釋氏稽古略 4.269

4.269

Under the Song, the abbess of Miaohui Convent in the Eastern Capital, Great Master Jingzhi, Huiguang, was born of the Fan family of Chengdu. The one who wrote the book entitled *Mirror of the Tang* was her paternal uncle. In this year, from within the palace, the Emperor bestowed Dharma robes on various Chan elders, and Guang was also included. An order was then given for them to preach the Dharma according to their seniority, and Guang was placed at the very end. Having ascended the seat and finished the questions and answers, she looked around at the assembly and said: "If it comes to speaking of Chan and speaking of the Way, the great Chan masters have already finished speaking. What could you have this mountain monk come up here and say that would hit the mark? Have you not seen what the former worthy said: 'A thousand sorts of words and myriad kinds of explanations are merely meant to keep you perpetually unenlightened'? However, although it is like this, what is it ultimately?" She then covered her head with her Dharma robe, and after a long silence said: "With the patched robe hooding my head, all affairs are finished; at this moment, this mountain monk understands nothing at all." She then stepped down from the seat. At that time, the monks and laypeople listening numbered in the tens of thousands, and none failed to sigh in admiration. For this reason, Drafter Han Zicang, when composing the inscription for Guang's stūpa, praised her as being widely learned and skilled in debate. The stūpa was established on the plain of Shengxiang in the Western Hills of Yuzhang.