弘贊法華傳 5.10

5.10

Shi Daodu was a native of Pingyang, originally surnamed Liu. Practicing walking meditation and subduing his mind in dhyāna, he dwelt on the lofty mountains. In the first year of the Tianjian era (502), he first arrived in the state of Liang and stayed at Dinglin Temple on Mount Zhong to practice dhyāna. Coming out of contemplation, what he cared for was benefiting beings, removing suffering, giving joy, and constantly exercising compassion. Prince Chengkang of the Liang state and Prince Zhonglie of Poyang both followed the Chan Master with reverence and received the prohibitive precepts from him. In the seventeenth year of the Tianjian era (518), the Chan Master personally produced one hundred copies of the Lotus Sūtra, and day and night recited the single chapter of Bhaiṣajyarāja. Later, in the Juedian of Hualin Temple, he submitted a petition to Emperor Wu of Liang, saying: 'This body is a poisonous tree, and truly should be incinerated. I have loathed this physical frame for a long time. I wish to offer it to all the Buddhas, just like Sarvasattvapriyadarśana (Xijian).' The imperial decree replied: 'If you truly wish to benefit the living beings, you may simply cultivate the Way in accord with conditions. If your life is impermanent, casting your corpse in the Śītavana to give to birds and beasts will fulfill your dāna-pāramitā, which is also a good deed. The eighty thousand families of worms should not be burned to ashes; this is not something I encourage.' Daodu replied in turn: 'Daodu's mind cannot be swayed. Since I have received the imperial edict, I shall temporarily uphold it.' On the third day of the eighth month in the seventh year of the Putong era (526), he entered the eastern province, arriving among the precipitous crags of Heling Temple on Mount Ruoye, where he built a meditation hut. He would often say to himself: 'What was to be done has all been completed; what more is there to worry about?' Thereupon, he gradually accumulated firewood and progressively reduced his food intake. On the third day of the eleventh month of that year, the bell sounded on its own from the void. The assembly of the temple was frightened and could not comprehend the omen. On the eighth day of that month, the bell sounded on its own again. On the twenty-third day, he invited one hundred monks to the mountain to perform walking meditation. The fourfold assembly gathered like flowers, some three hundred people. On that day, more than one hundred and seventy disciples begged to receive the precepts. He said himself: 'Daodu is an ordinary person, whose ignorance is deep and heavy. Possessing only the pure bodhisattva precepts, I reverently forge good karmic affinities together with the great assembly.' Thereafter, he ate no more food, using only a water jar to draw fresh water, drinking one sheng per day. On the morning of the twenty-fifth day, the assembly went together to see him, and found the jar emitting five-colored brilliant light and fragrant vapors. On the morning of the twenty-ninth day, the temple abbot Quan and several others climbed to the meditation hut together, and from afar they saw purple light shining outward from the shrine. As dusk approached that day, a flock of five or six hundred birds suddenly gathered in a single tree, and took flight shortly afterward. At the beginning of the second watch that night, multicolored light filled the temple, illuminating the rooms and buildings. In the fifth watch, the crackling roar of fire was heard at the mountain summit. Running in alarm to see, they saw the Chan Master with palms joined amid the fire. His age was sixty-six. The regional inspector, Prince of Wuling, sent people to clean and collect his remains, and built a stūpa at that site. Later, the sound of a stone chime was heard at the mountain summit, its sound exceedingly clear and penetrating. Prior to this, at the place where he burned his body, there was a large persimmon tree that had been withered and dead for more than ten years; whenever the Chan Master entered the mountain, he always sat beneath this tree, and the following spring it sprouted branches and leaves. When the Chan Master first set off for the east, he told his disciple Daoyin: 'I have had the rare fortune in a thousand ages to encounter the King of the Dharma. Now I am making a distant journey on account of this body, and have no further day to be received in audience. I have an iron alms bowl that I have upheld; it should be offered separately [to the emperor].' The disciple Daoyin reported the circumstances in full and presented the iron bowl. Thereupon an imperial decree was issued: 'The Chan Master's mental resolve was resolute and strong; he was able to practice what is difficult to practice. We had still hoped that he would broadly transform and guide, benefiting the four kinds of living beings, yet he has suddenly passed to another realm, which is truly lamentable. Following the footsteps of Sarvasattvapriyadarśana, he will surely see Jaladharagarjitaghoṣasusvaranakṣatrarājasankusumitābhijña (Jingming) face to face. Spoken of in this way, it is rather something to rejoice over.'