續高僧傳 29.22

29.22

Shi Demei had the secular surname Wang and was a native of Linqing in Qinghe. When he was a child, he was naturally fond of good deeds; his mouth constantly voiced hymns and chants. When gathering dust and playing games, he would always pay reverence to stupas first. Whenever he saw statues, he instinctively knew to venerate them. Because of this, his relatives secretly wondered at him, knowing that he was not an heir to continue the family lineage, and allowed him to pursue studies under a master. At the age of sixteen, he took leave of his parents and withdrew to the forests and wilderness, widely seeking renowned sages to serve as his mentors. Only when he reached the age of nineteen did he receive the tonsure. Respectful, reverent, modest, and diligent, he focused exclusively on religious practice. Although he read widely in the sūtras and treatises, he took the essentials of the Vinaya to heart; thus he broadly mastered the doctrinal lineage of the single work of the Dharmagupta-vinaya. In seeking good friends (kalyāṇamitra), he made no distinction between near and far. Purely disciplining himself, he did not associate with those of ill repute. At the end of the Kaihuang reign-era, he traveled to the capital to observe its religious practices, receiving and upholding the precepts and rules, and making prostrations and repentance his primary work. He then went to Mount Taibai and recited the twelve-volume Sūtra of the Buddhas' Names. Whenever he practiced repentance, he chanted it accompanied by prostrations. People considered that the power of his dhāraṇī-mindfulness equaled the merit of nirvāṇa. Formerly, at Jiulong on Mount Taibai, there lived the dhyāna master Sengyong, a monk of virtuous practice. [Demei] therefore also revered him as his guide and teacher, receiving doctrinal studies from him and enduring many changes of season. Later, he returned to the capital and dwelt at Huiyun Monastery. Encountering Dhyāna Master Mo, he also sought instruction from him. Mo was a foremost disciple of Dhyāna Master Daoshan. Shan adhered to Xinxing's universal merit donor [teachings], disciplining body and mind and wearing neither leather nor silk. Mo received the Dao from him; those who heard of and witnessed his learning esteemed him greatly throughout the capital, and lay followers especially took refuge in him. Demei relied upon Mo for more than ten years, following him in the three karmas, and was deeply cherished by him. Therefore, every year when the repentance ritual was about to conclude and the bodhimanda was to be dismissed, seven days before the date, [Demei] would redouble his strenuous efforts: reciting the names of the fifteen thousand Buddhas once each day. Because of his sincere devotion, many auspicious omens were stimulated; from then until the end, he chanted them more than a thousand times. Thus, when Mo promoted the gate of merit, enlightened scholars and commoners, and broadly assembled the great assembly, the dānapatis lined up in abundance, and the offerings gathered were the greatest in the capital. He was able to amass and also able to distribute them, and the people of the time prized him highly. Once, when a thousand monks were performing the practice of circumambulation at Xingshan Monastery, at the end of the period, each person was presented with ten bolts of fine silk. Just as the morning of dispersal arrived, twice as many people arrived from outside. The administrators, fearing a shortage, gave the items strictly according to the register of names. When Mo heard of this, he reproached them: 'How could there be such a thing? This does not conform to the principles of the Saṅgha. If we cut people off, it is difficult to know who is an ordinary being and who is a sage. Just make the offerings and do not worry about depletion.' Formerly, the storehouse had no reserves, but on the morning when the items were distributed and the great assembly was held, all seven assemblies gathered; offerings piled up like mountains, and both new and old [recipients] were fully supplied. People of the time revered him even more, saying that his resolve was great and reached far, which caused spiritual deities to lend their secret aid. Otherwise, who could witness this without fear? Therefore, from the end of the Kaihuang reign to the tenth year of the Daye reign, there was a great distribution every year, and it was consistently like this. When Mo was about to pass into extinction, he entrusted the enterprise of the universal merit field to Demei. Demei carried it out upon his head (with utmost reverence). Thus, for the two fields of compassion and respect, he regularly made a distribution once a year, either giving clothing or providing dry provisions. And whenever various places that promoted merit were in want, they all came to request aid, and he supplied them all. Furthermore, at the end of the summer, when the various monasteries received the [Ullambana] basins, wherever there were basins, he sent goods there; hence the common people called it 'universal basin money.' When he resided at Chanding Monastery, he never neglected this work. In the final years of the Daye reign, in the summer, he assembled a thousand monks to perform the circumambulation for seven days. Suddenly, a strange person appeared in plain clothing and said to Demei: 'The weather is scorching hot; why not make noodles/flatbreads to offer them?' Demei said: 'Flour is easy to obtain, but there are so many people that the dough will spoil. How could it be done?' The person said: 'It can easily be done. Just knead thirty hu of flour and prepare enough for two days; the dough will not spoil.' [Demei] followed his words and provided it, and [the stranger] only said: 'Prepare many basins of water and fill the troughs with plenty of cold water.' On the morning it was to be served, in the middle of the night, [the stranger] got up, pounded the dough, and struck the tables, causing a commotion among people; monks and layfolk gathered to watch, dazzled in eyes and ears. In a moment, having beaten and cut the dough, half of it was done, and he ordered people to boil it, putting it into the water as soon as it was cooked, while he went and stirred it himself. When morning came and the noodles were served, everyone was amazed that they were firm and elastic, difficult to pull apart. The thousand people were fully satisfied, and all rejoiced. When they tried to seek the cook to inquire of him, he had vanished without a trace. The remaining noodles in the troughs and jars were used daily to offer to the monks; right up to the end of the period, none of them spoiled. The whole assembly wept with joy, moved by such a spiritual response. At the beginning of the Wude reign, Huichang Monastery was newly founded, and he was invited to live there. Demei then built a repentance hall in the western courtyard; the statues were arranged with solemn splendour, and the hall was grand and magnificent, with surrounding corridors extending on four sides and multi-layered halls opening wide. He vowed to sever all evil karmas together with sentient beings, eternally practicing repentance and cleansing according to the Vaipulya [methods]. Anyone who wished to take full ordination had to rely upon this first; only after purifying body and mind could they ascend the ordination platform. Furthermore, at one time, the well used for drawing bathing water suddenly dried up on its own, and the assembly stood idle, with no way to wash and perform repentance. Demei then held a censer, approached the well, and prayed with earnest appeal; immediately the spring gushed forth, just as in ordinary days. The people of the time revered him together. The relics he possessed were kept in a jeweled case, and wherever he went, he always carried them to make offerings. Whenever stupas were erected and requests were made, he distributed them, giving hundreds or thousands of grains as needed; stimulated by his ascetic devotion, as soon as they were distributed, [the case] filled up again. Because of this, their faith grew ever greater, and their diligence was unbroken. Moreover, through autumn and summer every year, he always walked barefoot, fearing to step on insects and ants—such was his mind of compassionate salvation. Sometimes he practiced the pratyutpanna-samādhi, not sitting for a whole summer; sometimes he practiced restraining faults, not speaking for three years; sometimes he emulated Never Disparaging (Sadāparibhūta), venerating all the seven assemblies; sometimes he shared in fasting, [eating only] one-fourth [of the usual food]. Such various practices were manifold and intricate; briefly described before one's eyes, they are difficult to recount in full. Throughout his life, he constantly focused his thoughts firmly on the Western Paradise, reciting 'Amitābha' with his mouth until the end of his life. On the twenty-sixth day of the twelfth month in the eleventh year of the Zhenguan reign, he joined his palms, invoked the Buddha, and died in the monastery at the age of sixty-three. He was conveyed to Chimingdui on the Southern Mountain; later, his bones were gathered to build a stupa in Pianzi Valley. His disciples erected a stele at Huichang Monastery, with an inscription composed by Attendant-in-ordinary Yu Zhining. Furthermore, there was the śramaṇa Tanxian of the capital, whose work of promoting merit also matched that of earlier sages. His conduct served as a model, and he was revered by the assembly; the works of merit he founded were accomplished wherever he was. Thus the Guangming Jeweled Pavilion was peerless in the realm, and the Compassionate Buddha Hall was marveled at by contemporaries. Since his time in the human world was close to the present, it is not described in detail.