佛祖統紀 37.6

37.6

Second year. The Emperor asked Master Baozhi whether the state would face disasters. Zhi pointed to his throat and neck (prophesying Hou Jing). He asked how long he would enjoy the state. Zhi replied, 'Yuanjia, Yuanjia!' (Emperor Wen of the Song's Yuanjia era reached thirty years; repeating it meant exceeding Yuanjia.) When the Emperor administered the government with harshness and severity, Zhi used his supernatural power to let the Emperor see his late father suffering underground, because of which he showed leniency in punishments. Once Zhang Sengyou was imperial ordered to paint Zhi's portrait; Zhi tore open his face with his fingers, revealing the features of the Twelve-Faced Avalokiteśvara, sometimes compassionate and sometimes awesome; Sengyou was ultimately unable to paint it. At that time, whenever the two masters Fayun and Yunguang preached the Lotus Sūtra, heavenly flowers fluttered down in profusion. Considering them to have verified holiness, the Emperor burned an invitation by night in the private hall to invite Master Zhi, Yunguang, and Fayun to a vegetarian feast. The next day, Master Zhi arrived alone. ○ The monk Mandrasena of the Funan kingdom arrived to present a coral Buddha statue; an imperial decree ordered him to translate scriptures in the capital of Yang. ○ On the eighth day of the fourth month, the Emperor personally composed an essay in Chongyun Hall, leading twenty thousand officials and commoners to generate the bodhicitta and forever renounce Daoism. His essay said, 'May I in future lives leave home in youthful purity, broadly propagate the scriptural teachings, transform and liberate sentient beings, and together achieve the Buddha path. I would rather sink long into evil destinies within the True Dharma than delight in momentarily gaining rebirth in heaven by relying on Laozi's teachings.' In the eleventh month, an edict ordered the ministers, the hundred officials, marquis-kings, and imperial clansmen all to renounce Daoism, abandoning the heterodox to return to the correct. Third year. The Emperor proceeded to Chongyun Hall to expound the scriptures, appointing Fabiao of Zhiyuan Temple as chief lecturer. Biao would first pose a question, and only then would the Emperor respond; in examining and probing, both penetrated the profound and wondrous. ○ The Emperor once dreamt of a divine monk who said, 'Sentient beings in the six destinies and four forms of birth undergo immeasurable suffering; why not institute the great Water-and-Land Feast to universally deliver the multitude of souls?' The Emperor then perused the canon and initiated the composition of ritual texts; after three years they were completed. He thereupon held an offering at Jinshan Temple, commanding the monk Sengyou to proclaim the text, which showed great miraculous resonance (the matter is fully recorded in the Treatise on Luminous Manifestation). ○ An imperial decree ordered Guangzhai Temple to be built on his former residence, so named because the residence radiated light for seven days. An imperial decree appointed Dharma Master Fayun as abbot of Guangzhai Temple, establishing monastic regulations as a standard for later generations. ○ The monk Zhileng was skilled in the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra and the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa, and was especially versed in Zhuangzi and Laozi. Later, encountering bandits, he returned to lay life. The Daoist Meng Xida urged him to become a yellow-crowned Daoist. Seeing that the various Daoist scriptures were utterly devoid of central tenets, he thereupon drew upon Buddhist teachings to polish them; the interpretations of the meanings of scriptures such as the Xisheng jing and the Miaozhen jing all originated with Leng. Before Emperor Wu renounced Daoism, he drew Leng to Wuming Hall to establish doctrines. In his twilight years, while lecturing on the Xisheng jing for various Daoists, he suddenly lost his voice, his tongue curled up on the seat, and he collapsed and died. The multitude considered this the retribution for betraying his faith (Monastic Mirror Record).