ordained. At first, he relied on Guangzhi to study the doctrines and contemplation. When Shenzhi Duan presided over Nanhu, he relied on him again. During the Xining era, Shenzhi raised the curtains [to teach]; two hundred people engaged in questions and answers, and none surpassed the master. He was thus appointed head seat. After a long while, he went to pay respects to Fuzong in Yongjia. As he was about to return, Zong said, "Your journey will surely lead to succeeding to Fazhi's seat." When Shenzhi retired from his duties, he made the master his successor. In the early Yuanyou era, Supreme Sangha Controller Ŭich'ŏn of Goryeo came from afar to seek the Way. Just as he came ashore, he encountered the master ascending the hall and sighed, "Indeed, there is such a man here!" He then paid respects with the etiquette of a disciple. He emptied out all his learning trying to break the master's sharpness, but ultimately could not. The master ordered his disciple Jieran to build for the first time sixteen contemplation chambers to accommodate practitioners of the pure karma. Soon after, he resigned and said, "When I am sixty years old, I shall come again." He then retired to Yinxue in Donghu. Several years later, Prefect Wang urged him to take charge of Baoyun, completely renewing the buildings. Inside the belly of a guardian deity of the monastery, a vow text was found, stating: "A hundred years later, a flesh-body bodhisattva will revive this place anew." Those who heard this marveled at it. Later, he retired to the Baiyun Hermitage. Daily expounding the *Calming and Contemplation* up to the inconceivable realm, he sighed, "Our Way has reached its ultimate here! When there is the inconceivable realm, there is the inconceivable mind." He thereupon wrote the *Bianyizheng* (Rectification of the Inconceivable). Furthermore, pointing to the five chapters, he tore down the grand outline, relying on the fruit to illuminate the cause so as to accomplish understanding and practice; bringing forth the Buddha to embrace sentient beings, so that all sentient beings are the Buddha, he wrote the *Zhiguan liewang zhigui shiyi* (Resolving Doubts on the Guiding Scope of Tearing the Net in Calming and Contemplation). When Master Wenhui Zheng passed away, the commandery requested that he once again preside over Yanqing, truly fulfilling his words of "returning at sixty." He once ascended the seat to preach the Dharma, his compassion raining boundlessly. Coming down from the seat, he asked his attendant, "What words did I just speak?" The attendant answered with what he had heard. The master said, "I felt my body and mind were identical with empty space; I truly knew not where the words came from." As for the annual repentances performed in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, Yanqing was the most flourishing. He selected disciples to practice the Lotus Repentance for seven years. When the practice was about to be completed, in dhyāna contemplation he saw a great boat; the crowd wished to board it but could not, and only the master sat within it to sail forward. From then on, his eloquence and wisdom surged like a fountain, surpassing that of former days. On the xinhai day of the fourth month in the fifth year of the Zhenghe era, he said to his disciple Fawei, "I smell a wondrous fragrance, and my mind is exceedingly joyful." He said to the practitioners in the contemplation hall, "I shall part from you all forever." He then sat facing west and passed away. His stupa was erected to the east of Patriarch Chongfa's stupa. He lectured on the Three Great Works, the *Vimalakīrti*, and the *Suvarṇaprabhāsa* dozens of times. He recited the *Lotus Sūtra* over ten thousand times. His curing diseases, expelling demons, and relieving calamities and droughts for people had efficacy too numerous to fully record. There were no books of Confucius or Laozi that he had not read thoroughly. When he lectured to Confucian scholars, he would question them in return, saying, "How is this principle in the sage Confucius? How is it in the *Odes* and *Documents*?" When the Confucian scholars did not know how to answer, he would quote passages and expound at length, saying, "Is it not like this?" Those who heard this were convinced in their hearts and withdrew. When the master was in Yongjia, Fuzong said to him, "I often see Mārīcī and Skanda in dreams seeking to protect the Dharma. In the future, please install their seats in the repentance hall at Nanhu." When the master presided over the monastery, the erection of their images began with the master. Chen Yingzhong once praised the master, saying: "Strictly observing the prātimokṣa, firmly maintaining tranquil contemplation; using the body as a tongue, preaching a hundred billion matters" (meaning that discipline, concentration, and wisdom were all fully complete).

14.27

Dharma Master Zongzheng was bestowed the title Wenhui. Relying on Shenzhi, he studied the doctrines and contemplation, penetrating deeply into their domain. In the early Zhiping era, he succeeded to the presidency of Nanhu and greatly promoted the ancestral school. Previously, Patriarch Baoyun's remains had been entombed in the northwest corner of Mount Yuwang. Seventy-seven years later, the master went from Nanhu to pay homage. Observing that the bricks were damaged and about to become overgrown and lost, he hired workmen to pile up stones, constructing a square mound to mark the place, and further wrote a stone stupa inscription to record the matter. At that time, it was said that without the master's text, the entombment of Baoyun would have been almost impossible to trace. Dharma Master Sigong was a native of Wucheng in Huzhou. He was bestowed the title Tizhen. At nineteen, he shaved his head. He went to Shenzhi to study the doctrines and contemplation. When he returned to his home village, Kongxiang had fallen into ruin due to accumulated floods. Setting his will to restore it, the master built three hundred bays of buildings. He was relaxed and sought nothing, yet donors came voluntarily. When the work was completed, he cultivated the long repentance for three years to fulfill his vow. In his old age, he returned to Jiekong on Mount Wu. In the ninth month of the first year of the Jianyan era, he took leave of the assembly and passed away seated. Wherever the smoke of his cremation reached, śarīra congealed. His stupa was placed in the southeast corner of the monastery. His forty-three disciples, including Jiecheng, all succeeded in transmitting the Way, branching out to convert the region of the Zhejiang River.

14.28

Dharma Heirs of Dharma Master Fuzong Zhong

14.29

Dharma Master Chuyuan was a native of Yongjia. Having studied under Fuzong for a long time, he succeeded to the seat of Faming. The prefect revered his moral transformation and appointed him as Sangha Rectifier. Purifying the ranks of monks, all submitted with utmost satisfaction. He wrote the *Fuzan ji* (Record of Auxiliary Support) in three rolls. In discussing the scriptural essence, he traced back to the theories on the lineage of Fazhi and Guangzhi. In discussing the three kinds of contemplation on the basis of non-abiding, he answered Fuzong's common-characteristic three contemplations. His explanations were clear and correct, and students took them as their model. In the second year of the Chongning era, while residing leisurely at the Caotang Hermitage by the East Stream, he composed the *Yili suishi* (Following Commentary on the Exemplary Guidelines) in six rolls. Earlier, because the text of the *Calming and Contemplation* was extensive, Jingxi had categorized it into seven headings, naming it *Yili* (Exemplary Guidelines), to let students know the main purport of understanding and practice. Although Fazhi had composed many works, he did not have leisure to write a commentary on it. Because Shenzhi had compiled the *Zuanyao*, taking the innate realm of the initial vehicle contemplation as the contemplation of the principle of suchness, and the realm of cultivated virtue as the contemplation of phenomena of consciousness-only, the master considered that this was wildly erroneous and would mislead later scholars. He thus resolved to annotate and explain it to refute the errors of the *Zuanyao*.

14.30

Dharma Heirs of Dharma Master Fazhen Xian (Third Generation under Shenzhao)

14.31

Dharma Master Jinggao was a native of Siming. He studied under Fazhen and was a top disciple. He composed a commentary on the *Vajracchedikā Sūtra*. Whenever he wished to lecture, he immediately lectured without waiting for an assembly to gather. A certain Vinaya Master Chen went to the underworld. The official in charge of names said, "He was summoned by mistake." Chen peeked secretly at the register, which read: "Ācārya Jinggao of Mingzhou lectured on the *Vajracchedikā-prajñāpāramitā Sūtra* one hundred times." After returning, he went to ask the master about it. The master said, "It was only ten times; perhaps because the meaning was superior, it was praised as a hundred times."

14.32

Dharma Heirs of Dharma Master Shenwu Qian

14.33

Dharma Lord Jingfan was a native of Jiahe, surnamed Ji. His mother, Lady Gong, dreamed that the light of the Buddha filled the room, whereupon she became pregnant. When he was born, he was consequently named Fohu (Buddhapālita). At ten years old, he left home under Repentance Master Yong of Shengguo. He constantly recited Amitābha Buddha. Someone asked why he recited the Buddha's name at such a young age. He answered, "I wish to go to another Abbot's room to seek lodging." At eighteen, he received the full precepts, and immediately relied on Master Zhan of Chaoguo to study. Before long, he went again to pay respects to Shenwu; repeatedly attending his lectures, it greatly accorded with his innate aspirations. In the early Yuanyou era, he presided over Daci in Gusu. He lectured on the Three Great Works more than ten times, and on other texts proportionally. The disciples who received his instruction virtually filled the Wu region, and faithful people receiving the precepts almost filled the cities and towns. He once led twenty-seven people to cultivate the Lotus Samādhi for a period of twenty-eight days. He did this three times. It moved the Great Being Samantabhadra to bestow the precepts and perform the karmavācanā. When the name "Bhikṣu Jingfan" was called, a resonant voice boomed like the striking of a giant bell. As the samādhi was about to conclude, two monks bowed and said, "This spring, when we arrived at the Stone Bridge to pay homage to the sacred traces, we suddenly saw flowers scattered in the air and extraordinary fragrance. One monk abruptly said, 'Dharma Lord Fan of Gusu is conducting a period repentance, and the scattered flowers have reached here.' Having finished speaking, he disappeared. Therefore we came to pay homage." Huang Gongyan, the Magistrate of Changzhou, carved a record on stone, saying, "Marvelous is the master's power of the Way! It shares the same efficacy in different eras as Master Jin of Beijing dreaming of Śākya bestowing the precepts, and Nanyue dreaming of forty-two people adding the karmavācanā rites." The master established the regulations and rituals for period repentances, which are practiced in the two Zhe regions to this day. Relying on the *Suvarṇaprabhāsa* translated by Dharmakṣema, he separately composed a repentance ritual and cultivated it together with the assembly, repeatedly witnessing resonant responses. At the place of dhyāna contemplation, the assembly saw a divine king in golden armor kneeling before the seat. Later, during a period repentance at another place, Heavenly King Skanda was seen inspecting the repentance hall; whenever any practitioner was scrutinized by him, an obstacle arose and the practitioner withdrew. While staying in the Western Compound at night during scorching summer heat, the assembly could not sleep peacefully. As the master was wearing the three robes and sitting on a water pavilion, suddenly wind and snow gathered, and a chilling coolness pressed upon people. At dawn he said to the assembly, "In summer, winter's command was executed." The assembly all marveled and looked up to him, knowing that divine dragons had guarded him, transforming heat into coolness. During the Yuanfu era, he dreamed that an envoy in yellow invited him to the underworld. The king welcomed him to take a seat, and ordered an official to check the register of auspicious vapors, which said: "Bhikṣu Jingfan has continuously lectured on the *Lotus Sūtra* through many kalpas." The king immediately rose, bowed in reverence, and sent an envoy to escort him back. During the Zhenghe era, the maidservant of Prefect Ying was harassed by a ghost, singing and laughing incessantly; when the master was invited to confer the precepts, her spirit immediately calmed. Lady Ge invited the master to confer the precepts on her deceased husband, and she immediately saw her husband revering the master and circumambulating the seat three times, declaring that he had attained liberation. In the early Xuanhe era, Prefect Jia respected the master's lofty conduct and appointed him Dharma Lord of the jurisdiction. In the tenth month of the first year of the Jianyan era, he passed away seated. From his cremation, many śarīras were obtained, which were enshrined in a stupa at Prajñā in Hengtang.

14.34

Dharma Master Zeying, styled Yanzhi, was of the Yu clan from Tongjiang. His mother dreamed that two suns pierced her bosom, and in the following two years gave birth to two sons, both of whom left home and passed the scriptural examinations to receive ordination. The elder was named Ziqin and studied at Jingzhu in Qiantang; the second was the Master. He entered the Way at Shouning in Hangzhou. During the Xining reign period, he studied under Shenwu at the Baoge in Shishui, attaining a profound awakening to the way of cessation and contemplation. He read the *Buer men jinbi* (*Golden Scraper on the Gate of Non-Duality*) and went without sleep for several months. When he presented his realization to his master, Shenwu said, “The subtle purport of the Lotus returns to one's own mind. You should guard it well and not think lightly of yourself.” The Lu family of Danghu founded a cloister at Decang to welcome the Master to broadly initiate the donation of Dharma. For a long time he traveled freely between Hangzhou, Xiuzhou, Suzhou, and Huzhou. In the spring of the second year of the Yuanfu period, he manifested illness at Xiangfu in Hangzhou. Suddenly, adjusting his posture against an armrest and facing west, he recited the *Amitābha Sūtra*; as the scroll concluded, he passed away. He once composed the *Jingtu xiuzheng yi* (*Ritual for the Cultivation and Realization of the Pure Land*), whose verses of praise contain the gāthā, “Amitābha Buddha of true golden hue,” which people still recite to this day. He also distinguished the characteristics of the two types of contemplation methods between the Western Land and this world, so as to encourage those devoted to practicing Pure Land karma. (The text appears in the main biography of the Pure Land.)

14.35

The practitioner Zongli was of the Gao clan from Kuaiji. At the age of seven, he studied at Tianhua. After receiving the full precepts, he went to Gusu to rely on Shenwu, and straightway entered the Samantabhadra repentance chamber, setting a period of three years. He suddenly dreamed of his deceased mother thanking him, saying, “Thanks to the merit of your repentance, I have already obtained a place of rebirth.” He also saw Samantabhadra passing before him through the sky. When the repentance was completed, he went again to Lingzhi to visit the Vinaya Master Dazhi and receive an advancement of the precepts. He dreamed that Dazhi, seated upon the seat, called Zongli by name, spat a white pearl from his mouth, and ordered him to swallow it. Moreover, in tranquil concentration, his spirit roamed to the Pure Land, where he saw the jeweled ponds, lotus flowers, and jeweled groves. Soon after, he visited Bizhao in Xincheng.

14.36

He devoted himself exclusively to the cultivation of the mindfulness-of-the-Buddha samādhi for ten years. He then traveled to Tiantai, Yandang, and Tianfeng, establishing Pure Land practice centers at each. In his later years, he returned to his place of study at Tianhua and built an Amitāyus Buddha Pavilion to receive clouds-and-water [traveling monks]. In the first year of the Zhenghe period, there was a drought. He went to the Temple of Emperor Shun on Mount Rizhu to pray for rain, which moved the Dragon King to manifest a golden body, and an abundant, soaking rain fell. At the end of the Jianyan period, he entered Mount Daowei and named his residence the Yixiang Hermitage. The clerics and laity of Kuaiji requested the Master to preside over continuous mindfulness. On the third night, the uṣṇīṣa jewel of the painted icon suddenly emitted light as large as a winnowing basket, and those attending the assembly became even more steadfast. On the last day of the first month in the fourteenth year of the Shaoxing period, he told his disciples, “The Buddha has come; I shall return to Sukhāvatī.” He wrote a verse as farewell: / “My years are ninety, my hair is already white; / in this world there should be no guests of a hundred years. / The Man of the Way of One Mark goes and returns; / sitting firmly upon the golden terrace, heaven and earth are narrow.” / Sitting upright, he forthwith passed away. On that day, people near the mountain saw extraordinary monks filling the valleys, none knowing whence they came. His whole body was interred behind his hermitage.

14.37

Dharma Master Sizhao was of the Yang clan from Qiantang. At the age of fourteen, he followed Congya of Jingzhu, listening to the Lotus and the Vaipulya teachings at Nanping. He then went to Dongye to study under Shenwu, attaining great insight. Thereafter, he pricked his blood to write out the Lotus Sūtra in seven scrolls, and devoted himself exclusively to the mindfulness-of-the-Buddha samādhi. He built a small hermitage named Deyun, connected behind to a small gate, as a place to contemplate the setting sun. He carved statues of the Three Sages. Every night past midnight, he would rise to recite the Buddha’s name. On the twenty-third day of each month, he led clerics and laity in continuous mindfulness throughout his entire life for thirty years. One morning he said to his disciples, “Last night I dreamed of the Buddha’s sixteen-foot golden body; this is an omen of rebirth.” He invited monks for seven days to aid in the recitation of the Buddha’s name. Bending his fingers to form a mudrā, he suddenly passed away while sitting. This was in the spring of the first year of the Xuanhe period. At the time of cremation, his skull bone and teeth were all lustrous and clear like jade and stone. Toward the seven Pure Land sūtras, the Master made one prostration per character. This was also true for the *Avataṃsaka*, *Śūraṅgama*, *Suvarṇaprabhāsa*, *Amitāyus*, *Samantabhadra-caryā*, *Bequeathed Teachings*, *Brahmajāla*, *Anantanirdeśa*, *Brief Precepts of Admonition*, and the *Caturvargika Vinaya Precept Text*; for the Lotus Sūtra alone he did so ten times, totaling two hundred and seventy rolls. He chanted one thousand recitations of the Lotus Sūtra, five whole canons of the *Amitāyus Sūtra*, and ten whole canons of the *Amitābha Sūtra*.

14.38

Dharma Heirs of Dharma Master Cibian Jian

14.39

Dharma Master Zeqing was a native of Tiantai. He was naturally clever, broadly learned, and of powerful memory. He received instruction from Cibian at Upper Zhusheng. He once said, “I have already obtained the essential purport of Siming; only with regard to initiating the teachings and contemplation does my faith not yet reach, yet I dare not disbelieve.” At first he presided over Shousheng at Chexi (Chexi belongs to three prefectures and four counties; to the east is Chongde County of Xiuzhou, named Qingzhen in Tang times, with an ancient pagoda. In the second year of the Yuanyou period, Shousheng Cloister was first built, and the Master was invited to found the mountain; during the reign of Emperor Gaozong it was changed to Guangfu). He never humbled himself before the noble and wealthy. Gathering three hundred disciples, donors came on their own. After the age of thirty, he discarded books and sat in dhyāna. In his later years he resided at Chexi; whenever he lectured, he merely had his attendant provide the lecture portfolios day by day, and his eloquent explanations flowed freely, completely convincing his listeners. Tan-ying of Huijie led thirty disciples to Chexi and encountered him lecturing on the *Anantanirdeśa Sūtra*. Hearing him raise a difficulty, he said, “Miaole stated: ‘That which can produce the one reality is another name for the Lotus; that which is produced in boundless quantity is the preface to the Lotus.’ I do not know whether ‘that which can produce the one reality’ is the perfect [teaching] that separates from the partial or the perfect that is identical to the partial, and whether ‘that which is produced in boundless quantity’ is the expedient of the identical body or the expedient of a different body.” Ying said to his fellows, “This master’s words have exemplary model; he is worthy to be asked of the Way.” They promptly sought to rely on him. There were some who did not follow the regulations, and the rector reported it. When asked of their names, he pointed to Masters Peng and Guan. The Master said, “These two are great talents of the doctrinal school; do not interrogate them.” He once sat at night in the abbot’s quarters and heard heavenly music in the corridors. He sent someone to trace it, and the sound came from Master Peng's room. The Master peeked through a crack in the wall and saw several people, including Peng and Guan, playfully raising their hands before a lamp to make soundless music. The Master found them all the more extraordinary. He was fond of tea in daily life. Near the time of his passing, he said to his disciples, “When the morning bell strikes, come and report.” When the time came, he sipped a bowl of tea, wrote a verse, and passed away. This was in the middle of winter in the second year of the Daguan period. A stupa was erected for him at the Furongpu south of the cloister.

14.40

Dharma Master Qiyu (temporarily changed to Qibi to avoid a contemporary taboo) was a native of Zhechuan, a younger son of Minister Mo. His Dharma name was Huijue. Early on he drew close to Buddhist learning, memorizing thousands of characters daily. At first he studied under Shenzhi of Xiangfu, and later relied on Huibian. One day, when his turn came in the monastic order, he declined with modest words. Someone asked the reason, and he replied, “Truly, I do not wish for a gain of five thousand at the cost of losing a single day’s effort.” Cibian had obtained the purport of the common-characteristic three contemplations, but kept it secret and would not speak of it; yet Qiyu repeatedly inquired without ceasing, so in a private room before an incense burner Cibian knelt and transmitted it to him. At first he left to reside at Baozang in Tiaoxi; at the end of each year he greatly promoted the Pure Karma Society. Moving to Hengshan, he erected a sixteen-foot image and led clerics and laity in cultivation. In the middle of the night he told the assembly, “When we did not yet recite the Buddha’s name, our minds followed dusty objects and committed various unwholesome deeds. Committing a single duṣkṛta still incurs nine hundred thousand years of hellish suffering, how much more so for the grave offenses of the categories and aggregates? (The five categories and seven aggregates.) Now, if one recites the Buddha’s name, in a single thought one can extinguish the sins of eighty billion kalpas of birth and death. Furthermore, our parents gave birth to us and allowed us to leave home; in principle we should deliver them to repay their profound kindness. If we now break the precepts and fall into ruin, how could our parents not be disappointed?” When the great assembly heard this, there were none who did not repent with utmost sincerity, throwing themselves down entirely, even injuring their foreheads and crying aloud. (Although this was to encourage cultivation of exalted practice, its real intent was to uphold the Vinaya and discuss the eternal to accommodate the final age.) In the sixth year of the Xuanhe period, he moved to Upper Zhusheng. Previously, after Cibian departed, his successors did not flourish. The students conferred, saying, “Only if we obtain Master Yu will it flourish.” The Prefect Weng Yanguo, hearing of this, prepared the rites to welcome him. His lecturing on the Way and spreading conversion were no different from Cibian. He once walked the path of practice at midnight carrying an icon on his head. A monk breached the rules, and he rebuked him: “You are ignorant; you are merely a beast!” Afterward he regretted it, saying, “Though he is unworthy, cursing him as a beast defiles the Three Jewels.” From then on, for three years he repented his error before the Buddha. In a year of great drought when the wells dried up, the Master directed his mind in secret prayer, dreaming of water emerging from the western slope. In the morning they dug there, and a clear stream gushed forth; it was thus named Dream Spring. In the autumn of the first year of the Jianyan period, he said to the head monk Xiuhui, “The Prabhutaratna Stupa has appeared before my bed.” Hui said, “It is an auspicious verification of the Venerable’s circulation of the Lotus Sūtra.” The Master said, “My only wish is to see Amitābha Buddha.” He immediately assembled the crowd to recite the Buddha’s name. Shortly after, raising his head in reverence, he said, “The Buddha has already come to receive me.” Sitting upright with palms joined, he passed away. He was buried beside the Caotang to the west of the mountain, posthumously titled Miaobian, and his stupa was called Huiji. Among his disciples who transmitted the teaching were twenty people, including Great Master Miyin and Xiuhui. His writings include the *Commentary on the Samantabhadra-caryā-sūtra* and his own *Auto-commentary*, the *Record of Ancestral Origins*, the *Commentary on the Anantanirdeśa Sūtra*, the *Record of Miscellaneous Pearls* (explaining the commentary composed by Gushan), the *Dharma Gate of Ānāpānasmṛti*, and the *Uṣṇīṣa-vijayā Repentance Ritual*.

14.41

Dharma Master Yunci was a native of Cixi in Siming, bestowed the title Yuanjue. At first he relied on Master Bi of Shou'an, and subsequently visited Cibian, whereupon his learning achieved great perfection. At that time, among the ten senior disciples, the Master was foremost in preaching the Dharma. He initially resided at Bodhi on West Lake, then moved to Yuantong in Kuaiji. At the beginning of the Chongning period, the seat at Nengren became vacant, and they requested the Master. Head Monk Wen and Practitioner Neng each burned two fingers, praying for the Buddha’s unseen protection. When the Master arrived, the entire assembly was thoroughly convinced. Once, due to the summer heat, after the lecture was dismissed, he reclined and rested on his couch. Just then the head monk came and reported, “In the master’s seat on this mountain, at the time the lecture concludes, if one does not enter the repentance chamber, one dwells in the meditation hall; there has never been one who comfortably pillows his head in ease.” The Master shamefully apologized, “Dare I not accept your instruction?” From then on, through severe cold and intense heat, he did not dare slacken in the least. Whenever he went to the privy, he would bathe and change clothes; even when walking the path of practice amidst snow, he would scoop it with his hands to use for purification. He composed *Ten Categories Expounding the Expedient and the Real to Point Out Delusion*, and his writings circulated in the world.

14.42

Dharma Master Rujing was bestowed the title Puming. Early on he entered Cibian's room. A man of Hangzhou, having killed his elder brother out of personal grudge, later deeply regretted it and reported it to a Vinaya master. The Vinaya master answered, “A life for a life; why even ask?” The man thereupon threw himself into West Lake and died, intending to pay for his brother's life and avoid future enmity. Not becoming a ghost, he instead regretted jumping into the water. When a crowd entered Leifeng to receive the precepts, the ghost followed them in. Hearing the precept master say that when people commit offenses they are permitted to repent, the ghost grew angry at the Vinaya master: “Had I known early on that it could be repented, I certainly would not have jumped into the water!” Day and night he followed the Vinaya master demanding his life. Though told of ritual dedications for his deliverance, he declined them all in a hundred ways. After a long time, he said, “Invite Buddha-son Jing for me; if he bestows the Mahāyāna precepts, I can be released.” When the Master conferred the precept method on him, the ghost appeared in form, expressed his gratitude, and departed. Later, when the Master presided over Jiewu, students gathered like clouds. Only one room was left empty and locked, said to be inhabited by an evil ghost. The Master entered the room at midnight to sit in meditation, and suddenly heard a roar. He saw a human head flying and scurrying on the floor, which soon transformed into a person. The Master said to him, “Why do you disturb people?” The ghost said, “Whenever I appear to people, I originally seek deliverance. When people see me they are naturally afraid; I am not disturbing them.” The Master then expounded the Dharma and conferred the precepts upon him, saying to him, “You may enter my sleeve.” The ghost followed his instruction. Feeling it to be extremely heavy, the Master carried him to a grove and released him; he transformed into a heavenly being, diligently thanked the Master, and flew into the sky and vanished. In the second year of the Jianyan period, the Master moved to Upper Zhusheng. Earlier, there was a medium conducting divination with a spirit boy; someone asked about the abbacy of Upper Zhusheng. The boy said, “Wait until I ask the earth deity.” After a long while, he said, “This morning, a celestial decree has already come down inviting Dharma Master Jing.” After a month, the Master arrived. In the eleventh month of the third year, the Jin invaders breached Hangzhou. The Master had a premonitory dream, knowing that this mountain’s disaster could not be avoided, and told his disciples to flee. When the invaders arrived, someone thought they could welcome them with ritual, and struck the bell to assemble the crowd. The invaders suspected that they were about to resist, unleashed their troops in a great plunder, set fire to the buildings, and departed.

14.43

The narrator says: Master Jing's virtue was capable of liberating a ghost demanding a life, delivering the haunting spirit in an empty room, and evoking the heavenly tally for Shangzhu, yet it could not repel the banditry of Wuzhu nor prevent the burning of Shangzhu. For when sentient beings share a common retributive karma that evokes the calamity of war and the disaster of fire, it is something that cannot be fortuitously escaped.

14.44

Dharma Master Yingru was of the Hu clan of Pujiang in Wu. He had great erudition with a retentive memory, and was especially skilled in disputation. Coming to study at Shangzhu, Cibian valued his capacity deeply. He once went to Lingshan to visit companions in the Way; setting forth the doctrine of the six capabilities, he repeatedly debated and cross-examined them until the other party's arguments collapsed in defeat. The Master thereupon raised a pole and tied a banner of silk to it, saying to them: "In Western India, when an enemy is defeated, one raises a banner of victory; when subduing Māra at the bodhimaṇḍa, one likewise displays a sign of victory. Now that the Dharma battle is won, a pole should be raised." People feared his fiery demeanor and called him the Tiger Cub. Earlier, Cibian had obtained the purport of Nanping's three contemplations of common characteristics, which he kept secret and did not transmit to others. Yuhui Jue made especially earnest entreaties, and [Cibian] agreed to explain it to him secretly in the middle of the night. The Master found out about this; climbing a ladder and uncovering roof tiles, he prostrated his body and eavesdropped, the drifting snow whirling across the sky so that his back seemed clad in armor. In the morning, he said to Cibian: "I seem to have received an unseen transmission concerning the three contemplations of common characteristics." He then recorded his words and showed them to the entire assembly. Cibian said angrily: "Yingru has stolen the Dharma!" In the early Shaosheng era, he took charge of Yuantong in Yue. Once, after a lecture had dispersed, he said to his attendant: "Today an east wind blows the teachings across to the west of Zhe, allowing those who have ears within their eyes to hear." At the age of thirty, the Master discarded the text; whenever he approached the seat, an attendant simply presented the lecture volume and waited. In the third year of Shaoxing, he moved to Shangzhu. In the aftermath of Wuzhu's burning and pillaging, only the library remained. When someone urged people to raise funds for rebuilding, the Master said: "I simply circulate the great Dharma; on another day, someone will naturally arrive to carry out the building." When the Master passed away, Pujue Weiri indeed succeeded to the seat and undertook the construction work. In the ninth month of the fifth year, the imperial carriage visited the Hall of the Great Being. The Master's memorial response flowed like water, and the Emperor was pleased, granting Mount Wansui Xiang to provide offerings to the Great Being. The Master did not esteem writing texts. He once showed people a verse, saying: / "I transmit Zhiyi's doctrine of the single nature: / The three thousand [realms] of true reality are subtle emptiness, provisionality, and the middle. / In a single thought the Dharma realm is present; sentient beings and Buddhas are of the same essence. / Ordinary and noble are as one; good and evil merge in principle. / The body and land of Vairocana are serene like empty space. / One who penetrates this purport finds every single dharma fully pervasive: / Moving to the left or to the right, its enjoyment is inexhaustible." / The Mountain School spoke of three men who were like tigers: Shenzhao Benru, Siming Daoru, and the Master. One evening, he took leave of the great assembly, returned to his bedchamber, and passed away. A stūpa was built for him in the northwest corner of the monastery. His Dharma heirs, Huaizhi of Chongxian and Huixian of Bailian, were both capable of perpetuating his work. The Master had a work on doctrinal meaning titled Zhilan ji (Collection Pointing Out Difficulties).

14.45

Dharma Master Zongmin was of the prominent Lu clan of Danghu in Xiu. He was bestowed the title Fayun. At the age of fifteen he received the full precepts. He attended lectures far and wide, having studied under such masters as Chaoguo Zhao, Guanghua Ming, and Nanping Wan. Later, upon entering Cibian's room, he experienced a sudden awakening. Cibian considered that the head monk lacked talent and asked [Zongmin] to debate him; the head monk was humbled. In the early Shaosheng era, he took charge of Bodhi in Hang. During the Yuanfu era, he moved to Gushan. The Bureau of Military Affairs Official Jiang Zhiqi frequently came to visit and inquire about the great purport of the Śūraṅgama, and [Zongmin] expounded the subtleties of the essentials of mind for him; Zhiqi had an awakening upon his words and revered him with the courtesy due to a teacher. Later, he retired to live above the Liuyi Spring at Bao'en (Master Qin of Bao'en had been a poetic friend of the Duke of Ouyang; Dongpo named the spring Liuyi), where he sat in quiet contemplation for thirty years, and the world esteemed his high character. When Wuzhu sacked Hang, the monastery was reduced to ashes. He then returned to reside in a hermitage in Danghu. In the winter of the seventh year of Shaosheng, he manifested his passing. He instructed that his robes and bowl be used to repair the Bao'en Stūpa, and was buried right on the mountain peak. Eighteen years later, the authorities made that land into the Yanxiang Abbey, and moved his stūpa to the side of Niaoke on the north of the mountain. His disciple Huijing took the complete body and cremated it; his appearance looked just as when he was alive. When the firewood was consumed and the fire extinguished, they collected a hundred grains of relics resembling beans.

14.46

Monastic Director Ŭich'ŏn, of the Wang clan, was the fourth son of King Inhyo, Munjong of Goryeo. He renounced worldly glory to leave home, and was enfeoffed as Monastic Director Who Protects the World. In the early Yuanyou era, he entered the central realm to seek the Way. Arriving in Siming commandery, Mingzhi Huizhao accommodated and received him. Ŭich'ŏn submitted a memorial requesting the transmission of the Xianshou teachings. An imperial decree was issued to the Two Streets to recommend someone who could impart the Dharma; they replied by proposing Chan Master Jueyan Cheng of the Eastern Capital. Cheng recommended Jingyuan of Huiyin in Qiantang to take his place. Thereupon, an imperial order was given to Director of Receptions Yang Jie to escort him to Huiyin to receive the Dharma. The various monasteries welcomed and sent him off with the etiquette accorded to an envoy. When he first arrived in the capital, after paying audience at court, Su Shi of the Ministry of Rites was imperially commissioned to accompany his lodgings. He visited Chan Master Yuanzhao Zongben, who revealed the central principle to him. When he reached Jinshan, Foyin received his salutations while remaining seated. Yang Jie was astonished and questioned Foyin, who said: "Ŭich'ŏn is merely a monk from a foreign land. If one bends to conform to worldly ways, the various quarters will first lose one eye; how then can the pedagogical standards of the Huaxia realm be displayed?" When the court heard of this, they considered that he understood proper decorum. Arriving at Huiyin, he brought the Huayan commentaries and subcommentaries to resolve his doubts, completing this after a year. Thereupon, the lost texts and meanings of the Huayan school were transmitted once again. When he met Cibian of Tianzhu, he inquired into the path of Tiantai doctrine and contemplation. Later, he traveled to Folong and paid homage to Zhiyi's stūpa, making this vow: "Having received the doctrine and contemplation from Cibian, I shall return to my country to proclaim them. May you grant me unseen protection." When he met Dazhi of Lingzhi, [Dazhi] explained the precepts and Dharma for him, and [Ŭich'ŏn] requested the transmission of the texts he had written. After returning to his country, he established a monastery named Tiantai, revering the doctrinal texts transmitted by Cibian and establishing his image as the first patriarch. Every year he dispatched envoys to exchange greetings. Furthermore, he donated the three translations of the Avataṃsaka written in gold to Huiyin, building a pavilion to store them (today popularly called Goryeo Monastery). Having seen the Biechuan yi (Treatise on the Separate Transmission) of Feishan, he wrote a colophon for it, saying: "How extreme it is that ancient Chan and modern Chan are so far apart in name and reality! What was called Chan in ancient times entered Chan by relying on the teachings. What is considered Chan today speaks of Chan apart from the teachings. Those who part from the teachings cling to its name while abandoning its reality; those who rely on the teachings attain its purport by following its explanation. Rescuing the fraudulent shortcomings of modern men and restoring the pure, unadulterated path of the ancient sages—Venerable Zhu's disquisitions have truly reached the pinnacle of this. Recently, the Liao state decreed to the authorities that the doctrinal śramaṇa Quanxiao should re-examine and settle the scriptural catalogue. What the world calls the Platform Sūtra of the Sixth Patriarch, Baolin zhuan, and the like were all burned and discarded, whereas in recent generations the verses and sayings of the Chan school in the central realm have largely bordered on heterodoxy. This is why teachers in the land east of the sea have doubted whether there were any true men in the Huaxia realm. Now that I have seen the lofty discourse of Feishan, I know that there are Bodhisattvas who protect the Dharma. That the degenerate Dharma will be sustained down through a hundred generations, is it not indeed reliant on the power of Venerable Zhu?" (Jiezhu authored the Biechuan yi, which had profound insights into the relation between Chan and the teachings. He lived to ninety-three and was buried on Mount Feishan).

14.47

The narrator says: Master Fang, in his Bianzu (Distinguishing the Patriarchs), stated that when Zhiju composed the Baolin zhuan, it contained a hundred kinds of deceitful claims, such as Bodhidharma returning to the west with a single shoe, or standing in the snow and cutting off an arm, matters that are largely at variance with the Xu Gaoseng zhuan of Nanshan, and so forth. Furthermore, people in the world say that while the Platform Sūtra speaks of nature no differently from our school, it disparages and rejects chanting the Buddha's name to seek rebirth in the Western Pure Land. That Ŭich'ŏn said the Liao state burned and discarded the two books was presumably for these reasons.

14.48

Dharma Heirs of Dharma Master Wen of Nanping

14.49

Dharma Master Zhongmin was a native of Sanqu. He received his training at Xiangfu, and came to rely on Master Wen of Nanping; through his mighty eloquence, he was praised as the Tiger of Doctrine. In the early Zhenghe era, he returned to his home region to preside over Fushi, and students flocked to him. He once spoke boldly, saying: "Unless there are five hundred people in my assembly, I will not lecture on the great scriptural divisions; thus, throughout my life, I have lectured only on the Suvarṇaprabhāsa and Guanyin [sūtras]." On the day of his peaceful decease, he gathered the assembly and mounted the hall, ascending the lion throne and sitting cross-legged. Suddenly, he saw a silver dais arrive from the west. The Master said: "Throughout my life I have understood the ultimate truth, and I vowed to attain a golden dais; how has it come to this now?" He then closed his eyes and transformed. He authored the Xianzhang ji (Collection of Models) in five scrolls, in the preface of which he wrote: "Whenever a disciple of Śākya composes a work, he invariably seeks out high officials to preface its beginning and postface its end, promoting his doctrines so that they may circulate in the world. Yet how can gentlemen of cap and gown know what in my work is right, or recognize what is wrong? If it is right without a preface, can Heaven destroy it? Or if it is wrong with a preface, can men promote it?"

14.50

Dharma Heirs of Dharma Master Xian of Chaoguo

14.51

Dharma Master Yanlun achieved success studying under Master Xian of Chaoguo. In the first year of Daguan, he presided over Xiantan. He composed a doctrinal work titled Jingwei ji (Collection of the Subtle and Minute) in four scrolls, and was bestowed the title Miaohui. He also composed a two-scroll commentary on the Vajracchedikā Sūtra. / Dharma Master Yunqi was of the Zhou clan of Qiantang, styled Qingbian. In his youth, he passed the scriptural examination and was ordained; he received the teachings and contemplation from Master Huixian of Faming. He once suffered from an epidemic pestilence that could not be cured by a hundred medicines, whereupon he vigorously recited the holy name of Guanyin. He dreamed of a woman who opened his chest with a chisel, replaced his heart, and stroked it with her hand; his illness was immediately cured. Whatever he had read in former days was completely remembered without omission; when he wielded his brush, it formed elegant compositions, all of which conformed to classic standards, so that everyone called it the proof of eloquence. He presided over Daolin in Qiantang, Shangfang in Changshu, Dongling in Gusu, Nanping in Qiantang, Guanghua in Gusu, and Fushi in Sanqu. In the Zhenghe era, he returned again to Shangfang, living at leisure in the abbot's quarters. He composed the Dingshan ji (Record of Mount Ding) and a three-scroll commentary on the Tiantai Precept Commentary. In the first month of the fourth year of Jianyan, he gathered the assembly to recite the Amitābha Sūtra, and as soon as the Buddha's name was finished, he transformed that very moment. A stūpa for his relics was built at Shangfang. His disciples Faqing and Fayun of Jingde were able to transmit his path. Yun compiled the Fanyi mingyi (Meanings of Translated Terms) in seven scrolls, which greatly aided the examination of Sanskrit learning, also appending doctrinal meanings according to categories.

Linked texts (1)

佛祖統紀 — 志磐, Classical Chinese