宋高僧傳 18.29

18.29

釋岸禪師，并州人也，約淨土為真歸之地。行方等懺，服勤無缺。微有疾，作禪觀不虧，見觀音、勢至二菩薩現於空中，持久不滅。岸召境內畫人，無能畫者，忽有二人云從西京來，欲往五臺，自樂輸工。畫菩薩形相繢事畢，贈鞵二緉，忽隱無蹤。岸知西方緣熟，告諸弟子云：「吾今往生，誰可偕行？」有小童子稽顙曰：「願隨師去。」乃令往辭父母，父母謂為戲言，而令沐浴，著淨衣，入道場念佛，須臾而終。岸責曰：「何得前行？」時岸索筆讚二菩薩曰：「觀音助遠接，勢至輔遙迎，寶瓶冠上顯，化佛頂前明。俱遊十方剎，持華候九生。願以慈悲手，提獎共西行。」述讚已，別諸弟子入道場，命門徒助吾念佛，端坐而終，春秋八十。時垂拱元年正月七日也。

Shi, Dhyāna Master An, was a native of Bingzhou. He settled upon the Pure Land as his true destination of return. He practiced the Vaipulya confession, serving diligently without lapse. When slightly indisposed, his practice of dhyāna visualization did not diminish. He saw the two bodhisattvas Avalokiteśvara and Mahāsthāmaprāpta appear in the sky, remaining for a long time without fading. An summoned the painters in the region, but none could depict them. Suddenly, two men said they came from the Western Capital and wished to go to Mount Wutai, offering their labor willingly. When the painting of the bodhisattvas' forms was completed, he gifted them two pairs of shoes; suddenly they vanished without a trace. An knew that his conditions for the Western Pure Land were ripe, and he told his disciples, "I am now going to be reborn; who can go with me?" A young boy touched his head to the ground and said, "I wish to follow the master." He was then ordered to bid farewell to his parents. His parents took it as a joke, but had him bathe, put on pure garments, and enter the sanctuary to recite the Buddha's name; in a short moment, he passed away. An reproached him, saying, "How could you go ahead of me?" At that time, An asked for a brush and composed a eulogy to the two bodhisattvas: "Avalokiteśvara aids the distant reception; / Mahāsthāmaprāpta assists the welcoming from afar. / The precious vase is revealed upon the crown; / the transformation Buddha shines bright before the crest. / Together they roam the realms of the ten directions, / holding flowers to await the nine grades of rebirth. / May they, with compassionate hands, / guide and encourage me to go West together." Having composed the eulogy, he bid farewell to his disciples, entered the sanctuary, and instructed his followers: "Help me recite the Buddha's name." He sat upright and passed away at the age of eighty. This took place on the seventh day of the first month of the first year of the Chuigong era.