大明高僧傳 3.29

3.29

Shi Yuanjing was a native of Lin County in Fenzhou. In his early years he left home and roamed his mind in the lecture halls of Xianshou, gaining awakening to the esoteric purports of the various sūtras. He often traveled to Shishi Temple on Mount Miaolou in Xizhou of Pingyang Prefecture, expounding the Dharma for the assembly in accord with conditions. One day he went to Wayao Slope at the north gate, excavated the earth, and constructed a hermitage, where he sat in silent meditation like a niche. Suddenly he instructed his disciples, saying, "I am about to return." The assembly asked for his date. He said, "Tomorrow." In the morning he arose, bathed, changed his three robes, burned incense, sat cross-legged, recited a gāthā, and passed away.