往生西方淨土瑞應傳 1.13

1.13

後周朝靜靄禪師在俗時。入寺見地獄變相。謂同輩曰。審業如之。誰免斯苦。遂白母出家。常居林野。僧眾問曰。師應處世接化。乃喪德林泉。靄曰。道貴行用。不即在人餘。觀時進退。且隱居耳。屬周武帝滅佛法。靄恨無力護法。告弟子曰。吾無益於世。當捨自身。跏趺盤石。駐納衣。乃自割衣。手足段布於石上。引膓胃掛於樹枝。仍以刀割心。捧之而卒。遺書曰。諸有緣者。於佛法中。莫生退轉。必扶善利。吾以三緣捨此身命。一者自見多過。二者不能護法。三者欲速見佛。乃述偈曰。願諸眾生。聞我捨身。天耳成就。菩提究竟。此身不淨底。下屎囊。九孔出。如滿堤塘。捨身穢形。願生淨土。一念花開。彌陀佛所。

When Dhyāna Master Jing'ai of the Northern Zhou dynasty was a layman, he entered a temple, saw depictions of the hells, and said to his peers, "If karmic effects are truly like this, who can escape such suffering?" He thereupon informed his mother and went forth from home. He always lived in the forests and wilderness. The monastic assembly asked, "Master, you should abide in the world to receive and transform beings; why waste your virtue among the forests and springs?" Jing'ai said, "The Way values practical application; it does not depend on others. Observing the times for advancement and retreat, I shall just remain in seclusion for now." When Emperor Wu of the Zhou suppressed the Buddha's Dharma, Jing'ai lamented having no power to protect the Dharma. He told his disciples, "I am of no benefit to the world; I should abandon my own body." Sitting cross-legged on a flat rock, he took off his patchwork robe, cut up his robes, and arranged his hands and feet in sections upon the rock. He pulled out his intestines and stomach and hung them on tree branches; then, using a knife to cut out his heart, he held it in his hands and died. His farewell letter said: "May all who have karmic affinity not give rise to regression within the Buddha's Dharma, but surely support good benefits. I abandon this body and life for three reasons: first, seeing my own many faults; second, inability to protect the Dharma; third, the desire to see the Buddha quickly." He then composed a verse: / "May all sentient beings, / Hearing of my abandoning the body, / Accomplish divyā śrotra, / And attain ultimate bodhi. / This body is foul to the bottom, / A bag of descending feces; / Flowing from its nine apertures, / Like a dyke overflowing. / Abandoning this body's filthy form, / I vow to be reborn in the Pure Land; / With a single thought the flower opens, / In the presence of Amitābha Buddha."