佛祖統紀 45.32

45.32

In the ninth year, Ouyang Xiu was Prefect of Yingzhou. The official courtesan Lu Mei was skilled at witty conversation, and her mouth emitted the fragrance of lotus flowers. There was a śramaṇa from Shu who knew people's past lives. Xiu asked him about her. The monk said: "In her past life, this woman was a nun who recited the *Lotus Sūtra* for thirty years. Through a single errant thought, she ended up like this." Xiu asked the courtesan: "Have you ever read the *Lotus Sūtra*?" The courtesan said: "Having lost myself in this place, how could I read sūtras?" Xiu ordered his attendants to teach her; hearing it once, she immediately recited it. When she attempted other scriptures, she was unable to do so (*Dunzhai xianlan*). In the first year of Huangyou, an imperial edict ordered the reconstruction of the Linggan Stūpa to enshrine the relics (it had been rebuilt because it was destroyed by fire in the fourth year of Qingli). ○ An imperial edict dispatched an inner palace envoy to Ruguansi in Chenliu to welcome the Buddha's finger-bone relic. Some thought it was a counterfeit. The Emperor ordered it to be tested with fierce fire and struck with a golden hammer; it suffered no damage whatsoever. Presently, the relic poured forth light that illuminated the western direction. The Emperor said: "The merit is great. Shall it return to Chanjiao [Monastery]?" He then contained it in a crystal jewel casket, composed an imperial vow text, and had it reverently escorted back to the monastery. Earlier, the people of Chenliu had built a monastery for the śramaṇa Yijin and requested the plaque 'Chanjiao'. Suddenly an Indian monk arrived and said: "I have brought the Buddha's finger-bone relic from Tianzhu, seeking an auspicious place to enshrine it. None other than the Master can protect it." He offered it and left. Thereafter, auspicious light frequently manifested, and prayers were often answered (stele composed by Pang Jie). ○ Since the temples were destroyed in the Zhou dynasty and restored during the Jianlong era, in both the left and right sectors of the capital there were only the Nanshan Vinaya school and the doctrinal studies of Xianshou and Ci'en. Talented scholar-officials of surpassing intelligence were weary of hearing discussions of names and characteristics (nāmalakṣana), while Tiantai's cessation-and-contemplation and Bodhidharma's Chan lineage had not yet been able to flourish there. From the Chunhua era onward, Siming and Tianzhu practiced the Way; in the southeast, the contemplation-of-mind lineage-eye illuminated the world. Yang Yi and Chao Jiong brought it to light. Emperor Zhenzong praised and rewarded them, bestowing the titles Fazhi and Ciyun. Although the court and the public admired them for a time, they ultimately could not establish their teachings in the capital. At this point, the inner palace attendant Li Yunning memorialized to convert a residence in Bianjing to establish a Chan platform; an plaque was thus granted with the name Shifang Jingyin. The Emperor had turned his attention to the emptiness lineage and issued an edict seeking one possessed of the Way to dwell there. Ouyang Xiu and others requested that Yuantong June answer the call. Ne declined due to illness and accordingly recommended Huailian to replace him (*Ouyang waizhuan*).