佛祖統紀 43.58

43.58

In the second year, the monk Chongda of Taiyuan returned from the Western Heavens (India); having traveled back and forth for ten years, he presented relics of the Buddha and palm-leaf Sanskrit sūtras. He was bestowed the purple robe and resided at Guang'ai Monastery in the Western Capital. ○ An imperial decree appointed Zanning of the Hanlin Academy as Compiler in the Historiography Institute. ○ The monk Buddhagupta of Nālandā Monastery in Central India came to pay court; he presented relics of the Buddha and Sanskrit sūtras, and was bestowed the purple robe. ○ The monk Shengchang of Zhaoqing Monastery at the West Lake in Hangzhou pricked his blood to write the 'Chapter on Pure Practice' of the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, and formed a society to cultivate the pure karmic deeds for the Western Paradise. Chancellor Wang Dan stood as its head, and one hundred and thirty-two men, including Participant in Determining Governmental Matters Su Yijian, joined; scholar-officials of the time all called themselves disciples of the Pure Practice Society. The bhikṣus who participated numbered a thousand; it was said that the Lotus Society of Mount Lu had never been as flourishing as this day. ○ When the Duke of Shen, Lü Mengzheng, was young and obscure, he was extremely destitute; he often sought assistance from others. A monk pitied him and provided him with food. When the month ended and his means were again exhausted, [the monk] let him live in the monastery corridors, sharing congee and rice with the monastic assembly, so that he was able to apply his mind to studying in peace. That year he was recommended for the examinations; the monk again prepared travel provisions and sent him off. He ultimately took first place among the many scholars. Ten years later, when he was governing the state, at the imperial suburban sacrifice, he did not claim any of his stipends. When the Emperor asked the reason, he answered that he had a private debt of gratitude that had not yet been repaid. The Emperor sighed and said, 'Is there such a man among the monks?' He then issued an official document to the Western Capital, ordering the monk of the monastery to draw the stipend funds to renovate the monastery as a repayment. The Duke would regularly rise at dawn to worship the Buddha, praying: 'May those who do not believe in the Three Jewels never be born into my family; may my descendants in generations to come enjoy official emoluments and protect and uphold the Buddhadharma.' The Duke's son Gongzhu and his nephew Yijian were both enfiefed as Dukes of Shen, and both knew to revere the Buddha; on every New Year's Day, they brought out the letters of instruction from the various Chan elders whom they had served, bowed, and read them. When Mengzheng held office in the government, he burned a memorial inviting Master Yan Fahua to a vegetarian feast. The next morning, Yan arrived and sat in the hall. When the Duke was about to come out, he pondered whether he ought to bow or not. Yan shouted loudly, 'Old Master Lü, come out quickly! To bow is fine, and not to bow is fine!' Greatly startled, the Duke hurried out and bowed to him. When the vegetarian meal was over, he asked about his future fortunes and misfortunes; Yan asked for a brush and wrote the two characters 'Bozhou.' Later, when he was dismissed from the chancellorship and became prefect of Bozhou, he only then realized the earlier prophecy (from Da Hui's Arsenal of the Chan School). ○ The monk Jingjie of the kingdom of Champa in the Southern Sea went to the imperial court and presented a ruyi scepter, a gilt-bronze bell and vajra pestle, and borneol camphor. An imperial decree ordered that on national mourning days, officials from the chancellor downward should visit Buddhist and Daoist monasteries to burn incense, and prohibited the serving of meat and wine.