佛祖統紀 9.56

9.56

Xu Ling, courtesy name Xiaomu, was a native of Dongshan. His mother, of the Zang clan, dreamed of five-colored clouds transforming into a phoenix that alighted upon her left shoulder, and soon after gave birth to him. When Ling was several years old, his family brought him to visit the śramaṇa Baozhi, who patted the crown of his head and said, 'He is a stone qilin from Heaven!' Dharma Master Yun of Guangzhai saw Ling and sighed in praise, saying, 'He is of the kind of Yan Hui!' At eight years of age, he was skilled in literary composition. In his youth, he served in office under the Liang. During the Dajian era of the Chen, he rose in office to Left Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs. He once dreamed that his deceased father told him, 'The Dhyāna Master is my model of ancestral reverence from past lifetimes. You should serve him single-mindedly.' Ling upheld this instruction from the unseen realm, offering respect and exhausting his fidelity; his visits never missed the proper time, and he did not shun the damp when prostrating. Whenever he received a letter or writing [from the master], he would wash his hands, burn incense, put on his cap and sash, make three prostrations, hold his breath, open the seal, and read it prostrate before the text. When Equal to the Three Excellencies Shen Junli requested the expounding of the Lotus, Ling was present in the audience. Believing that in his remaining years he had encountered this wondrous exposition, he sent a letter congratulating himself. Later, before the Great Master, he drew up a petition and made five vows, saying: 'This disciple longs to escape the cage, yet has no wings to ascend. Since my roots of goodness are weak and faint, I hope to adorn them through the power of vows. First, I vow that at the point of death, right mindfulness will be perfected. Second, I vow never again to pass through the three wretched destinies. Third, I vow to take rebirth in a station neither too high nor too low. Fourth, I vow to leave home while still in pure youth and uphold the precepts according to the Dharma. Fifth, I vow not to fall into the ranks of vulgar, worldly monks. Relying on this resolute mind of vow, I spur myself on toward the sunset of my life.' (Both letters appear in the Bailu.) In his next rebirth, Ling indeed became the sixth patriarch of the Lotus [lineage], succeeding to Zhang'an's seat. When the Last Ruler of the Chen was in the Eastern Palace, he summoned Ling to lecture on the Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra, and eminent monks versed in doctrine gathered like clouds from afar. After the Chen fell, he accompanied Zhiyi in investigating the essentials of the Dharma with precision. When the Prince of Jin requested a commentary on the Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa, the Great Master subsequently composed it in twenty-eight fascicles; both Ling and Liu Guyan attended to the text and doctrinal meaning.