釋鑑稽古略續集 2.11

2.11

Chan Master Yuanpu: taboo name Shizhang, style name Yuanpu, was a son of the Wang family of Haining. At birth, a recumbent-rhino bone pierced to the crown of his head, and his eyes were glittering like dots of lacquer. In his youth, he did not partake of meat or pungent roots, and took joy in reading Buddhist books. His parents surrendered him to enter Chuanfa Monastery, and at nineteen he was shaved and ordained as a monk. At that time, Master Wo'an Wu was the abbot of Upper Tianzhu. The master was about to go pay his respects, and dreamt that he traveled to a precious place and knelt to recite a confession liturgy. When he indeed saw Wo'an, he gained his favor; Wo'an gradually transmitted to the master all the doctrinal and meditative tenets of the Tiantai school. Day and night, he polished and honed his understanding with Yingsu of Tianxin, interrogating and challenging each other to the utmost, so that the assembly called them "the pair of jades." Ordered to assume the abbacy of Qizhen, he was able to question the two masters Dayong Cai and Juezong Ji on the profundities of doctrine and contemplation. He once said: "The ocean of the Buddha's teachings is vast like mist and clouds, not something that can be exhausted by self-cultivation alone. If I limit myself and do not advance, how can I avoid the fault of narrow-minded provincialism?" He moved to head Jingde, lecturing and expounding to the assembly without wearying. When the reign title was changed to Hongwu [first year], the seat at Jiqing became vacant, and the prefect Li invited the master to assume the abbacy. Soon after, the Central Secretariat received an imperial decree ordering the abbots of famous monasteries in the five prefectures of eastern and western Zhe to all assemble at the capital, to jointly brick Tianjie [Monastery] and establish the Shanshi Academy to govern the monastic community. They were to oversee and manage the work together, but the elders of the various quarters did not know what to do. The master alone produced a strategy, completely organized and methodical. At that time, the multitude of one hundred thousand all followed his model. In the sixth month of this year, he knew in advance that his time had arrived, called his disciples, and gave instructions regarding what was to follow. On the seventeenth day, he cast off the mortal coil in seated posture. His age was forty-six, and his monastic age was twenty-eight. A stupa was erected south of Master Biancai's stupa at Longjing. His disciples were Yuanjue, Yiyin, Shengyuan, Keqin, and others.