佛祖統紀 45.71

45.71

Zhang Pingshu of Tiantai was in his youth transmitted the Way of the Primordial Chaos. When Lu Shen, academician of the Longtu Hall, governed Chengdu, [Zhang] relied on him to travel in Shu. There he met an extraordinary man who transmitted to him the secret formulas of the firing stages of the golden elixir. When his realization of the Way was complete, he wrote the Wuzhen pian (Chapters on Awakening to Reality), which was transmitted to the world. He had also widely studied in Chan circles and had achieved great awakening. Later, upon reading the Xue Dou Zuying ji (Collection of Ancestral Radiance of Xuedou), he suddenly understood the mind-ground, and composed songs and gāthās to elucidate its tenets. He also said: "Those who cultivate only the golden elixir without awakening to Buddhist truth receive retribution identical to the ten classes of immortals in the Śūraṅgama-sūtra, dispersing into the various destinies." Vice Minister Ma Mo, while transport commissioner of Guangnan, again traveled with him. Not long after, [Zhang] sat cross-legged and passed away. When his mortal remains were cremated, thousands of relics were obtained, bluish-black in color and shaped like water chestnuts. Yet afterward, there were still those who saw him. Pingshu originally transmitted the elixir method to Shi Tai, and Tai transmitted it to Xue Daoyuan, both of whom achieved success in the Way of the Elixir.