佛祖統紀 16.53

16.53

Dharma Master Miaoyun was surnamed Yang, from Siming, and styled himself Cishi. He inquired widely at lecture seats, and when he developed subtle understanding, he followed Jiu Wuwei. He went to Yuji to call upon Dahui, where he attained further awakening. When Wuwei presided over Qingsxiu, the Master, along with Yitang and other worthy colleagues, sought further instruction morning and evening, together receiving the purport of the threefold contemplation with common characteristics. In the nineteenth year of the Shaoxing reign era, Wuwei passed away, and the assembly invited the Master to succeed him. At the beginning of the Chunxi reign era, he moved to Yongming in Cixi. Using the insights he had attained, he composed the *Direct Commentary on the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment*. Its preface stated: 'Great scholars and elder monks, upon reading this, will certainly say: Since it is called a direct commentary, why use such winding sub-sections?' Those who heard this were moved to smile. Once, when dwelling in leisure at Erling on Donghu, he composed a poem to send out to beg in the village market: 'Mountains encircle the lake waters, waters encircle the mountains; / A short skiff and white gulls between the window and desk. / Let supplies further arrive from beyond the wilds, / And ten monks, having deeply meditated to their fill, can rest in ease.' People of the time recited it as a faithful account. The prefecture invited him to reside at Nanhu; daily he was engaged in lecturing and expounding, and students gathered like a market. After dwelling there for two years, he resigned due to illness. He resided at the Wu Family Hermitage at Xikou. One day he went to bid farewell to Gentleman Wu. Three days after returning, he bathed his body, changed his clothes, sat cross-legged in his room, and said to his attendant: 'I have a petal of incense, kept for thirty years, which I intended to offer to the Buddha at the verge of death to reverently repay his great benevolence. Now is the time; I am about to depart.' When the incense smoke was burning brightly, he rose, addressed the Buddha, and expressed his wish to return to the Land of Peaceful Nourishment. Returning to his seat, he joined his palms and passed away. In his learning, the Master attained the essential purport and was particularly adept at delivering expositions. His poems, verses, and calligraphic ink-work were exquisitely peerless in his time. Because the Master's tenure in the seat was brief, the Ancestral Hall at Nanhu did not erect a statue of him. The venerable elders deliberated on it, saying: 'In the past, Master Zhu'an and Master Mu'an each resided here for only two years; yet deliberators considered their Dao grand and their renown momentous, and could not but erect statues for them. Today, in what way is Cishi inferior to these two elders?' Thereupon, they erected a seat and statue for him as well. Those who succeeded to his Dharma included Guanshou Zhengjiao (whose memorial day is the eighth day of the ninth month) and Head Monk Xiyan, whose courtesy name was Shengtu, styling himself Xuexi, a native of Fenghua in Siming. Having passed an examination on the scriptures in his youth, he received tonsure. There was no school of teaching or Chan hall he did not consult; there was no part of the Three Teachings or Hundred Schools he did not master. He once studied directly under Jiu Wuwei, receiving contemplation methods, and considered himself to have reached his master’s inner gate. When Wuwei died, he composed an inscription to convey the intention of having obtained his Dharma. The Master’s spirit was upright and steadfast, inspiring awe and respect in the masses; his literary elegance was lofty and exquisite, commanding the admiration of junior scholars. Thereupon, the name of Shengtu became renowned throughout the realm. Before the age of forty, wherever he stayed he always served as recorder; after the age of fifty, wherever he arrived he was seated at the head of the assembly. The various quarters repeatedly nominated him to assume a chief abbacy, but he steadfastly declined and did not accept. Once, walking along the vegetable plots, he saw maggots gathered like a ball in dung; because of the great killing of living creatures [involved in farming], he ceased eating vegetables. He only purchased three hundred and sixty catties of dried seaweed, taking one each day to supply his gruel and rice. In his later years he reflected upon himself, considering that residual habits of literary compositions brought no benefit to the Dao. He then took up residence at the Li Family Hermitage in Taoyuan, devoting his mind exclusively to reciting the Buddha's name. In one continuous retreat of ten years, his energetic progress never flagged. He said to Zhang Hanqing of Yinfan: 'In the Dao of the Pure Land, is there even a single phenomenon to be attained? The jeweled terraces, the gemmed nets, and the kalaviṅkas—these are merely the skillful methods used by our Buddha to attract and guide us. If only within one's cultivation one perceives not a single phenomenon, then the highest grade of the Land of Quiescent Light is attained without attainment.' Hanqing said: 'I have already believed and understood this; I only feel ashamed that I have not been able to advance courageously.' He gave the small porch where he resided the plaque 'Recollecting the Buddha' and composed a poem to express his intent, which went: 'Drifting with the waves and chasing the billows, lightly fluttering away, / Seventy years have passed in the snap of a finger. / How could I not have known all along to recollect the Buddha? / Only now, as old age sets in, do I wish to apply the whip even harder.' Approaching death, he bid farewell to his relatives and friends in advance, bathed, changed his clothes, faced west in contemplation, and suddenly exclaimed that the Buddha had arrived, joined his palms, and passed away. During the days of the Master's seclusion, when officials pursued Cishi for the adult male poll tax, the Master reproached them, saying: 'Where under heaven does someone read ten thousand scrolls of books to conduct himself as a lofty scholar, and yet you still wish to hold him liable for the poll tax?' The chief official praised his words, and he was exempted from inquiry.