續高僧傳 7.19

7.19

Śramaṇa Huibu was surnamed Hao, a native of Guangling. In his youth, he harbored lofty resolve, his nature and disposition being open and straightforward. At the age of fifteen, he lived in Jiangyang. His family were military commanders, and at the time there was a military expedition; he therefore wished to lead five thousand men as a general to pacify the bandit strongholds, saying, “How could it not be achieved?” The crowd marveled at his words. At sixteen, he encountered the death of his elder brother; realizing the impermanence of the world, he thought to untie the worldly nets. Because his relatives knew of his martial strategy, none would grant permission. Only at the age of twenty-one did he fulfill his original wish. Having received tonsure, he entered the capital Yang[du]. He studied the Tattvasiddhi-śāstra under Dharma Master [Bao]qiong of Jianchu Monastery, penetrating the purport of the provisional and the real, and becoming the object of public acclaim. Yet Bu regretted that this ultimate principle did not fully satisfy his heart's desire. Hearing that Dharma Master Sengquan of Zhiguan Monastery on Mount She was an ocean and mountain of the Mahāyāna whose reputation was heard far and wide, he went to follow him and listen to the Three Treatises. His fellow students numbered several hundred, the preeminent of the era; but when it came to penetrating the pure and profound and subtly knowing the treatises' purports, none could surpass him. At the time, he was called “Grasping-the-Meaning Bu” or “Thinking-the-Profound Bu.” Thus, when Quan resolved difficulties, the listeners seemed to understand yet remained confused in their comprehension; when they followed the words to comprehend, their formulations of difficulties were coarse and sketchy. Consequently, during discussions, whenever a visiting guest posed a question, they always waited for Bu to answer. The people of that time had a saying: “Master Quan's four friends: Lang of the Four Phrases, Bian of Comhending Words, Yong of Literary Style, and Bu who Grasps the Meaning.” Bu was praised as Grasping the Meaning, the very highest of them. Later, upon the “Good Understanding” chapter of the Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā-prajñāpāramitā, he awakened to and understood the Mahāyāna; his afflictions were subdued, he controlled his mind and upheld the vinaya, and his deportment was flawless. He constantly delighted in sitting in dhyāna, distancing himself from clamor and confusion, vowing not to lecture but making preservation and upholding his sole task. Later, he traveled north to Ye to study what he had not yet heard. When he briefly presented his name to see Dhyāna Master Ke, his words immediately clashed with [Ke's] ideas. Ke said, “What the Dharma Master has expounded can be called shattering the self and eliminating views; nothing surpasses this.” He then gave free rein to his mind among the various assemblies, thoroughly observing their core tenets, surveying their texts and meanings until they were fully held within his breast. He also copied six camel-loads of treatises and commentaries, which he carried on his back back to the south of the Yangtze, leaving them all to Master Lang to lecture upon. Because there were omissions, he traveled again to the state of Qi, copying extensively what was missing and carrying it back to entrust to Lang. He himself possessed nothing, keeping only his robes and bowl. Dedicated to cultivating mindfulness and wisdom, he dwelt alone in the pine forest, detached beyond the mundane world, an object of admiration for scholars. Once he visited Dhyāna Master Si to discuss the great meaning, carrying on through days and nights without awareness of food or rest. The principles became ever more subtle, and the force of their words did not cease. Si struck the table with an iron ruyi and said, “For ten thousand miles it is empty! There is no wise man like this!” The more than one thousand people seated in the assembly sighed and rejoiced with one voice. He also discussed doctrines with Dhyāna Master Miao, who was the teacher of Master Ming; they went back and forth continuously for three days without stopping. Miao brought it to an end, praising his wisdom and awakening for soaring far, while he demeaned himself and moderated his conduct, never displaying his own excellence. At the end of the Taiqing era of the Liang, when Hou Jing caused rebellion, there was famine for successive years, and [Bu] went without food for three days. On the fourth day, someone gave Bu some rice, but faintly covered it with pork. Although his stomach burned like fire, he steeled his heart and did not eat it. Thus, even when encountering such distress, he did not step into transgression or excess. Once he also suffered from beriberi; a physician told him to take shallots, and from then until the end of his life, he constantly confessed this transgression. When he saw people who longed to be reborn in the Western Pure Land, he would tell them, “That land may be pure, but it is not my wish. My present vow is to transform and deliver sentient beings; how could I enjoy bliss inside a lotus flower for ten kalpas? It is not as good as being in the suffering of the three evil paths to rescue them.” In the Zhide era of the Chen, he invited Dhyāna Master Gong to establish Qixia Monastery on Mount She; their setting up purity and training the assembly were esteemed throughout the region south of the Yangtze. Eminent and virtuous monks came from afar to receive the treatises' purports; occasionally he would resolve obstructions and clarify profound subtleties. He would not act as a monastic leader, nor would he employ those of lower rank. He always washed and sewed his own garments, without missing any of the six intervals of the day. Barely had the ghaṇṭā been struck when he was already at the head of the assembly, sitting upright like a log so that those who saw him were awestruck. His fame spread brightly far and wide, and people requesting audiences gathered like a marketplace. The Chen ruler and the various princes all received precepts from him, revering him like a Buddha. Later, due to old age, he did not participate in the communal meals. An imperial decree provided him with a dairy cow, but Bu redirected it to the assembly. Solitary and cautiously restrained, he was truly an eminent monk. At the age of seventy, he took leave of the assembly, saying, “Bu's life still has three to five years remaining; but I am old and fatigued, unable to practice the Way. What benefit is there in remaining in the world? My constant vow is to be reborn in a borderland where there is no triratna, to perform Buddha-work there. May you each dwell well, and I pray you exert your strength.” Thereupon he ceased eating grains, and his life was about to end. An imperial decree ordered physicians to examine him, but he withdrew his arm and refused. Empress Shen wished to send an offering of incense, but he also refused it. On the verge of passing away, his final instruction stated: “Long life brings no joy; dying in the evening brings no sorrow, because in birth there is nothing born, and in extinction there is nothing extinguished. All students and disciples are entrusted to Dhyāna Master Gong; I have no worries.” On the twenty-third day of the eleventh month in the first year of the Zhenming era of the Chen, he passed away at Qixia. After his death, three fingers of his hand curled; though uncurled when smoothed, they curled back again, remaining so for a month even when moved into the forest. Before his passing, the great earth shook continuously, and seven days later he passed away. When moving his corpse to the forest, the mountain earth shook again. The Grand Astrologer memorialized, “The star of a person who has attained the Way has been extinguished,” which at the time was applied to him. When he was first about to depart, he announced to the assembly: “Last night two bodhisattvas came to welcome me: one is the physical body, the other is the Dharma-body. I have already accepted. Soon after, various devas also came to welcome me; because I did not wish to be born [there], I refused.” A streaming light shone upon the door of Dhyāna Master Kan; Kan, marveling at the bright light, stepped outside and saw two men heading toward Bu's room, not knowing they were sages. In the morning he went to recount it, and it matched exactly. Having spoken, [Bu] sat upright and passed away. Someone who could see spirits gazed from afar and saw banners and flowers filling the monastery and bright light blazing forth; not understanding the reason, he entered the mountain to look, and found that Master Bu had departed from the world.