弘贊法華傳 3.6

3.6

Shi Guanding, courtesy name Fayun, had the secular surname Wu. He was a man of Yixing in Changzhou. His ancestors fled upheavals to Dong'ou and did not return; thus they became residents of Zhang'an in Linhai. His father passed away early, and his mother raised him alone. When he had been born barely three months, being an infant she wished to name him, but pondering over categories of things, she did not know what to designate him. At night his mother recited the names of the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha, and Ding immediately imitated her with his mouth, the sounds and phrases clear and articulate, which astonished everyone. She reported this to Dharma Master Huiji of Shejing Temple, who heard it and sighed, saying, 'This child is not ordinary (feifan).' He then gave him Feifan as his courtesy name. When he reached seven years of age, he became Master Ji's disciple. Daily he progressed in literary composition, astonishing both Buddhist and Confucian scholars; his refined diction and brilliant talent brought him renown in his time. Reaching the age of twenty, he advanced to full ordination and upheld the deportment, devoting all the more reflection to the 'vessel of virtue' and the 'bowl of oil.' When Master Ji grew weary of the world and departed, Ding bathed in the Dao at Tiantai. Because the transmission of the guidelines for meditation had suffered a rupture, he soon accompanied Zhizhe eastward, dwelling on the peaks of Mount Tiantai. Later he went out to the Chengxin Aranya to lecture on the Lotus Sūtra, surpassing Lang and outshining Ji, leaping beyond Yun and Yin. Audiences gathered from all quarters, crowding together with book-boxes on their backs. There was Dharma Master Jizang, who had entered the chamber of Xinghuang and set up his school at Jiaxiang, holding sole sway east of the Zhe River. Hearing that the Dao was soaring at Chengxin, he was initially not convinced. He asked to borrow the record of its meanings, and examining its depth, he realized that his own intellectual understanding and inner surrender had a source to turn to. Consequently, he dissolved his lectures, dispersed his assembly, and went on foot to Tiantai to receive the Lotus Sūtra, vowing to propagate it widely. In the seventeenth year [of Kaihuang], Zhizhe manifested illness; Ding attended him morning and night, exhausting his heart in arduous devotion. When it came to his passing into extinction, Ding personally received his final instructions, and taking the posthumous letters along with various tokens of trust, he knelt weeping and presented them to the Prince of Jin. The Prince of Jin threw all five limbs to the ground, weeping tears of sorrow as he received them upon his head. In the second year of Renshou, [the Prince] issued a decree stating: 'Since the Dhyāna Master is the foremost disciple of the Great Master, entrusted with the Dharma gate, I now send an invitation, earnestly hoping you will generously come, bringing along the commentary on the Lotus Sūtra in the company of the envoy to enter the capital. Anxiously awaiting your arrival, words cannot fully convey my thoughts.' Ding, holding his robes and shouldering his staff, walked with lofty steps into the palace. Expounding the teaching throughout the three summer months, the heir apparent rejoiced and revered him. Whenever reaching deep realizations, he never failed to request instruction, and Ding responded to each inquiry, comprehensively mastering the profound scriptures. Later, an envoy was sent to escort him back, with parting gifts doubled. Once, a villager named Yu Falong, living more than thirty li from the mountain, contracted an illness and was near death; all cures having failed, his son ran into the mountain to pray for help. Ding chanted the Lotus Sūtra for him and burned sandalwood incense. Although the sick man was far away, the sandalwood fragrance reached his nostrils, and he immediately recovered. Furthermore, on the southern ridge of Le'an was a place called Anzhou, with blue-green trees and clear streams, yet the currents were treacherous and hidden, and paths for travelers were impassable. Ding lingered there with fond appreciation, looked back and made a vow: 'If this land becomes level and passable, I shall come here to lecture on the sūtra.' Before ten days had passed, white sand surged everywhere, flat as a jade mirror. Regarding this manifestation of spiritual resonance, Ding did not violate his former vow; he then lectured on the Lotus Sūtra to repay the spirit's intention. From the time Ding received instruction at Tiantai, he had also received the Dao from Mount Heng; across the three generations of Si and Yi, the ultimate principle remained singular. Whether contemplating or lecturing, he constantly relied on the Lotus Sūtra, and in expounding Dharma gates such as the Perfect and Sudden Cessation and Contemplation and the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, he did so on numerous occasions. Moreover, Zhizhe's eloquence was like moving clouds and falling rain, sometimes like Indra's net, at other times resembling a necklace of pearls; only Ding alone could comprehend it upon hearing. His private notes on Zhizhe's words and purports, his own composed records of meaning, and titles of miscellaneous writings were all inscribed on the back of a thousand-stone stele. On the seventh day of the eighth month of the sixth year of Zhenguan, he died in his room at Guoqing Temple, at the age of seventy-two. At first he manifested a slight illness, yet refused medicine, while a rare fragrance filled the room. Approaching the end, he instructed his disciples, saying: 'The Maitreya Sūtra states that on the day the Buddha enters parinirvāṇa, clouds of fragrant smoke appear. Burn plenty of incense; I am about to depart.' He then delivered his final admonitions, the words and principles profound and earnest. The disciples and community gazed upward, weeping. Suddenly he rose on his own and joined his palms as if revering someone, chanted 'Amitābha Buddha' three times, lowered his body and bowed, his expression joyful. He suddenly passed away. His whole body remained supple, and the crown of his head was warm for days. Previously, a fellow student named Zhixi, a pure and lofty, brilliant gentleman, had died in the first year of Zhenguan. At his death, he said: 'I am born in Tuṣita. I see our late master Zhizhe seated among rows of jeweled seats; all the seats are occupied, except one which is empty. It is said that after six years, Dharma Master Guanding will preach the Dharma beyond here.' Burning incense verified the purport; it was indeed the Loving Honored One descending to welcome him. Calculating the years and period, Zhixi was confirmed not to have been mistaken. On the ninth day of that month, he was laid to rest at the southern mountain of the temple.