釋氏稽古略 3.61

3.61

明解　長安普光寺僧明解者。姓姚氏。性聰敏。琴詩書畫為時獨絕。每欣俗網不樂道門。殢酒荒情。顯慶三年帝造西明寺成。勅靈潤法師擇人居之。時有僚寀數人。共薦明解。潤法師曰。公等宜求戒定慧學增長福田。何乃酒客畫師以當洪寄。官寀愧退。明解懷憾。俄而帝徵四科。不問道俗。明解應詔。自舉射策升第。喜不自勝。遂乃歸俗頗有餘言。未幾染疾。見數十人執猛炬迎解。明解大怖言未終而卒。是年八月也。後託夢於相州淨土寺僧智整曰。明解宿無福業。不遵內教。今受大罪非常饑乏。儻有故人之情。頗能惠一飡否。智整許諾。及寤遂為設食。至夜纔臥。即見明解來愧謝之。逾二年。又託夢於畫工張生曰。我以不信佛法。今大受苦痛。努力為我寫三二卷經。執手慇懃。賦詩言別。教畫工讀十八遍令記之。寤乃憶其詩曰。握手不能別。撫膺還自傷。痛矣時陰短。悲哉泉路長。松林驚野吹。荒𡑞落寒霜。言離何以贈。留心內典章。其畫工素不識字。乃倩人錄之示明解知友。皆曰。是明解文體不惑。見聞者莫不測然哀感（見法苑珠林并冥報錄）。

Mingjie: The monk Mingjie of Puguang Monastery in Chang'an was surnamed Yao. By nature he was intelligent and acute, and was unrivaled in his time in zither, poetry, calligraphy, and painting. He always delighted in worldly snares and took no joy in the gates of the Way, becoming addicted to wine and dissolute in his passions. In the third year of Xianqing, the emperor completed the building of Ximing Monastery and ordered Dharma Master Lingrun to select people to reside in it. At that time, several officials together recommended Mingjie. Dharma Master Lingrun said: 'You gentlemen should seek those trained in morality, concentration, and wisdom who increase the fields of merit. How could a wine-drinker and painter be equal to such a weighty entrustment?' The officials withdrew in shame, and Mingjie harbored resentment. Soon after, the emperor recruited for the four civil-service subjects without distinguishing between religious and secular. Mingjie answered the summons, presented himself for the examination, and passed. Overjoyed beyond measure, he returned to secular life with many arrogant words. Before long he fell ill and saw dozens of men holding fierce torches coming to meet him. Mingjie was terrified; before he could finish speaking, he died. This was in the eighth month of that year. Later he appeared in a dream to the monk Zhizheng of Jingtu Monastery in Xiangzhou, saying: 'Mingjie had no meritorious karma from past lives and failed to obey the internal teachings; now I am suffering great punishment and am extraordinarily hungry and exhausted. If you have any sentiment for an old acquaintance, could you perhaps bestow a single meal?' Zhizheng agreed. Upon awakening, he prepared food for him. When he had just lain down that night, he saw Mingjie come to thank him in shame. Two years later, he appeared again in a dream to the painter Zhang Sheng, saying: 'Because I did not believe in the Buddha Dharma, I am now suffering great pain. Please strive to copy two or three fascicles of scriptures for me.' Holding his hand earnestly, he composed a poem to bid farewell and taught the painter to read it eighteen times so that he would remember it. Upon awakening, the painter recalled his poem: / 'Holding hands, I cannot part; / Clasping my breast, I grieve for myself. / How painful that worldly time is so fleeting! / How sorrowful that the road to the underworld is so long! / The pine forest is startled by the wild wind; / Upon the desolate mound falls the cold frost. / What can I give you at parting? / Keep your mind on the internal canonical chapters.' / The painter was originally illiterate, so he hired someone to record it and show it to Mingjie's close friends. They all said: 'This is unmistakably Mingjie's literary style.' None who saw or heard of it failed to be deeply moved with sorrow (seen in Fayuan zhulin and Mingbao lu).