淨土往生傳 2.20

2.20

釋法持。俗姓張潤州江寧人也。九歲事青城山方禪師。天機秀發。動臻淵致。十三依黃梅忍大師得心焉。尋歸青城。事方禪師。更明宗極。自是四方學徒。翕相歸慕。聲望日隆聞于海外。黃梅謝世。甞與眾曰。後之傳吾法者十人。金陵法持即其一也。持於淨土。以繫于念。凡九年。俯仰進止。必資觀想。長安二年九月五日。終于延福寺。未終前。一日謂弟子智威曰。吾生之日。不能以淨土開誘群物。吾死之後。可宜露骸松下。令諸禽獸食血肉者起淨土因。汝其念之。智威曰。謹奉明教。及其死也。威與郡人具威儀。迎於松下。如持旨焉。寺僧其日。有見神幡數十首閃日西下。幡出異光。以燭其室。持之先居。幽棲故寺竹林。亦皆變白焉。

Shi Fachi, whose secular surname was Zhang, was a man of Jiangning in Runzhou. At the age of nine, he served Dhyāna Master Fang of Mount Qingcheng; his natural endowment was brilliant, and his every action attained profound depth. At thirteen, he relied on Great Master Ren of Huangmei and attained the mind[-transmission]. Soon he returned to Qingcheng to serve Dhyāna Master Fang, further clarifying the ultimate tenet. From then on, students from all quarters gathered to admire and take refuge in him, and his renown grew daily, even heard across the seas. When Huangmei was about to pass away, he once said to the assembly, “There are ten people who will transmit my Dharma in the future, and Fachi of Jinling is one of them.” For nine years, Chi tied his mindfulness to the Pure Land; in every bodily movement, he always relied on contemplative visualization. On the fifth day of the ninth month in the second year of the Chang'an era, he died at Yanfu Monastery. Before passing away, he said one day to his disciple Zhiwei, “During my life, I was unable to guide and teach all beings through the Pure Land. After my death, you should expose my corpse beneath the pines, so that the beasts and birds that eat my flesh and blood may generate the causes for the Pure Land. Keep this in mind.” Zhiwei said, “I will respectfully obey your clear instruction.” When he died, Wei and the people of the commandery prepared the full ceremonial procession and escorted his body to beneath the pines, just as Chi had willed. On that day, some monks of the monastery saw several tens of divine banners fluttering in the sunlight as they descended toward the west, casting extraordinary light that illuminated his room. The bamboo grove at Chi’s former residence, the old Youqi Monastery, also all turned white.