佛祖統紀 49.39

49.39

At Yanqing Monastery in Mingzhou, there have been lecture seats across generations, taking the Tiantai contemplation practices as their core lineage. Since the Great Master Fazhi was exalted in both practice and learning, students turned their hearts toward him in yearning, and his successors were also all capable men; more than a hundred years have now passed since then. Occasionally, people of ascetic tapas and refined cultivation came to rely on this bodhimaṇḍa. In the Yuanfeng era, the monk Jieran cultivated the method of the Western Pure Land: he sat without lying down, setting three years as his term. When his term was complete, he said to his fellow cultivators Huiguan, Zhongzhang, and Zongyue: 'We each occupied one room to accomplish this supreme condition. Those who come later will be more numerous, but the rooms do not increase. Now on the western corner of the monastery there is still vacant ground. If we could obtain more than twenty million cash, construct more than sixty bays of rooms, erect a precious pavilion in the middle housing a sixteen-foot image of Amitābha flanked by Avalokiteśvara and Mahāsthāmaprāpta, encircled by sixteen rooms, each of two bays, with images of the Three Sages arranged outside and places for dhyāna contemplation inside; if the hall faces the pond's water and the water brings forth lotus blossoms, then without departing from the midst of dusty defilements, a realm beyond the world will open wide; places of mindfulness will be entirely serene with not a single extraneous condition, so that by a firm and resolute mind the Land of Peace and Joy may be revealed. How could following the Buddha's compassion and repaying the debt to the state be for just the four of us alone? Such is my wish—can it be accomplished?' Huiguan and the others replied with one voice: 'With a mind that functions effortlessly without contrivance, doing things of purposeful benefit, Siming has many faithful donors; what worry is there that it will not be accomplished?' From then on, managing day by day and accumulating month by month, seven winters and summers passed, and among all that Jieran wished to do, not one failed to accord with his aspiration. At the beginning, Jieran burned two fingers of his hand, vowing that he would surely accomplish this. On the day of its completion in the third month of the second year of the Yuanfu era, he arranged an offering to the thousand Buddhas, and again burned three fingers to increase his pure vow. Having accomplished what was difficult to accomplish, and having given up what was difficult to give up, when one traces back his intention, he had no selfish thought. Thereupon, among those who saw or heard of it, there was none who did not rejoice in accord; practitioners of pure cultivation leaped for joy, and the sixteen rooms were never left vacant. Those whose terms were completed departed, and those who brought forth the resolve arrived; as for those who relied upon this supreme realm and attained wholesome benefits, one knows not how many people there were. Now the teaching of the Pure Land was spoken by the ancient Buddhas; sincere practitioners receive it faithfully without doubt. When the Tathāgata narrated the nine grades [of rebirth], he took utmost sincerity as the highest of the high. When Zhiyi composed the Ten Treatises, he destroyed the complete bonds of doubting minds. When the bonds are untied and emotional defilements are forgotten, when consciousness disperses and wisdom appears, then why should one falsely seek the pure realm of Amitābha elsewhere? It is like facing a bright mirror and seeing one's own facial reflection. Those who attain it do not do so through conscious reception; how could those who are benighted comprehend it through emotional attachment? Those who transcend habituated consciousness without delusion, and cross beyond the dust of passions to attain it alone—is it not solely through sincerity? Thus it is said: 'Sincerity is accomplishment'; to accomplish oneself and to accomplish others is solely this. It is like the pure full moon appearing everywhere in all waters: its reflections are not one, yet the substance of the moon is not two; it gathers what is dispersed and unifies where it returns, converging the ten directions and collecting them into one. It is also like ten mirrors surrounding a single lamp burning in the middle: the bodies of light interpenetrate so that east and west cannot be distinguished. However, directions have fixed positions, so there is not no west; the name of the mirror is established according to its characteristic, yet west does not make itself west. When wisdom and principle blend, who can grasp at any objective realm? How can one, with views grasping at directions while still in bondage, measure the unimpeded realm of the Tathāgata? Master Cien has said: 'Sentient beings have heavy karma and give rise to greed everywhere; if one does not determinately point to one direction, how can they tie their minds in concentrated focus?' This good friend supported the teaching according to direction, specifically protecting the Dharma-characteristic school. Yet when discussing the superiority or inferiority of Peace and Sustenance (Sukhāvatī) versus the Tuṣita [Heaven] of Contentment, he considered specifically exhorting rebirth [in the Pure Land] to be the most supreme. One thus knows that a comprehensive person has no stinginess; if one is stingy, there is much selfishness. That realms are overwhelming and habits heavy is because one's contemplation is shallow and one's mind is flighty; that 'it is easy to go, yet no one is there' is truly because doubts are deep and hindrances heavy. If one wishes to completely eliminate hindrances and defilements, one must take resoluteness as one's mind. Wet firewood piled like a mountain can be burned by a bean-sized flame; a room dark for a thousand years is instantly illuminated when the sun shines in. Śākyamuni's skillful means are profound to the utmost; Amitāyus expounds the Dharma without interruption; Avalokiteśvara is like a mother mindful of her child; Mahāsthāmaprāpta is like a child remembering its mother. How could one not follow the tracks of the ancient sages? Illusory realms are empty and non-existent; what is there to abandon? The Elder Vimokṣa did not go to the Land of Peace and Joy; the Great Being Samantabhadra personally beheld Amitābha. He who personally beheld [Him] initially did not move; he who did not go went in just this way. Universally merging without obstruction, naturally emptiness and provisionality are both the Middle. If distinctions are not forgotten, how can one avoid disputing provisional and real with one another? If it is like this, there will never be a day of peace of mind; when could one attain endurance? One thus knows that thought after thought must be manifest before one's eyes; only then will one decidedly never regress. Therefore it is said: 'If I do not determinately attain equal and right awakening, I vow not to take bodhi; if I have regression regarding the bodhicitta, I vow not to take right awakening.' This was the original vow of the monk Dharmākara, and that which all superior good persons follow and learn. To bring forth such a mind, practice such practice, raise such a vow, and advance toward such a fruit, without violating the great vow of Dharmākara—then those who lodge their traces in this monastery and rest their minds in these rooms are all people of avaivartika. How could their supreme benefits ever end? The monk Jieran sounded a single wholesome thought, and the faithful of Siming responded like an echo; and the extent to which he benefited this entire region is as vast as this—could his deeds not be recorded? The current head of the teachings, Great Master Mingzhi, is the great-grandson [in Dharma] of Fazhi. His practice and karmic deeds are pure and solid, convincing to all; he is able to cultivate the Pure Land contemplation with a sincere mind, and has assisted greatly in Jieran's undertakings. Therefore I record it alongside. Recorded by Chen Guan of Yanping on the first day of the eighth month in the first year of the Daguan era.