續高僧傳 4.8

4.8

"I have heard that the exploration of mysteries by the six lines [of the hexagrams] is confined to the realm of arising and ceasing, and the rectification of names for the myriad things has not yet touched the sphere of true suchness. Yet men still draw evidence from afar in Fu Xi's texts, observing the obscure without plumbing their spirit; or they look back in reverie to the diagrams of the Yellow Emperor, scanning the records and ascribing all beauty to them. I humbly consider that Your Majesty the Emperor, possessing the white curl between the eyebrows descended in form, wielding the golden wheel to govern heaven, has expanded the nine provinces of the ancient kings, outshining hundreds of thousands of suns and moons. You have opened the territories of successive dynasties and embraced the realms of phenomena as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, so that the Jetavana vihāra has been brought within your imperial borders, and the sacred texts on palm leaves have all entered the imperial archives. In former days, relying on past conditions, Xuanzang shook his tin staff and paid homage to Gṛdhrakūṭa. Crossing a journey of ten thousand li, he relied on imperial majesty as though it were but a few paces. Without riding the thousand-petaled lotus, he reached the Twin Trees as if in the space of a single meal. Searching out and gathering the Tripiṭaka, he exhausted what was stored in the Dragon Palace; investigating the One Vehicle, he plumbed the bequeathed purport of Vulture Peak. All these were borne upon a white horse and presented back to the Purple Palace. Soon after, I received an imperial edict graciously commissioning me to translate them. Xuanzang's understanding falls far short of Nāgārjuna, and I have undeservedly usurped the honour of transmitting the lamp; my talent is unlike Aśvaghoṣa's, and I am deeply ashamed of lacking the agility to pour from vessel to vessel. In the scriptures and treatises translated, errors and blunders are exceedingly numerous. Yet I have received heavenly grace, as Your Majesty deigned to compose a preface. Its text transcends the realm of the hexagram lines and appendices, like clustered suns releasing a thousand rays; its principle encompasses the gate of myriad wonders, like a cloud of grace moistening the hundred grasses. Preaching with a single voice is rarely encountered in a hundred million kalpas; that in this humble life I should personally receive the brahma sound fills me with dancing joy, as though hearing a prophecy of enlightenment." On the day the memorial was presented, an imperial edict was soon issued: "Our talent falls short of jade tallies and our words are inferior to wide learning; as for the inner scriptures, We are especially unfamiliar with them. The preface text composed yesterday is deeply vulgar and clumsy; We only feared defiling the golden tablets with Our brush and ink, or displaying tiles and gravel in a forest of pearls. Suddenly receiving your letter, We have undeservedly accepted your praise; examining Ourself and reflecting within, We feel all the more brazen. It is not worthy of praise, and you have troubled yourself in vain to send thanks." Again he presented a memorial of thanks. The imperial decree said: "By nature We do not read the scriptures, nor do We possess talent or wisdom. Suddenly composing a preface to the treatises, We have on the contrary defiled the scriptural texts. Having fully perused your words, We see that We have been unjustly praised and adorned; embarrassed to receive empty praise, We feel only true shame." Thenceforth, the eminent ministers at court all expressed their praise, and the Buddhist order flourished vigorously, its aura gathering into clouds. The Crown Prince composed a preface for the Tripiṭaka Sacred Teachings Preface written by the Emperor, saying: "Now, in making known the correct teachings, without wisdom there is no way to broaden their text; in exalting and elucidating the subtle words, without worthiness none can determine their purport. Indeed, the sacred teachings of true suchness are the profound source of all phenomena, the model and track of the myriad scriptures. Embracing the vast and profound, their hidden purport reaches far; plumbing the subtlety of emptiness and existence, they embody the critical pivot of arising and ceasing. With luxuriant words and a vast Way, those who search do not exhaust their source; with manifest text and subtle meaning, those who tread do not measure their bounds. Thus we know that where the sacred compassion reaches, there is no good karma that is not attained; where the wonderful transformation unfolds, there is no evil condition that is not cut away. Opening the guidelines of the net of Dharma, promoting the correct teachings of the six perfections, saving the misery of sentient beings, and unlocking the secret chambers of the Tripiṭaka—hence, its name flies far without wings, and its Way is eternally firm without roots. Its way and name spread blessings, remaining steadfast through antiquity; its responsive manifestation bodies endure without decay through dust-mote kalpas. Morning bells and evening brahma chants mingle their two sounds on Vulture Peak; the sun of wisdom and the flow of the Dharma turn the twin wheels in the Deer Park. Jewelled canopies clearing the sky fly together with soaring clouds; spring groves adorning the countryside match the colours of heavenly flowers. I humbly consider that Your Majesty the Emperor, endowed with blessings from high Heaven, rules the eight frontiers by letting your robes hang down; your virtue covers the black-haired people, and the ten thousand states adjust their lapels to pay court. Your grace extends to bleached bones, as palm-leaf texts are brought to the stone chambers; your bounty reaches tiny insects, as verses of brahma preaching circulate in golden coffers. Thus, the waters of Lake Anavatapta connect with the eight rivers of the imperial domain, and Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa adjoins the verdant peaks of Song and Hua. I respectfully consider that the dharmatā is serene and still; there is none who turns their mind toward it without penetrating it. The realm of wisdom is profound and subtle; when sincere earnestness moves it, it is revealed. How could we have expected that in the deep night of darkness, the light of a wisdom torch would shine forth, and in the morning of the burning house, the moisture of the Dharma rain would descend? Thereupon the hundred rivers, though flowing differently, meet together in the sea; the myriad dividing meanings all culminate in the real. How could this be compared with the merits of Tang and Wu, or its sacred virtue equated with Yao and Shun? Master of the Law Xuanzang has cherished intelligence from early on, setting his will upon peace and simplicity. His spirit was pure in his childhood years; his conduct rose above the superficial world. Quieting his mind in the room of absorption, he concealed his traces among hidden crags; resting in the three dhyānas, he roamed through the ten stages. Transcending the realm of the six sense-objects, he strode alone through Kapilavastu; comprehending the purport of the One Vehicle, he transformed beings according to their capacities. Because China lacked the original texts, he sought the true texts in India, journeying afar across the Ganges to complete his goal of the full words, and repeatedly ascending the Snow Mountains to obtain the half-jewel. Travelling back and forth inquiring into the Way for seventeen years, he fully mastered the Buddhist scriptures, making the benefit of beings his mind. On the sixth day of the second month of the nineteenth year of Zhenguan, he translated the sacred teachings by imperial decree at Hongfu Monastery: a total of six hundred and fifty-seven works of essential texts. Drawing from the Dharma flow of the great ocean, he washed away worldly defilements without exhaustion; transmitting the enduring flame of the lamp of wisdom, he illuminated deep darkness so that it is ever bright. Had he not long planted superior conditions, how could he have made known this purport? What is called the enduring nature of dharmas matches the brightness of the three luminaries; our Emperor's blessings match the firmness of heaven and earth. Humbly observing the imperial prefaces to the various scriptures and treatises, which illuminate the past and soar through the present, their principles contain the resonance of metal and stone, and their style embraces the richness of wind and clouds, I, Zhi, have presumed to add a speck of dust to a mountain or drop of dew to a river, summarily presenting the main outline to compose this record." From then on, Xuanzang frequently entered the inner palace, where the Emperor inquired into deep and hidden matters; the translation work continued without missing the spiritual capacity of the Dharma. An imperial edict bestowed a cloud-patterned patchwork robe, exquisitely surpassing antiquity and the present. It was also decreed that across the empire, five men per monastery be ordained to preserve the sacred seed, all through his influence. In the tenth month of winter, he followed the imperial retinue into the capital, where the Hongfa Academy was built at the northern gate, and he was constantly stationed there. Earlier, the Cien Monastery had been built at Quchi for Empress Wende; Xuanzang was summoned to reside there, and three hundred people were ordained. An order was given to build a translation cloister in the northwest of the monastery, granting fifteen newly ordained disciples, while ten were still granted to the former site at Hongfu. When the current Emperor succeeded to the throne, he had always treasured and respected him, summoning him for generous inquiries and treating him with rites far exceeding the ordinary protocol. In the second year of Yonghui, Xuanzang requested to build a scripture terrace for Indic manuscripts, and received imperial gifts of materials, so that it was soon completed. He was again summoned into the palace to translate treatises such as the Abhidharmasamuccaya in the Xiuwen Hall. Imperial handwritten decrees in flying-white calligraphy were sent down, comforting him with great generosity. In the first month of the first year of Xianqing, a great vegetarian feast was held at Cien Monastery for the Crown Prince, attended by all the court officials. Xue Yuanchao, Attendant Gentleman of the Yellow Gate, and Li Yifu, Secretariat Drafter, said: "The translation of scriptures is the greatest matter of the Buddha's Dharma; we do not know what virtue might glorify it?" Xuanzang said: "What you gentlemen ask has long been in my mind. Although the position of translation belongs to monks, its glory and prestige ultimately rely on court dignitaries. For instance, with Kumārajīva of the Yao Qin, it was Yao Song, Marquis of Ancheng, who took down the translations; with Bodhiruci of the Northern Wei, it was Cui Guang, Attendant-in-Ordinary, who transcribed the texts. In the beginning of the Zhenguan era, when Prabhākaramitra first translated, Left Vice Director Xiao Yu, Court of Imperial Treasury Chamberlain Xiao Jing, and Deputy Supervisor of the Crown Prince Du Zhenglun inspected and determined the texts. Today there are none of these, which is insufficient to glorify it afar. Furthermore, for the Great Cien Monastery, His Majesty felt the deep grief of the wind and the trees, and ordered its magnificent construction; the beauty of its rising fame cannot surpass a stele and eulogy. If I could receive the help of you two gentlemen to bring this about, the immortal traces will naturally be manifested for present and antiquity." They readily agreed. The next morning, a palace attendant was dispatched to announce the edict: "The officials needed to assist in translation have already been appointed. As for the stele, We shall compose it Ourself." Soon an edict was issued: "The translation of texts and meanings at Cien Monastery must be precise. Let Yu Zhining, Left Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs, Lai Ji, Director of the Secretariat, Xu Jingzong, Minister of Rites, Xue Yuanchao, Attendant Gentleman of the Yellow Gate, and Li Yifu, Secretariat Drafter, polish the text wherever it is awkward. If scholars are needed, two or three men may be summoned at will." When the stele was completed, Xuanzang requested the Emperor's divine brush to write it personally, which was specially granted. A date was set to send it to the monastery. The monasteries in the capital all made banners and canopies. An edict also commanded the princes, dukes, and below, the nine musical sections of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, and the musicians of the two counties, with over a thousand carriages and followers, to gather at Hongfu Monastery. The Emperor stood at the Anfu Gate, overlooking the procession as it was sent off. The men and women of the capital lined the roadside; stretching from north to south for more than twenty li, they filled the streets. The glory to worldly customs and the promotion of the Dharma were without parallel. He was also granted a mountain-patterned patchwork robe finer than the previous one, along with more than a hundred items of seasonal clothing and trinkets. In the second year of Xianqing, the imperial retinue visited Luoyang, and Xuanzang accompanied it, being accommodated at the Jicui Palace in the Eastern Capital. He was summoned into the Liri Hall of the Great Inner Palace to translate treatises such as the Ālambanaparīkṣā. He also translated the Mahāvibhāṣā and other treatises in the Mingde Palace. Having left his hometown when young, Xuanzang returned with white hair. When he inquired about his relatives and old friends, almost all had passed away; only one older sister remained, who went out to meet him. When he asked about the family graves, they had only received temporary burial and had not been relocated, so he divined an auspicious site, relocated the tombs, and reburied them. Northwest of Mount Shaoshi and northeast of the old Gou clan county, in Phoenix Valley of Konghe Village in Youxian Township, was Xuanzang's birthplace. Nearby below was the Shaolin Monastery, founded by Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei, which was the place where the Daśabhūmika Sūtra was translated. His intention was to reside there to translate for the state. He received an imperial brush-written decree saying: "Examining your memorial, We know you wish to conceal your traces among crags and springs, following Huiyuan to surpass the past, and entrust your thoughts to dhyāna stillness, taking Sengcheng and Kumārajīva as models to set an example for the present. Looking up with admiration to your lofty character, We truly revere it. Our karma is empty and Our learning scanty, unable to plumb the heights and depths; yet with Our shallow knowledge and slight hearing, We do not see that this is permissible. The Master of the Law is a bridge across the three realms, drawing forth the four kinds of beings; your wisdom is as bright as the lamp of the mind, and your absorption is as still as the water of intention. It is not obscured by the dust of emotions; how could the waves of consciousness alarm it? Since the Dao and virtue can be inhabited anywhere, why must it be the tiered peaks of Mount Taihua? Since emptiness and stillness can be lodged in anywhere, how could it be solely the multiple ridges of Mount Shaoshi? May you heed Our words and make no further requests. Great recluses dwell in markets and courts; this was not only valued by ancient worthies. Broadening benefit through what is seen and heard is even more precious in our present era." The matter was thereupon dropped. In the third year of Xianqing, an imperial edict ordered the construction of Ximing Monastery for the Crown Prince. When completed, an order was given to grant ten monks of superior quarters to serve as attendants. There was the Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sūtra, consisting of two hundred thousand verses, containing all eight divisions known in this land. Soon an edict was issued ordering him to reside at Yuhua, where provisions for translation were supplied exactly as at the capital monasteries; thus he was able to rely on quietude without disrupting his translation work. On the first day of the first month of the fifth year of Xianqing, he began translating the great text, and finished it at the end of the tenth month of the third year of Longshuo. It was preached in four places in sixteen assemblies, comprising a total of six hundred fascicles; the Prajñā emptiness school was thereby fully completed. In the interim, he also translated the Vijñaptimātratāsiddhi-śāstra, Madhyāntavibhāga-śāstra, Viṃśikāvijñaptimātratāsiddhi, Prakaraṇapāda-śāstra, and others. In the eleventh month, he presented this scripture to the throne and requested an imperial preface. At the Penglai Palace, Palace Receptionist Feng Yi announced the edict granting it. Throughout his life, Xuanzang had always vowed to be born in the presence of Maitreya. When he travelled to the Western Regions, he heard that Asaṅga and his brother had both been born in that heaven; and having frequently prayed, he obtained clear signs, which made his resolve all the firmer and spurred his efforts even more. Later, after arriving at Yuhua, whenever he had leisure, he never failed to make the vow to be born in Tuṣita Heaven to see Maitreya Buddha. From the time the Prajñāpāramitā was completed, he only spurred himself on to practice the Way and perform rites of repentance. In the first year of Linde, he said to the translation monks and his disciples: "Conditioned dharmas must inevitably return to destruction; how could this phantom-like physical form remain long? I am sixty-five years old; I shall surely die at Yuhua. Those who have doubts about the scriptures and treatises may quickly ask." Those who heard were startled and said: "Your age is not yet advanced; why do you utter such words?" He replied: "I know this myself." He then went to take leave of the Buddha, paying homage, repenting, and saying farewell before the image of the ten million [Buddhas] he had earlier made. To those disciples who were going outside, he said: "Farewell; I am parting with you now. You need not come again, for if you come, you will not see me." On the ninth day of the first month, he said to the monastery monks: "Xuanzang must surely die. The scriptures say: 'This body is detestable, like a dead dog.' When Xuanzang dies, do not place me near palaces or monasteries; bury me in a quiet place in the mountains." He then fell ill and lay down. Whether opening or closing his eyes, he saw a great white lotus flower arriving, fresh and pure; he also saw a magnificent form, and knew he would be born before the Buddha. He ordered the monks to read aloud the titles of the scriptures and treatises he had translated, which totalled seventy-three works in one thousand three hundred and thirty fascicles. He felt joy within himself. He summoned all his disciples who had conditions with him to gather, saying: "Impermanence is about to arrive; come quickly to see me." In the Jiashou Hall, with an image-frame of the Bodhi [tree] made of fragrant wood, he took leave of the monastery monks and disciples, and having completed his final memorial, he silently recollected Maitreya, ordering those beside him to chant: "Namo Maitreya Tathāgata, Arhat, Samyaksambuddha! May I and all conscious beings swiftly behold your compassionate face! Namo to the inner assembly where Maitreya Tathāgata resides! May I, having cast off this life, be born without fail in their midst!" On the fourth day of the second month, he lay on his right side with feet folded, resting his head on his right hand, his left hand on his thigh, utterly motionless. Someone asked what posture this was, and he replied: "Do not ask; it hinders my right mindfulness." At midnight on the fifth day, a disciple asked: "Will the Upādhyāya certainly be born before Maitreya?" He answered: "I will definitely attain birth." Having spoken, his breath ceased. Up to two months later, his complexion and appearance were as usual. There were also unseen responses, which are omitted and not recounted. An imperial edict was also issued permitting the monks and nuns of the capital to send him off with banners and canopies on the day of burial. Thereupon, plain canopies and plain banners floated in the sky, gathering like clouds; sorrowful pipes and sorrowful brahma chants arrested the spirits of men and gods. The four classes of laypeople grieved over it, and the seven assemblies lamented his passing. He was buried on the Bailuyuan plain within forty li; white and black filled the way. His grave was close to that of his brother, Venerable Jie. A lofty white pagoda shone near the imperial city. Soon, a separate edict ordered his reburial at Fanchuan, with the prefectures and counties instructed to supply laborers, and he was disinterred. All marveled in admiration: though long buried, his appearance was just as before. Had he not been sustained by the power of his vows, how could this have come to pass?"