續高僧傳 25.65

25.65

Shi Daoying had the secular surname of Chen and was a native of Yishi in Puzhou. At age eighteen, Vinaya Master Shuxiu led him to leave the household. But his parents held him dear and took a wife for him. For five years they shared a bed, having vowed not to touch each other. Originally he traded in the marketplace, sharing wealth with others; he had his wife hold a candle while he apportioned the documents, entrusting them to her without lingering burdens, whereupon he fled and shaved his head. He went under Dharma Master Ju in Bingzhou to listen to sūtras such as the Huayan. When his studies were complete, he returned to his home county, where his wife was still living. In the tenth year of the Kaihuang reign, he was finally admitted to the general ordination. He then reflected deeply: 'The characteristics of phenomena can be known, but the confusion of the mind must be illuminated.' In the nineteenth year of the Kaihuang reign, he entered Baiti Monastery on Mount Taihang in Xie County to cultivate cessation and contemplation (śamatha-vipaśyanā). Suddenly he attained great awakening: at the southern peak he awakened to the person, and at the northern ridge he awakened to phenomena. Deeply mirroring the twofold emptiness, the tree branch where he sat cast its shadow below across the four quarters, which is still visible today. Thenceforth, he managed the monastic duties, testing his mind through affairs. Later in the capital, he resided at Shengguang Monastery and listened to and received the Shelun from Dhyāna Master Tanqian. His newly attained understanding from the lectures was fresh, and the assembly exceeded five hundred; most grasped at nominal teachings and few could accord with the principle, but Ying chose the right moment to inquire into the meaning, expounding solely on cessation and contemplation, the dust of formless thought, and various crucial junctures, deeply harmonizing with the overarching purport. Qian esteemed him all the more, telling his followers, 'Though you daily examine and master the texts and meanings without distinguishing between ignorance and illumination, the only one who has obtained its subtleties is Daoying.' From then on, his deportment, clothing, and eating did not adhere to formal rules, and he was regarded by his contemporaries as an unrestrained person. In the intervals of attending lectures, he constantly performed monastic chores. Those who admired the Way followed his actions; he presented the principle through practical affairs, taming the mind's conduct and using it to propagate the Dharma. He often said, 'When I close my eyes in dhyāna sitting and thoroughly seek the nature of principle, I seem to attain something; yet after opening my eyes, I return to common cognition. Therefore, by employing the mind in practical affairs and wanderings, I bring about perfume.' However, when he usually sat, his eyes were open like a thread, remaining still for more than two nights without ever dozing off. Later, when entering dhyāna concentration, he gradually showed unusual feats. In the ninth year of the Daye reign, while serving as the duty officer (zhisui), he disputed land with laypeople, who engaged in continuous heated quarrel. He then told them, 'I shall die!' Suddenly he collapsed like a stiff corpse. The laypeople all judged, 'The Daoist man has many deceptions,' and pricked under his fingernails with needles; though they went deep, he did not stir. His breath ceased, his complexion changed, and his body was about to bloat. A wise person nearby instructed them to take refuge and vow never to dispute again, wishing him to return to life. Following these words, he sat up, speaking and laughing as usual. Another time, walking beside the pond at Longtai Marsh, he saw fish swimming and said, 'I shall contend with you to see who is superior. You cannot match me, but could I fail to match you?' He then took off his clothes and entered the water. His disciples held his clothes and guarded him. After six nights, when he came out, he said, 'Though in the water, it was only the foul mud that covered me.' Furthermore, in midwinter with thick ice and heavy snow, he said, 'In such a level and clean place, how could one not sleep?' He then took off his clothes and lay on his back for three nights, then rose and said, 'I was almost roasted to death by fire!' Thus, adapting to circumstances, he countered them with the Dharma; his spontaneous freedom was truly hard to equal. Later, he returned to Puzhou and resided at Puji Monastery, where he established three estates. The fields of hemp, wheat, and millet were all in a deeply secluded place in the eastern mountains of Xia County, so as not to dispute with laypeople, and were used to receive travelers from afar. As a result, the four assemblies from the eight directions turned to him like trees in a forest. During the day, he encouraged the monastic tasks of the assembly, personally shouldering and carrying burdens; whenever there were dangerous or difficult paths, he was always the first to tread them. At night, he sat cross-legged and expounded dhyāna contemplation for them; at times when people were exhausted from their toil, hearing the Dharma made them unaware of their weariness. One day, when he was explaining the Treatise on the Awakening of Faith (Qixin lun) and reached the Gate of True Thusness, he suddenly became speechless; wondering at this, they went to observe him and found his breath cut off and his body cold. The assembly realized he was in the cessation of thought, so they approached and left him to it. After several nights, he finally arose from concentration. At that time, Daoxun of Hedong, a famous monk of supreme status who ancestral-transmitted the Way of Mind, had originally been his fellow student. He was initially leading disciples in vigorous lecturing in Xie County. When Xun passed away, he was a hundred and fifty li away from Ying; before news could be sent, Ying knew of it that very evening and told his assembly, 'Master Xun has passed away; shall we go together to send him off?' When someone asked why, he replied, 'This is a worldly matter; when the mind shifts, that is it.' On the road, they met the messenger bearing the report. His prescience and spiritual resonance were all of this kind. On the evening before his passing, he assembled the congregation and told them, 'Quickly gather and store [the harvest]; tomorrow, crowds of people and beasts will gather and damage the grain and fodder by trampling and eating.' The assembly did not understand his words, but Ying personally hauled things, urging them with great haste. By nightfall, all was finished; he called for water to shave and wash, returned to his original seat, draped his great robe over himself, and said, 'People call me Dhyāna Master Ying. The deportment of a Dhyāna Master must not contravene the world.' He said to his disciple Zhibao, 'Dhyāna Master, do you know how much breath Ying has left?' Bao answered according to the facts, and Ying said, 'It is so.' He then preached the essentials of the Dharma and added, 'Impermanence is the constant; do not deceive yourselves, and do not die in vain.' He ordered them to recite the 'Xianshou' verse of the Huayan, and when it came to the point of encouraging good mindfulness at the end of life, the light of dawn appeared, and he suddenly stretched out and passed away. Those near him traced with their hands: he was cold from the lower body upwards. This was in the ninth month of the tenth year of the Zhenguan reign, at the age of seventy-seven. When he was about to pass away, the assembly asked about the funeral affairs. Ying said, 'The Buddha left clear teachings; just practice in accord with them, and there will be no burdens. What need is there for Ying to speak?' At that time, tens of thousands of birds gathered around his room, chirping in mournful grief. On the night of his demise, while Master Bao attended by his side, he saw two boys in green robes enter holding flowers; a purple vapor like light came out from Ying's body and flared up to the roof beams. At dawn, a dense mist spread for twenty li around, and people and things lost their luster, clearing only after three days. Throughout the river region of Pujin, in the places where his transforming influence had reached, those who heard the mournful news rushed to assemble as if having lost an immediate parent, proving from afar that Ying's earlier words were not in vain and that no loss occurred. Furthermore, the monastic cattle bellowed loudly, their cries carrying several li; weeping and sobbing, they did not eat water or grass for seven days. When it was time to inter him, monks and laypeople vied for the spot. All said, 'Ying did not enjoy clamor, desiring only the work of the Way.' Thereupon, south of the estate (east of the city of Yu of Xia, east of Yan Nian Tomb, a niche was dug in the earth for him), as soon as the first mattock struck, the earth suddenly quaked violently; people grabbed grass and threw themselves to the ground in panic and terror, and an area of fifteen li around was shaken with great fright. In addition, two white rainbows connected to the niche and coffin, and two white birds soared and cried above the coffin, circling around to the niche and then disappearing. Examining how Ying's Way awakened beings and his wisdom penetrated the divine, he thus obtained such abundant miraculous omens; in life and death, all assembled to honor him, not disappointing his lifetime. Was he not truly such a person!