續高僧傳 22.15

22.15

釋玄琬。俗姓楊。弘農華州人也。遠祖因徙今居雍州之新豐焉。青襟悟道履操沖明。志在學年方遊法苑。事沙門曇延法師。延震嶺宏標遺教法主。隋文欽重立寺處之。具見別傳。而琬位居入室恭恪據懷及進具後。便隨洪遵律師伏膺四分。冠冕遮性鎔汰持犯。涉律三載便事敷演。使於後進樂推前英歎美。乃旋踵本師。涅槃真體。捃掇新異。妙寫幽微。又欲欽佩唯識包舉理性。於曇遷禪師稟學攝論。并尋閱眾鋒。窮其心計。法華大集楞伽勝鬘地論中百等。並資承茂實。研覈新聞。環循彌討。其際搜會。擢其玄理。然顧福智相導有若輪馳。慧業略剖於終。標樹創開於始。永惟延師存日。願造丈六釋迦。經略未圓奄便物故。誓志營復克遂先摸。於仁壽二年。提洽有緣便事鑪錘。寺乃京臯衝要。峙望歸心。故使至感冥通控引咸遂。當時空色清朗杲日流輝。上天雨花狀如雲母。滿空飄灑終墜像前。僚庶嘉其罕逢。法屬慶斯榮瑞及開摸之後雅相逾圓。即為關輔棟梁。金像之大有未過也。今在本寺。每於靜夜清朝。飛流八音之響。而不測其來至。又造經四藏備盡莊嚴。諸有繕寫皆資本據。又以二月八日大聖誕沐之晨。追惟舊緒敬崇浴具。每年此旦建講設齋。通召四眾供含悲敬。辦羅七物普及僧儔。又常慨運岠象末有虧歸禁。至於授受遮難滋彰乃鎣飾道場尋諸懺法。每春於受戒之首。依二十五佛及千轉神呪。潔齋行道。使彼毀禁之流澄源返淨。登壇納法明白無疑。並傳嗣于今住持不絕。從此而求。可謂護法菩薩也。而重法尊行。晨夕相仍。若值上德異人。必揖對欣振諮承餘令。雖聞同昔習。而翹仰如新。斯後已謙光。罕有蹤矣。逮貞觀初年。以琬戒素成治朝野具瞻。有勅召為皇太子及諸王等受菩薩戒。故儲宮以下師禮崇焉。有令造普光寺。召而居之。供事豐華廣霑會響。又別勅延入為皇后六宮并妃主等。受戒椒掖問德禁中。授納法財日逾填委。而欽若自守不顧有餘。䞋施所資悉營功德。尋有別勅。於苑內德業寺。為皇后寫現在藏經。當即下令。於延興寺更造藏經。並委其監護。琬以二宮所寄惟谷其誠。祇奉不難義須弘選。自周季滅法隋朝再興。傳度法本但存卷秩。至於尋檢文理。取會多乖。乃結義學沙門讎勘正則。其有詞旨不通者並諮而取決。故得法寶無濫於疑偽。迷悟有分於本末。綱領貞明自琬始也。昔育王再集於周時。今琬定宗於唐世。彼此誠異。厥致齊焉。然其匠訓於世。三藏含之。偏以苦節自修德。以律儀馳譽。言為世範緇素攸歸。華夷諸國僧尼從受具戒者三千餘人。王公僚佐爰及皂隷。從受歸戒者二十餘萬。左僕射蕭瑀兄弟。人倫藻鏡久厭時煩。每諮法華會三之旨。龍樹明中之教。沈吟移景奉佩而旋。右僕射杜如晦。臨終委命。召為歷劫師資。大將軍薛萬徹昆季。并及母氏。並欽崇戒約蔬素形終。普光道岳法師。解洞幽關辯開慧府。敬奉戒香行菩薩道。而汲引亡疲弘務終日。因之革勵修習者計非恒准。故京輔士庶繼踵煙隨。禮供相尋日盈厨庫。時有巫覡者云。每至授戒說法。異類鬼神。諸方屯聚。如承受相。自非至功冥被孰能致乎。琬以戒勸之至。物我同欽。義等風行。事符草偃乃致書皇太子曰。元正告始景福惟新。伏惟殿下。膺時納祐罄無不宜但琬夙縈沈痾不獲奉慶。蒙降逮問無任荷戢。感顧恩隆罔知攸厝。今略經中要務即可詳行者四條。留意尋檢永綏寶祚。初勸行慈。引涅槃梵行之文。令起含養之心存兼濟之救也。二減殺者。引儒禮無故不殺牛羊者。皆重其生去其濫逸也。又言。王者修其教不易其俗。齊其政不易其宜。見其生不忍其死。聞其聲不食其肉。此即上帝悼損害之失。樹止殺之漸也。故佛經有恕己之喻。誡之殺打諸事也。琬聞。東宮常膳日多烹宰。審如所承。誠有大損。殿下以一身之料遍擬群僚。及至斷命所由。莫不皆推殿下。所以長懷夕惕。望崇慈恕。自今以往請少殺生。東宮內外咸減肉料。則曆長命久仁育斯隆。三順氣者。如經不殺曰仁。仁主肝。肝者木也。春陽之時萬物盡生。宜育群品用答冥造。如其有殺是不順氣。殿下位處少陽福居春月。行慈以和正氣。施惠以保天齡。請年別春季斷肉停殺。愍彼含育順此陽和。四奉齋者。如經年三月六能潔六根便資五福。伏願遵行受持齋戒。何者今享此重位咸資往因。復能進德崇善用成其美。則善知識者是大因緣。玄琬道德疏微曲蒙顧眄。謹率聞見敢塵聽覽。登即答曰。辱師所示妙法四科。循覽周環用深銘佩。法師早祛塵累遊神物表。闡鷲嶺之微言。探龍宮之祕藏。洞開靈府凝照玄門。固以高步彌天隣幾初地。遂能留情博施開導蒙心。理實義周詞華致遠。包括今古網羅內外。訓誘之至審諭之方。縱聖達立言師傅弘道。亦未足髣髴要津擬儀高論。但行慈減殺順氣奉齋。斯乃仁人之心。以成大慈之行。謹當緘諸心府奉以周旋。永籍勝因用期冥祐。餘文不載。其言令之行化及此類。九年下詔斷殺。起於三月盡於五月。琬以仁育兼濟。乃上啟更延。帝又特聽盡于歲暮。貞觀十年杪冬。遘疾知歸後世。又致啟東宮累以大法。又上遺封表於帝曰。玄琬聞。真容晦迹像教凌遲。無不假緇素以住持設內外而為護。遂得法雲再潤慧日重輝。光叶萬乘紹隆千載。竊尋住持之理義有多門。弘護之方教乃非一。若不依佛取捨。仍恐賞罰乖宗。如其准教驗時。是則簡敬當理。伏以僧尼等不依戒律致犯刑章。聞徹闕庭塵勞聽覽。琬等僧徒無任慚懼。但恐餘年昏朽疾苦相仍。弱命不存洪恩未答。遂於經中。撰佛教後代國王賞罰三寶法及安養蒼生論并三德論各一卷。伏願聖躬親降披覽。陛下廣開上書之路。冀納芻蕘之言。謹獻祕要之經。請詳金口之教。但琬忝當傳法。庶無匿教之𮘧。扶劣署封。以酬終後之事。不勝戀仰。謹奉經以聞。又遺誡門人在於道檢。言極詳切讀者垂淚。又云。餘廕施諸眾生。餘骸依古焚棄。制服喪臨一無預懷。遂以臘月七日。卒於延興寺房。春秋七十有五。道俗失依皇儲哀慟。天子下詔曰。玄琬律師戒行貞固學業清通。方寄弘宣正法利益群品。不幸沒世。情深惻悼。賜物如別。齋𡒨所須事由天府。春宮懿戚卿相重臣。並捨金貝。榮嘉賵贈營助追福。暨于百日。特進蕭瑀。太府蕭璟。宗正李百藥。詹事杜正倫等。並親奉戒約躬盡哀禮。後旋𡒨山寺。幢蓋相映香花亂空。從者如雲眾盈數萬。前儐達于終南。後塵猶繼于城闕。四十里間皂素充道。皆云。我師斯亡。戒業誰保。故為時宗如此也。弟子等五百餘人奉遵遺旨。爾時雲高風靜水淨油香。七眾彌山一心悲結。乃命下火依法闍維。薪盡灰飛廓然歸本。仍於焚所建佛塔一區。用津靈識儀像存焉。東宮洗馬蘭陵蕭鈞制銘。宗正卿李伯藥製碑立于塔所時為冠絕。初琬自始及終意存弘濟。生善福智無不綴心。武德之初。時經剝喪粒食勇貴。客僧無託。乃自竭餘力。行化魁豪。隨得貨賄並充供給。日到寺厨親問豐約。故主客同慶焉。又像季澆漓多輕戒律。乃以身軌物引諸法屬。親執經文依時附聽。乃經十遍遠嗣先塵。智首律師德光榮問於帝京者。寔資成贊能扇芳風。自見令達。罕能推挹如此人矣。故使唐運搜舉歲拔賢良。多是律宗。實由琬之篤課也。而容範端肅聲氣朗峻。預瞻敬者莫不懍然。故圖象厥相。猶令人畏者。弟子僧伽。俗姓元氏。清悟寡嗜欲。常隨琬導物。而立志貞正。機諫變適不犯顏色。以味靜為宗。又不希人世。依閑業道。是所謀焉。臨終清嗽歛容。明誨而卒。豈非師資謙德能世其塵。而恨其早卒清規未遠。

Śramaṇa Xuanwan was surnamed Yang and was a native of Huazhou in Hongnong. His distant ancestors moved, and his family now resided in Xinfeng of Yongzhou. From his youth he awakened to the Way, his conduct pure and bright. Having resolved upon study, he began to travel through the gardens of the Dharma. He served the śramaṇa Dharma Master Tanyan. Yan was a magnificent standard of the Zhenling region and the master of the Dharma teachings left behind [by the Buddha], whom Emperor Wen of the Sui deeply esteemed and for whom he founded a monastery to reside in, as detailed in his separate biography. Wan was admitted as his inner disciple, holding reverence in his heart. After receiving full ordination, he followed Vinaya Master Hongzun, wholeheartedly studying the Fourfold Vinaya. He mastered the prohibitions of nature and precept, refining his knowledge of upholdings and infractions. After studying the Vinaya for three years, he began to lecture on and propagate it, leading later scholars gladly to promote him and predecessors to praise his excellence. He then returned to his original master to study the true body in the Nirvāṇa [Sūtra], gleaning what was novel and extraordinary, and subtly expressing its obscure subtleties. Wishing also to venerate the Consciousness-Only doctrine and encompass the nature of reality, he received instruction in the Mahāyānasaṃgraha under Dhyāna Master Tancian, while also consulting various scholars to plumb their deepest thoughts. Regarding the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka, Mahāsaṃnipāta, Laṅkāvatāra, Śrīmālādevī, Daśabhūmika-śāstra, Madhyamaka-śāstra, Śata-śāstra, and others, he drew upon their rich essence, investigated novel explanations, revolved through repeated inquiries, and grasped their profundities, bringing forth their profound principles. However, considering that merit and wisdom guide each other like the rolling of two wheels, the work of wisdom was only brought to light in the end, while the standard of merit had been established at the very beginning. Forever mindful that during Master Yan's lifetime there had been a vow to cast a sixteen-foot image of Śākyamuni, which was left unfinished when Yan suddenly passed away, Wan vowed to resume the task and fulfill the prior design. In the second year of Renshou, he gathered those with karmic affinity and began the casting. The monastery occupied a critical hub in the capital region, where people looked up to it and turned their hearts to it. Thus, the supreme resonance mysteriously communicated, and the summons was entirely fulfilled. At that time, the sky was clear and bright, and the radiant sun shone. Flowers fell from the heavens like mica, fluttering through the air and landing before the statue. Officials and commoners marveled at such a rare occurrence; the Dharma assembly rejoiced at this glorious auspicious sign. When the mold was opened, the elegant marks were exceedingly perfect; it became a pillar of the capital region, and for the size of golden statues, none had ever surpassed it. It now stands in the original monastery; on quiet nights and clear mornings, the sounds of the eight tones of preaching resound from it, without anyone knowing whence they come. Furthermore, he produced four sets of the canon of scriptures, completely adorned, with every copied text relying on standard authoritative exemplars. Moreover, on the eighth day of the second month, the morning of the Great Sage's nativity bath, he recalled old traditions and reverently prepared the bathing utensils; every year on this morning, he held lectures and provided vegetarian feasts, summoning all four assemblies with offerings imbued with compassion and reverence, preparing the seven requisites and distributing them generally to the monastic assembly. He also often lamented that in the end-period of the semblance teaching there were lapses in monastic discipline; as for transmissions and acceptances, hindrances and disqualifications had multiplied. Thereupon he adorned the bodhimaṇḍa and investigated various repentance rites. Every spring at the beginning of the precept transmissions, relying on the Twenty-Five Buddhas and the Thousand-Turn Dhāraṇī, he purified himself with fasting and circumambulation, causing those who had violated the precepts to cleanse their origins and return to purity, so that when ascending the platform to receive the Dharma, they were clear and free of doubt. These practices have been transmitted down to the present, maintained without interruption. Judging from this, he may truly be called a Bodhisattva Protector of the Dharma. Furthermore, he revered the Dharma and honored practice, day and night without cessation. Whenever he met men of superior virtue or extraordinary persons, he would certainly bow and converse with joy and enthusiasm, seeking to receive their further instructions. Even if he heard what he had previously studied, he looked up to it with longing as though it were new. In such humble radiance, few after him have left any trace. By the early years of the Zhenguan era, because Wan's observance of the precepts had attained perfection, the court and the populace alike looked up to him. An imperial decree summoned him to confer the Bodhisattva Precepts upon the Crown Prince and the various princes; hence, from the heir apparent on down, they honored him with the etiquette due to a master. An edict ordered the construction of the Puguang Monastery, summoning him to reside there; the offerings were abundant and splendid, widely extending to the assembly. A separate decree also summoned him into the palace to confer precepts on the Empress, the imperial concubines, and the princesses, receiving their inquiries on virtue within the forbidden apartments; the Dharma wealth offered to him accumulated daily in greater piles. Yet he observed discipline and kept to himself, paying no heed to surpluses; all the resources from offerings were used to perform meritorious deeds. Soon after, another imperial decree ordered that a canon of the currently available scriptures be copied for the Empress at Deye Monastery in the imperial park; immediately an edict was issued to create another canon of scriptures at Yanxing Monastery, and he was entrusted with supervising both projects. Wan considered that, with the trust placed in him by the two palaces, he could only offer his utmost sincerity; respectful compliance was not difficult, but it required extensive selection. Since the destruction of the Dharma in the late Zhou and its revival in the Sui dynasty, the transmitted copies of the Dharma texts had only preserved their fascicles and scrolls; when examining their phrasing and meaning, their reconciliations were largely divergent. Thereupon he gathered śramaṇas versed in doctrinal studies to collate and establish correct standards; wherever the phrasing or meaning was not fluent, they consulted him for a decision. Thus the Dharma jewel had no adulteration of doubts or forgeries, and delusion and awakening were clearly distinguished into trunk and branch. The clarification of the essential guidelines truly began with Wan. Formerly King Aśoka held a council during the Zhou era; now Wan established the tenets in the Tang era. Though those times were indeed different, their achievements were equal. Nevertheless, his instruction to the world encompassed the three Piṭakas. He cultivated virtue especially through austere restraint, and his renown spread through his Vinaya deportment. His words served as a model for the world, to which both monastics and laity returned. The monks and nuns from Chinese and foreign lands who received the full precepts from him numbered more than three thousand. From princes, dukes, and officials down to commoners and servants, those who received the refuges and precepts from him numbered more than two hundred thousand. The Vice Director of the Left, Xiao Yu, and his brothers, mirrors of human conduct who had long grown weary of worldly bustle, repeatedly inquired into the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka's doctrine of unifying the three vehicles and Nāgārjuna's teaching on the Middle Way; after meditating on them for a long time, they received and upheld them before departing. The Vice Director of the Right, Du Ruhui, on his deathbed entrusted his final wishes to him, summoning him to be his master through successive kalpas. General Xue Wanche, his brothers, and his mother all venerated the precept regulations and maintained a vegetarian diet until the end of their days. Dharma Master Daoyue of Puguang Monastery, whose understanding penetrated the profound secrets and whose eloquence unlocked the treasury of wisdom, reverently upheld the fragrance of precepts and practiced the Bodhisattva path. Without tiring of guiding others, he devoted himself to propagation all day long. Those who were transformed, exhorted, and cultivated by this were beyond ordinary measure. Therefore, the gentry and commoners of the capital followed in endless succession like smoke; ritual offerings arrived continuously, daily filling the storehouses. At that time a spirit medium said that whenever precepts were conferred or the Dharma was preached, spirits and deities of various kinds gathered from all directions as if receiving their marks of approval; without supreme merit secretly providing protection, who could have accomplished this? Because Wan's exhortations regarding the precepts were so thorough, both self and other held equal reverence, its efficacy like the blowing of the wind, conforming to the bending of the grass. Thereupon he sent a letter to the Crown Prince, stating: 'The first day of the year marks the beginning, and great blessings are renewed. I respectfully observe that Your Highness has met the time and received blessings, with everything fitting. However, I have long been entangled with a chronic illness and could not offer congratulations in person. Receiving your kind inquiry, I am overwhelmed with gratitude, and feeling your immense kindness, I do not know where to place myself. Now I briefly present four essential matters from the sūtras that should be carried out in detail, hoping you will pay attention to examining them to perpetually safeguard the precious throne. First is the exhortation to practice compassion: citing the passages on brahma-conduct from the Nirvāṇa [Sūtra], it urges the mind to cherish and nurture living beings, preserving the intention to universally rescue all. Second is reducing killing: citing the Confucian Rites, where oxen and sheep are not killed without reason, both revere life and eliminate unchecked excess. Furthermore, it says: "A king cultivates his teachings without altering their customs, and aligns his governance without altering what is appropriate." "Seeing them alive, he cannot bear their death; hearing their cries, he cannot eat their flesh." This shows that the Sovereign on High grieves over the harm done and establishes the beginning of stopping slaughter. Thus the Buddhist sūtras have the analogy of likening others to oneself, admonishing against killing, beating, and various harms. I have heard that in the regular meals of the Eastern Palace, there is much daily butchering. If what I have heard is accurate, it truly causes great harm. Your Highness prepares food from a single person's allotment to share widely with your subordinates, but when it comes to the origin of ending their lives, it is entirely attributed to Your Highness. For this reason, I constantly maintain vigilance day and night, hoping you will exalt compassion and forbearance. From now on, I request that you reduce killing; may the meat rations inside and outside the Eastern Palace all be reduced. Then your years will be long, your life will endure, and your benevolent nurturing will flourish. Third is conforming to the seasonal qi: as the scriptures say, non-killing is called benevolence (ren). Benevolence governs the liver, and the liver corresponds to wood. In the season of spring yang, all things come to life; one should nurture all kinds of beings to respond to the unseen creations of heaven. If one kills, this does not conform to the qi. Your Highness occupies the position of Shaoyang and your fortune dwells in the spring months. Practice compassion to harmonize the upright qi, and bestow beneficence to preserve your heaven-allotted age. I request that every year in spring you cease eating meat and stop killing, taking pity on sentient life and conforming to this warm spring qi. Fourth is upholding the fast: as the scriptures state, if one can purify the six sense faculties during the three months and six fast days of the year, it will foster the five blessings. I humbly wish that you comply with and uphold the fasting precepts. Why is this so? Enjoying this high position today is entirely supported by past causes; if you can further advance your virtue and exalt goodness to bring about its completion, then a good spiritual friend is indeed a great cause and condition. My moral virtue is meager and slight, yet I have received your kind favor. Respectfully gathering what I have heard and seen, I venture to trouble your hearing.' The Crown Prince immediately replied: 'I have humbly received the four items of the wondrous Dharma shown by the Master. Reading through them repeatedly, I am deeply impressed and grateful. The Dharma Master early on shed worldly defilements to let his spirit roam beyond things, expounding the subtle words of Vulture Peak and exploring the secret treasuries of the Dragon Palace, profoundly unlocking the spiritual storehouse and calmly illuminating the mysterious gate. Indeed, striding high like Mitan, you border on the first bhūmi; thus you can generously bestow your feelings to guide unenlightened minds. Your principles are solid, your meanings complete, your phrasing elegant, and your reach far-reaching, encompassing past and present and gathering together the inner and outer teachings. In the utmost of instruction and the method of careful admonition, even if the sagacious and wise established teachings and imperial tutors propagated the Way, they could not begin to compare to this essential ford or measure up to this lofty discourse. Practicing compassion, reducing killing, conforming to the seasonal qi, and upholding the fast—these indeed express the heart of a benevolent person to complete the practice of great compassion. I shall reverently lock them within my heart and observe them diligently, perpetually relying on superior causes to anticipate unseen aid.' The rest of the text is not recorded. The efficacy of his verbal instructions was of this sort. In the ninth year, an edict was issued to prohibit killing, beginning in the third month and ending in the fifth month. Wan, considering benevolent nurturing and universal salvation, submitted a memorial requesting a further extension; the Emperor specially granted that it last until the end of the year. In the late winter of the tenth year of Zhenguan, he fell ill and knew he was departing for the next life. He again sent a memorial to the Eastern Palace, entrusting the great Dharma to them. He also submitted a posthumous sealed memorial to the Emperor, stating: 'Xuanwan has heard that when the True Countenance conceals its traces, the semblance teaching declines; it always relies on monastics and laity for maintenance, establishing internal and external support for protection, thereby allowing the Dharma cloud to moisten anew and the sun of wisdom to shine again, gloriously harmonizing with the ruler of ten thousand chariots and carrying on prosperity for a thousand years. Examining the principles of maintenance, there are many approaches; the methods of broad protection and teaching are not singular. If one does not rely on the Buddha in adopting and rejecting, I fear rewards and punishments will stray from the cardinal tenets; if one relies on the teaching to examine the times, then selecting and revering will accord with reason. I humbly submit that when monks and nuns do not rely on the Vinaya precepts, resulting in violations of criminal statutes, reports reach the palace and trouble your hearing. Wan and the monastic assembly are filled with shame and fear. But I fear that in my remaining senile years, with illnesses coming one after another, my frail life will not last and the vast imperial grace will remain unrepaid. Thereupon, drawn from the scriptures, I have compiled one fascicle each of The Buddha's Law for Rewarding and Punishing the Three Jewels by Kings of Future Generations, A Treatise on Pacifying and Nurturing the Multitudes, and A Treatise on the Three Virtues. I humbly wish that Your Sacred Majesty will personally open and examine them. Your Majesty has broadly opened the way for submitting memorials, hoping to accept humble words; I respectfully offer the secret and essential scriptures, requesting that you examine the teachings from the Golden Mouth. Since Wan has unworthily undertaken the transmission of the Dharma, I hope not to commit the fault of concealing the teachings. Supporting my frail body to seal this memorial in order to fulfill my final duties, I am overwhelmed with longing and reverence. Respectfully I present the scriptures for your hearing.' He also left behind testamentary admonitions to his disciples regarding disciplinary conduct; his words were extremely detailed and earnest, causing readers to shed tears. He also said: 'My remaining clothes are to be given to all sentient beings; my remaining bones should be cremated and discarded according to ancient custom. As for mourning dress and weeping over the deceased, none of it should enter your thoughts.' Thereupon, on the seventh day of the twelfth month, he passed away in his room at Yanxing Monastery, at the age of seventy-five. The monastics and laity lost their reliance, and the Crown Prince wept in deep sorrow. The Son of Heaven issued an edict stating: 'Vinaya Master Xuanwan's precept conduct was steadfast, and his learning was pure and thorough. We had just relied on him to broadly propagate the correct Dharma and benefit all beings; unfortunately, he has passed away, for which Our feelings are filled with deep grief and lamentation. Let items be bestowed as detailed separately, and let the necessities for the fasting and funeral rites be provided by the imperial treasury.' The close relatives of the Eastern Palace, ministers, and high officials all donated gold and cowries, adding splendid funerary gifts to assist in cultivating posthumous merit. Reaching the hundredth day, Specially Advanced Xiao Yu, Chamberlain for the Palace Buildings Xiao Jing, Director of the Imperial Clan Court Li Baiyao, Supervisor of the Household Du Zhenglun, and others personally observed the precept rules and exhaustively performed the mourning rituals. Later, when moving the body to the mountain monastery, banners and canopies reflected each other, and fragrant flowers fluttered through the air. The followers were like clouds, the crowd exceeding several tens of thousands; the vanguard reached the Zhongnan Mountains while the rear dust still trailed from the palace gates. Along the forty-li stretch, monks and laity filled the roads, all saying: 'Now that our master is dead, who will safeguard the practice of the precepts?' Such was his esteem by his contemporaries. More than five hundred disciples followed his testamentary instructions. At that time, the clouds were high, the wind was still, the water was pure, and the oil fragrant. The seven assemblies covered the mountain, their minds united in knotting sorrow. They ordered the fire to be set and performed the cremation according to the Dharma. The firewood was consumed and the ashes flew away, openly returning to the origin. At the cremation site, they built a Buddhist pagoda to ferry his spiritual consciousness, where his portrait was preserved. Xiao Jun, Palace Writer of the Eastern Palace and native of Lanling, composed the inscription; Li Baiyao, Director of the Imperial Clan Court, composed the stele erected at the pagoda site, which was considered matchless at the time. From beginning to end, Wan's intention was to broadly save beings; generating goodness, merit, and wisdom constantly occupied his mind. In the early years of Wude, following times of destruction, grain was expensive and visiting monks had nowhere to turn; Wan exerted his remaining strength to convert the prominent and wealthy, and whatever goods he received were all used for provisions. Daily he visited the monastery kitchen to personally inquire about its abundance or scarcity; hence host and guest rejoiced together. Moreover, in the degenerate age of the semblance teaching, many belittled the Vinaya precepts; he therefore made himself an example to all beings, leading his Dharma followers to personally hold the scriptures and listen to them according to the season. This continued for ten cycles, carrying on from afar the dust of the predecessors. That Vinaya Master Zhishou's virtuous light and glorious fame spread throughout the imperial capital was truly due to Wan's assistance and praise, fanning the fragrant breeze. Few men who attained prominence themselves were able to yield to others as he did. Thus, when the Tang dynasty searched for and promoted worthy scholars every year, most were of the Vinaya school, which was truly due to Wan's diligent training. His appearance and bearing were dignified and solemn, his voice clear and resonant; those who looked upon him with reverence were all filled with awe. Thus, even looking at his portrait still fills one with respect. His disciple Sengjia, whose secular surname was Yuan, was purely awakened and had few desires. He often accompanied Wan in guiding beings, yet his resolve was upright and correct; his timely admonitions were adaptable without offending others' countenances. Taking quietude as his principle, he did not seek worldly fame, but relied on secluded practice of the Way, which was his aim. On his deathbed, he rinsed his mouth, composed his appearance, gave clear instructions, and passed away. Was this not a disciple's humble virtue inheriting his master's dust? Yet it is regrettable that he passed away early, and his pure rules were not spread far.