佛祖統紀 47.47

47.47

In the ninth year, in the first month, Master Ne of Upper Tianzhu was summoned for a private audience in the Xuande Hall, where he was granted a seat. The Emperor asked about the efficacious traces of the Great Being through successive generations and the essential purport of the Lotus Sūtra. (Dengdui lu.) Duke of Wei Shi Hao retired in Siming, styling himself the Upāsaka Zhenyin. He frequently inquired about the Dharma essentials from Master Zhilian of Nanhu (styled Master Jueyun). He once said, "Master, do you also penetrate Chan and the Vinaya?" The Master said, "When ice melts and snow dissolves, it is indeed only one water." He also asked, "Why are the Avataṃsaka and Prajñā so overly diffuse?" The Master said, "Being diffuse is precisely why they are concise and easy." The Duke suddenly had an awakening. When he returned home after governing Fujian, he established Mount Yuebo at the Eastern Lake, imitating the Potalaka cliff, and built a cavern hall to enshrine the Great Being. He respectfully received an inscription from the Deshou Palace, which wrote "Tide Sound Cave" as the hall's plaque. First, he invited Master Zeyue, a senior disciple of Jueyun, to lecture exclusively on the teachings of Zhiyi (styled Yuan'an, bestowed the title Great Master Zhihai). Earlier, when the Duke was serving as the Salt Supervisor of Changguo, he sailed across the sea with Cheng Xiufu of Poyang to pay homage at Mount Potalaka. Suddenly, a monk pointed to the cliff top, where there was a cavity through which one could look down. While gazing and waiting, the Duke and the assembly saw the golden bodily form of the Great Being, and the Duke further saw two teeth emerging past the lips, resembling beryl. Full of joy and comfort, he made prostrations and withdrew. When they returned to the monastery, the sun had already set. A tall monk came to visit and told the Duke that his official career would reach Grand Preceptor, and said, "You are Duke Wen of Lu who died a natural death. In the future, when you become prime minister and the sovereign wishes to use military force, you must strongly admonish him. Twenty years later, I shall meet you in Yue." Having spoken, he departed. Early in the Qiandao reign, Duke Shi governed Yue as a former prime minister. A Daoist calling himself Master Yangsu, who had an old acquaintance with the Duke, arrived, and the Duke promptly ordered him invited in. Demanding paper, he wrote in large characters: "The black-haired Chancellor of Lu once again adds ten thousand miles of scenic splendor; the blue-eyed foreign monk once shared an evening's intimate words." Tossing down the brush, he walked straight out. The Duke was greatly startled; recalling the events at Potalaka, he realized that the tall monk and the Daoist were both manifestations of the Great Being, separated by exactly twenty years. (Yijian zhi, Putuo bi ji. Today, in the hall of Yuebo, there is a scroll depicting the manifestation at Potalaka seen by the Grand Preceptor.)