續高僧傳 8.20

8.20

Śramaṇa Daoping was surnamed Han and was a native of Pingen. At the age of twelve, he underwent pravrajyā, entering Shao Temple in Guixiang. When he first recited the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa Sūtra, he observed on his own that he covered four thousand four hundred words a day. Hearing something once, he never forgot it, and thereby mastered several texts. Later he studied the Nirvāṇa Sūtra, broadly surveying its far-reaching tenets. He then pursued the Tattvasiddhi-śāstra; upon hearing just half of the text, he immediately established its cardinal meaning. His reputation for intelligence surpassed that of the ancients, causing people from near and far to hear of his fame and all think of revering him. In his seventh summer retreat, he intended to lecture on the Nirvāṇa Sūtra, but reflected: "The text is one, yet the commentaries differ; its subjective and doctrinal principles are difficult to substantiate. I fear that presenting an unsubstantiated lesson would constitute a grievous defamation of the Dharma." Having reached his eighth summer retreat, he proceeded to enter the realm of meditation, thoroughly investigating excellent guidance across the Zhang, Fu, Yi, and Luo river valleys. Later, at Shaolin Temple, he collected his mind during the summer retreat; monks seeking the Way cleared the briars to come to him. Hearing that Master Guang was propagating the Prātimokṣa, he went there to listen. Comprehending the Mahāyāna, his deepest aspirations were thoroughly satisfied. He remained there for ten years, and his renown grew ever higher. He then took leave of Guang to propagate the Dharma and convert beings far and wide. The beauty of his transmission of the lamp in Zhao and Wei was rarely equaled. Whenever he lectured on the Daśabhūmika-vyākhyāna, the Nirvāṇa Sūtra, the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, and the Four-Part Vinaya, he would unfold the scroll and lecture straight away, never searching through texts, for he possessed no written commentaries. Without lifting a brush, he resolved complexities at will; his speech was lucid, and he penetrated to the core meaning beyond words as though personally enlightened. Thus the people of the capital had a saying: "Master Ping's doctrinal definitions and Master Shang's stylistic phrasing are rare treasures of this age." These words were indeed true. His contemporaries compared his eloquence to that of Śāriputra. On the seventh day of the third month in the tenth year of Tianbao under the Qi dynasty, he passed away at Baoshan Temple southwest of the city of Ye at the age of seventy-two. Just before his end, two large bells cracked with only a light touch. While in good health, he had vowed to be reborn in the Realm of Peace and Nurture (Sukhāvatī); thus, as he approached the end, a radiant light filled the entire chamber, which Ping alone beheld, while an extraordinary fragrance filled the courtyard, celebrated by the entire assembly. When Ping initially dwelt in the Way, his heart was set on broad protection: he constantly lectured on sūtras and vinaya, practicing both merit and wisdom simultaneously. Ties with his biological relatives and blood kin were abruptly severed, and he never visited the residences of the powerful or noble. Relying on begging for food to sustain himself was an ascetic practice he observed constantly from youth. Baring his shoulder and washing clean, this conduct became even firmer in his old age; his shins and arms were left bare of clothing, viewing life and death as equal. Furthermore, his reliance on mental intent and oral transmission, completely discarding textual forms, was unprecedented from ancient times to the present.