佛祖統紀 17.35

17.35

Dharma Master Ruone, styled Xiyan, was from the Sun family of Jiaxing. At first he relied on Zhu'an at Dezang, setting his resolve and studying through hardships. After a long time he fell ill; in his heart he implored the Great Being and with his mouth recited the secret mantra. He dreamed that the Great Being anointed him with a wondrous liquid, and upon waking his illness was gone. He then went to Chicheng to visit Zhengwu. When Zhengwu moved to Upper Tianzhu, he appointed the master to head the assembly. After Zhengwu passed away, an imperial decree appointed the master to succeed him in residence. In the second month of spring in the third year of Qiandao, the imperial carriage visited Upper Tianzhu to pay homage to the Great Being, and the emperor asked about the meaning of the Golden Radiance Repentance Ritual. The master replied, 'The heavenly lords Brahmā and Śakra and the Four Great Heavenly Kings descend upon the earthly realm to protect the country and protect the people. Therefore the Buddha preached the way of the Golden Radiance Samādhi for them. Patriarchal masters of later generations established it as a repentance ritual to enhance the prestige and virtue of the devas; hence emperors, officials, and commoners can all practice it.' The emperor was pleased and appointed him Monk Scribe of the Right Street. Soon after, an imperial edict ordered the construction of a Sixteen Contemplations Hall in the mountains, and a hall was also built in the imperial palace imitating its design. In the summer of the fourth year, the master was summoned to stay overnight inside the Contemplations Hall to discuss the Way. On the eighth day of the fourth month, the master was summoned to lead fifty disciples into the inner Contemplations Hall to perform the Golden Radiance ritual for the protection of the state. The emperor asked, 'The Buddha Dharma is certainly wondrous, but how can there be so many scrolls of sūtras?' The master replied, 'Those with a foundation are like this.' The emperor agreed, and promoted him to Monk Scribe of the Left Street, Dharma Master Huiguang. In the ninth year, he was summoned for an audience at the Xuande Hall, where the emperor asked about the miraculous traces of the Great Being through the dynasties and the purport of the Lotus Sūtra. The emperor said, 'Originally, I was enlightened in this matter through the master's clarification, and thus awakened to the Dharma-gate through the Scripture of Perfect Enlightenment. For instance, in playing chess, once victory and defeat are decided, not only are the chess pieces removed, but the chessboard must also be removed at the same time.' The master said, 'That which is removed at the same time is also unattainable.' The emperor said, 'To be thoroughly versed in both the doctrine and its realization—that indeed describes the master!' An imperial order was issued commanding him to lecture on the Scripture of Perfect Enlightenment. When he reached the passage, 'If this false mind does not exist, the six dusts cannot exist either,' the master said, 'The mind originally has no form; it possesses appearances because of the dusts. When the dusts are extinguished, the mind is extinguished, and the true mind remains clear and serene.' The emperor personally wrote down these words and bestowed them upon him. The emperor also once asked about the meaning of the Diamond Sūtra. The master replied, 'This is one portion of the six-hundred-roll Prajñā; to prompt questions and sever doubts, it is especially compared to a diamond. Thus Asanga's treatise says: "This Vajrapāramitā indicates power through such a name. Whatever pertains to prajñā possesses this power." Since this resolves doubts concerning all prajñā, the two words "diamond," although appearing in this text, in meaning actually apply as an analogy across all prajñā. Therefore, for those who uphold and preach it, the blessings are weighty and the merit is deep.' (The Commentary says: 'Guà [pertains to] the assembly of the Lotus.' The Subcommentary says: 'Guà means to participate in.' The Song dynasty scholar Pei Yin's preface to the Shiji says: 'Gathering the sayings of past Confucians, whatever [yù] is beneficial is entirely extracted and included.' One should know that Jingxi's gloss on yù agrees with Pei Yin.) The emperor said, 'I read this sūtra daily, and now I further order the assembly to chant thirty thousand rolls collectively.' He then issued a decree saying, 'From the past until now, the birds, fish, and the like that I have eaten and harmed have been many. Relying on prajñā now to eliminate this transgression, I hope that all living beings will together receive liberation.' At that time, King of Yi was still young; the emperor summoned the master into the inner palace to preach the Dharma for the king and rub his crown. The master once pleaded illness to request retirement. The emperor said, 'Let me bestow land and build a dwelling; in a few more years, we shall both become persons of leisure, and beside the water and upon the rocks speak together of non-arising.' In the eleventh year, he retired to Xingfu, and was specially appointed Chief Monk Scribe of Both Streets. At that time, Guangzong was in the Eastern Palace and wrote an inscription board reading 'Returning to Reclusion' to bestow upon him, also composing a eulogy to praise his virtue. When Xiaozong retired to the Chonghua Palace, he summoned him to comment on the Diamond Sūtra; he rode in a sedan chair to the palace hall and stayed in the palace lodge. When the commentary was completed and presented, the emperor read it and had even greater awakening. On the first day of the tenth month in the second year of Shaoxi, he said to his attendants, 'Our lineage thoroughly masters the Lotus; it is fitting to conclude with this.' He then assembled the community to practice the Lotus Repentance, took his monastic implements and presented them to the two imperial palaces, and passed away sitting upright at the age of eighty-two. His stupa was erected at his main residence. In the second year of Shaoxi, he was posthumously granted the title 'Dharma Master of the Doctrinal Teachings of Vast Compassion,' and his stupa was named 'Universal Radiance.'