法華傳記 2.40

2.40

Shi Zhiyi, whose secular surname was Chen, was a native of Yingchuan. His mother, Lady Xu, dreamed of incense smoke in five colors swirling into her embrace; when she tried to brush it away, she heard someone say: "A past karmic connection has been entrusted [to you]." On the night of his birth, there were multiple spiritual omens. At the age of seven, he recited the "Universal Gate Chapter"; the rest he comprehended on his own without a teacher. At eighteen, he went forth from the household, and at twenty, he received the full precepts. He secluded himself on Mount Daxian, reciting the Lotus Sūtra, the Amitārtha-sūtra, and the Samantabhadra Contemplation Sūtra; before two ten-day periods had passed, he had completely mastered the three texts. He then went to Chan Master Si on Mount Dasu in Guangzhou to undertake his training. Si would often sigh and say, "In the past on Gṛdhrakūṭa we listened together to the Lotus Sūtra; pursued by past karmic affinities, you have now come once again." Thereupon he showed him the Samantabhadra practice and expounded the four peaceful and joyful practices. On this mountain, Yi practiced the Lotus Samādhi. After only three nights had passed, while reciting the chapter on the "Former Affairs of the Bodhisattva Bhaiṣajyarāja" and fixing his mind on the ascetic practices, when he reached the phrase "This is true vigor," awakening burst forth. He saw himself together with Master Si at the seven-jeweled pure land on Gṛdhrakūṭa, where eighty thousand bodhisattvas and twelve thousand śrāvakas were listening together to the Buddha preaching the Dharma. Therefore Si said, "Had it not been for you, it could not have been sensed; had it not been for me, it could not have been discerned." This was the preliminary expedience of the Lotus Samādhi. (Vinaya Master Xuan asked a deity, saying: "Chan Master Si of the Chen state and Master Yi of the Sui state had spiritual virtue surpassing their peers. In the past on Gṛdhrakūṭa, they listened together to the Lotus Sūtra. I wonder, who were they in the past? Did their lectures on the scripture also accord with the Buddha's intent?" The deity answered, "Both were great beings who roam the directions, originally ancient buddhas. Si was Avalokiteśvara, whose benefits are preached in the single 'Universal Gate Chapter.' Yi was Bhaiṣajyarāja; when Sun-Moon-Pure-Bright-Virtue appeared in the world, he renounced his entire body in offering to the Dharma. Śākyamuni of Gṛdhrakūṭa entrusted this to the Sublime Dharma, and the chapter on Bhaiṣajyarāja preaches his practice. Not only do they propagate the scripture today, but in the distant past after the parinirvāṇa of the real Buddha, they lectured on the Lotus Sūtra; when the thousand buddhas of the past appeared in the world, and when the three buddhas of the Bhadrakalpa appeared, they likewise profoundly matched the Buddha's intent as they do today.") Whenever he entered contemplation and harbored doubts regarding the scripture, he would invariably see Si come and invisibly elucidate and interpret it for him. Si also said, "You have karmic ties with the state of Chen; going there will certainly bring benefit." Once Si traveled to the Southern Peak, Yi went to Jinling. He resided at Waguan for eight years, lecturing on the Lotus Sūtra. Eminent figures of the Liang and Chen all came to seek his instruction, and princes and nobles suspended court affairs to assemble there. When he first opened the introductory chapter and reached the conclusion of Mañjuśrī's reply to the questions, the entire assembly of Gṛdhrakūṭa manifested in midair; a few individuals suddenly beheld it. Heaven rained down wondrous flowers, fresh white in color, with over thirty petals; the petals remained suspended in midair one after another without falling, each more than a foot long and resembling lotus petals. When he reached the "Apparition of the Jeweled Stūpa Chapter," among the listeners some dreamed that Waguan was the thrice-transformed pure land, with the emanation bodies in the eight directions; others saw the sign of Samantabhadra approaching from afar. Those who received benefits from his speech and silence were so numerous as to be beyond recording. Furthermore, Yi personally copied scriptures with his own blood and lectured on them, which are preserved in the Hall of the True Body at Guoqing Monastery. The vegetation in the four surrounding quarters bows and droops down toward the hall. Later, before the Maitreya image at Shicheng Monastery, he made his vows and passed away. After his decease, Guanding dreamed that his master was in the Inner Court of Tuṣita. (Drawn from separate records.)