釋氏稽古略 3.242

3.242

In the wuwu year, the third year of Kaicheng, in the third month, National Preceptor Qingliang Chengguan entered quiescence at the age of one hundred and two, having spent eighty-three years in monastic orders. He was additionally conferred the title National Preceptor of the Great Monastic Administration. The Emperor, holding that he was revered by ancestral sovereigns, specially suspended court for three days. High ministers in white mourning robes escorted his complete body to be stupa-enshrined in the Zhongnan Mountains. Soon after, an Indian monk arrived at the imperial palace and presented a memorial, stating that in the Congling Mountains he saw two messengers flying across the void. Upon asking them, they replied, "We are the spirits of the Mañjuśrī Hall of Northern India. We are going east to fetch the great tooth of the Avataṃsaka Bodhisattva to return to our country for worship." An imperial order commanded the stupa to be opened; indeed, one tooth was missing. Thereupon they cremated him: the root of his tongue did not decay and was like the color of a red lotus, and the relics were radiant and lustrous. A stupa was erected for them, and an imperial decree named the stupa Miaojue. Prime Minister Pei Xiu composed the stele inscription by imperial decree. An imperial order had the Master’s portrait painted and enshrined in Daxingtang Monastery (Old Tang History). / During the reign of Emperor Taizong of Song, Sanghadhipati Zanning compiled the Song Biographies of Eminent Monks, stating that the National Preceptor entered quiescence during the Yuanhe era of Xianzong at an age of over seventy. The two accounts differ; both are preserved here. / The Old Tang History states: In the fifteenth year of Zhenyuan under Dezong, in the fourth month on the Emperor's birthday, an imperial decree ordered the officials to prepare ceremonial carriages to welcome the Teaching Venerable Chengguan into the inner palace to expound the Avataṃsaka tenets. Chengguan ascended the high seat and said, "How great is the True Realm, the origin of the myriad phenomena! It encompasses emptiness and existence yet transcends marks; it enters words and phrases yet leaves no trace. Wondrous existence is not existent; true emptiness is not empty. Our Buddha attained it: wonderfully practicing true awakening, he completely purified defiling habits, resting in stillness in the realm of myriad transformations, functioning dynamically in the midst of a single emptiness. Blending body and realms so that they mutually contain each other, he emanated sound and light to illuminate far and wide. Our Sovereign has attained it: his numinous mirror reaches the utmost void, preserving and uniting Great Harmony; his sagely culture eclipses a hundred kings, and his pure influence fans over myriad nations. Unfolding profound transformation to awaken from dreams, he hands down heavenly genuineness through nature and emotion. From this we know that the Avataṃsaka doctrinal tenets are quiescent, vast, deep, and unfathomable—they cannot be conceived! Missing their tenets, one vainly cultivates causes over vast kalpas; gaining their gate, one equals all Buddhas in a single morning." The Emperor looked around and said to his ministers, "My Master’s words are elegant yet concise, his phrasing classic yet rich. He is able to refresh and cool my heart with the sagely Dharma!" He then bestowed 'Qingliang' (Refreshing and Cool) as his title of National Preceptor. [The Emperor said,] "I reflect that hitherto clinging to body and mind, self and person, and the fixed marks of various phenomena—this is inversion." The ministers bowed twice, touched their heads to the ground, and carried out the luminous command on their heads. From then on, both internal and external grand chancellors and important ministers all honored him with the etiquette of a Master of the Eight Precepts.