宋高僧傳 6

English (machine translation) 6

Language: English

6.1

Compiled by imperial decree by the Purple-Robe-Bestowed Śramaṇa Zanning and others, Grand Master Tonghui of Tianshou Temple on the Left Street under the Song

6.2

Section Two, Part Three: Exegetical Understanding (Fourteen main biographies, with six appended)

6.3

Biography of Weique of Chongfu Temple in the Tang Capital (Huizhen, Hongyan)

Shi Weique, whose secular surname was Lian, was a descendant of the Qi grandee Cheng. Originally from Pingyi, his ancestors held office and settled in Shangdang, making him a person of Lu. At nine years of age he renounced familial affection, and upon reaching adulthood he received the precepts. His mother and brothers had taken refuge in the Dharma, so Que received instruction from them; ripples of clarity settled within him, and lush brilliance flourished outwardly. Fond of study and diligent in service, he showed no weariness. He then took leave of his maternal relatives, seeking teachers and studying their subjects: at times taking the head seat in scriptural lectures, at times leading debates on treatises, at times questioning masters of the Chan tradition, or affiliating himself with vinaya masters. His aspiration was deep and vast, desiring to absorb them all. As he approached the age of forty, he still resided in the Divine Capital (Luoyang). On one occasion, he received an invitation to the residence of the former minister Master Fang Rong. Before the meal, a scriptural case was brought out from the household, and they said: 'When the Chancellor was in the Southern Seas supervising the southern civil service examinations, he participated in translating scriptures and personally took down by brush the Śūraṅgama-sūtra in one roll [set], keeping it at home for veneration. Today there happen to be ten monks at this gathering; each may open and explicate one roll.' Que sat in the fourth seat; unrolling the scripture, he saw Pūrṇa questioning the meaning of origination. Finding its text graceful and its principle profound, he made a vow to compose a commentary to clarify the scriptural meaning. Upon returning to his cloister, he took an oath to paint an image of Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva and separately chanted his name for ten years. His determination was firm and resolute, and he had an unseen resonance: suddenly he dreamed that Mañjuśrī, mounted on a lion, entered through Que's mouth. From this point on, when he set brush to paper, it was as though the Great Awakened One were expounding the Prajñā to Subhūti. This began in the first year of the Dali era (bingwu). As he was about to conclude the manuscript, he saw in his sleep the deity emerge from his mouth; in the Huayan school, this corresponds to Mañjuśrī's wisdom. He condensed it into three rolls, considering it to have sprung from his modest wisdom. It circulates widely today. Another account says: The Śūraṅgama-sūtra was originally acquired by Chan Master Shenxiu of Dumen Temple in Jingzhou while he was at court; later, through the Śramaṇa Huizhen of Guantao, it was transmitted out of Dumen Temple, and Que encountered it and wrote an explanatory commentary. Later, Dharma Master Hongyan, a man of Shu, composed doctrinal treatises to explicate this scripture, entitled the Zizhong Commentary. In it he also cited the exegetical conventions of Master Zhen, as if presenting both ancient and modern views. This circulates in Min and Shu, and has recently spread to the region south of the Yangzi as well.

6.5

Biography of Huaigan of Qianfu Temple in the Tang Capital

6.6

Shi Huaigan was a man of unknown origins. Resolute and unyielding in conduct, he applied himself diligently under his teacher; if an interpretation did not penetrate into the divine, he did not consider it mastered. Like-minded companions from all quarters gathered around him like clouds at a market. Yet he alone did not believe that by reciting the Buddha's name for a short time, one could be directly reborn in the Land of Peace and Sustenance (Sukhāvatī). With the ice of doubt still unmelted, he went to visit Shandao to resolve his hesitation. Shandao said: 'When you transmit the teachings to save people, do you preach after having faith, or is it vague and without foundation?' Gan said: 'These are the sincere words of all the Buddhas; without faith, I would not preach.' Shandao said: 'If it is as you see it, instructing people to recite the Buddha's name for rebirth—could that be the teaching of Māra? If you believe it, recite the Buddha's name with utmost sincerity, and there will surely be verification.' Huaigan thereupon entered the bodhimaṇḍa for three weeks, but saw no auspicious signs. Regretting his heavy karmic obstructions, Gan wished to end his life by fasting. Shandao did not permit it, and instead had him apply himself devoutly to reciting the Buddha's name for three years. Later, he suddenly experienced an auspicious sign, beholding a golden-colored jade-like white curl (ūrṇā), and thereupon realized the Buddha-recitation samādhi. Lamenting with sorrow that his past defilements and karmic baggage were heavy and that he had falsely conceived numerous faults, he repented and exposed his wrongs, and composed the Treatise Resolving Doubts in seven rolls (which is the Qunyi lun). When his end drew near, a transformed Buddha indeed came to welcome him; joining his palms and facing west, he departed.

6.7

Biography of Fahai of Wuxing under the Tang

6.8

Shi Fahai, courtesy name Wenyun, was of the Zhang surname and a native of Danyang. When young he went forth from home at Helin Temple. 'The white colt did not graze on his field's sprouts; the golden-winged bird soon soared over his ocean.' He followed his teacher's instruction closely and perused the various scriptures: a vast ravine receiving rivers, Mount Deng's forest gathering birds of passage. Therefore he entered fully into the single nature, his learning ascending to the realm of the King of Emptiness. He enjoyed contemporary renown for his unique awakening and resolved issues left undecided by earlier sages; at the same time, he was thoroughly versed in external learning and the Six Classics. He once said to people: 'In the single gate of the Buddha's teaching, the ultimate lies solely in the mind-ground; all the rest are merely primitive wheelbarrows.' During the Tianbao era, he participated in the lecture hall of Vinaya Master Fashen of Yangzhou, and alongside Tanyi, Lingyi, and others, was praised as their Yan Hui and Ran Geng. Furthermore, he formed a carefree friendship with Master Zhou of Mount Zhu, roaming with him in the forests. Both ordained and lay followers frequently sought benefit from him.

6.9

Biography of Huiyuan of Foshouji Temple in the Tang Capital of Luoyang

6.10

Shi Huiyuan was a native of the Capital Region (Jingzhao). Outstanding and exceptional from his youth, he possessed luxuriant talent. Disgusted with the dusty realm, he turned toward the Pure Realm and took Fazang of the Huayan school as his teacher. Nurturing his spirit and training his nature, before long he attained a profound penetration of the Dharma's doctrines, being termed the foremost disciple. Diligent without indolence, he was thoroughly versed in both internal and external learning, and in the Huayan school in particular he became profoundly learned. Drawing upon the Ratnagotravibhāga, Yuan established four kinds of teachings, based on the four classes of persons who do not recognize the tathāgatagarbha, like people born blind: namely, ordinary beings, śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and newly aspiring bodhisattvas. The first is the teaching of deluded attachments to unreality, corresponding to ordinary beings; the second is the half-teaching of one portion of the real, corresponding to the two vehicles; the third is the full-teaching of one portion of the real, corresponding to newly aspiring bodhisattvas; the fourth is the complete and perfect teaching of the real, corresponding to those who recognize the tathāgatagarbha. Various masters made classifications that either agreed or differed with this, yet his outline served as the doctrine of his own lineage within the vehicles of the teachings. Next, as the newly translated scriptures lacked phonetic glosses and readers had nowhere to turn for determination, he read widely in scriptures and books, expanding explanations and glosses, and compiled a work in two rolls, so that beginners would not need to seek teachers afar, would encounter no obstructive phrases, and would immediately understand the origins of characters. Thus, having received his lineage from the gate of Xianshou, he did not fall short of the excellence of his master's instruction.

6.11

Biography of Zhiwei of Fahua Temple in Chuzhou under the Tang (Huiwei)

6.12

Shi Zhiwei, whose secular surname was Jiang, was a native of Jinyun. Transcending dusty delusion, his mind wandered beyond worldly things. In his youth he served a master at the alchemy mountain of the Xuanyuan Emperor. Hearing of the flourishing of the Tiantai school, he carried his book satchel and went to Shicheng Temple in Wozhou, approaching Chan Master Guanding directly to seek the essentials of mind. Thereupon, attaining the oneness that integrates the Way and embodying duality to establish the lineage, his concentration and wisdom were equally balanced, his quiescence and illumination each half. Although said to be personally liberated, his urgent priority was benefiting others. Endowed by nature with many talents, he was rich in rhetoric; he composed the 'Stele of Taoyan Temple', whose spirit and style matched the 'Stele of Toutuo Temple'. Later he transmitted the Dharma-eye to Huiwei. At the time it was rumored that Wei was the rebirth of Xu Ling; his sharp intellect and heroic talent can certainly be inferred from this. Also, Shi Huiwei, whose secular surname was Liu, was a native of Dongyang. At the age of wearing his hair in tufts, his former habits showed: tearing through the net of affection, he entered straight into the gate of emptiness, not lingering in one quarter, and associating with the three beneficial types of friends. Hearing that Great Master Wei of Jinyun was propagating the Chan teachings on a grand scale, he packed his baggage and visited him. Setting his purpose and forgetting labor, he beheld the depths of Wei's inner sanctum. Advancing a thousand li in a single day, everyone praised and extolled him, and when his achievements were accomplished, he was called 'Lesser Wei' at the time. Yet he took joy in dwelling quietly in the mountains, rarely mingling in human affairs. Among the disciples he instructed, not a few were outstanding, Xuanlang of Zuoxi being one of them. Wei constantly practiced 'cessation and contemplation' (śamatha-vipaśyanā) without wasting time. His speech and practice ran parallel; his speaking and silence were consistently aligned. Aloof and expansive, no one could fathom his depth.

6.13

Biography of Zhanran of Guoqing Temple on Mount Tiantai under the Tang

6.14

Śramaṇa Zhanran, whose secular surname was Qi, belonged to a family that had resided for generations in Jingxi of Jinling, and thus he was a native of Changzhou. Anciently, thirteen generations after the Buddha's parinirvāṇa, Nāgārjuna was the first to use written words to extensively expound the supreme truth. Those who succeeded to his learning were called the 'Dharma-nature school.' Between the Northern Wei and Northern Qi, Śramaṇa Huiwen silently understood it and transmitted it to Grand Master Huisi of Mount Nanyue, from which arose the study of the three contemplations. When Grand Master Zhiyi flourished magnificently on Mount Tiantai, this teaching became even greater. Speaking in terms of the lineage of teachings, Zhanran was an heir of Nāgārjuna, a fifth-generation descendant of Zhiyi, and a Dharma child of Master Xuanlang of Zuoxi. His family originally practiced Confucianism and Mohism, yet he alone possessed the aspiration to transcend the worldly; as a youth, he was markedly distinct from ordinary folk. In his twenties, he received the scriptures from Zuoxi, and when Zuoxi conversed with him, Zuoxi was greatly astonished. On another day, Zuoxi asked Zhanran, 'What have you dreamed?' Zhanran replied, 'Past night I dreamed I wore monastic robes, held two wheels under my arms, and journeyed through a great river.' Zuoxi said, 'Ah, shall you deliver the multitude of living beings in the abyss of birth and death by means of the two dharmas of calming and contemplation (śamatha-vipaśyanā)?' He then transmitted to him the calming and contemplation handed down by their root master. Zhanran's moral demeanour was solid and pure, his spiritual acuity sharp and exceptional; his hidden understanding and profound practice, his balanced qi and wise functioning, within his heart of hearts, tallied with the spontaneous workings of nature. Thereupon he first transmitted the Way as a retired layman; scholars joyfully followed him, like many streams rushing toward a great river. In the early years of Tianbao, he took off his wide-sleeved layman's robes and entered the monastic register. He then went to the Dharma assembly of Vinaya Master Tanyi in Yuezhou to extensively investigate the monastic standards for maintaining and breaking, permitting and prohibiting [the precepts]. Next, he expounded and practiced calming and contemplation at Kaiyuan Temple in Wu Commandery. Soon after, Master Xuanlang passed away; Zhanran took up the Secret Store and carried it forward alone in the southeast, saying to his disciples: 'I know the difficulty of putting the Way into practice! The ancient sages observed the fundamental in stillness and responded to things in motion; resting in neither, they stepped onto the great avenue. People today are either swept away into emptiness or glued to existence; ailing themselves and ailing others, the function of the Way fails to flourish. If one wishes to uphold correctness, who else but me can be turned to?' Thereupon he broadly revealed the supreme teaching and encompassed all the myriad practices, thoroughly absorbing all marks into the non-differentiation [of ultimate truth]. Relying on the written word to achieve penetrative insight, he guided speech and silence to return to the source. He then ancestralized and expounded the transmitted commentaries and chapters, totaling over a hundred thousand words. In his mind, he traversed the various dhyānas, while his conduct never transgressed the rules. The threefold training all blazed brightly, and the crowd's doubts daily crumbled away; those who sought pearls by asking after shadows gradually witnessed his wondrous, formless spiritual cultivation. The flourishing of 'Calming and Contemplation' began through the power of Zhanran. At the end of Tianbao and the beginning of Dali, imperial decrees summoned him repeatedly, but he declined on grounds of illness and did not go. In the midst of great warfare and great famine, he held up the flow of the Dharma, and his students grew ever more numerous, looking toward his hall as their reliance. Zhanran received them with compassion and maintained his discipline with prudence; clothed in coarse hemp and dwelling with only a single mat, he instructed others by his personal conduct, never ceasing even in advanced old age. On the fifth day of the second month in the third year of Jianzhong, he manifested illness at the Folong Bodhimaṇḍa, turned to his students, and said: 'The Way has no direction; nature has no substance. Life or death, their principle is running as one thread. I return my bones to this mountain; my retribution ends tonight. I must speak of the Way with you all and bid farewell. The marklessness of a single thought is called emptiness; having no dharma lacking is called the conventional; being neither one nor different is called the middle. In ordinary beings, these are the three causes; in sages, they are the three virtues. Lighting an incense stick, the beginning and the end share the same mark; wading into the sea, the shallow and deep waters differ in their flow. Benefiting oneself and benefiting others lies in this alone. Strive for it!' Having finished speaking, he leaned on his armrest and peacefully passed away at seventy-two years of age, with a dharma age of thirty-four. His disciples wept and choked with grief; they preserved his whole body and erected a stupa, annexing it to the southwest corner of Grand Master Zhiyi's tomb precinct. The inner-chamber disciple Yuanhao of Wumen could truly be said to have drawn close to his person and entered his chamber. As for his lifelong compilation of the doctrinal teachings, clarifying former doubts, and opening up subsequent obstructions, there were the Fahua shiqian and the Fahua shuji, each in ten fascicles; the Zhiguan fuxing chuanhong jue in ten fascicles; the Fahua sanmei buzhu yi in one fascicle; the Fangdeng chan buque yi in two fascicles; the Lue Weimo shu in ten fascicles; the Weimo shu ji in three fascicles; the Chongzhiding Niepan shu in fifteen fascicles; the Jinbipi lun in one fascicle; as well as the Zhiguan yili, the Zhiguan dayi, the Zhiguan wenju, the Shimiao bu'er men, and others, all of which circulated widely in the world. Considering Master Zhanran in detail: starting in Tianbao and ending in Jianzhong, through his mind of self-realization, he expounded the Dharma not yet heard; does not the scripture say, 'How did he perform great Buddhist works in a short time?' Master Zhanran indeed had this! Among court officials, the only one who attained his Way was Academician Liang Su, who therefore wielded his grand brush to compose exquisite prose. His title stated: 'I have tried to argue that when sages do not arise, there must emerge those of outstanding destiny between times. Since Zhiyi transmitted the Dharma to Guanding, and Guanding through two generations reached Zuoxi, the illuminating Way seemed obscured, waiting for this Venerable to blossom forth. Mounting this precious vehicle, it shone in glorious revival. There were thirty-nine monks who received his teaching and attained realization in their own bodies, and several tens of officials of high rank and elevated fame who bowed themselves to receive instruction. The master was revered and the Way esteemed; far and near turned to benevolence. If he had not been born by outstanding destiny, how could this have been achieved!' Looking at Academician Liang's treatise, the balance of discussion is matched and equal. If not for such a person, how could he have moved a great scholar? If not for such a brush, how could he have commemorated a sagacious master? Only by entering deeply into the chamber and seeing the splendor of the ancestral temple could he have investigated and argued in this way. Alas, among our cohort there are often those who do not understand Zhanran's Way! The Book of Songs says: 'The magpie has a nest; the turtledove resides in it.' Does this not refer to Lord Liang's profound penetration into the lair of the Buddha's principle? Shenyong of Mount Fahua in Kuaiji made a portrait eulogy for him, and during the Kaibao era of the Great Song, King Qian of the Wuyue kingdom posthumously honoured him with a funeral elegy, titling him the Venerable Yuantong. Could it not be so!

6.15

The Biography of Yuanhao of Kaiyuan Temple in Suzhou under the Tang

6.16

Śramaṇa Yuanhao, whose secular surname was Qin and whose courtesy name was Guangcheng, was a native of Wumen. In his youth, he relied on Chan Master Huiri of Lingshan Temple in Jinling to renounce household life. Having received the full Vinaya precepts, he was assigned to Longxing Temple in his home prefecture, and soon became an entrusted disciple of Chan Master Zhanran of Jingxi. When he first received the Lotus Sūtra and Calming and Contemplation, he had already obtained the ghee; he took as his great vows only the tearing through of the great net, the resonance with the great fruit, the accomplishment of the great practice, and the return to the great place. Resting peacefully in samādhi, he constantly followed behind the Buddha; ethereal and self-possessed, no one could comprehend him. His secret and profound state was like the Ocean-Seal Samādhi; without speaking of his origins, he constantly performed Buddhist deeds. Together with difficult and ascetic practices, he successively passed down the heritage and silently transmitted the heart essence. Composing treatises and records, he regarded them as numinous mushrooms and auspicious grasses of merit. That these have been transmitted to later generations cannot be spoken of in the same breath [with ordinary writings]! Yuanhao commented upon the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra and composed a preface for the work, the moral beauty of which was complete and true, and his aspirations clearly manifested. It recorded the intentions of his realization, appearing in his text as follows: 'I have heard that the great treasure of former awakened ones is called the "eternal"; the grand canonical ceremony of forgiving and distributing harmony is called the "teaching"; the lineage of return whereby all under heaven know transformation is called "practice"; and the ultimate limit of mutual resonance with the human heart is called "realization." Thus, governing the times with the practice of the Way, and according with destiny through Dharma-nature, at the juncture of responding to things, sharing its light with both manifest and hidden, expanding the supreme transformation so that self and other become illustrious—this truly spreads its magnificent name! Reverently cultivating hearing and contemplating, harmonizing with the supreme limit, so that the four virtues can be manifest—this truly abides in the wondrous essence. Correcting the deviations of various schools, surveying the myriad practices, so that the supreme canon can be cultivated and the diverse undertakings achieved—this truly relies on the ancestral root. Transmitting with faith to others, brightly illuminating the ancestral ultimate, and expounding its purports so as to perhaps provide aid to the future—this truly abides in the wondrous function. Comprehensively synthesizing various sayings to establish sincere instructions, so that like wind blowing over the ten directions everyone follows and submits—this truly abides in the wondrous teaching.' These were Yuanhao's essentials of the Dharma, like Wang Bi's taking the 'Xici' as the model, Sima Qian's 'Self-Narration,' Guan Zhong's ability to speak on the 'Light and Heavy,' and Mencius's transmission of the Spring and Autumn Annals; though Confucianism and Buddhism differ, their principle is one. On the eleventh day of the eleventh month in the twelfth year of Yuanhe, he manifested illness, lay on his right side with feet folded, and entered nirvāṇa; this was not the realm of the two vehicles, but the true samādhi of the Tathāgata. On the thirteenth day of the eleventh month of the following year, his body was cremated, and a stupa was erected on the southern plain of East Mount at Huqiu, northwest of Suzhou. Yuanhao was devoted to learning and savoured the Way, not involving himself in other matters; he constantly followed Master Zhanran to listen to his discourses, never showing a tired countenance. In analyzing principles, his words flowed like streams and gushed like rivers, and he always silently noted and memorized them, without missing a single word. Only after several years did people begin to recognize him. Master Zhanran said, 'Yan Hui seemed foolish.' He rarely expounded for others, often declining on grounds of inability; only when earnestly urged and requested by Gentlemen Liang and Tian did he first compose the Niepan jing jieshu. Yuanhao and Dharma Master Chengguan of the Huayan school at Yunhua Temple in the Upper Capital were like Ziyou and Zixia among Confucius's disciples. Among Confucian scholars who received instruction from him were Hanlin Academician Lord Liang Su and Prefect of Suzhou Lord Tian Dun. Among monks who received instruction from him were the five men Zhiheng, Ziyu, Daoru, Zhongyi, and Zhongliang, who upheld scriptures, lectured, and discussed, transmitting them endlessly. The great bhikṣuṇīs Shiwei, Daoxun, Zhizhen, and Wuji—these four were of an elevated and pure sort, deeply trained in dhyāna contemplation. When Yuanhao was first requested by the two officials to annotate the scripture, he had an exceedingly remarkable prophetic dream. Moreover, flowers bloomed on the courtyard steps that were not commonly seen in the mortal world. Auspicious birds flew down and grew tame, their five colours extraordinarily rare. Prefect Cui Gong composed the stupa stele, which was erected to the left of the Arhat Stone Altar on Mount Huqiu. Later, Xingman, Daoxian, and Mingkuang all composed works, broadening the Way of Tiantai.

6.17

Tang: A Biography of Zhizang of Mount Hangu in Jiyang, Yuezhou

6.18

The śramaṇa Zhizang, surnamed Pi, was of Western Indian descent. His grandfather had served China, his clan holding official ranks for generations, and later lodged in Luling. In his youth, Zang entered a monastery, and upon beholding the grandeur of the installed images, he disdained the worldly to seek the truth. He paid careful attention to each of the three trainings, yet was most refined and sharp in the Vinaya Piṭaka. In the third year of Dali, he traveled through Yuzhang and consequently registered his name at Tiangong Temple. The assembly earnestly besought him to ascend the ordination platform and administer the upasampadā. At that time, people looked up to his fierce prowess and called him the 'Vinaya Tiger.' Each time he ascended the Dharma seat to propagate the vinaya, the hall was packed and the seats fully occupied; those who listened and received his teaching were never satiated. He distinguished names and principles, and analyzed subtle sayings, so that even interlocking rings could be unraveled. During the Zhenyuan era, he encountered Chan Master Daji and profoundly clarified the mind-essence. When he traveled to Kuaiji, he built a small hut at the summit of Mount Hangu to rest in dhyāna. There he authored the Wondrous Meanings of the Avataṃsaka Sūtra. He preached and expounded without cease, and students took refuge in him. In the second month of the fourteenth year of Yuanhe, he passed away without illness at the age of seventy-nine. After his cremation, round, pure śarīra were gathered, and a stupa was erected on the northern peak of the cloister. As for Mount Hangu, it is a dialectal error of Yue; properly it should be said 'Hangwu' (boat-cove), meaning that the crossing of the Zhe River anciently used boat-rafts (hang), and on reaching the bank the boats were stowed away, hence it is called 'wu'.

6.19

Tang: A Biography of Shenqing of Huiyi Temple in Zizhou (together with Yijiang)

6.20

Śramaṇa Shenqing, courtesy name Lingyu, had the secular surname Zhang and was a native of Changming in Mianzhou. He was born at the foot of Mount Da'an; of his brothers, three successive sons left secular life, all gaining renown, and Shenqing was the second. While he was in the womb, his mother suddenly developed an aversion to meat and strong-smelling foods. When he became a child, though he joined in play, whenever he encountered an image he would bow at its feet, and whenever he met a monk he would touch his head to the ground. At the age of thirteen, he studied under Dharma Master Bianzhi at Kaiyuan Temple in Mianzhou. At that time the imperial regulations were strict: those who wished to leave secular life had to recite a thousand sheets of scriptures before they were permitted to shave their hair. Shenqing thereupon recited scriptures such as the Lotus Sūtra, the Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa, the Laṅkāvatāra, and the Uṣṇīṣavijayā, as smoothly as if reviewing them. At that time the former chief minister Qiao Lin was the prefect of Mian Commandery; astonished by his youthful brilliance, he personally condescended with courtesy to request his tonsure and dyeing of robes, which was during the Dali era. By the age of seventeen, with a rough understanding from his listening and study, he immediately lectured on the single scripture of the Lotus Sūtra. When he reached the requisite age, he received the upasampadā under Vinaya Master Yiru at Huiyi Temple. During the summer he studied the śīla, following and learning the new commentary. Soon mastering the great tenets, he went to the capital. Later, by virtue of his superior prose and abundant erudition, he entered the inner palace to serve on call. In his twilight years, struck by the sorrow of bereavement, he returned to Huiyi Temple, where he lectured, guided, and wrote without a single day of leisure. In the Yuanhe era, he passed away at the peak of his home temple, and his spirit was relocated to the Baimen Hermitage, which is outside the northern outer wall of Qicheng. Shenqing had always been fond of writing and delighted in compiling works, for his talent was vast and rich, and his learning deeply honed. Understanding all three teachings, he encompassed the profound and scrutinized the utmost, setting the moral relations in proper order; he was a match for ten thousand men. His disciples in black and white from the four quarters numbered more than a thousand. Over time, he composed the Fahua xuanjian in ten fascicles, the Shishi nianzhi in thirty fascicles, the Xin lüshu yaojue in ten fascicles—also called the Qingchao—the Erzong chuxue yi in one fascicle, and the Youzong qishiwu fa shu in one fascicle—also called the Fayuan ji. This latter work explains the five categories posited by the Hīnayāna: forms, mind, mental concomitants, non-concurrent formations, and unconditioned phenomena; their essences, natures, karmic activities, and functions are all comprehensively detailed, hence it is called 'The Source of Phenomena'. He also composed the Shixin lun, the Chengguan lun, the Jushe yichao in several fascicles, and the Beishan canxuan yulu in ten fascicles, totaling over a hundred scrolls in all, which circulated widely in his day. Among them, the Yulu broadly embraced the three teachings, and was the work most unrolled and savored by great scholars, famous monks, and eminent literati of both north and south. Because his temple lay north of Qicheng, on the northern slope of Mount Changping, he was called 'Beishan' (Northern Mountain); because it unified the profound purports of the three teachings and recorded them authentically, it was called Canxuan (Investigating the Profound). Looking at Shenqing's writings, in small part they clarify the scriptural purport of the two provisionals and the one real, while in large part they clarify the deep obscurities of the Hīnayāna vinaya and treatises. Shenqing's appearance was archaic and extraordinary, fair-complexioned and lustrous. Chief Minister Cui Guicong, who was then serving in Dongchuan, wrote in a preface to his portrait praise: 'His Daoist countenance was identical to that of Tripiṭaka Master Xuanzang, yet their manner of gathering beings was different; at that moment they were one and the same.' His disciples were numerous, and the one who stood out above his peers was Yijiang. He was singularly enlightened in the Abhidharmakośa and adept in the Awakening of Faith as well; scholars from across the realm came like wind at his repute. That the Beishan Kośa school did not perish in the Kaicheng era was surely due to Shenqing's lasting influence. Saṅgha Director Lord Yan of Yongtan in Dongchuan wrote his stele, and Guangzhao, who lectured on the vinaya and presided over the altar at his home temple, separately appended a Yulu to briefly record Shenqing's words and deeds.

6.21

Tang Dynasty: Biography of Duanfu of Great Anguo Temple in the Capital

6.22

Śramaṇa Duanfu had the secular surname Zhao and was a native of Tianshui. For generations his family had been a prominent clan in Qin. In the beginning, his mother Lady Zhang dreamed of an Indian monk who said to her: 'You shall give birth to a noble son.' He immediately took a śarīra from his bag and had her swallow it. When he was born, the monk seen in her dream entered his room in broad daylight, rubbed his crown, and said: 'He will surely cause the teachings of the Dharma to flourish greatly.' Having spoken, he vanished. When Duanfu grew up, he had a high forehead and deep-set eyes, large jowls and a square mouth; he stood six feet five inches tall, and his voice was like a bell. Indeed, when one is destined to bear the bodhi of the Tathāgata and open the ears and eyes of living beings, must there not be extraordinary omens and marvelous signs? At the age of ten, he relied on Chan Master Daowu of Chongfu Temple to become a novice (śrāmaṇera). At seventeen he was formally ordained as a monk (bhikṣu) and was assigned to Anguo Temple. He received the upasampadā under Vinaya Master Zhao of Ximing Temple, studied the vinaya under Vinaya Master Sheng of Chongfu Temple, received the transmission of Vijñaptimātra under Dharma Master Su of Anguo Temple, and mastered the Nirvāṇa Sūtra under Dharma Master Yin of Fulin Temple. Duanfu also dreamed of an Indian monk filling a lapis lazuli vessel with śarīras, making him swallow them and saying: 'The great teachings of the Tripiṭaka are now completely stored within your belly.' From then on, he was without rival in his era in sūtras, vinaya, and treatises; encompassing like rivers pouring forth, meeting the sources and joining the confluences, surging onward so that none could fathom his shores. Indeed, when one is destined to cut down the stumps in the field of passions and rain down sweet dew upon the seeds of the Dharma, must there not be courageous wisdom and vast eloquence? Before long, he paid homage to Mañjuśrī at Mount Qingliang, and the multitudes of holy ones all appeared; he expounded the Great Scripture in Taiyuan, and the whole city gathered. Emperor Dezong heard of his renown and summoned him; at a single audience he was greatly pleased, and Duanfu frequently entered the forbidden palace to debate with Confucians and Daoists, receiving the gift of a purple square robe. The seasonal gifts and offerings bestowed upon him were unlike those given to any other. He was further ordered to attend upon the Crown Prince in the Eastern Palace. Emperor Shunzong deeply admired his style, treating him affectionately like an elder brother and sleeping and rising alongside him, showing him extraordinarily high favor and courtesy. Emperor Xianzong repeatedly visited his temple, treating him as a guest and friend. Duanfu constantly received imperial inquiries, enjoying exceptionally profound trust and favor. Duanfu's countenance was transcendent, and his diction and reasoning were quick as an echo; adapting to the imperial intent, he always accorded with the True Vehicle, and even in hasty exchanges he never failed to take propagation as his duty. Because of this, the Son of Heaven recognized even more that the Buddha was a great sage and that his teachings possessed great inconceivable matters. At that time, the court was just pacifying the realm, binding Wu and bringing order to Shu, turning Cai into a pool and sweeping away Yun, while the Son of Heaven folded his hands in peace. An edict ordered Duanfu to lead the saṅgha in welcoming the true relic at Mount Lingshan and to establish a Dharma arena in the secret palace, praying for blessings on behalf of the people and personally attending to the incense and lamps. Soon after, punishments were not cruel, weapons were not misused, the common folk uttered no cries of grief, and the azure seas had no startling waves; these were surely the manifest effects of applying the True School to assist in great statecraft. Indeed, when one is destined to reveal the inconceivable Way and assist a ruler of great enterprise, must there not be tacit resonance and profound accord? For a total of ten years he took charge of the liturgical rites in the inner palace and served as the rectifier of saṅgha affairs of the Left Street, setting an exemplary standard for the pure multitude. In lecturing on the Nirvāṇa Sūtra and the Vijñaptimātra scriptures and treatises, he stood as the transmission master fulfilling his duties to inspire and guide monastics and laypeople over a total of one hundred and sixty lecturing sessions. Exercising the three mysteries in yoga and according with the unproduced in siddhi, he held the various scriptures daily more than a hundred thousand times, pointing to the Pure Land as his resting place and venerating the golden texts to repay the kindness of the Dharma. Earlier and later, offerings and donations amounted to millions, all of which he used to adorn and embellish temple halls, exhausting every effort in carving and painting. Yet in his abbot's quarters on a single bed, he remained tranquil and self-possessed in meditation. Noble ministers and flourishing clans all relied upon and admired him; gallants, craftsmen, and merchants looked up to him, presenting gold and jewels to show their devotion and revering his dignified deportment to bow at his feet, numbering a thousand a day, impossible to record fully. Yet Duanfu viewed the Buddha through living beings and cultivated good while free from the four marks; his mind was as humble as the earth, level without hills or mounds, treating kings, dukes, palanquin bearers, and menials with equal sincerity. Commentators believed that the one who fulfilled the practice of Sadāparibhūta was Duanfu alone. Indeed, when one is destined to steer a great vessel across the sea and rescue the lost to the other shore, must there not be extraordinary achievement and wondrous Way? On the first day of the sixth month of the first year of the Kaicheng era, he passed away lying on his right side facing west; in the midst of summer his venerable face looked as if alive, and throughout the night an extraordinary fragrance remained thick. On the sixth day of the seventh month of that year, he was moved to the southern plains of Changle. By his testamentary command he was cremated, yielding more than three hundred śarīras; while the fire was blazing, their spiritual light was bright as the moon, and once reduced to ashes, the numinous bones were as round as pearls. He was posthumously granted the title Dada (Great Realization), and his stūpa was named Xuanmi (Profound and Secret). His worldly age was sixty-seven, and his saṅgha age could be counted [proportionately]. His monastic disciples numbered around a thousand; some lectured on profound discourses, some managed great monasteries, practicing dhyāna and upholding the vinaya, taking up roles as teachers of men; fifty among his followers were men of great realization. During the Huichang era, Chief Minister Lord Pei Xiu composed a stele praising his virtues.

6.23

Tang Dynasty: Biography of Zongmi of Caotang Temple on Mount Guifeng (Chan Master Yuan, Chan Master Zhao)

6.24

Shi Zongmi, surnamed He, was a native of Xichong in Guozhou. His family was originally prominent and wealthy. In his youth he thoroughly mastered Confucian texts, wishing to serve the world so as to save living beings; endowed with exceptional talent, he followed the fiscal envoys. In the second year of Yuanhe, he happened to visit Chan Master Yuan of Suizhou. Before Yuan had even spoken with him, Zongmi was filled with joy and admiration, whereupon he followed him, shaved his head, and received instruction. That year he received the full precepts from Vinaya Master Zheng. Soon after, he visited Master Zhang of Jingnan, who said: 'You are a person who will transmit the teaching; you should proclaim and guide in the imperial capital.' He then saw Chan Master Zhao of Luoyang, who said: 'You are a person of the bodhisattva vehicle; who could fully recognize you?' Finally he saw Huayan [Chengguan] of the Upper Capital, who said: 'Within the Flower Treasury of Vairocana, who could roam alongside me if not you alone?' Originally, while in Shu, upon receiving a scripture during a vegetarian feast, he obtained the twelve chapters of the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment; deeply penetrating its doctrinal purport, he vowed to transmit this scripture. While in Hanshang, because an ill monk entrusted him with the sentences and meanings of the Huayan, though he had never previously studied it, he immediately lectured upon it. Thereupon he composed commentaries and subcommentaries on the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment, Huayan, Nirvāṇa, Diamond Sutra, Awakening of Faith, Vijñaptimātra, Ullambana, Contemplation of the Dharmadhātu, and Bhadracarī-praṇidhāna, as well as the Categories and Examples of Doctrinal Meanings, Rites of Repentance, Cultivation and Realization, Illustrated Biographies, and Compendium. He also compiled the Chan sayings of various traditions into the Chan Canon, providing a general preface for it, along with Replies to Inquiries, Letters and Gāthās, Discussions, and other works. Furthermore, he composed a five-fascicle Commentary on the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya and a two-fascicle Introductory Discourse to the Subcommentary, totaling some two hundred fascicles and six diagrams. All of them took the One Mind as their root to run through all dharmas, revealed the true essence to harmonize principle and phenomena, transcended the multitude of existents beyond dualistic opposition, and subtly unified object and self in solitary function. Zongmi was repeatedly summoned to the inner palace to be questioned on the essentials of the Dharma. On the Qingcheng Festival in the second year of Taihe, he was summoned, granted the purple square robe, and made a Grand Worthy. Soon after, he requested permission to return to the mountain. On the sixth day of the first month in the first year of Huichang, he passed away seated in the Stūpa Courtyard of Xingfu; his composure was as in life, his facial expression even more joyful. On the seventh day, when he was placed into the casket, the power of his self-realization was plain to see. On the twenty-second day of that month, monastics and laypeople conveyed his whole body to Guifeng; on the thirteenth day of the second month he was cremated, yielding several tens of relics, pure white, glossy, and large. Later his disciples wept and searched among the ashes, determined to find them and bring them back, and entirely enshrined them within a stone chamber; the reach of his unconditioned compassion was plain to see. His secular age was sixty-two; his saṅgha age was thirty-four. His testamentary injunction directed: 'Carry my corpse and bestow it upon the birds and beasts; burn my bones and scatter them. Do not build a stūpa, and do not grieve or long for me, lest you disturb your Chan contemplation. Whenever you come up the mountain on the Qingming festival, you must expound the Way for seven days before departing. As for the rest of the monastic etiquette, it should conform to the vinaya regulations; those who violate them are not my disciples.' Earlier, when Zongmi's Way had become fragrant and his fame truly resplendent, the inner congregation's yearning for him was like that, and the response of the court dignitaries was like this. From the Changqing and Yuanhe eras onward, the court eunuchs who performed meritorious service and held the reins of government were exceedingly powerful; suspicions arose between the inner court and outer officials, and the sovereign was imperiled. At that time, Chief Minister Li Xun held Zongmi in extreme esteem. When the Sweet Dew Incident falsely erupted during the Kaicheng era, the eunuchs led five hundred imperial guardsmen out of the palace gates, slaughtering all they encountered. At that time Wang Ya, Jia Su, and Shu Yuanyu were dining together in the Secretariat; hearing that catastrophe had broken out, they fled into the Zhongnan Mountains to throw themselves upon Zongmi. Only Li Xun sought to have his hair shorn and be hidden away, but his attendants dissuaded him, so Xun changed his plan and rushed toward Fengxiang. Qiu Shiliang, learning of this, dispatched men who arrested Zongmi and brought him to the Left Army, reproaching him to his face with the crime of failing to report the rebels, and intending to execute him. Zongmi said placidly: 'This poor monk has known Xun for many years and indeed knew of his rebellion; yet according to my original master's teachings, whenever one encounters suffering, one should rescue it without sparing life or limb. To die is indeed sweet to my heart.' Lieutenant Fish Hengzhi praised him and memorialized to pardon his crime. When the court officials heard of this, they gripped their wrists and shed tears. Someone said: 'Is Master Zongmi an expert in Chan, in vinaya, or in scriptures and treatises?' The reply was: 'Zongmi is like a land open to war on all four sides; no one can affix a single label to him. All that can be said is that he is a "Great Bodhisattva of Great Wisdom, Perfectly Luminous, Self-Realized, and Benefiting Others."' For this reason, Pei Xiu's essay states:

6.25

''Disputants hold that the master did not keep to Chan practice, but extensively expounded scriptures and treatises, wandering among famous cities and great metropolises with building and establishing as his undertaking. Was he enslaved by extensive learning, or had he not yet forgotten fame and profit? Ah! How could disputants understand where the Great Way tends? The One Mind is the totality of all dharmas: divided, it becomes precepts, concentration, and wisdom; unfolded, it becomes the six pāramitās; dispersed, it becomes the ten thousand practices. The ten thousand practices have never failed to be the One Mind, and the One Mind has never been in conflict with the ten thousand practices. Chan is merely one of the six pāramitās; how could it encompass all dharmas? Furthermore, the Tathāgata entrusted the Dharma eye to Kāśyapa, not the Dharma practice. Therefore, that which is realized from one's own mind is the Dharma, while that which arises in accordance with vows is practice; they are not necessarily always identical. Thus, the One Mind is that from which the ten thousand dharmas arise, yet it does not belong to the ten thousand dharmas. One who attains it is sovereign in dharmas; one who sees it is unobstructed in the teachings. That which originally is not dharma cannot be spoken of as dharma; that which originally is not teaching cannot be transmitted as teaching: how could it be sought through tracks and traces? From Kāśyapa to Puṇyayaśas, all ten patriarchs were arhats, and those they liberated were also arhats. Aśvaghoṣa, Nāgārjuna, Āryadeva, and Vasubandhu first opened the Mahāyāna, composing treatises to explain scriptures, crushing external paths, and taking the lead as bodhisattvas. Yet the Venerable Manorhita solely took the power of precepts as his majestic spirit; the Venerable Haklenayaśas solely took ascetic practice as the track of the Way. As for the other patriarchs, some broadly practiced the teachings of the Dharma, some concentrated their minds on Chan tranquility, some sloughed off their bodies like cicadas and departed, some were consumed by fire and extinguished, some climbed a tree to manifest their end, and some suffered harm to repay a karmic debt: thus, their Dharma was necessarily the same, but their practices were not necessarily the same. Moreover, one who merely follows carriage ruts is not good at walking; one who clings to carpenter's ink and rules is not skillful. Without speed, one cannot be a great ox; without surpassing, one cannot be a great being. Therefore, the master's Way took knowledge and vision as its wondrous gate, tranquil purity as its true savor, compassion and forbearance as its armor and shield, and wisdom's severance as its sword and spear. He breached the high ramparts of internal māras, routed the strong formations of external thieves, pacified the heterodox and mixed, and untied fetters and cages. When he encountered the prodigal son, he rebuked him and sent him back to his home; when he saw the poor woman, he scolded her and made her illuminate her room. If the prodigal son did not return, or the poor woman did not become rich, my master considered it a shame. If the three vehicles were not raised up and the Dharmaguptaka was not revitalized, my master considered it a shame. If loyalty and filial piety were not transformed together and the great burden was not borne to the full, my master considered it a shame. If one fled fame while remaining fixated on forms, or concealed the self while increasing arrogance, my master considered it a shame. Therefore he was ever anxious to rescue and deliver, ever eager to enlighten and guide, neither exalting himself by any single practice nor elevating himself by any single virtue. If someone had refuge to seek, he went to them without waiting for an invitation; if someone sought benefit, he enlightened them without waiting for them to be frustrated. Even with children, he was not indifferent in receiving them; even with the arrogant and stubborn, he was never indolent in striking and exhorting. Such was how he expounded the teaching to deliver living beings and aided the transformation of the state! Therefore, of those who drew near to the master's Dharma, the greedy gave alms, the violent restrained themselves, the unbending complied, the perverse grew obedient, the benighted were opened, the indolent were stirred to action; the self-glorifying grew humble, the hard-hearted were softened, the self-serving became public-spirited, and the sentimentally indulgent turned toward righteousness. As for the gentry and commoners, there were those who renounced their homes and entered his Dharma together with their wives and children, dwelling in separate monasteries; there were those who changed their livelihoods, severed blood-meat consumption, observed the precepts, and raised their households as upāsakas; there were those who went out to govern in order to rescue the afflicted, regarding this as the Way; and there were those who retired to serve their parents with abundant provisions, regarding this as their practice. As for the rest, those who came in endless streams and departed with joy, arriving with fluttering sleeves and returning with full bellies, they were exceedingly numerous everywhere, beyond reckoning. He was truly a bodhisattva entrusted by the Tathāgata, an uninvited good friend to living beings! Was he a person of the four reliances? Was he a person of the ten stages? I do not know the breadth, narrowness, depth, or shallowness of his realm and courtyard. How could the disputants know where the Great Way tends?'' Such was the heart-knowledge he received from an eminent person of profound discernment. Zongmi had many who understood his heart, but none so deeply as the Chief Minister of the Shengping era; this was truly like-minded spirits seeking each other out.' When Emperor Xuanzong again expounded the True Vehicle and all good deeds were properly ordered, he posthumously conferred upon him the title Chan Master Dinghui, and his stūpa was named Qinglian. Several thousand members of the fourfold assembly wore mourning clothes and observed the rites of disciples.

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宋高僧傳 — 贊寧, Classical Chinese