淨土往生傳 2.13

2.13

釋灌頂。字法雲俗姓吳。常州義興人。五世祖避地東甌。因家臨海之章安。頂於孩抱之間。母稱佛法僧名。口必和之。文字聲勢。歷歷可聽。攝淨寺慧拯法師。聞之曰。此真宿習也爾矣。七歲為拯弟子。日承訓勗。驟有所成。洎拯厭世。訪道天台。資習戒定。罔失規緒。陳至德中。從智者居光宅。陳氏失馭。事歸隋氏。開皇十一年。晉王出鎮楊州。頂隨智者止禪眾寺。既三年。智者迴軫。頂亦附之十七年。智者有疾。頂受遺囑。及別晉王信物。王甞請戒於顗。暨頂之至。大起愴悼。因以善業。推為法親。續遣楊州總管府司馬王弘。送頂還山。仍為智者創國清寺。仁壽元年。晉王入嗣。頂承天睠。日加隆盛。寺宇臺殿。更增完葺。尋詔入內。講淨名法華等經。三夏闡弘。六宮仰止。又二年。頂歸天台。至唐真觀六年八月七日。終于國清寺。春秋七十二。初頂有疾。室有異香。頂喜曰。此寶蓮之香氣。吾其乘之而去矣。因之像前。十稱阿彌陀佛。三稱觀音勢至二菩薩。及清淨海眾諸菩薩。旋乃就席。累手當心。儼然如歸。

Shi Guanding, styled Fayun, whose secular surname was Wu, was a native of Yixing in Changzhou. His fifth-generation ancestor had fled to Dong'ou, and thus his family settled in Zhang'an of Linhai. When Guanding was still an infant in arms, whenever his mother pronounced the names of the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha, his mouth would inevitably echo them; the words, sounds, and cadence could be heard distinctly. Dharma Master Huizheng of Shejing Monastery heard this and said, 'This is truly a habituated trait from past lives!' At the age of seven, he became Zheng's disciple; receiving daily instructions and exhortations, he quickly made progress. When Zheng passed away from the world, Guanding went to Tiantai to seek the Way, practicing the precepts and samādhi without ever deviating from the proper rules. During the Zhide era of the Chen dynasty, he accompanied the Master of Zhi (Zhiyi) to reside at Guangzhai. When the Chen lost rule and affairs fell under the Sui dynasty, in the eleventh year of Kaihuang, the Prince of Jin was stationed to govern Yangzhou; Guanding followed Zhiyi to stay at Chanzhong Monastery. After three years, when Zhiyi set his chariot to return, Guanding also accompanied him. In the seventeenth year, when Zhiyi was ill, Guanding received his final testament as well as tokens of farewell for the Prince of Jin. The prince had previously requested the precepts from Zhiyi, and when Guanding arrived, the prince gave rise to deep sorrow and mourning, and through virtuous deeds honored him as a spiritual relative. The prince subsequently dispatched Wang Hong, Marshall of the Yangzhou Area Command, to escort Guanding back to the mountain, and founded Guoqing Monastery for Zhiyi. In the first year of Renshou, the Prince of Jin succeeded to the throne, and Guanding received imperial favor that grew ever more flourishing day by day. The halls and pavilions of the monastery were further renovated and completed. Soon he was summoned to the imperial palace to lecture on sūtras such as the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa and Saddharmapuṇḍarīka; during the three summer months he expounded them broadly, and the six imperial palaces looked up to him with reverence. After another two years, Guanding returned to Tiantai. On the seventh day of the eighth month in the sixth year of Tang Zhenguan, he passed away at Guoqing Monastery at the age of seventy-two. At first, when Guanding fell ill, an extraordinary fragrance filled the room. Guanding rejoiced, saying, 'This is the fragrance of the jeweled lotus; I shall ride upon it and depart!' Thereupon, before the image, he recited the name of Amitābha Buddha ten times, and three times the names of the two bodhisattvas Avalokiteśvara and Mahāsthāmaprāpta, as well as the various bodhisattvas of the ocean-like assembly of pure beings. Then he took to his mat, folded his hands over his chest, and solemnly passed away as though returning home.