高僧傳 3.31

3.31

First I bow my head to the Three Jewels, / and to the senior monks of pure precepts.
In an impure world, much is deceit and crookedness; / false and sham, there is no trustworthiness.
The foolish and confused do not recognize the real; / harboring jealousy, they slight the virtuous.
For this reason, the holy and worthy / conceal their traces in this world.
I, Guṇavarman, / have reached the time when the karmic formations of my life are exhausted.
The good merits I have obtained, / I shall now speak of in accordance with reality.
Not with a deceitful mind, / nor hoping to seek fame or gain,
but to exhort the indolent multitudes, / and to augment the Buddhadharmas.
The power of the Great Dharma is like this; / let the benevolent ones all listen attentively.
Formerly, out in the wilderness, / I first meditated upon a corpse:
swollen, rotting with worms, / foul and filthy, with pus and blood flowing.
Tying the mind to focus on that place: / the nature of this body is just like this.
Constantly seeing this bodily appearance, / the greedy moth fears not the fire.
In this way, through countless methods, / I cultivated the contemplation of the corpse,
casting aside other learning and reflection, / relying on dwelling among the forest trees.
That night, dedicating myself to vigorous effort, / never forgetting right contemplation,
the sphere of cognition was constantly before me, / just as if facing a clear mirror.
As with that [corpse], so too with myself; / from this, the mind grew quiet and still.
With a light body, exceedingly clear and pure, / cool and refreshed, the mind found bliss.
Increasing in great joy, / there arose the unattached mind.
It transformed into the aspect of chained bones; / white bones appeared before me.
Decaying, the limbs and joints fell apart; / the white bones were all pulverized and wiped out.
Immaculate wisdom blazed forth, / subduing [the mind] and contemplating the marks of dharmas.
At that time I obtained such a state: / bodily peace, exceedingly pliant and gentle.
Cultivating through such skillful means, / superior advancement further increased:
subtle atoms perishing moment by moment, / the right mindfulness of the dharma of decaying form.
Such then is the ultimate nature of the body; / on what basis could lustful desire arise?
Knowing it arises dependent on feelings, / like a fish craving the bait on the hook.
Those feelings undergo countless destructions; / moment by moment I contemplated their wiping out,
knowing the place on which they rely / arises from the monkey of the mind.
Karma and the retribution of karma, / relying on conditions, perish moment by moment.
What the mind knows in its various ways / are called dharmas of particular characteristics.
This then is the mindfulness of reflective wisdom, / cultivated and fulfilled in gradual sequence.
Contemplating the characteristics of various dharmas, / the mind became ever clearer.
Within those mental objects, / I clearly perceived the four foundations of mindfulness.
From this, the conduct of discipline was completed; / gathering the mind, it dwelt focused upon the conditions.
Suffering is like a blazing sword; / this turns forth on account of craving and thirst.
When craving is exhausted, parinirvāṇa is attained; / everywhere I beheld those three realms.
Blazed upon by the flames of death, / the physical form grew utterly emaciated.
Through the skillful means of joy, breath, and bliss, / the body gradually became full again.
Superior, sublime marks of living beings, / the peak and forbearance [stages] were also like this.
These arose within my mind / as true and right skillful means.
Gradually abbreviating the spheres of cognition, / the bliss of cessation increased.
Attaining the supreme mundane dharma, / in a single thought focusing on the ultimate truth,
consecutively dharma-forbearance arose; / this is called the outflow-free path.
Delusive thoughts and all spheres of cognition, / names and signs—all were left far behind.
The meaning of the ultimate truth of the spheres: / dispelling afflictions, attaining cooling refreshment;
realizing the fruits of samādhi, / the immaculate, refreshing condition.
Neither rising nor sinking, / pure wisdom was like the bright moon,
calm and serene, rightly abiding, / purely identical with the mark of cessation.
It is not something that I can declare; / only a Buddha can verify and know it.
The Nava-abhidharma / speaks of the five causes, conditions, and fruits.
Knowing cultivation through the true meaning, / those who cling to names cannot see it.
The various treatises have disparate approaches, / but the principle of cultivation is not two.
One-sided attachment brings right and wrong; / those who have reached [the truth] have no disputes.
The many sublime marks of cultivation / I shall not declare now,
fearing people will give rise to delusive thoughts / and delude the worldly.
Regarding the marks of the benefit of that cultivation, / I have already spoken a small part.
If there be someone of clear wisdom, / they will know well this dependent arising.
In the realm of the country of Mālava, / I first attained the initial holy fruit.
In the mountain monastery of the Āraṇyaka, / following the tracks of the Way, I cultivated detachment.
Later, in the country of Siṃhala, / in the village named Kāpālī,
advancing in cultivation, I attained the second fruit; / this is called the sakṛdāgāmin.
From this, many obstacles arose, / hindering cultivation of the path of detachment from desire.
Seeing me cultivating detachment, / knowing this was an empty and quiet place,
all gave rise to a sense of rarity; / offerings and benefits vied to assemble.
I saw them as fire and poison, / and my mind gave rise to great revulsion.
To avoid turmoil, I floated upon the sea, / to Javā and to Lin-yi.
Drifted by the wind of karmic actions, / following conditions, I came to the territory of Song.
Within these various countries, / according to my strength, I promoted the Buddhadharma.
Do not question what ought to be questioned; / contemplate with true and faithful reality.
Now this body is completely extinguished, / serene as the going out of a lamp's flame.