弘贊法華傳 1

English (machine translation) 1

Language: English

1.1

Compiled by the śramaṇa Huixiang of Langu.

1. Images and Icons, Fascicle One
2. Translations, Fascicle Two
3. Expositions, Fascicle Three
4. Cultivation of Contemplation, Fascicle Four
5. Relinquishing the Body, Fascicle Five
6. Chanting and Upholding, Fascicle Six (Fascicle Six, Fascicle Seven, Fascicle Eight)
7. Recitation, Fascicle Nine
8. Copying, Fascicle Ten

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1. Images and Icons

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The image of the preaching of this sūtra inside the jeweled pearl and jeweled stūpa of the Jetavana Monastery in the Western Regions;
The golden image modeling the former preaching of the Dharma in the Western Regions;
The image of the preaching of this sūtra on Gṛdhrakūṭa Mountain in the Western Regions;
The representation of Gṛdhrakūṭa Mountain made by the monk Huihao of the Song;
The representation of Gṛdhrakūṭa Mountain made by Emperor Taizu of the Later Wei;
The Lotus Platform made by Lady Yin of the Jin;
The Lotus Monastery made by Lady of Handsome Fairness Xie of the Song;
The Lotus Hall made by Zheng Qiong, Chamberlain for Ceremonials of the Later Wei;
The Prabhūtaratna Stūpa made by the monk Huili of the Jin;
The Prabhūtaratna Monastery and Prabhūtaratna Stūpa made by Liu Fo'ai of the Song;
The stone Prabhūtaratna Stūpa made by Secretariat Drafter Xu Yan of the Qi;
The Prabhūtaratna Stūpa, Lotus Stūpa, and Lotus Platform made by the monk Facheng of Wuzhen Monastery under the Tang;
The Prabhūtaratna Stūpa made by Xiao Jing, Chancellor of the Directorate of Education under the Tang;
The image of Samantabhadra made by Empress Dowager Luzhao of the Song;
The Samantabhadra Retreat held by the monk Daojiong of the Song;
The Samantabhadra Retreat held by the monk Sengbao of the Song.

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According to the Illustrated Guide to Jetavana: In the upper storey of the eastern tower in front of the Buddha Hall, there is a silver image. Inside the image, there is a pavilion of seven treasures. Inside the pavilion, there is a jeweled pond with jeweled flowers. Above the flowers, there is a white jade image. Within a lotus blossom in the pond, there is a silver stūpa. In the heart of the stūpa, there is a pearl stūpa. Inside that stūpa, there are two images, of Śākyamuni and Prabhūtaratna, depicting the seventh assembly where the Lotus Sūtra was preached. It also says: The Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra is similar to the Avataṃsaka and Prajñāpāramitā in that it was preached over many assemblies. What is translated nowadays corresponds to the third assembly. It also says: In the four terraces and five tiers of the tiered hall, on the upper storey, there is a vaiḍūrya mani pearl. Within this pearl, past Buddhas once preached the Lotus, thrice transforming the defiled land into a pure land. Whatever is contained in the sūtra is fully manifested within it.

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According to the records of the Western Regions: South of the Gaṅgā River in the country of Magadha in Central India, there is an ancient city more than seventy li in circumference. It has been deserted for many years, yet its foundations still remain. In ancient times, when the human lifespan was immeasurable, it was called Kusumapura, which in Tang speech means the City of the Fragrant Flower Palace. When the human lifespan dwindled to several thousand years, its name was changed to Pāṭaliputra, which is also Balianfu. More than four hundred li southwest from this city, crossing the Nairañjanā River, one reaches the city of Gayā. More than twenty li southwest of the city, one reaches the bodhi tree, the vajrāsana, and other sites. East of the bodhi tree, crossing a great river and entering a vast forest and wilderness, walking over a hundred li, one reaches Kukkuṭapāda Mountain. Over a hundred li northeast of Kukkuṭapāda Mountain, one arrives at a great mountain; entering the mountain and walking eastward for more than sixty li, one reaches Kuśāgrapura. This city is situated right in the center of the country of Magadha. It was the former capital of earlier rulers and produced much fragrant kuśa grass; hence, it was named after it. Lofty mountains surround it on four sides, serving as outer walls. A narrow path connects to it in the west, and a mountain gate opens in the north, being over one hundred and fifty li in circumference. Its trees flourish in spring, all turning golden. Originally, King Bimbisāra made this his capital. The registered commoners in the city frequently suffered from conflagrations; the multitude lamented and grieved, finding no peace in their dwellings. The king therefore decreed throughout the country: 'Whoever is negligent shall be banished to the Cold Forest.' The Cold Forest was the place where corpses were abandoned, regarded by custom as an inauspicious land. Soon after, a fire broke out spontaneously in the royal palace itself. The king said to his ministers: 'Let the decree of banishment be fulfilled!' Thereupon he ordered the crown prince to oversee the realm, and he personally went four or five li northwest of Kuśāgrapura to lodge. At that time, the King of Vaiśālī heard that King Bimbisāra was living out in the wilds of the Cold Forest, so he mustered his troops intending to launch an unexpected attack. The border sentinels reported this. Thus, a city was built there, and because the king had first lodged there, it was called Rājagṛha ('City of the King's Abode'). The officials and commoners all moved their families there. Some say that it was established by King Ajātaśatru. By the time of King Aśoka, the capital was moved to Pāṭaliputra, and Rājagṛha was bestowed upon the Brahmins. Nowadays in this city, there are no longer common folk, but only fewer than a thousand Brahmin households.

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Fourteen or fifteen li northeast of Kuśāgrapura, one arrives at Gṛdhrakūṭa Mountain, which in Tang speech means Vulture Head, also called Vulture Peak. Adjoining the southern slope to the north, it rises uniquely and toweringly. Not only do vultures roost there, but it also resembles a high terrace. Azure sky and green hills reflect each other, their deep and faint colors distinctly defined. When the Tathāgata governed the world for nearly fifty years, he mostly resided on this mountain and broadly expounded the wonderful Dharma; this is precisely the place where he preached this sūtra. Hence the sūtra says: 'Always dwelling on Gṛdhrakūṭa Mountain and in other various abodes.' When the Buddha was in the world, King Bimbisāra, for the sake of hearing the Dharma, mobilized laborers to pave stones into a stairway more than ten paces wide and five or six li long, spanning valleys and surmounting crags, from the foot of the mountain up to its peak. Along the path there were two small stūpas: one was called 'Dismounting,' where the king proceeded on foot; the other was called 'Dismissing Commoners,' where ordinary people were screened out and forbidden from proceeding further together. The summit of the mountain is long from east to west and narrow from north to south. Overlooking the cliff along its western descent, there currently stands a brick chamber, of lofty, spacious, and extraordinary construction, with its door opening to the east. The Tathāgata formerly dwelt within it and preached the Dharma; now an image of him preaching the Dharma has been made there, equal in measure to the Buddha's body. The Tang śramaṇa Xuanzang, whose lay surname was Chen, was a native of Luoyang. He left household life at an early age and was endowed from youth with insightful comprehension. Having studied widely under renowned masters, he thoroughly penetrated the genuine principles. Considering that those who cling to branches see only the minute, while those who draw from downstream understand only the shallow, he risked his life in distant regions, gallantly striving toward the utmost depths. In the early years of the Zhenguan era, he set out and traveled westward, going back and forth for seventeen years. The sūtras and treatises he acquired are fully recorded in a separate account. In that country of Central India, he obtained through request a golden image modeling the preaching of the Lotus Sūtra on Gṛdhrakūṭa Mountain in Magadha. Its height, including the halo and pedestal, is three feet; its countenance is exceptionally sublime, utterly surpassing human craftsmanship. Looking up to it with reverent hands on the head, one's devotion is indeed multiplied ten-thousandfold. After his return, boundless copies and replicas were made of it.

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In the first year of the Jingping era of the Song, the śramaṇa Bo Huigao of Waguan Monastery built Lingjiu Monastery. There was a śramaṇa, Shi Huihao, whose wisdom and discernment were comprehensive and sharp, and whose ingenuity was unsurpassed. Within it, he fashioned a depiction of Gṛdhrakūṭa Mountain, marvelously varied beyond measure and so vivid that one seemed to be gazing upon the real scene. The forms of its mountains, forests, birds, and beasts, and the appearances of the eight classes of devas and nāgas, had never existed in past dynasties and originated from this point on. After the niche was completed, the whole state came to view it. In later generations, those who carved niches all took Huihao's as their model. The niche was thirty-eight zhang deep from east to west, and forty-four zhang four chi from north to south.

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In the first year of the Tianxing era, Emperor Daowu (Taizu) of the Later Wei, Tuoba Gui, made a representation of Gṛdhrakūṭa Mountain, adding painted decorations such that nothing was not solemnly prepared.

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In the seventh year of the Yixi era of the Jin, Lady Yin, wife of the Regional Inspector of Jingzhou, Wang, founded Dongqingyuan Monastery.

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Inside the monastery, she built a Lotus Platform.

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In the fifteenth year of the Yuanjia era of the Song, Lady of Handsome Fairness Xie built Fahua Monastery in Moling County.

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Zheng Qiong, Chamberlain for Ceremonials and Marquis Gong of the Later Wei, established Jingyu Monastery and built a Lotus Hall.

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In the second year of the Xingning era of the Jin, the śramaṇa Huili built a stone Prabhūtaratna Stūpa at Waguan Monastery.

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In the fifth year of the Yuanjia era of the Song, Liu Fo'ai, a native of Pengcheng, built Duobao Monastery in Jiankang, and also built a Prabhūtaratna Stūpa.

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In the first year of the Jianyuan era of the Qi, Hu Xiezhi, Regional Inspector of Yuzhou, built Fayin Monastery on Mount Zhong. The Secretariat Drafter Xu Yan assisted by building a stone Prabhūtaratna Stūpa.

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The śramaṇa Facheng of Wuzhen Monastery on Mount Yu in Lantian under the Tang left household life when young, lived secluded in the mountains cut off from secular life, and recited this sūtra more than ten thousand times. In accordance with the sūtra, he built a Prabhūtaratna Stūpa, a Lotus Hall, and a Lotus Platform. Upon the platform, he placed the sūtra, circumambulating it and performing repentance rituals. He also built a meditation room wherein he practiced concentration. There were very many miraculous occurrences, which are fully recounted in his later biography.

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Xiao Jing, Chancellor of the Directorate of Education under the Tang, was a native of Lanling, a great-great-grandson of Emperor Wu of the Liang, and the fifth son of Xiao Kui, King of Liang. After the Liang fell and he entered the Sui, his elder sister became the empress of Emperor Yang. Though born and raised amidst nobility and prosperity, his family deeply revered the Buddha's Dharma. During the Daye era, he chanted the Lotus Sūtra himself and, in accordance with the text of the sūtra, made a Prabhūtaratna Stūpa using sandalwood. The stūpa was about three feet high, and he also made a wooden image of Prabhūtaratna, which remained unfinished after several years. One morning, when his nephew Xiao Quan rose in the residence, he suddenly saw in the grass of the front courtyard a sandalwood stūpa canopy, beneath which was a brass Buddha image of extraordinary craftsmanship and solemn, dignified Indian countenance. Its eyeballs were made of silver, with the pupils clear, bright, and lustrous, as if natural. Quan marveled at it and ran to tell Jing. Jing looked at it with startled joy, took the canopy back, and tried placing it atop the Prabhūtaratna Stūpa; it fitted perfectly, as though made for it of old. Although the color of the wood differed slightly, the shape of the stūpa became even more wondrous. When he placed the Buddha image inside the stūpa, it also matched as if originally crafted for it. Jing rejoiced and sighed in admiration, considering it an effect evoked by his sincere devotion. Inside the garments of the Buddha image, there were more than a hundred relics (śarīra). Jing's daughter, who was a nun, and others who were young secretly doubted that relics could not be broken by a hammer, so they took thirty of them to test and struck them on a stone with an axe. The relics scattered, leaving no trace behind. The daughter searched and picked them up from the ground, finding only three or four, while the rest could not be seen anywhere. Filled with dread, she reported this to Jing. Jing went to look inside the stūpa, and all the relics were there just as before. From that time on, Jing chanted the Lotus Sūtra once a day until the end of his life. In the twelfth year of the Zhenguan era, his illness grew severe. Empress Xiao, along with his younger brothers and nephews, came to visit him. Jing met with them, had each of them light incense, and then bid them farewell together. He kept only his younger brother Xiao Yu, Duke of Song, and his daughter who was a nun, instructing them to light incense and chant the sūtra. After a short while, he said to the nun: 'I am about to depart. Samantabhadra Bodhisattva has come to welcome me and is in the eastern courtyard; master, you may go welcome him.' The nun went to welcome him as instructed, but before she returned, Jing said: 'That courtyard is impure, so he is unwilling to enter; I must go to him myself. Live well, all of you.' Thereupon he bid farewell to Yu and the others, rose, knelt upright with palms joined, facing directly toward the west, and shortly thereafter passed away. His testamentary instructions ordered: 'Bear me alone upon a single cart; enshroud me in the clothes upon my body; women shall not attend the funeral procession; do not sacrifice with meat; dig the pit just deep enough to submerge the coffin.' Court and countryside alike sighed in admiration at his broad-mindedness, and his family reverently carried it out. In ancient times, the Mahāsattva Samantabhadra possessed boundless spiritual power, manifesting astride the elephant king to verify the Lotus. This may be the expedient response of a former Buddha, or the gracious transformation wrought by one in the position of succession; it cannot be fathomed by the Seventh Ground, nor conceived by the Two Vehicles. Indeed, since the supreme and wondrous physical form illuminates the Way, subtle and exquisite icons surely move the mundane world. Following the form, one awakens to the spirit; by virtue of the traces, one contemplates the origin. The visage delightful to behold is truly a vital passage for guiding and uplifting.

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Empress Dowager Luzhao, Chongxian, of the Song, had planted causal roots over vast kalpas and was paired with the summit of the imperial house. Yet she viewed noble status as an illusory dream and precious treasures as dust and grime. Longing to exalt the correct teaching, she sought to depict the Dharma-body. In the fourth year of the Daming era, she commanded the bhikṣu Tanbiao of Baima Monastery to make an image of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva riding a white elephant, its six tusks slender and pointed, its seven limbs well-rounded and complete. Its design was grand and magnificent; the casting was refined and austere. The cast metal was equal to refined copper, overlaid with lustrous gilding. The Bodhisattva shone with the marks of purple-gold, while the elephant king gleamed with the form of white silver. Brilliant, splendid, and radiant, it seemed as though taking flight—truly a wondrous achievement of Buddhist work and a genuine model for stūpas and shrines. Her vast vows being inexhaustible and her cultivation of merit untiring, in the eighth year of the Daming era she further constructed Puxian Monastery, whose breathtaking splendor was destined to adorn and embellish.

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Śramaṇa Daojiong was a native of Haotao in Fufeng. His original surname was Ma. His scholarship was pure and refined, and he was already renowned in his youth. When he first went forth from the household life, he became a disciple of Daoyi. Jiong had long recited the Lotus Sūtra, placing his reliance and sincerity solely in this practice. In the ninth month of the second year of the Yuanjia reign, while in Luoyang, he conducted a Samantabhadra retreat for someone. Thereupon, he swept and washed the courtyard clean, purifying it inside and out. He adorned an image of Samantabhadra and cultivated a reverent state of mind as if in the presence [of the deity]. There were some forty monastics and laypeople. Seven days had already passed, and they were just partaking of the midday meal, when suddenly a man wearing riding trousers and riding a horse came right up to the front of the hall. He dismounted and bowed to the Buddha. Jiong considered him an ordinary person and did not treat him with any special courtesy. The man mounted his horse, brandished his whip, and suddenly vanished from sight. Immediately, a bright red light was seen filling the sky, which faded only after a long time. Three years later, in the twelfth month, he again conducted a Samantabhadra retreat in a layman's household. On the evening of its conclusion, two śramaṇas whose appearance and gaze seemed ordinary came directly in to bow to the Buddha. The assembly thought them mediocre monks and did not regard them with great veneration. Someone casually asked where they lived, and they replied, "We live in the village ahead." Among the laypeople present at the time, there was one Zhang Dao, who sensed something unusual about them and bowed with utmost devotion. When the śramaṇas exited the gate and had walked some tens of paces, they suddenly took flight into the empty air, soaring straight up into the heavens. Those who followed them with their eyes could no longer tell where they had gone. Later, [Daojiong] traveled south with four fellow students to the capital of Yangdu to observe its customs. At night, they crossed a river on ice; midway across, the ice broke, and three of them sank and drowned. Jiong again placed his sincere reliance in Avalokiteśvara, whereupon he felt as if something under his feet were supporting him on its own. He also saw a red light ahead, and following the light, he reached the shore. When the capital was established [at Jiankang], he stayed at Nanjian Temple and consistently took the pratyutpanna-[samādhi] as his practice. Once, while entering meditation in the middle of the night, he suddenly saw four men driving a carriage up to his room, calling for him to board. In a flash, without realizing it, Jiong saw himself between the Commandery Mound and the Shen Bridge. He saw a man seated on a folding chair on the road, attended by several hundred people. Seeing Jiong, the man arose in surprise and said, "He is merely a meditator!" That man then said to his attendants, "I only intended to let him know the place; why have you abruptly troubled and dragged the Dharma master here?" Thereupon, bowing and bidding farewell, he ordered someone to escort Jiong back to the temple. They knocked on the gate, and only after a long while was it opened. When he entered the temple, he found his room still locked, and everyone was mystified as to how it had happened. In the twentieth year of the Yuanjia reign of the Song, Liu Yiqing, King Kang of Linchuan, took him along to Guangling, where he finally passed away.

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Śramaṇa Sengbao was a native of Jingzhao. In his youth, while in Guanzhong, he received instruction under Master Kumārajīva. During the Yongchu reign of the Song, he traveled north, slowly entering the Huangshan Vihāra. There, he established a twenty-one-day Samantabhadra retreat. When the repentance reached the seventeenth day, a white crane flew in and settled before the seat of Samantabhadra; it departed only when the circumambulation and incense offering were concluded at midday. On the twenty-first day, four men clad in yellow robes also circumambulated the stūpa several times and suddenly disappeared.

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Accounts in Praise of the Lotus Sūtra, Fascicle 1

Linked texts (1)

弘贊法華傳 — Classical Chinese