釋鑑稽古略續集 2.22

2.22

Chan Master Biefeng, whose taboo name was Datong and style name was Yiyun, was a son of the Wang clan of Shangyu. When his mother, Lady Chen, was about to give birth, his father saw an unusual monk with thick eyebrows enter shaking a pewter staff. The father bowed and asked, "Where does the venerable monk come from?" He replied, "From Mount Kunlun," and straightaway pushed open the door and hurried into the inner room. Shortly thereafter, the master was born; therefore it was known that he was a reincarnated person. He renounced household life and entered Chongsheng Monastery. He shaved his head and took the dye, studying the core teachings of Qingliang under Dharma Master Chungu, and mastering the contemplation of the four Dharma realms under the venerable Guyuan Zhao. Meeting the venerable Huiji Xi, he had a profound realization. He met Chan Master Zhongfeng, who entrusted him with propagating the teaching of Xianshou, specifically writing a verse of praise on an image of Qingliang to bestow upon him. The master rejoiced greatly and said, "Now for the first time I know that the ten thousand dharmas are rooted in a single dharma; I know not which is Chan and which is doctrinal teaching!" He still attended Chungu, sharing the seat to lecture on the great Avataṃsaka Sūtra. During the Yanyou era, he repeatedly served as abbot at various monasteries such as Jingtu Monastery, Jingde, Dongta, and Baolin. Baolin, moreover, was the place where National Preceptor Qingliang had pursued his studies. The master resided there, and learners who came were exceedingly numerous. At the beginning of the Zhizheng era, he was granted the title "Buddha-Heart of Compassionate Relief and Wondrous Eloquence" together with gold-brocaded monastic robes. In a year of drought, the master burned arm incense and prayed for rain, bringing a great downpour. In the early years of the Hongwu era, he was summoned to the Martial Tower during the Dharma assembly at Mount Zhong, and was granted a banquet in the forbidden palace and presented with rolls of silk, gold, and precious goods to honor his return. The master upheld the vinaya most strictly, having no surplus possessions beyond a single bowl, having only five thousand-odd fascicles of books and histories. In the winter of the second year of Hongwu he showed signs of illness. On the tenth day of the third month in the spring of the third year, he preached the Dharma, took leave of the assembly, returned to the abbot's quarters, and passed away seated. His age was eighty-two; his monastic seniority was sixty-five. Works authored by him include collections such as Tianzhu gao and Baolin leibian, which circulate in the world.