神僧傳 3.14

3.14

Dharmamitra means 'Prosperous in the Dharma'. He was a man of Kapiśa. By the age of seven, his spiritual perception was pure and upright; whenever he witnessed Buddhist services, he was naturally elated. His parents, loving him and marveling at his difference, permitted him to renounce household life. Kapiśa brought forth many holy and accomplished masters; he often encountered enlightened teachers. He was broadly versed in various scriptures and particularly profound in dhyāna practice. The essential teachings he attained were all utterly subtle and profound. He was a person of deep reserve and had great insightful understanding; his demeanor and decorum were meticulous and correct. He was born with connected eyebrows, so the world called him the 'Eyebrow Dhyāna Master'. In his youth, he was fond of traveling abroad, vowing to disseminate the teachings. Traversing various lands, he eventually arrived in Kucha. One day before he arrived, the king dreamed of a deity who informed him, saying, 'A person of great fortune and virtue will enter your state tomorrow; you ought to provide for him.' The next morning, the king immediately commanded his external officers that if any extraordinary person entered the realm, they must rush to report it. Shortly thereafter, Dharmamitra indeed arrived. The king personally went outside the suburbs to welcome him and invited him into the palace. He then received the precepts from him and offered the four requisites of support with utmost ritual respect. Dharmamitra was content yet able to move on, unattached to material benefits. After dwelling there for several years, he secretly harbored an intention to depart. The deity again sent a dream, saying, 'The person of fortune and virtue has abandoned the king and left.' The king awoke in alarm and fright. Soon after, the ruler and ministers tried firmly to detain him, but none could stop him. He then crossed the shifting sands and proceeded to Dunhuang. In a vacant and open land, he established a vihāra, planted a thousand apple-plum trees, and opened an orchard of a hundred mu; the rooms, pavilions, pools, and groves were exceedingly adorned and pure. Shortly thereafter, he went to Liangzhou, where he repaired halls and residences at an old monastery belonging to the government offices; his students gathered in great numbers, and dhyāna practice flourished greatly. Always cherishing the royal capital of Jiangyou, he resolved to transmit the Dharma there. In the first year of the Yuanjia era of the Song dynasty (424 CE), he traveled stage by stage and reached Shu. Soon after, he left the gorges and halted in Jingzhou. At Changsha Monastery, he built a dhyāna pavilion. With fervent sincerity and deep grief, he prayed for relics. After more than ten days, a vessel suddenly sprang up, making a sound and emitting light that filled the chamber. Among his disciples, monastics and laypeople alike, none failed to redouble their vigor, each person increasing their determination a hundredfold. Shortly after, he sailed down the river east to the capital. At first, he stayed at Zhongxing Monastery; later, he rested at Jetavana Monastery. Dharmamitra's reputation in the Path was long established, and his transformative influence had reached neighboring states. As soon as he arrived in the capital, the entire city poured out to pay respects and inquire after him. From Empress Yuan of Emperor Wen of Song down to the crown prince and princesses, none failed to set up vegetarian feasts in the cinnamon palaces and request the precepts in the pepper apartments; the envoys sent to attend and inquire upon him were in sight of each other daily. Right at Jetavana Monastery, he translated the Dhyāna Sūtra, The Essentials of Dhyāna Practice, The Contemplation of Samantabhadra, The Contemplation of Ākāśagarbha, and others. He constantly taught the way of dhyāna; the four assemblies from a thousand li around consulted and received instruction from him, and people near and far all called him the 'Great Dhyāna Master'. Meng Yi of Pingchang, the grand administrator of Kuaiji, had deep faith in the correct Dharma and took the Three Jewels as his own responsibility; he was long fond of the taste of dhyāna and held an earnest and reverent mind. When he took office east of the Zhe River, he invited Dharmamitra to travel with him, whereupon they established a stūpa and monastery on the mountains of Mao County. The old customs of the eastern regions mostly favored shamans and sorcerers; but when transformed by wonderful conversion, household after household returned to the correct path. From west to east, none failed to submit with their whole mind. In the tenth year of the Yuanjia era (433 CE), he returned to the capital and stayed at Lower Dinglin Monastery on Mount Zhong. Dharmamitra was by nature tranquil and quiet, with an elegant love of mountains and waters. Seeing Mount Zhong as a guardian peak equaling the beauty of Song and Hua, he often lamented that the foundations of the lower monastery faced a ravine and were low and sloping. Thereupon, ascending high to examine the ground and divining the lay of the mountain, in the twelfth year of the Yuanjia era (435 CE) he cut timber, carved stone, and built Upper Dinglin Monastery. Scholar-officials and commoners admired his style, offering continuous gifts; dhyāna chambers and palace halls stood lofty in multistoried structures. Thereupon, those who set their minds at rest gathered from ten thousand li; their chanting was solemn and harmonious, and people were converted merely upon catching wind of him. Dhyāna Master Da of Dinglin was his foremost disciple, who propagated his style and teachings so that his renown shook monastics and laypeople alike. Thus, the pure transformation endured long without declining, and the sublime enterprise was exalted without lapse; this was indeed the lasting merit of Dharmamitra. From the Western Regions down to the southern lands, wherever his feet trod, there was none where he did not initiate dhyāna assemblies and expound the teachings of the Dharma. When Dharmamitra first set out from Kapiśa, the spirit king Kapila escorted him. When he reached Kucha, the deity wished to return midway, so he manifested his form and took leave of Dharmamitra, saying, 'Your divine powers are transforming and unobstructed, and you travel wherever you please; I shall not accompany you to the south.' Having finished speaking, he withdrew his shadow and vanished. When Dharmamitra came from afar to the capital, he had an image of the spirit painted on the wall at the upper monastery. Down to the present day, there are still verifications of sounds and shadows; whoever prays for blessings with pure sincerity never fails to obtain their wish. On the sixth day of the seventh month in the nineteenth year of the Yuanjia era (442 CE), he passed away at the upper monastery at the age of eighty-seven.