佛祖統紀 22.7

22.7

The commentary states: The past Buddhas, by means of the path of the threefold contemplation, dwelled securely in the secret storehouse. The present Śākyamuni, by means of the path of the threefold contemplation, manifested expedient means after achieving the fruit. From this we know that the methods of personal practice and converting others, of expedient and real, and of cause and effect, are entirely the path of the threefold contemplation. The Yingluo jing proclaimed it before; the Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa expounded it after. Master Wen of the Northern Qi had an inner awakening and established it as the method; the Great Master of Dongyang praised it from the side and demonstrated it through verse. All of these served to illuminate this path. Dongyang became manifest during the Liang and passed away in the Chen. When the Northern Qi, Nanyue, and Zhiyi were transmitting this path to one another, he was still living. Having personally received the spoken word from the Buddha's mouth in the past, he now encountered the transmission among the masters in the present. Thereupon, he arose and said: "How great! The path of the threefold contemplation is being practiced in Cīnasthāna—could it be at this very time?" He then composed two poems, appropriately praising it from the side. People of the world have failed to investigate their simultaneity, erroneously pointing to Dongyang as a predecessor and asserting that he was able to discuss the threefold contemplation in advance. Therefore, when Chao Jingyu composed the Mingzhi Stele, he also said that the one who preceded Zhiyi in leading his teaching was Great Master Fu of the Liang. These words are not accurate. Now it should be changed to say: The one who was contemporary with Chan Master Wen and praised his path from the side was Great Master Fu. Because the Great Master had no traces of master-disciple lineage transmission, he is now merely appended to the beginning of the biographies.