往生西方淨土瑞應傳 1.13

1.13

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."