淨土往生傳 2.18

2.18

釋功逈。俗姓邊東京浚儀人。年六歲即思出家。親屬阻抑。至于十六。始遂其志。殆其為僧。影不參俗二十年。甞依泰山入普賢懺行坐讚頌。而身不倚者三年。一旦普賢乘六牙象。以現其前。銀色境界。隨亦現之。逈知精誠之感也。益加砥礪。或謂逈曰。如來之教不傳。道俗之情無依。逈聞其說。亦曰。默思山林。蓋其獨善導達蒙瞽。乃為兼濟。如之何與山林之相守也。眾欣其意。請就本郡慧福寺。講勝鬘經。雖他經律。備亦講說。晚年專講法華。以為永業。甞著法華義疏五卷。或時講至藥草喻品。天輒降雨。前後五十餘過。皆有其應。以故汴人遇其亢旱。必俟講貫。乃有望焉。後撰佛地論及攝論等疏。疏之未成。逈曰。罄以凡情詮明聖教。願迴所詮得生安養。及其疏成。五色異光以照其室。寺僧驚歎。罔知所來。逈曰。此吾詮明聖教之驗也。又曰。吾以三毒之苦。常生厭離。由厭離之心。起增進之念。得於此時乘光見佛足矣。於是繫念西想。不食而終。

Shi Gongjiong, whose secular surname was Bian, was a man of Junyi in the Eastern Capital. At the age of six, he already wished to renounce household life, but his relatives prevented him; it was not until he was sixteen that he finally fulfilled his aspiration. When he became a monk, his shadow did not touch secular ways for twenty years. He once relied on Mount Tai to enter the practice of Samantabhadra's repentance: walking, sitting, praising, and reciting, without his body leaning against anything for three years. One day, Samantabhadra, riding a six-tusked elephant, appeared before him, and a silver-colored realm simultaneously manifested. Jiong knew this was an evocative response born of his devotion and sincerity, and he honed himself all the more. Someone said to Jiong, “If the Tathāgata’s teaching is not disseminated, the sentiments of monastics and laypeople will have nothing to rely on.” Hearing this, Jiong also said, “Silently meditating in the mountain forests is merely perfecting oneself alone; guiding and leading the blind is to benefit all together. How could I solely keep to the mountain forests?” The multitude rejoiced at his intention and invited him to go to Huifu Monastery in his home commandery to lecture on the Śrīmālādevī Sūtra. Although he also expounded other sūtras and vinayas, in his later years he focused exclusively on lecturing on the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka as his lifelong occupation. He once composed a five-fascicle commentary on the meaning of the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka. Sometimes, when he reached the chapter ‘Parable of the Medicinal Herbs,’ rain would invariably fall from the sky; this response occurred on more than fifty occasions before and after. For this reason, whenever the people of Bian encountered a severe drought, they would wait for him to lecture on it, whereupon their hopes would be met. Later, he drafted commentaries on the Buddhabhūmi-śāstra, the Mahāyānasaṃgraha, and other works. Before the commentaries were completed, Jiong said, “I have exhausted my ordinary mind to elucidate the sacred teaching; I vow to transfer the merit of what I have expounded toward attaining rebirth in Anyang.” When the commentaries were finished, extraordinary five-colored light shone into his room. The monks of the monastery marveled in astonishment, not knowing where it came from. Jiong said, “This is the verification of my elucidation of the sacred teaching.” He also said, “Because of the suffering of the three poisons, I have constantly cultivated revulsion and renunciation. Arising from this mind of revulsion and renunciation, my determination to progress has grown. If I can now ride this light to see the Buddha, that is sufficient.” Thereupon, keeping his mindfulness fixed in contemplating the west, he ceased eating and passed away.