續高僧傳 26.92

26.92

Śramaṇa Jingbian, surnamed Wei, was a man of Qizhou. In his youth he engaged with the Confucian teachings and learned thoroughly of the Qiu and Suo classics; Confucius, Mozi, Zhuangzi, and Laozi were what he consulted and deliberated on. Suddenly growing weary of the transient and illusory, he retired from worldly traces and went forth from home [into the sangha]. Having tasted fully of the scriptures and monastic discipline, he gained a subtle penetration of their deep reaches. Still entrapped by conventional teachings, he shunned the world for the mountain forests; there he received and practiced the gates of dhyāna, ceasing conditions and quieting thoughts. When the Dharma flourished under the Kaihuang era, he went into the capital. Taking refuge under Master [Hui]yuan, he dwelt at Jingying Monastery, further studying the meditative realms. He also received the Mahāyānasaṃgraha from Qianshang; after years of research and investigation, he at last mastered this discipline. He once fell out over some matter with an old friend, who added slanders and spoke against him; Jingbian never cleared his name. When pressed about the cause, he replied, 'I think back to when we first became friends: my affection was as harmonious as musical strings. How could I, upon our subsequent parting, again expose his faults?' At the time, people honored him for this. Later, an imperial decree summoned him to transport śarīra to Yue Temple in Hengzhou. Originally named Daming, it was built by Emperor Xuan of the Chen for Dhyāna Master [Hui]si. On the way, when he reached Jiangling, heavy wind and waves obstructed them, keeping them harbored for three days. The waves had not yet subsided, but an urgent schedule pressed him; in anxiety and without other recourse, he single-mindedly recollected the Buddha and steered straight into the waves. He was immediately favored with the wind dying down, and he traveled downstream on tranquil waters. Once he entered the Xiang River, sailing upstream was extremely difficult; relying again on his former recollection, he raised the sail and made an easy passage, reaching Hengzhou in less than half a month. When he reached Yue Temple, the site beside the water was inadequate; walking about the mountain pavilions, he found a level and upright spot fit for construction. Directly south of the temple there lay a sunken boulder. Holding an incense burner, Jingbian made a vow: 'If this place is truly fit to erect a stupa, may an auspicious resonance descend!' Thereupon, he saw white clouds descending from the mountain peak, about the width of a bolt of cloth and forty li in length. Reaching the site chosen for the foundation, they circled thrice, and after a long while dispersed of themselves. There was also an extraordinary fragrance, resembling shaved eaglewood; several pounds were collected, and its vapors were double that of the ordinary world. Clergy and laity celebrated together, and construction was completed accordingly. Earlier, a mountain monk named Dhyāna Master Sengyi—a monk of penetrating discernment—had held a grain of śarīra and wished to construct a great stupa; though he resided at the monastery for ten years, there were no unusual signs whatsoever. Now when these relics arrived, miraculous tokens were displayed: yellow and white, large and small, gathering and dispersing unpredictably. On the day the relics were enshrined, the stupa at Xianming Monastery, seat of Hengshan County, radiated a great beam of light, completely illuminating the town and suburbs. Clergy and laity witnessed it alike. The elders handed down a tradition saying, 'Since this monastery was founded more than three hundred years ago, whenever a virtuous event takes place, it invariably radiates light; down to the present, this has occurred three times.' Was this not because the monarch, in promoting blessings, wished to share them with the multitude, so that this resonant apparition truly had its cause? Delighted by these miraculous traces, Jingbian compiled the events he had witnessed and heard from first to last into a single work of ten fascicles titled Accounts of Spiritual Resonance. Later, when the Chan-ding Monastery was promoted, he was invited to dwell there. He met the end of his life in the closing years of the Daye era.