宋高僧傳 25
English (machine translation) 25
- Language
- English
25.1
Compiled under imperial order by Śramaṇa Zanning and others, Grand Master Tonghui, recipient of the purple robe, of Tianshou Temple on the Left Street of the Song
25.2
Section Eight on Intoning and Reciting, Part Two (Twenty-one principal biographies, with five appended)
25.3
Biography of Mingdu of Shibi Temple in Bingzhou under the Tang
25.4
Śramaṇa Mingdu: it is not known where he was from. He was versed in sūtras and treatises, and diligent in the three actions. He recited the Diamond Sūtra to aid his pure karma, harboring a mind of compassionate salvation. Toward the end of the Zhenguan era, pigeons nested in the eaves of his building and reared two chicks. Du regularly took leftover porridge to the nest to feed them, and repeatedly prayed over them, saying: "Relying on the power of my sūtra-recitation, may your wings swiftly form." Suddenly, while practicing flight early, they fell to the ground and both perished, whereupon Du buried them. After a little over ten days, he dreamed of two small children saying: "We were originally small creatures born from eggs; thanks to the Venerable's rearing and recitation of sūtras with merit dedicated to us, we have now been reborn into the human realm at a certain family's house ten li east of this temple." Du kept this quietly in mind. When ten months were complete, he went to visit this family, and the wife had indeed given birth to twin boys. He went in to see them, and after a few days, he called out, "Pigeon-boys!" and both turned their heads at the same time and responded. Within a little over a year they could speak, and both grew to adulthood. Where Du ended his life is not known.
25.5
Biography of Qingxu of Huiyi Temple in Zizhou under the Tang
25.6
Śramaṇa Qingxu, whose surname was Tang, was a native of Zizhou. He had an unyielding and resolute disposition, being unruly, shrewd, and hard to control; but suddenly he turned his mind and constantly recited the Diamond Sūtra. His three actions were harmonious and uniform, free of any laxity. He once recited in a mountain forest, and seven deer grew tame and lingered as if listening attentively, departing only when the sound ceased. Furthermore, when his neighbor's house caught fire and adjoining roofs were reduced to ashes, only over Xu's house did the gusting flames fly past without scorching it in the least. In the second year of Chang'an, he traveled alone to the North Courtyard of the Upper Precinct of Wuzhen Temple in Lantian. Formerly it had no well or spring—it being beyond human power to dig one—and water had to be fetched from a distant ravine, carrying bottles and jars with great toil. At that time, the Avataṃsaka Master Fazang heard of the miraculous efficacy of Xu's sūtra recitation and invited him to pray for a spring. Xu immediately entered the Maitreya Pavilion and burned incense, with his sūtra chanting lasting until dawn for three nights. Suddenly in his mind he seemed to see three jade maidens on the mountain slope northwest of the pavilion carving into the ground with knives, whereupon water immediately gushed forth. Xu memorised the spot well, then hurried up and dug there; sure enough, he obtained a sweet spring whose supply was inexhaustible. In the fourth year, he observed the summer retreat at Shaolin Temple. On the mountain summit was a Buddha hall that was very spacious, but no one dared go there, as it was said to be the dwelling of ghosts and spirits. A vinaya master who once relied on his precept conduct went there at night to recite the Vinaya; he saw a giant stab at him with a spear, and he scrambled down the mountain, dying shortly after. Furthermore, there was a monk who upheld the Fire-head Vajra Dhāraṇī and was revered at the time; the assembly said to him: "Your dhāraṇī power is matchless; can you spend the night there?" He replied: "Why should that be feared?" Thereupon he took incense and fire, entered, sat down, and recited the dhāraṇī. Shortly thereafter, the spirit appeared, grabbed him by the feet, and hurled him down into the ravine; for seven days he could not speak, his spirit dazed and unconscious. Hearing this, Xu said: "How dare a ghost of the lower destinies act so?" He immediately went there and recited the sūtra as usual. At night, he heard a very fierce sound east of the hall, and at once recited the Eleven-Faced Avalokiteśvara Dhāraṇī. He then heard what sounded like two oxen fighting in the hall, causing the Buddha statues to shake. As the dhāraṇī had no effect, he returned to upholding a section of his primary sūtra; all grew calm and still in turn, and every sound and shadow vanished. From then on, dwellers had no troubles, and the spirits moved away. In the second year of Shenlong, he entered the palace in accordance with an imperial decree to pray for rain. After two seven-day periods, snow fell, but Emperor Zhongzong deemed it not yet sufficient to satisfy the people's hopes and ordered him to pray further at the temple. He then prayed earnestly in the Buddha hall and burned one of his fingers. Within a single night, rain fell across a thousand li, and his finger was restored as before. Once when a great flood occurred and the temple buildings were all submerged, his courtyard suffered no distress, as if there were no deluge at all. All of his various extraordinary verifications were like this.
25.7
Biography of Shaokang of the Pure Land Bodhimaṇḍa on Mount Wulong in Muzhou under the Tang
25.8
Śramaṇa Shaokang, secular surname Zhou, was a native of Mount Xiandu in Jinyun. His mother, Lady Luo, once dreamed that she roamed Dinghu Peak, where a jade maiden holding a blue lotus in her hands offered it to her, saying: 'This flower is auspicious. I entrust it to your keeping; later you will bear a noble son, whom you must cherish and protect!' On the day Kang was born, a blue-green light filled the chamber, with a fragrance like that of lotuses. When he reached infancy, his eyes were jade-blue and his lips vermilion; his teeth possessed one of the bodily marks of a Buddha, and he would constantly sit upright with a smile. At that time, a skilled physiognomist of the village looked at him and said: 'This boy possesses the talent of a general or minister, yet he does not speak, so I cannot tell.' When he was just seven years old, he was carried into Lingshan Temple. On the Buddha's birthday, as they paid homage to the sacred image, his mother asked Kang, 'Do you recognise him?' He suddenly spoke, saying, 'Śākyamuni Buddha.' All who heard were astonished, for he had never spoken since birth. Because of this, his parents permitted him to leave home. At the age of fifteen, the scriptures he had recited already numbered five divisions. He received upasampadā at Jiaxiang Temple in Yuezhou, and straightaway studied the vinaya at that monastery. After five summer retreats, he went to Longxing Temple in Shangyuan to listen to the Avataṃsaka-sūtra and the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra. At the beginning of the Zhenyuan era, he arrived at the hall of Baima Temple in the eastern capital, Luoyang, where he saw an object radiating light. Reaching for it to see what scripture or teaching it was, he found it was Shan Dao's 'Text on Guiding and Transforming Beings to Proceed to the Western Land'. Kang saw it with joy and made a vow, saying: 'If I have an affinity with the Pure Land, may this scroll of text re-emit this light!' No sooner had his vow ended than it truly flashed anew, with countless transformation Buddhas and bodhisattvas within it. He then went into Shan Dao's memorial hall in Chang'an to make a prayer. He saw the true portrait of Shan Dao transform into the body of a Buddha, which addressed Kang, saying: 'If you rely on my expedients to benefit and gladden sentient beings, together you will be born in the Land of Peaceful Nurture.' Feeling as if he had attained realization, Kang traveled south to Guoyuan Temple in Jiangling, where he met a Dharma master who said to him: 'If you wish to convert people, go directly to Xinding; your affinity lies there.' Having spoken, he vanished, leaving only fragrance and light heading westward. When Kang reached Mu prefecture, he entered the city to beg for food and obtained copper coins; he induced and encouraged little children, giving them one coin whenever they could recite 'Amitābha Buddha' once. After more than a month, children flocked to him like ants, and he gave coins to those who recited the Buddha's name most often. After one year like this, whenever any man or woman saw Kang, they would say, 'Amitābha Buddha.' He then built a Pure Land bodhimanda on Mount Wulong, constructing a three-tiered altar. He gathered people at midnight to practice the Path, singing twenty-four rounds of praises to extol the Pure Land. Every fasting day they gathered like clouds, those he converted numbering about three thousand. Ascending the seat, he would instruct the male and female disciples to gaze at his face; as he then chanted 'Amitābha Buddha' in a loud voice, a Buddha would emerge from his mouth. Reciting ten times in succession, ten Buddhas appeared like a string of pearls, and he told them: 'If you see the Buddha's body, you will immediately attain rebirth.' In the tenth month of the twenty-first year of Zhenyuan, he gave his final instructions to the assembly, urging them solely to cultivate the Pure Land with urgency. Having spoken, he sat cross-legged, radiated light from his body, and passed away. The sky abruptly changed, violent winds arose on all sides, and hundreds of birds cried sorrowfully. Mount Wulong suddenly turned white. Today his funerary stūpa remains at Taiziyan to the east of the prefecture; with the passing of years, only a square stone is left. The earth beside the stone is said to cure diseases; whenever the prefectural people suffer from various ailments, they burn incense and take the earth, and upon ingesting it most are cured. The four corners of the stone are grooved like cart ruts. In the third year of the Qianyou era of the Han, Chan Master Deshao of Mount Tiantai rebuilt his stūpa, which remains tall and spacious to this day; at that time he was called the Latter Shan Dao.
25.9
The appraisal says: The verses and praises composed by Kang were all set to the popular melodies of Zheng and Wei, created as transformed styles: neither mournful nor festive, neither resentful nor angry, achieving balanced melodies and rhythms. This is like a skilled physician coating an unpalatable medicine with malt-sugar and honey to entice an infant to take it into its mouth. If he were not a great manifestation entering the provisional, how could he have exercised such skillful means to deliver beings without limit? When chanting the Buddha's name, the forms of Buddhas issued from his mouth; Shan Dao engaged in Buddha-work in this same manner, so this was truly no small affinity!
25.10
Tang Biography of Fazheng of Kaiyuan Temple in Jiangling (Huizong)
25.11
Śramaṇa Fazheng, no one knows where he was from. He was broad-minded in disposition and cautious in cultivating his conduct. He kept watch over the three karmic activities like a timekeeper, and scrutinized the six sense faculties like an imperial censor; because he recited the Diamond Prajñā[-pāramitā-sūtra] twenty-one times daily, he held to it with reverent diligence, never showing the slightest laxity. At the beginning of the Changqing era, he fell ill and died suddenly. It is said that he arrived abruptly in the Netherworld and was led to see the King [of the Underworld], who asked him: 'What field of merit did the master cultivate in his life? What wholesome fruit have you obtained?' Zheng answered with 'reciting the sūtra.' The King then bowed and invited him up to the hall, seating him upon an embroidered throne and requesting him to recite it seven times. From the King down to the guards, all pressed their palms together; below the steps, the floggings, beatings, and litigations fell completely silent. When the recitation was finished, one person was dispatched to lead Zheng back to the human world, and the King descended the steps, bowed, and saw him off, saying: 'Your Reverence has thirty more years to live in the world; do not abandon your recitation.' Following the runner for several leagues, they reached a huge pit; the runner had Zheng bend over to look into it and then shoved him, so that he seemed to plunge through empty space, and he abruptly revived. Initially, when Zheng died, only his face remained warm; upon rising, he recounted this event, and not a few changed their hearts and turned to good. Zheng later died at his resident temple at the age of over eighty. Next, Śramaṇa Huizong of Gong'an County in Jingzhou had the secular surname Cai. Initially he became a monk in an ordinary manner, possessing no special skills. Suddenly he was afflicted by gu-poison, falling so ill that his bones stood out. Driven by suffering, he aroused his resolve and recited the Diamond Prajñā Sūtra, awaiting his end. When he reached fifty recitations, he dreamed that someone told him to open his mouth, and pulled ten-odd strands of hair from his throat; that night he had another dream of vomiting an earthworm over a cubit long, and because of this he was cured—this was at the beginning of the Changqing era. The monk Xingjian of Mount Jing witnessed this event. Where Zong ended his days is unknown.
25.12
Tang Biography of Shousu of Daxingshan Temple in the Capital Region
25.13
Śramaṇa Shousu possessed an elevated and transcendent nature, standing out from the crowd. Residing at Xingshan Temple in the capital, he always took recitation as his urgent task. His cloister was secluded and quiet; in the courtyard were four Chinese parasol trees, all planted by Su's own hand. During the Yuanhe era, high ministers often visited this cloister. In midsummer, the parasol trees would inexplicably sweat a secretion that severely stained people's clothes, like axle grease, and could not be washed out. At that time, Prime Minister Zheng Yin once escaped the summer heat there with several vice ministers and directors; disliking the dripping, he said to Su: 'May this disciple fell these trees for the master and plant a pine in place of each?' When evening came, Su jokingly admonished them, saying: 'I have grown you for over twenty years; because your dripping sweat is loathed by people, you are like ill-omened trees under which no one can rest. If it is so again next year, I will certainly turn you into firewood!' From then on, all traces [of the secretion] ceased! Su vowed never to leave the cloister, and recited the Lotus Sūtra thirty-seven thousand times. At night, wild raccoons were constantly tame and docile, coming to listen to the sūtra. At the midday meal, crows and magpies would take food directly from his palms. When other monks tried to entice them with food, the flock of birds would all squawk in fright and fly away. At the beginning of the Changqing era, the monk Xuanxiou inscribed on this cloister: 'Thirty thousand Lotus Sūtras in thirty springs, / Half a lifetime without treading the dust outside the cloister gate.' At the time, this was considered a fine couplet. The details of Su's demise could not be learned.
25.14
The appraisal says: Those who pierce lacquer trees always worry that they will drip too little—because they love it, it is hard to obtain; those who chop down the asafoetida tree worry that it has too much pungency—because they hate it, it is easy to find. Alas! That your parasol trees sweated was rare in the world; yet when Master Su scolded them, they left no trace the following year. How could disciples who have left home be inferior to insensate trees? Since they cannot act like lacquer to insulate things from defilement, can they not act like asafoetida to add flavour to food? If they accept the rebukes of masters and friends, they will make themselves complete and pure. The tradition says: 'When you make a fault, do not fear to correct it.' Our own teaching says that if one repents of transgressions, one becomes pure, no different from the original state. Reflect upon this!
25.15
Tang Biography of the Avataṃsaka Preceptor of Youzhou
25.16
The Avataṃsaka Preceptor, whose name and surname are unknown, lived north of the city of Youzhou. He constantly maintained the Avataṃsaka-sūtra as his pure karma—the name by which he was called at the time was taken entirely from the scripture's title. Whenever he recited, the whole city could hear it, as though he were beneath the courtyard eaves. During the Wansuitongtian era, when Duke of the State of Han Zhang Renyuan served as the Area Commander of Youzhou, he heard the sound of sūtra recitation at night, chapter by chapter clearly distinct. When he rose in the morning, he said to his wife: 'Last night the man of the Way north of the city was chanting as if right in front of the government office; did you hear it?' His wife said: 'From such a great distance, how could it be heard?' Zhang said: 'If you do not believe it, we may each send a servant boy on horseback to go and verify it.' It indeed proved accurate without discrepancy. Zhang invited him into the city, and when they met, the preceptor said to Zhang: 'You have a vow; why not fulfill it?' He replied: 'I am currently making five hundred kāṣāyas, planning to give them in alms to arhats.' The Avataṃsaka Preceptor said: 'Do not go anywhere else; merely send them to Zhulin Temple on Mount Ma'an, west of the prefecture, to give to the monks.' When he dispatched an envoy carrying incense and robes to ascend to the shrine, the mountain had already receded, and upon searching for Zhulin Temple there was no trace. Thus penetrating deeper, climbing high mountains, he saw an old man and asked him, who said: 'Just follow me.' In an instant he saw the clouds part and the temple appear, its scenery being nothing found in the ordinary world. Entering the temple, he finished distributing the kāṣāyas, but two were lacking. The elder of that place said: 'You may carry two portions back: one for Zhang Renyuan, and one for the Avataṃsaka Preceptor.' Only then did they know that the Avataṃsaka Preceptor had come from the sacred Zhulin Temple. The envoy stayed for one night, but upon emerging, a year had already passed. After converting beings for a long time, he passed away sitting up, and his physical body did not decay. The people of Fanyang often went to pray to him, and at times there were responsive signs. His stūpa was recently destroyed due to warfare.
25.17
The appraisal says: How could the recitation of a single mouth reach the ears of everyone near and far? The explanation is: 'Near, it was like the power of the wholesome Dharma born of his vow to uphold the scripture; far, it was like the single sound expounded, heard and understood according to their kind. That he held an official seat in the sacred monastery may certainly be known!'
25.18
Tang Biography of Wenzhao of Mount Baiti in Hezhong Prefecture
25.19
Śramaṇa Wenzhao, no one knows where he was from. He was originally a simple, rustic, and hesitant speaker, yet whenever he saw an image of the Buddha he was filled with joy. One day he went to Baiti Temple, paid homage before the painted likeness of Dharma Master Tanyan, and left home. Devoting himself to chanting the various scriptures, he did not understand their meanings and explanations, and was constantly indignant at his naturally muddled disposition. Suddenly, as if dozing, he saw Dharma Master Tanyan, ten feet tall, his eyes radiating light in all directions, who said to Zhao: 'How could I bestow what you desire? I have a scroll of the Scripture of Intelligence; seek it there and be sure to uphold it with care, and obtaining supernatural responses will be as easy as picking up mustard seeds from the ground!' He then produced it from his sleeve and handed it to him; it was the Diamond Prajñā. Zhao immediately took it and read it; after seven readings he awoke with a start, the scripture still before his eyes. Thereafter he recited it fluently without impediment, as if he had practiced it long. The modulations, rises, and falls of his throat and tongue instantly adjusted into rhythmic meter, unlike ordinary tunes. From then on, his intelligence became daily renewed and eloquence was ever on his lips; at the time people said that Avalokiteśvara had attached himself to his person. Moreover, he said: 'My master was the State Preceptor of the Zhou and Sui dynasties. Whenever he compiled commentaries and subcommentaries, he was always divinely instructed through dreams; I am not ashamed to be his disciple.'
25.20
Tang Biography of Fazhao of Shan Prefecture
25.21
Śramaṇa Fazhao's origin is unknown. In conduct he was mostly rash and reckless, and his wandering was without constancy. In the first year of the Changqing era, he entered an inn to shelter from the rain. In a short while, the rain worsened and the ground grew muddy; noon passed, and he had failed to obtain food by begging. Thereupon he scolded a boy and sent him to buy pork, boiled it, and stuffed it into several pieces of sesame flatbread. He ate up the coarse food almost entirely, with neither shame nor remorse, behaving as if no one else were present. The guests all cursed and reviled him, and among the youths were some who wished to beat him. Fazhao did not answer at all. When night came, he recited the Diamond Sūtra. Though there were originally neither grease lamps nor candles, the whole room became brilliantly lit, filled with an extraordinary fragrance. All twenty-one guests came to bow, apologize, and offer clothing and goods. Fazhao sat cross-legged as though he saw nothing. His end was not known afterward.
25.22
The Biography of Huipu of Qingzhuo Dhyāna Cloister in Guangji County, Qizhou, under the Tang
25.23
Śramaṇa Huipu, surnamed Song, was a native of Qishui in this commandery. His character was open and clear, quick-witted and outstanding. Having received the śīla, he observed them with the discipline of ice and snow. In the twelfth year of the Yuanhe era, delighted by the scenic mountains and spiritual vitality of Guangji, he wished to dwell there. He began by resolving to recite the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra; as years passed, he eventually mastered all forty-two fascicles. Those who heard of it said in amazement, 'A great scripture in four cases—how could it be reviewed [so thoroughly]? It is not something that ordinary reckoning could hope to achieve!' Some doubted that he had actually mastered the entire work, so they called out chapter titles at random to test him; yet he went through them without any hesitation, stumbling, or slackening, so that everyone yielded in submission. Huipu, however, paid it no mind; he personally engaged in slash-and-burn farming, seeking only enough to sustain himself; clad in rough plant fiber and padded cloth robes, he passed the winters and summers, the sound of his scriptural recitation continuing day and night without interruption. In this way he spent thirty years. The local people and scholars all held him in the highest esteem and expanded his cloister. In the winter of the third year of the Dazhong era, without illness, he assembled the community to bid farewell, sat cross-legged, and passed away, solemn as if deep in reflection. His disciples wrapped and adorned his body with fragrant mud and moved it into a pagoda on the mountain peak, naming it Nirvāṇa. To this day, the incense and lamps there have never ceased.
25.24
The Biography of the Visiting Monk in Present-Day the Eastern Capital, under the Tang
25.25
His name is lost. During the Changqing era he arrived from afar, rough and violent in bearing. Seeing a pure man (an attendant) in the temple, he shouted, 'Take my money and buy wine for me!' When the monks of the temple saw this, they were infuriated that he paid no heed to the vinaya restraints and disgraced their monastery, wondering how they could endure it. They snatched his jug and smashed it against a cypress tree outside the temple; the jug shattered with a clatter, but the wine coagulated and did not flow, clinging to the tree like green jade; shaking it could not scatter it, and smelling it yielded no odor. Astonished and bewildered, the temple monks turned to the visitor and asked, 'What is this?' The visitor replied, 'I constantly uphold the Vajracchedikā-prajñāpāramitā, and I must drink a cup of this beforehand, so that my chanting may be clear and resonant; this has become my regular practice, and it cannot be done otherwise. Venerable sirs, do not take offense.' The temple monks hesitated, looking chagrined. The visitor brought a vessel to the tree to catch it, and the wine fell completely into the vessel without a drop left behind—onlookers stood packed like a wall. Suddenly he swallowed it down, and in an instant the vessel was empty and he was merry and content. It is unknown where this monk went to and from afterward.
25.26
The Biography of Lingyou of Da Wenguo Temple in the Superior Capital, under the Tang
25.27
Śramaṇa Lingyou was a man whose origin is unknown. Reclusive, pure, and upright, he was diligent only in recitation and study. Falling ill, he died suddenly and descended deep into the underworld. He was led to see the King [of the Underworld], who asked, 'What practice have you cultivated?' He answered, 'This poor monk has long upheld the Vajracchedikā-prajñāpāramitā for many years!' The King joined his palms, repeatedly exclaimed 'Excellent!', and ordered him to recite it. Lingyou moved his lips and tongue, the sections and passages coming out distinctly. When he finished reciting, the King said, 'It is not yet completely perfect. Why? Upon verification, it lacks one section of text. Why has the thread stringing the flowers snapped? Although your lifespan has ended, Master, I shall release you back to the human realm for ten years, desiring that you urge all people to receive and uphold this scripture. As for its authentic text, it is found upon the stone stele at Zhongli Temple in Haozhou.' Having said this, seven days elapsed before Lingyou revived. Lingyou then submitted a memorial and received an imperial edict ordering that the authentic text of this scripture be copied, adding the phrases and punctuation marks; it is precisely located after 'There is no Dharma that can be spoken; this is called speaking the Dharma.'
25.28
Appraisal: In the Spring and Autumn Annals, regarding the 'fifth month of summer', no one dared lightly add a character; the Buddhist teaching should be the same, free from reckless concoction. The critical comment says: 'Lingyou obtained the stone scripture of Zhongli Temple, and its correspondence was without harm. But when additions and mixtures like those of Daoming are made, they make people hesitate with doubt, inevitably incurring deceit and forgery. To change and alter things rashly, claiming to have received a revelation from the underworld—beware of this!'
25.29
The Biography of Weigong (and Lingkui) of Faxing Temple in Jingzhou, under the Tang
25.30
Śramaṇa Weigong: it is not clear where he was from. Leaving the secular world while young at Faxing Temple, his tastes were vulgar and lowly, and he mostly consorted with unprincipled companions. Although he fell short in monastic conduct, he was still diligent in upholding and reciting the Vajracchedikā-prajñāpāramitā, rarely letting it leave his lips. Drinkers and gamblers gathered at his gate, and in his deceitful words and deeds he showed no sense of shame. Later he fell ill and was about to die. In the same temple was Lingkui, whose conduct was similar; they were called the 'two pests of the temple.' Kui happened to go out, and about one li from the temple, he met six or seven youths who were exceptionally handsome, wearing clean, fresh garments and holding musical instruments like those of a Kucha troupe. They asked Lingkui, 'Where is the Venerable Weigong?' Kui told them where he was, suspecting that they were going to the temple to offer incense and play music for the Buddha. At dawn, when he returned to the temple, he heard the bell tolling and someone said, 'Gong has passed away.' What he had seen was in fact heavenly music. Borne by the scripture's power, [Weigong] was surely born in a pure land, and this manifestation was also meant to encourage Lingkui. Kui was awakened and reformed his conduct, came to be revered by the monastic community, and ultimately attained high loftiness.
25.31
The Biography of Suiduan of Derun Temple in Mingzhou, under the Tang
25.32
Śramaṇa Suiduan, surnamed Zhang, came from an unknown place to Derun Temple to seek a master. In personality, he was upright, pure, and refined, never associating with people casually. When his master transmitted the Lotus Sūtra to him, he recited it as if it were an old composition, and everyone was amazed and sighing in praise. Reaching old age, he remained diligent without slackening—throughout the twelve hours of the day, he chanted constantly without stopping. In the second year of the Xiantong era, he suddenly sat cross-legged and transformed. In a moment, seven blue lotus flowers emerged from his mouth. People ran from near and far, all coming to view and pay reverence. The local people united to build a shrine and buried him beneath the Eastern Mountain. For more than twenty years, the burial mound repeatedly emitted light; later, when they opened it to inspect, his form was as if alive. The community escorted him back to the temple and adorned him with lacquer and ramie. Today the True Body Cloister remains there. That temple was originally the study hall of Kan Ze, Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince and Marquis of Duxiang of Wu, who later gave it up to become a saṅghārāma; the title on its plaque was taken from Ze's name (which is present-day Puji Temple).
25.33
Appraisal: When Duan passed away, an udumbara flower emerged from his mouth—was it truly so? We have heard that only when a Wheel-Turning King appears in the world does this flower bloom over the ocean; how could it appear in this Semblance and Final Age? The critical comment says: 'Because it responded to the resonance of that man, it cannot be constrained by time. Just as the qilin is not a creature of the Central Realm, yet arrives in resonance with an enlightened king, so it is here.'
25.34
The Biography of Shenzhi of Baoshou Cloister in Zhuji, Yuezhou, under the Tang
25.35
Śramaṇa Shenzhi was a native of Yiwu in Wuzhou, of the secular surname Li. The ancestors of the Li clan were descendants of Limu, a minister of the Yellow Emperor. In the Han dynasty there was Li Gui, Chancellor of Lu Commandery, who resided in Yan due to his official post and thus became a man of Lu. His grandfather and father were both agricultural officials, succeeding one another in simplicity. Shenzhi had chaste integrity from his youth, eagerly desiring to renounce the household; he approached Weixiao of Yunmen Temple to be his master. At the age of twelve, he took only one meal a day, cutting off eating after noon; he upheld the Great Compassion Dhāraṇī, mounted the platform to receive the precepts in accord with the Dharma, and was rigorous, strict, and reverently diligent. Soon came the Huichang persecution of the Dharma; though Shenzhi's appearance and dress were altered, he vowed to become a monk again—'grinding without growing thin, dyed without turning black'—which was manifest at that time. In the early Dazhong era, he returned to the monastic path. Wandering through Jiyang, he inspected a dhyāna cell and said, 'The fish in an imperial park dives into the marshy thickets—how fitting! This place is my marshy thicket.' He constantly empowered cups of water with mantras to cure hundreds of diseases, and those who drank them mostly recovered. The common people followed one another in coming, supplying him daily beyond count, calling him the Great Compassion Monk. In the middle of the Dazhong era, he entered the capital. At that time, Chancellor Pei Xiu of Shengping had dreamed beforehand that Shenzhi was coming; when they met, Pei was delighted. The Chancellor's daughter was possessed by ghosts and spirits; Shenzhi recited the dhāraṇī, and in seven days she was restored to health. Thereupon Pei submitted a memorial requesting the cloister plaque be inscribed 'Dazhong Shengshou', and an imperial gift of a bell from the Left Shence Army, an embroidered hanging from the Heavenly Empress, and five thousand fascicles of the Tripiṭaka were bestowed. Lord Pei wrote the inscription for the hall's plaque. Shenzhi passed away on Mount Dongbai in the twelfth month of the bingwu year of the Guangqi era, at the age of sixty-eight, with a dharma age of forty-eight. His seat was relocated back to the Southern Mountain of Jiyang to be placed in a pagoda.
25.36
The Biography of Congshen of Chanzhi Temple in Yangzhou, under the Liang
25.37
Śramaṇa Congshen: his clan lineage is unknown. In his youth he entered Chanzhi Temple in Jiangdu, renounced the household, and recited scriptures of several tens of thousands of words. That temple was the former palace of Emperor Yang of the Sui. In the fifth year of the Xiantong era, he received full ordination at Fenghufu Temple on the Yantai. At vinaya assemblies and scriptural seats, he sampled and became versed in all of them. Later he merged the three robes into a five-patch robe, and toured all famous mountains and scenic spots without exception. In his later years he returned to the Huai region, where he was elected as the leader of the saṅgha. For five or six years, everything was maintained strictly. Yet he constantly recited the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa-sūtra, never missing a daily count. On the eighteenth day of the third month of the second year of the Zhenming era, he contracted an illness; by mid-morning on the nineteenth day, his breath grew faint and he passed away, his facial expression remaining as usual. After his cremation, thirty relics were obtained, which were hard and bright, without loss even when forged through fire. Stones were piled to make his tomb, and Śramaṇa Linghu of Junyuan composed the tomb inscription.
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The Biography of Hongchu of Dayun Temple in Wenzhou, under the Liang
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Shi Hongchu, courtesy name Fangwai, was surnamed Tang and was a native of Yongjia. At his birth, his auspicious marks and radiance were distinguished from ordinary children. When he had just reached the age of childhood, his capacity and temperament were vast and expansive. Outside of Chu, his elder and younger brothers all left the secular world for the Longgong monastery in Yue[zhou]; he thereupon besought his parents, wishing likewise to go with them. As fish escaping a coarse net, or cranes taking flight when the cage is lifted, like sweet-flag planted on orchid isles, or new silk dyed in crimson, they corrected and straightened each other, and their recitation and study became thoroughly penetrating. At the age of twenty-three, he finally mounted [the platform for] the unconditioned superior rank [of full ordination]. When he returned to his home commandery, the regional commander Zhu Bao learned of his renowned integrity and greeted him with ever greater veneration. During the Dashun era of the Tang, as south of the city lay the derelict foundation of the abandoned Dayun Temple, he submitted a memorial to Emperor Zhaozong requesting to rebuild it. The emperor granted his request. Thereupon all the artisans set to work together, and Chu personally took charge of it. He dispensed funds and scheduled the work without departing from simplicity; yet his lecturing on the scriptures and bowing before the images did not disrupt the schedule. In the early years of the Qianhua era, King Wusu of the Qian family established an ordination platform at Longxing Temple in Hangzhou and summoned Chu to complete the required number of platform [preceptors]. Thereupon he memorialised and recommended him to Taizu of the Liang, who bestowed a purple robe together with a title. Chu resolutely declined and would not comply, ultimately refusing to don it—declaring of himself that his virtue was slight, how could he be worthy of the vestments ordained by the Dharma gate? At that time, the poet Zheng Shuo was traveling south and visited Dharma Master Hongjing, where he met Chu by chance. Discerning his exalted conduct, he composed a poem and presented it to Chu, which ran: "On the rack, the purple robe hangs idle and unworn; / At his desk, he sits long gazing at the gold-lettered text." Chu was magnanimous and compassionate; no one ever saw a displeased expression on his face. His spirit was clear and refreshing, his jowls were full below, and he had a prominent belly. His eyes never cast improper glances, and when looking back he always turned his whole body. He did not lightly wag his tongue with secular talk. As for the *Lotus Sūtra* he lectured upon, it amounted to some fifty sessions. One day, a lotus flower suddenly sprouted in Chu's lecture hall, with layered calyxes and double petals, its fragrance rich and flourishing. On the fifth day of the sixth month in the renchen year, the third year of the Changxing era, he passed away without illness. His secular age was seventy-five, and his dharma age was fifty-two. Clerics and laity mourned him as children would a parent. In that year, his stūpa was relocated to the right ridge of Ciyun. Beyond his lectures and recitations, he walked the path and recited the scriptures late into the night. On the eve of his passing, the lamp light suddenly grew dim and the sound of his scripture recitation became extremely faint. He told his disciples: "I have troubled you to wait upon me; I am about to depart." In the couch where he slept, there had previously been a white snake—as thick as a forearm, it always shared his resting place—and he constantly admonished his novice attendants not to recklessly disturb it. During his life, he authored the *Shangsheng jing chao* (Commentary on the Scripture of Rebirth [in Tuṣita]) and pricked his own blood to copy a complete copy of the *Lotus Sūtra*; down to the present, the people of Yongjia regard him as an extraordinary jewel among the saṅgharatna.
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Later Tang Biography of Hongju of Mount Xiaosong in Wenzhou
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Shi Hongju was surnamed Tang and was a native of Yongjia. In his early years, he left the secular world at Longgong Temple in Yuezhou. He began by reciting the complete *Lotus Sūtra*. Having attained ordination, he bound his feet and hastened to Chang'an to study the vinaya. While reading the stele of Huadu Temple, a candidate for the civil examinations was listening nearby; seeing Ju's eyes scan many lines at once, he marvelled at it, and knowing he could recite the stele from memory, asked Ju to recite it. When the scholar checked the text, there was not a single mistake. They went together to Chongshèng Temple, and it was the same there; so powerful was his memory that he was praised by his peers. When he returned to his native land, both assemblies [of monks and nuns] requested to take refuge with him. As for his meticulous conduct, throughout his life he had never once scolded a cat or a dog, how much less anything else? Day and night he walked the path and recited the scriptures, and spirits and deities aided and guarded him—sometimes lighting candles for him, or replenishing the incense on his behalf, all being spirits. In the wuzi year, the third year of the Tiancheng era, after floodwaters, a severe drought followed, and the people suffered repeated famines. Bandits broke into his chamber; Ju treated them as guests, personally made gruel and rice to feed them, and said: "Depart slowly; the mountain is deep and there is no one around. You are merely driven by natural disaster." The bandits bowed, received the food, and left. Among his disciples, some wished to launch a surprise attack on them, but Ju said: "If you do so, you are no disciples of mine; I shall abandon this place and enter forever into the deep mountains!" The disciples then abandoned their intention of making a light attack. In the guisi year of the Changxing era, calm and free of illness, he sat in full lotus posture and solemnly passed away. At the third watch of the night, someone knocked on the niche door three times. His weeping disciples opened it, and he said: "I tell you all to change me into new robes, for all the superior good people of the Buddha-land dislike the impurity of my garments." Once the change was complete, he passed away, and the crown of his head remained warm for seven days. At that time, there were three large dogs in the courtyard—ferocious biters—yet on the day of the relocation of his stūpa, they followed the people tamely. At that time, roe deer, deer, and birds in the mountains mingled together; the dogs showed no fierceness, and the beasts did not flee in alarm. After the burial, a tiger circled the grave and roared. Such was his resonance with living things. He had a younger brother, Hongchu, who was likewise of exalted conduct and esteemed by the age.
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Later Tang Biography of Daoxian of Fengxiang Prefecture
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Shi Daoxian was of unknown origins. He chanted and recited the *Peacock King Sūtra* (*Mayūrī-vidyārājñī*) as his daily practice, and later received the yoga abhiseka rites, whereupon the efficacy of his dhāraṇī-retention showed ever more signs of verification. Once, he dreamed at night that the Buddha took Xian by the hand and walked with him; step by step, they trod on dense clouds as if riding on solid ground. Every time they travelled, they covered an unknown number of hundreds of li, and [the Buddha] pointed and said: "This is Magadha; this is Campā; South India, West India, Kaśmīra, and other kingdoms." Xian memorized them as he walked, overjoyed beyond measure. When he awoke, he was inwardly enlightened in the Sanskrit sounds and siddham script of the Five Indias. At that time, when monks from the Western Regions arrived in Qixia, various Hu monks from north of the Congling often falsely claimed to be men of the Five Indias; as soon as Xian engaged them in conversation, he would first rebuke them, saying: "You are from such-and-such country." Neither the northern barbarians nor the southern Indians dared deceive him. Clerics and laity throughout the Longdi region all received the esoteric treasury from him and called him an ācārya. Towards the end of the Changxing era, Mingzong passed away, and Conghou was enthroned as emperor. [Li] Congke of Fengxiang did not obey his commands, so [the court] sent Wang Sitong leading an army to attack him, whereupon Congke barricaded the city to defend himself. Congke asked Xian: "The danger is extreme; what should be done?" He replied: "Summon Dou Balang, and you will be able to know the outcome in advance." Congke went out to mount the city walls and comfort the multitudes; Dou Ba, clad in armour and holding a halberd, came before the horse and made gestures as if engaging in combat. Having leaped and danced, he removed his armour, threw down his halberd, and fled. Xian said: "This is the portent that the external enemy will surely surrender." It turned out indeed as he had spoken. Congke then mobilized his troops and marched eastward, asking Xian to accompany him. Having entered Luoyang, he ascended the imperial throne and changed the era name to Qingtai. Xian memorialised: "The era name is inauspicious. Why? When the water is 'clear' (*qing*), the 'rocks' (*shi*) appear." In the second year, an imperial edict transferred Gaozu of the Jin from Bingzhou to the Tianping Army, whereupon he relied on his troops to secure himself, secretly allied with the Khitans, drove straight into Luoyang, and Congke burned himself to death—truly fulfilling the portent that the "rocks appeared" (*shi jian*, alluding to Shi Jingtang). Before the Jin troops arrived, Xian had already passed away in Luoyang. Today, those who transmit the Great Teaching in the two capitals are all his spiritual great-grandsons and great-great-grandsons! As for Dou Balang, he was a man of Qi, and his family was wealthy. He carried vessels on his shoulders to sell water; his speech was erratic, and he only ran wildly about with dishevelled hair and open garments, resembling Li Shunxing. Whenever he met an ox-cart or donkey-cart, he would surely clap his hands and laugh. When he died and was cremated, everything in the mass of fire transformed into golden butterflies that flew away. Some caught them with cupped hands or fanned them into their sleeves, taking them home to make offerings to them.
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Han Biography of Ruoxu of Mount Lu in Jiangzhou (with the Anonymous Monk)
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Shi Ruoxu lived in seclusion on Mount Lu; for several years he maintained the scriptures without ever leaving his stone chamber. The ruler of Jiangnan, of the Li family, deeply revered his virtue and summoned him repeatedly, but he never consented to come. He merely said: "An old monk possesses no ability; how could he dissipate the king's sincere devotion? If you call on me again, I shall flee deeper into the mountains!" If clothes or goods were presented, he declined them, but he accepted incense. In the height of summer during the Qianyou era, he passed away while sitting; his body did not decay, and today the people of Penchengguan make offerings to his portrait. There was also the anonymous monk Shi Wangming of Tanzhou, who constantly recited the *Lotus Sūtra* and uttered no other words from his mouth. King Wenzhao of Changsha, of the Ma family, showed him extraordinary respect and invited him into the Xiangxi Cloister of the Tiance Mansion to make offerings to him. However, the things he spoke of were bizarre and astonishing. One morning, he summoned the monks in charge of the Buddha hall and ordered them to hurriedly pack up the Buddha images and retreat to both wings. The monks all thought he had gone mad and looked at one another with smiles. His movements and demeanor were exceedingly hurried and urgent. In a short while, he entered the main hall, sat upon the Buddha's throne, and suddenly passed away. Clerics and laity throughout the prefecture vied to bow and burn incense for him; this was during the Qianyou era of the Han.
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Zhou Biography of Xingtao of Dashan Temple in Kuaiji Commandery
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Shi Xingtao was surnamed Chen and was a native of Changcheng in Huzhou. His father was named Liang, and his mother was of the Tao family; their love for him was different from that for their other children. Moreover, in his acumen and intelligence, he stood out remarkably from the throng of children. His parents obstructed his aspiration to leave the secular world in many ways, but ultimately could not forbid him. In the second year of the Tianyou era of the Tang, he relied on Master Guangyuan to seek tonsure and dyeing of robes. At the age of twelve, he recited the *Lotus Sūtra*, finishing the scrolls in a month and five days. Next, he finished the *Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa*, just as Dao'an requested a scripture in the morning and returned the original in the evening. Soon after, he received the complete precepts at Longxing Temple in Yuhang, and then went to Shuanglin Temple in Jinhua, where he transmitted the *Nanshan lüchao* from Zhixin; halting his wanderings, he took it earnestly to heart, and his peers looked up to him. Whenever mealtime arrived, he would throw unpolished rice and greens into a small tripod kettle, boil them together, and eat them; besides this, he strictly refrained from rich flavours. In his understanding of doctrinal meanings, he disentangled complications like splitting wood, showing no signs of difficulty at all. He once said to people: "When one's love is profound, one does not see other things as lovable. As for my love, I rejoice without negligence." During the Tiancheng era of the Later Tang, he lodged in Yue; delighting in the mountains and waters of Ruoye, he read through the teachings of the Tripiṭaka and wore garments of coarse hemp. He solicited clerics and laity to establish a scripture-reading bodhimaṇḍa in the northwest corner of the temple, erecting pavilions, halls, and buildings that formed a splendid separate cloister, providing for monks from the four quarters without ever lacking anything. In the autumn, the seventh month of the renzi year, the third year of the Xiande era, he manifested illness and passed away in this cloister, at the worldly age of sixty-two and a dharma age of forty-four. Tao was by nature unyielding and upright, without flattery to people's faces or hatred behind their backs; his feet never hastened to the gates of the noble and powerful, his bag never stored surplus goods, his chamber had no closed doors, and his mouth uttered no miscellaneous words. He also read widely among the various books and delved broadly into the scriptures and treatises; lamenting that Guo Yi's pronunciation and meaning (*Yinyi*) was sparse and brief, and that Huilin's *Yinyi* was not circulated, he thereupon authored a phonetic commentary (*Yinshu*) on the Tripiṭaka in some five hundred fascicles, which currently circulates among the monastic quarters of Jiangnan and Zhejiang. However, his shortcoming was that it should not have been called a "commentary" (*shu*)—if one calls it a *shu*, implying that it can elucidate an entire Tripiṭaka of scriptures, then Tao would surpass Ci'en's hundred works several times over! Yet in his upright adherence to the vinaya, he was truly an exalted figure of antiquity.
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Song Biography of Shouzhen of Kaibao Temple in the Eastern Capital (with the Śrāmaṇera Meghadoṣa?)
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Shi Shouzhen was a native of Wannian in Yongxing. His secular surname was Ji, and he was an illustrious descendant of Han Xin, who had been falsely titled emperor. His grandfather and father preserved pure conduct and were upright and auspicious; their filial deeds generation after generation filled the hamlets and lanes. Thus the villagers praised their filial piety and referred to him as a Ji Dinglan—and Zhen was his descendant! When the Huang [Chao] bandits rebelled against the dynasty, Emperor Xizong was forced to flee through the dust, and the imperial retinue headed west to evade their brunt. Xianyang and Haojing fell and were occupied by the rebels; because of this, the family moved and made their dwelling in Shu. Upon reaching adulthood, he happened to wander to Shengshou Temple and saw Vinaya Master Xiujin, whose practice transcended worldly concerns and whose speech went beyond ordinary measures; he thereupon untied his sash, took off his cap, and served him as disciple. After his seven branches of conduct were perfected, he first visited Master Conglang to study the Treatise on the Awakening of Faith (Qixin lun); next he relied on Master Xingguang, who transmitted to him the Contemplation of the Dharmadhātu; and later he paid obeisance to Ācārya Yanbi, who imparted to him the Yoga teachings. In all of them he attained the essential mind, completely mastering their final aim. From the time he clearly mastered all teachings and broadly propagated the wonderful texts, throughout forty years he showed not the slightest indolence. He was bestowed the title Zhaoxin. He lectured on the Awakening of Faith and the Contemplation of the Dharmadhātu more than seventy times in total; transmitting lamp to lamp and pouring vessel to vessel, there were about twenty disciples who succeeded to his Dharma. He opened an abhiṣeka bodhimanda five times, roughly ordaining more than three thousand monks, nuns, literati, and commoners; he also opened a Water and Land bodhimanda twenty times. Regularly in the fifth watch he practiced the liturgy of Mañjuśrī's Five Tufts, and by the second watch of the night he turned to the liturgy of Amitāyus of the Western Direction, reciting the venerable name of Amitābha, cultivating the Buddha-mindfulness samādhi, and aspiring for rebirth in the Pure Land. One day, he said to his disciple Yuanyu: "Did not the Tathāgata say, 'An outgoing breath does not guarantee an incoming breath'? My longevity is already a fortune, and your years are also advanced. Now I wish to follow the mundane custom of the world and set up two stupas in advance; can this be done?" Yuanyu bowed with forehead to the ground and answered: "The Elder of Guangdu Temple has already offered the land to the right of the courtyard and asked to construct a stupa for years! Now that the Great Master has turned his intention to it and the Elder brings forth this excellence, the causes and conditions coincide in secret; how could it be stopped?" Thereupon workers were assembled to construct it; from the tenth month stone was chiseled and polished, and by the first month of the coming year the painting was complete. On the ninth day of the eighth month in the autumn of the fourth year of Kaibao, he commanded the assembly to recite the Buddha's name. After the sound of the Buddha's name had continued for a long time, he told them to stop, and passed away quietly into extinction. His secular age was seventy-eight, and his saṅgha age was fifty-three. On the twenty-first day of that month, he was cremated and buried beside the Zhidu cloister outside the Northern Yongtai Gate. The relics obtained were bright and lustrous, and each person took some to venerate them. Next was the novice Śramaṇera Miqie (Megha), a native of the Kingdom of Khotan. He devoted himself to reciting the Avataṃsaka Sūtra without any interruption. During the Shengli era, Śakra, Lord of the Devas, invited and welcomed Qie to the heavens to recite and uphold it, saying: "We are repeatedly harassed by the asuras; therefore we have troubled you, Master, to come, requesting that you recite and proclaim the Avataṃsaka Sūtra to ward off those foes." He thereupon ascended the seat and clearly chanted this sūtra. At that time, the asura army heard the sūtra and he displayed his divine authority, dissolving them all at once. There was also the novice Śramaṇera Daoyin, who constantly recited the Diamond Sūtra. At the beginning of the Baoli era, when returning home at night from going elsewhere, a ferocious tiger blocked the middle of the road, suddenly roaring, leaping, and pouncing in front of him. Yin knew he could not escape, so he closed his eyes and sat, merely reciting this sūtra silently, his mind wishing for rescue and protection. The tiger then crouched in the grass and guarded him. When dawn broke, the villagers came and went; looking at the tiger, saliva flowed onto the ground where it crouched. Afterwards Yin recited it with even higher practice.
First 49 of 62 passages. Read on
Linked texts (1)
- 宋高僧傳 — 贊寧, Classical Chinese