佛祖統紀 22.15

22.15

Dharma Master Zhiyuan was of the Song clan of Runan. Initially relying on Heze, he heard about the Tiantai school, mastered its profound principles, and studied diligently for many years. He resided at Huayan Monastery on Mount Wutai, where he never accepted individual meal invitations and slept without taking off his robes. He made the four kinds of samādhi his regular practice. In the fourth year of Huichang, he suddenly fasted for several days and admonished his disciples, saying: "The wondrousness of the Tiantai path lies in the Lotus Wenzhu opening the proximate to reveal the distant in the origin and manifestation aspects; the five meanings of the Xuanwen interpreting the Dharma; and cessation and contemplation cultivating both object and contemplation, where understanding and practice are completely luminous and concealment and illumination are equal. Before treading the stages of the sages, few reach this point. In repenting through the Fangdeng, one must rely on utmost sincerity. Reflecting on this always, you should fulfill my wishes." At that time, though students were as numerous as a forest, only Yuankan grasped his purport. When Emperor Wuzong suppressed the Buddha-Dharma, Kan received the dying instructions and hid the scriptures inside the walls of the house. When Emperor Xuanzong ascended the throne and the Buddha sun shone brightly again, Kan renovated the old residence, took out the hidden texts, and placed them in the portrait hall. Their recitation and transmission in that age were thus renewed after having been severed.