佛祖統紀 7.3

7.3

The Fifth Patriarch, the Venerable Guanding of Zhang'an (His master, considering this child to be extraordinary, named him after the highest stage of the bhūmis in order to encourage his progress) was of the Wu family, a native of Zhang'an in Linhai. When he was only three months old (born in the second year of Tianjia of Emperor Wen of the Chen), he could follow his mother in reciting the names of the Three Jewels. A monk passed by their gate and told his mother: 'This child is no ordinary person.' Hence he was named accordingly. At the age of seven, he entered Shejing Monastery, relying on Huizheng and memorizing ten thousand words daily. At twenty, he received full ordination. Naturally endowed with wisdom and understanding, he never forgot anything he heard once. Early in the Zhide era of the Chen (Chen Houzhu), he visited Zhiyi at Xiushan Monastery, received the methods of contemplation, and after studying and investigating for a long time, suddenly received approval. He became his attendant, following him wherever he stayed, and was able to comprehend all the Dharma teachings spoken. In the first year of Zhenming, he accompanied Zhiyi to stay at Guangzhai Monastery in Jinling to hear the lecture on the Lotus Sūtra. (The commentary on the Wenju says: 'At twenty-seven, he heard and received it in Jinling.') In the summer of the thirteenth year of Kaihuang of the Sui (Emperor Wen of the Sui), he received the Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra (Fahua xuanyi) at Yuquan in Jiangling. (He was then thirty-three; this is what is meant by 'Next, being in Jiangling, he reverently received the Xuanyi.') In the summer of the fourteenth year, he received the Perfect and Sudden Calming and Contemplation (Yuandun zhiguan) at Yuquan. (This is what is meant by 'One summer of expounding, two periods of compassionate rain.') As for lectures in other places, while listening and receiving them, he compiled them all into collections, amounting to over one hundred fascicles of larger and smaller works; that these were transmitted to those who had not yet heard them was entirely the master's achievement. In the first month of the eighteenth year, the master, together with Puming, carried Zhiyi's testamentary letter from Tiantai to Yangzhou to see the Prince of Jin and presented the Vimalakīrti Commentary (Jingming yishu). In the second month, the prince dispatched the envoy Wang Hong to escort them back to the mountain, held a feast for a thousand monks on Zhiyi's behalf, and began work on constructing Guoqing Monastery. In the first year of Renshou, when the Prince of Jin became Crown Prince, the master and Zhizao presented a memorial in Chang'an to offer congratulations and express gratitude for building the monastery. Zhang Heng, Right Supervisor of the Household, proclaimed an order inquiring about the miraculous events following Zhiyi's passing, to which he replied with five events (fully recorded in the Bailu). The Crown Prince, filled with mixed sorrow and joy, dispatched the Sanqi Changshi Zhang Qianzhen to the mountain to hold a feast for a thousand monks. In the fourth month of the second year, he dispatched Zhang Xie, an administrative assistant of Yangzhou, to the mountain to proclaim an order: Masters Daozhuang and Falun of Huiri Bodhimaṇḍa (in the Sui, monasteries were renamed bodhimaṇḍas; this monastery was in the Eastern Capital; the two masters appear in the Tang Further Biographies of Eminent Monks) were to lecture on the Vimalakīrti Sūtra in the Eastern Palace entirely using Zhiyi's commentary for judgment and interpretation; someone among the monastery assembly who thoroughly knew the Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra should be ordered to bring the commentary to the capital. The assembly nominated the master to accompany the envoy in response to the order. In the eighth month, an envoy was sent to escort the master back to the mountain. In the tenth year of Daye of Emperor Yang (he was then forty-five), he wrote the two fascicles of the Profound Meaning of the Nirvāṇa Sūtra (Niepan xuanyi) and its twenty-fascicle commentary. At that time, at the end of the Sui, warfare broke out and bandits arose everywhere. The master's own preface states: 'Investigating the sacred text took a full five years. In which year was there no sight of military fire? In which month was there no sight of weapons? Eating wild greens and taking water-abstinence, on an icy bed and under snowy blankets—such were the hardships!' When the commentary was completed, it was cast into a blazing fire and did not burn. In his later years, the master lectured on the Lotus Sūtra at Chengxin Hermitage in Kuaiji. Contemporary people praised him with the saying, 'He surpasses Lang, overshadows Ji, exceeds Yun, and overtens Yin.' (Master Lang of Xinghuang, Huiji of Shanyin in the Qi who wrote a commentary on the Lotus, and Fayun of Guangzhai in the Liang who composed a commentary and lectured on the sūtra, all appear in the Tang Further Biographies of Eminent Monks; Master Yin is not clearly known.) In the commandery, Jizang of Jiaxiang had previously written a commentary explaining the Lotus Sūtra; hearing of Zhang'an's teaching, he ceased his lecturing, dispersed his assembly, bowed at his feet to request instruction, and deeply repented the errors of his previous works. On the seventh day of the eighth month in the sixth year of Zhenguan of the Tang, he passed away at Guoqing Monastery, at the age of seventy-two, with fifty-two rains retreats. When he first manifested illness, a strange fragrance filled the room. On the verge of passing away, he instructed his disciples: 'The Maitreya Sūtra states that when the World-Honoured One entered extinction, much renowned incense was burned, its smoke like clouds. You may now burn much incense; I am about to depart.' He then gave detailed testamentary instructions, his words and reasoning extremely earnest. Suddenly he rose, joined his palms as if in reverence, recited the names of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the Pure Land, and quietly passed away. Prior to this, in the first year of Zhenguan, his fellow student Zhixi said on his deathbed: 'I was born in Tuṣita and saw our late teacher Zhiyi. Among the rows of jeweled seats, all were occupied, with only one seat vacant. That deva said: "Six years from now, Dharma Master [Guan]ding will come to ascend this seat."' Calculating the years and determining the date, Zhixi was confirmed not to have been mistaken. On the ninth day of that month, he was interred on the south mountain of the monastery. While living at Guoqing, an old man fell ill, and a hundred medicines could not cure him. His son sought help from the master, who immediately burned incense and chanted the Lotus Sūtra; the sick man smelled the fragrance into his nostrils, and his illness was cured. South of Le'an Ridge in Xianju is Anzhou, where the mountain stream was swift and torrential, drowning people every year. The master vowed: 'If this stream becomes smooth and calm, I shall lecture on the sūtra here.' Within ten days, white sand surged up everywhere, as smooth as a jade mirror. He then lectured on the Suvarṇaprabhāsa and Lotus Sūtras to repay the spiritual kindness. Once, when he was lecturing on the Nirvāṇa Sūtra at Shejing Monastery, a band of bandits suddenly arrived; seeing at the monastery gate banners blazing like the sun and divine soldiers holding weapons over ten feet tall, the bandit mob was terrified and fled in disarray. The locals therefore called it Mountain Soldiers Monastery. Whenever he recited sūtras or sat in calm meditation, heavenly flowers would often drift down beside him. He authored: Essentials of the Eight Teachings, Alternative Biography of Zhiyi, one fascicle each; Commentary on the Contemplation of the Mind, two fascicles; Hundred Records of Guoqing, five fascicles; Profound Meaning of the Nirvāṇa Sūtra, two fascicles; Commentary on the Nirvāṇa Sūtra, twenty fascicles; Biography of Dharma Master Zhenguan, and Records of Nanyue, one fascicle each. The King of Wuyue petitioned for the posthumous title of Venerable Dhāraṇī Master. (Drawn from the Hundred Records, Biographies of the Nine Patriarchs, Biographies of Eminent Monks, and Notes on the Three Commentaries.)