佛祖統紀 9.26

9.26

Chan Master Puming was of the Zhu clan from Kuaiji. In his youth, he possessed extraordinary aspirations; he once gathered sand to build pagodas and cut down wormwood to make halls. A monk on almsround saw him and said, 'Young master, you have good roots; you may go to Tiantai to leave home. There is a bodhisattva of initial reliance there who manifests his body to expound the Dharma.' In the fourteenth year of the Dajian era of the Chen dynasty, he came to Tiantai just as Zhiyi was lecturing. When the assembly had just dispersed, he bowed at his feet and took refuge. Zhiyi smiled and said, 'By the power of vows from past lives, we meet again today.' Thereupon he served him diligently and applied himself exclusively to the practice of Chan methods. He practiced the Vaipulya, Prajñā, and various other samādhis, and recited the entire Lotus Sūtra by heart. Later, he accompanied Zhiyi to stay at Mount Lu. At Tao Kan's Pavilion of the Auspicious Image, he practiced the Invocation of Avalokiteśvara Samādhi; in the dead of winter, his body was not clad in padded cloth. While he was circumambulating and practicing the Way, he saw an extraordinary monk who said to him, 'Your name Fajing is not an auspicious title; you should change it to Puming. This word "Ming" (illumination) means being able to clearly illuminate the three periods of time.' When Zhiyi heard this, he said, 'Since it is a mysterious revelation, you should adopt the new name.' When Zhiyi resided at Yuquan, he ordered the casting of a great bell for Folong, encouraging the monastics and laity of Jiangling to strive together to manage it. By chance, a blind person came to inspect it; the Master knew this sign was unlucky, and when the mold was opened, it was indeed defective. They then doubled the labor and cast it again, warning that anyone with physical imperfections should not approach; its sound could be heard seventy li away. When he dwelled at Guoqing, fetching water was difficult; he pointed at a rock and said, 'Wouldn't it be wonderful if this rock yielded water?' A spring immediately surged forth, supplying a thousand people daily. He once cast a sixteen-foot image of Vairocana, which inspired an extraordinary man to donate gold to assist him. The lecture hall of Guoqing was cramped and small, and the Master wished to expand it, but Zhang'an urged him not to alter it. Soon after, Zhou Xiaojie, the Area Commander of Kuazhou (Wenzhou was Kuazhou during the Chen and Sui dynasties), donated cedar pillars that arrived floating across the sea. While at Chicheng, Zhang'an suddenly saw the Master's body more than a hundred feet tall, towering above the forest canopy, with several dozen attendants flanking him. He said to Zhang'an, 'Do not stubbornly remonstrate; what I am undertaking will surely succeed.' Zhang'an, deeply moved by this spiritual wonder, faced the forest, joined his palms in respect, and said, 'I shall defer to the benevolent master's plans.' On the day the hall was begun, the mountain spirit was moved to arrive in invisible form with a roar like thunder, breaking trees and bending branches along a path about a pace wide, extending down from Folong to the monastery; at dusk, it returned with the same sound as when it first arrived. Neighboring rooms heard the Master speaking with it, mostly urging the spirit to do good. Once the hall was completed, he suddenly covered himself with ragged robes, bid farewell to the assembly, and quietly passed away while sitting. After two nights, his left hand bent three fingers. The Master did not accumulate personal wealth; using the offerings he received, he made ten gilt-bronze images and read through the Great Canon twice. Whenever he performed acts of benefit, as soon as he directed his mind, gold and silks would arrive spontaneously.