佛祖統紀 6.20

6.20

he went ahead to Jingzhou. Among the senior scholars and eminent monks, none failed to submit to him. That 'without meditation there is no wisdom' proved true from the Golden Mouth (the *Zhīguān* cites the sūtra: 'Without dhyāna there is no prajñā; without prajñā there is no dhyāna'). When the disciple on that very day did not comply with the request, [it was like]: 'Just as with Maitreya, whom should one now ask?' (The *Lotus Sūtra* states: 'Maitreya had this thought: "Now the World-Honoured One manifests marks of supernatural transformations. Due to what causes and conditions is there this auspicious sign? Whom should I now ask? Who can answer?"' and so forth).

In the seventh month, he presented to the King the first fascicle of the commentary he had authored, the *Jingming yishu*. In this month, the Master requested that the King serve as donor (dānapati) for the establishment of Yuquan [Monastery] and the renovation of Shizhu Monastery in Jingzhou. The King promptly sent a letter to the Area Commander-in-chief of Jingzhou, ordering him to inspect and oversee it, and sent another letter urging [the Master] to remain at Qixia so that he might consult him on doubtful points and practice the Way: 'The original aim is to set the mind at peace. Why trouble yourself with the excessive distance of the road to Tiantai? We hope you will desist from your previous intention.'

The Master replied in a letter: 'Qixia is close at hand, but it is not linked to my original vow. Since Tiantai is the place of my final rest, I have always enjoined my disciples: once impermanence arrives, I wish my bones to return to Tiantai. In the past I vowed to found a saṅghārāma; thus I wish to send someone to repair it, and am just now begging for a temple name, humbly asking you to serve as donor.' The King answered, granting all requests.

In the eighth month, the śramaṇa Baogong of Qixia Monastery on Mount Jiang respectfully offered the estates and fields of his monastery, requesting the Master to come and reside there, but he did not go. In the ninth month, the King welcomed the Master into the city. Having entered to pay his respects, [the Master] earnestly took his leave to return east. The King did not dare detain him, so he set out. The people of Wu and Yue swept the lanes to welcome him. Along the road, magistrates and governors arrayed banners and flowers to greet him. The monastery had long lain neglected for twelve years; human traces were cut off and bamboos and trees formed a forest. When he was halfway there, a monk with snow-white hair paused with his staff along the road and momentarily vanished. All deemed it a greeting by a holy sage.

The Master was deeply fond of woods and springs; bearing his staff, he would chant and recite. Once while walking, he said joyfully: 'A quiet night in deep mountains, clarifying the spirit in self-illumination—is this not delight?'

In the fourth month of the seventeenth year, he established ten regulations for governing the assembly and entrusted them to the Hall Overseer (zhītáng), the Sthavira Huijian (see the *Bailu*). In this month, the King sent an emissary into the mountains to inquire after him, arranging to receive him in audience at Jiangdu in the coming autumn. In the eighth month, the śramaṇa Jizang of Jiaxiang Monastery in Kuaiji and more than one hundred others presented a letter requesting him to preach the *Lotus Sūtra*, but he did not go.

Once, during a night when the bright moon shone upon his couch, he sat alone preaching the Dharma as if someone were asking questions and raising objections. The next morning, his attendant Zhixi inquired: 'I wonder what causes and conditions you encountered last night?' The Master replied: 'First, I dreamed that a great wind suddenly arose and blew down a jewelled pagoda. Next, I saw an Indian monk who said to me: "Dispositions and conditions are like firewood, illuminating function is like fire, and external support is like wind. When these three things are complete, the guidance of beings is carried out. On the night at Huading, I promised to respond in sympathy. Now that the capacity and functioning are almost exhausted, the external support will also cease. Therefore I have come to tell you." Moreover, I saw Dhyāna Master Gongxi of Nanyue, who instructed me to preach the Dharma. Thereupon I thought to myself: "The names and meanings of other dharmas I understood and formulated myself. Only the Three Contemplations and the Three Wisdoms did I initially receive face-to-face." When I finished preaching, he said to me: "The adorned array of other-power (this should be the name of a realm; its exact location is clarified elsewhere) has long awaited you. Your conditions require that you depart, and we shall see you off." I bowed and gave my assent. These are marks of death appearing. I recall the dream of my youth: I was destined to end my life in this place. For this reason, I always rejoiced at returning to the mountain. Now, having received this hidden notification, my time will surely not be long. After my demise, my corpse should be placed in a stone niche on the southwest peak, pines planted around it, and the pit covered. Erect two white pagodas so that those who see them may generate the bodhi-mind.'

After a short while, he told his disciples: 'When a merchant travels, he entrusts his gold; when a physician departs, he leaves behind medicine. Though I am lacking in discernment, I grieve for the frantic children.' Thereupon, he orally taught the *Guanxin lun*, and as he spoke, the text was completed.

In the tenth month, the King sent an emissary into the mountains to welcome him. That very day, the Master distributed his possessions and sundry items to give to the poor and needy. He marked stakes at the foot of the mountain to outline halls and chambers (the character *yì* [杙] is pronounced *yì* [弋]; it means a peg), sketching diagrams to serve as models. He admonished his disciples: 'If you build a monastery later, follow this method entirely.' Some wondered how a monastery could be established on such steep mountain ravines. The Master said: 'This is not an ordinary undertaking; it will be accomplished by the royal house' (*biàn* [辨] is a vernacular form [for *bàn* 辦]). The assembly could not fathom his meaning.

The next day, he followed the emissary out of the mountains. Reaching Shicheng, he announced he was ill, and said to Zhiyue: 'The Great King wished me to come, and I did not break my word. I know my life ends here; therefore, I need not advance further. Shicheng is the western gate of Tiantai, and the Great Buddha is a miraculous image of the future. The location is excellent, so here I should apply my final mental effort. Divide my robes, bowls, and implements: offer one portion to Maitreya, and allocate one portion for the karmadāna (saṅgha transactions).' Having spoken, he lay down on his right side facing west, mindfully reciting the names of Amitābha, Avalokiteśvara, and Prajñā.

The Prince of Jin, hearing the Master was ill, sent a physician to treat him, and someone urged him to take medicine. The Master said: 'Can medicine dispel illness and prolong my remaining years? Illness does not unite with the body—how can medicine dispel it? Years do not unite with the mind—what can medicine prolong? What did Zhixi hear in past days? What was said in the *Guanxin lun*?' They also invited him to take a meal. The Master said: 'Taking a meal is not merely pacing by the shadow of the sun (the shadow not passing noon); being able to dwell without conditions and without contemplation is the true meal' (when there is nothing conditioned and no one contemplating, both object and contemplation are vanished).

On the twenty-first day of the eleventh month, he composed an aspirational text, stating: 'The two statues of Vipaśyin and Kāśyapa in Wu County, the King Aśoka Stūpa Monastery in Mao County, and the thirty-foot Maitreya in Shan County—these three venerable images represent the three periods of time. Where they are ruined, peeled, or damaged, may they be adorned again. I entrust this to later generations to manage, repair, and erect.' On that day, he dictated a letter of departure, and personally wrote forty-six characters in his own hand (only these forty-six characters were written by his own brush). The letter stated in brief: 'The lotus incense burner and rhinoceros-horn ruyi sceptre were bestowed by the King. I now offer them in farewell. May the fragrance of your virtue be heard from afar, and may you forever maintain your intentions!' Together with the architectural diagrams for building the monastery and the aspirational text for the stone image, all were respectfully entrusted.

When he finished writing, he ordered the room to be swept clean, asked for his three robes and bowl, and bade his attendants chant two sūtras as his final hearing and contemplating. Having listened to the *Lotus Sūtra*, he praised it, saying: 'The parent of Dharma-gates, from whom wisdom and understanding are born! Its traces and origin are vast and great, subtle and difficult to fathom. For over forty years I have harboured it within; who could I share it with? Only I alone understood it clearly; others could not see it. Today the axe is stayed and the strings are severed' (the man of Ying stayed his axe, and Bo Ya severed his strings; both appear in the *Zhuangzi*).

Having listened to the *Amitāyus Sūtra*, he praised it, saying: 'The forty-eight vows adorn the Pure Land. With its jewelled trees and flower ponds, it is easy to go there, yet no one goes. Even those who, when the vision of the fiery chariot appears, can repent and reform may still attain rebirth—how much more so for those who cultivate the perfumes of morality and wisdom through the power of practicing the Way! It is truly not in vain.'

While the sūtra was being chanted, the attendant officer Zhang Da of Wu Commandery and five others saw the stone Buddha grow double in size, its brilliance filling the mountain and shining straight into the room. When the chanting ended, he asked for fragrant water to rinse his mouth, and expounded the ten 'suchnesses', the four unproduced [dharmas], the ten Dharma realms, the Three Contemplations, the four immeasurable minds, the four siddhāntas, the four noble truths, the twelve links of dependent origination, and the six pāramitās. Each single Dharma-gate subsumes all dharmas; all can lead the mind to the Cool Pond. If one can comprehend all Dharma-gates within the objective sphere of sickness, one is the twenty-fifth person, to whom the hundred gold coins may be entrusted (the parable of the merchant entrusting gold in the *Nirvāṇa Sūtra*). 'Now, for my final time, I spur contemplation and discuss the profound (whenever one speaks of spurring the sūtra, spurring examinations, spurring dharmas, and now spurring contemplation, all carry the meaning of whipping forward to make progress); I shall now enter the ultimate, auspicious extinction' (skillfully entering extinction).

Zhilang inquired: 'I do not know what stage the Master will enter, where he will be born after passing from here, and whom we should look up to as our master?' The Master replied: 'You are lazy in planting good roots, yet you ask about another’s merits! It is like a blind person asking about milk—what benefit is there in telling the truth? Now I shall break through your doubts for you: had I not led the assembly, my six sense-faculties would certainly have been purified; but by harming myself for others' sake, I have only reached the five grades of practice. All my teachers and friends, attending Avalokiteśvara, have come to welcome me. The prātimokṣa is your teacher. The four kinds of samādhi that I regularly expounded are your clear guides. You and I have met through the Dharma, taking the Dharma as our kin; transmitting the lamp of the Buddha constitutes our family.'

He further admonished the karmadāna: 'When a person's life is about to end, hearing the sound of bells and chimes enhances their right mindfulness. It should be sustained continuously until breath ends. Why wait until the body is cold to strike the chimes again? Weeping and wearing mourning clothes in worldly fashion must not be done.' Having finished speaking, he chanted the names of the Three Jewels as if entering samādhi. It was indeed the hour of *wei* (1:00–3:00 PM) on the twenty-fourth day of this month. His worldly age was sixty; his monastic age was forty.

He sat peacefully outside for ten days. Monastics and laypeople rushed there, wailing, circumambulating, and bowing. After he was placed in the niche, sweat flowed over his whole body. When they were about to carry him back to Folong, continuous rain fell without ceasing. His disciples prayed and pleaded for divine power; no sooner was the dhyāna niche lifted than the sky immediately cleared. Thereupon, a tomb was raised on the southwest peak of the monastery to enshrine him, in accordance with his prior instructions.

There were thirty-two disciples who transmitted the Dharma, and those who obtained the Dharma and practiced it on their own were beyond count (Liang Su's stele for Chanlin Monastery notes: 'Those who attained the gate numbered in the thousands; those who attained the profound mind were thirty-two').

The Master founded thirty-six monasteries. He once said: 'Among the monasteries I have founded, Qixia, Lingyan, Tiantai, and Yuquan are the four pre-eminent under heaven.' Moreover, he produced fifteen sets of the Great Canon, eight hundred thousand statues of sandalwood, gold, bronze, and paint, and personally ordained fourteen thousand monks. For thirty years, the Master wore only a single patched robe, never removing it winter or summer. Whenever he received offerings, even a single fruit or a strand of thread was given to the assembly. In all his propagation, he kept no written commentaries. Settled in unimpeded eloquence, he accorded with principle and tallied with the texts. Only when there was a great spiritual capacity would he personally write works. He composed the twenty-eight-fascicle *Jingming yishu* for the Prince of Jin, the *Liumiao men* for Mao Xi, the *Xiao zhiguan* for his elder brother Chen Zhen, and the *Jueyi sanmei* and *Fahua sanmei xingyi*, each in one fascicle, as well as the three-fascicle *Fajie cidi* (all the above were composed by himself). He often said from the high seat: 'If I expound the *Gradual Dhyāna Gate*, it takes once per year; if written as a commentary, it would be around fifty fascicles' (Dhyāna Master Shen's private notes made it thirty fascicles; Zhang'an edited and established it as fifteen fascicles). 'If I expound the *Fahua xuanyi* and the *Perfect and Sudden Zhiguan*, each takes once every half year; if written as commentaries, each would be thirty fascicles.' These three Dharma-gates he constantly lectured on, and Zhang'an, hearing them once, recorded them as commentaries.

In the eighteenth year, Zhiyue, the head among the Wise One's disciples, sent the monastic envoys Guanding and Puming to present the farewell letter and thirty-one fascicles of the *Jingming yishu* to Yangzhou. The King sent an emissary to reply to the posthumous wishes, expressing remorse and regret that he had barely received the commentary in person. Regarding the requested construction of the monastery, he now dispatched the Marshal Wang Hong to follow the instructions and plans completely. The statues and stūpas in the three locations of Wu Commandery, the Mao territory, and Shan District, as well as the place where the Wise One fell ill, were also to be decorated and adorned. He further dispatched an emissary to Folong to establish a Dharma gathering for a thousand monks.

When the King first read the farewell letter, facing the commentary on the *Vimalakīrti Sūtra*, he made a vow, saying: 'Formerly, when I personally met the Master, I was unable to resolve my doubts. Now, inheriting his posthumous wishes, how can I attain awakening? If one can generate understanding from examining the text, may he show supernatural power!' That night he dreamed that a crowd of monks gathered in a pavilion, and the King himself expounded the meaning; he saw the Wise One fly through the air, pour seven-jewel corals onto the pavilion, and then fly away again.

On the sixteenth day of the fourth month, just as the monastic assembly at Folong was sitting in meditation, Sthavira Daoxiu saw the Wise One in his ordinary clothes pacing inside the hall for a short while before walking out. The Sthavira started up in shock to bow and pay homage, and the assembly lamented and wept together.

In the eleventh month, the King sent the Record Keeper Wu Jingxian into the mountains to hold a vegetarian feast for five hundred monks on the anniversary of the Master's death. In the twentieth year, the Prince of Jin was installed as Crown Prince. In the first month of the first year of Renshou, the monk Faxiaosheng of Yongjia, hearing of the Wise One's supreme virtue, came specially to the niche and circumambulated it with a thousand prostrations. One night, the doors of the niche opened by themselves, and light illuminated the forest trees. The entire monastery rushed over, and the assembly gazed and paid homage together.

In the tenth month, Zhiyue, the head among the Wise One's disciples, sent the monastic envoys Guanding and Zhizao with a memorial to the capital to offer congratulations and express gratitude for the newly completed monastery. Since the King had founded the saṅghārāma and then ascended to the Eastern Palace, this was 'the Crown Prince's monastery foundation.' Since the King was the donor of the monastery and Wang Hong was appointed to manage it, this was 'the royal house building the monastery.' Chen and Qi were both destroyed, and Sui had replaced Zhou: this was 'three kingdoms becoming one.' When the monastery was completed and a name requested, it followed the prior prophecy: this was 'calling it Guoqing.' The words of the divine monk were all verified at this point.

In the twelfth month, the Crown Prince sent the Sanqi shilang (Cavalier Gentleman-in-Waiting) Zhang Qianwei to escort Guanding back to the mountain, hold a vegetarian feast for a thousand monks, and present a text paying respects. When the tomb niche was opened to view the relics, the spiritual body was seen motionless as if in absorption.

In the seventh month of the fourth year, the Crown Prince ascended the imperial throne. In the eleventh month, the monastery sent the monastic envoy Zhizao to present a memorial offering congratulations. In the ninth month of the first year of Daye of Emperor Yang, the imperial carriage toured to Yangzhou. The monastery sent Zhizao to the imperial travelling lodge. In the tenth month, he was granted an audience at the Great Fang Hall and seated. An imperial edict was proclaimed: 'You masters are a community practicing the Way; do not admit northern monks or those who illicitly enter the monastic order at risk of death to take others' places.' Zhizao replied: 'The single monastery of Tiantai is shaded by Heaven; the monastery has regular regulations and dares not admit outside guests or those who illicitly take others' places.'

The Emperor also decreed: 'When you return to the monastery, open the miraculous niche again; there will surely be a great wonder. We wish to erect a stele for our late master, and there should be a record of his conduct.' Zhizao replied: 'Our late master's miraculous events are not few. Guanding recorded them into one fascicle, which shall be presented at once.' The Emperor commanded the Director of the Palace Library Liu Guyan: 'We wish to compose a stele for the Wise One; without your writing, it cannot match Our mind.' When the stele was completed, it was decreed to be engraved on stone at the monastery. Its gist said: 'Relying on the *Benevolent Kings Sūtra*, *Jewelled Necklace Sūtra*, Nāgārjuna, and Aśvaghoṣa, he established the Three Contemplations and Four Teachings to set forth his fundamental lineage' (and so forth).

The Emperor ordered fifty monks of Yangzhou to establish a name for the Tiantai monastery, one memorial proposing 'Chanmen' and one proposing 'Five Śuddhāvāsa'. The monastic envoy Zhizao came forward and said: 'Formerly in the Chen dynasty, there was Dhyāna Master Dingguang. After he passed away, the Wise One dreamed that his spirit said: "Now when you wish to build a monastery, it is not yet the time. When three kingdoms become one, a person of great power will build a monastery for you. When the monastery is completed, the country will be clear (guo qing), and it must be called Guoqing Monastery."' The Emperor said: 'This is an auspicious sign from our late master; let it be used as the name.' Thereupon, taking the placard of the Great Fang Hall, he wrote it in large seal script with realgar. He sent the Usher Lu Zhengfang into the mountain to install the monastery placard. On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, the anniversary of the death, forty-nine monks were ordained and a feast for a thousand monks was held. The officials checked the register and found exactly one thousand; yet when it came to receiving the feast and dakṣiṇā, the count exceeded by one person. All said that the transformed body of the Wise One had come to receive the state offering.

In the afternoon of that day, the envoy and the great assembly opened and viewed the miraculous niche: there were only an empty couch and bare curtains. The emissary returned to report. The Emperor said to the assembled ministers: 'The Wise One was Our preceptor. Previously there were many miraculous wonders. In the first year of Renshou, We ordered Zhang Qianwei to go and inspect the niche chamber, and he was solemn and intact. Now when Lu Zhengfang went, his spiritual body could no longer be seen. Having departed through transformation, his attainment of the Way is not false.'

Śramaṇa Huiyan of Tianxiang Monastery had formerly visited Guangzhai and received the moisture of his Dharma. Suddenly hearing of his passing, he wept incessantly. Desiring to know the Wise One's place of rebirth, he copied the *Lotus Sūtra* to seek a hidden sign. After deep contemplation for several decades of days, he suddenly dreamed that the Wise One came from the west following Avalokiteśvara, and turned to ask him: 'Has your doubt been dispelled?'

Ma Shaozong, a local resident, harvested one hundred bundles of rice to offer to the monastic assembly. Exhausted and falling ill from the labor, he inwardly sought protection. At night, he dreamed that the Wise One sat cross-legged on a couch, burning incense like mist, and comforted Shaozong: 'Though poor, your family could make this offering; why doubt that you will receive blessings?' At that time, his elder brother and his mother-in-law had the same dream that night, and the fragrant aroma lingered for several days.

Also, a man named Zhang Zao was elderly and lame in his feet. Climbing to the niche, he bowed and prayed: 'Having received the favor of burning incense early on, I pray to attain deliverance in the next life.' Suddenly from within the niche he heard a voice answering and fingers snapping. Zao prayed again: 'I pray you grant a divine response once more.' He immediately heard it as before.

An elderly woman named Mrs. Yu was ninety years old and had suffered from one shortened leg for eighteen years. She went purposefully to the niche to diligently arrange a vegetarian feast; immediately she felt her shortened leg stretch back out, and she walked evenly and flat.

Fayan, a disciple from Yuquan in Jingzhou, fashioned a statue of the Wise One at Jiangdu. Returning to Jiangjin, the body of the statue broke into a sweat; when wiped away, it came forth again. Those who understood said that the Master's physical body was no different from this.

King Zhongyi Qian of Wuyue petitioned the court at the time, posthumously conferring the title 'Venerable Fakong Baojue' (during the reign of Shizong of the Later Zhou). In the third year of Qingyuan under Emperor Ningzong of our present dynasty, upon the request of Jingmen, he was additionally posthumously titled 'Great Dhyāna Master Linghui' (extracted from the *Bailu*, the *Alternative Biography*, the *Biographies of Eminent Monks*, notes on the three commentaries, the *Histories of the Southern and Northern Dynasties*, the Yuquan Stele, the Guoqing Stele, and the *Record of the Shrine of King Guan*).