釋鑑稽古略續集 2.43

2.43

Chan Master Bifeng: Taboo name Baojin, styled Bifeng. A man of Yongsui, of the Shi clan. His father was called an elder. His mother, Lady Zhang, was untiring in her love for goodness. A monk holding an alms bowl gave an image of Guanyin to Lady Zhang and instructed her: "Serve it reverently, and you will give birth to a son of wisdom." Not long after, she gave birth to the Master, and white light illuminated the room. At six, he became a disciple under Master Yunji Wen, shaved his head, and received the full precepts. He attended lecture halls to exhaust the teachings of the nature and characteristics [of dharmas], expounding them like a string of pearls. Next, he saw Master Ruhai Zhen in Western Shu, who showed him the essentials of the Way. The Master gave rise to great doubt, neglecting sleep and food for three years. When his worldly vexations had subsided for a while, he went for three years without his ribs touching the mat. From then on, he attained great power of samādhi. One day, hearing the sound of wood being chopped, he said: "Matters from before birth—today I finally know their reality!" He hurriedly went to seek verification from Master Zhen. Master Zhen questioned and challenged him repeatedly with great vigor, even drawing thirty circles to test him. The Master answered each and every one. Master Zhen said: "Only now do you know that the Buddhadharma is vast and supreme like this!" The Master went to Mount Wutai to examine and know his previous lives, where he witnessed auspicious responses of Mañjuśrī. He built Lingjiu Hermitage to house the assembly; those who carried rice on their backs to make offerings were very numerous. Emperor Shundi of the Yuan summoned him to Yanjing and bestowed upon him a gold-patterned saṃghāṭī robe. The following year, he was granted an audience at the Yanchun Pavilion; he was ordered to set up an altar to pray for rain, which answered immediately. He was presented with gold and silk, which he accepted to relieve the hungry and destitute. He was specially granted the title "Silent Radiance and Perfect Brightness" and ordered to preside over Haiyin Chan Monastery. Shortly after, he earnestly requested to return to the mountain. In the third year of Hongwu, an imperial decree summoned him to Nanjing. He had an audience with Taizu in the Hall of Reverence for Heaven and was detained at Great Tianjie Monastery. He was frequently summoned to be questioned about the Buddhadharma and the conditions of ghosts and spirits, and his responses pleased the Emperor. In the fourth year, he was granted food at Chongxi Monastery. On the day after the full moon of the first month of the fifth year, the Emperor performed the rite of offering to the Buddha, ordering the Master to dispense the magadha food offering to relieve the beings of the underworld. Favors and rewards were generous, and the Emperor bestowed a twelve-rhyme poem containing the words: "Having fully awakened to the mysterious portal, he has already attained perfect awakening." On the fourth day of the sixth month, having bathed, he passed away sitting, at the age of sixty-five, with fifty-nine years in the monastic order. The cremation yielded five-colored relics; his teeth, tongue, and prayer beads were not destroyed. The Master was imposing and dignified, fully endowed with both blessings and wisdom, transforming beings wherever he went, nothing short of a living Buddha appearing in the world.