[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [淨土往生傳](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2071) › 2.21 # 淨土往生傳 2.21 淨土往生傳 2.21 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [2.21](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2071.2.21) 釋慧日。俗姓辛東萊人。唐太宗朝得度。尋遇義淨三藏由西域迴。夙夜咨稟。大通佛乘。每聞淨說西域如來遺迹。飄飄然有萬程收往志。至則天大足中。汎舶遐邁東南海中凡三載。崑崙佛誓師子洲等諸國經過略盡。續至天竺。訪善知識一十三年。承受法訓。日無虛度。雪嶺雙林。又經四載。綿涉艱苦。深厭閻浮。因曰。何國何方有樂無苦。何法何行速得見佛。遍問天竺三藏。三藏皆讚淨土。又曰。淨土教主。悲深願廣。有欲生者。靡不遂願。日既聞之。喜躍自慰。迨至健馱羅國。其城東北有大山。山有觀音像。凡專祈請。多得現身。日乃絕食。七日畢命為請。至七日滿。夜且未央。觀音於空中。現紫金相。長一丈餘。坐寶蓮華。右手摩日頂曰。汝欲傳法利人。又欲生於彌陀國土。汝但繫念。孰不如願。汝亦當知。淨土法門。勝過諸行。說已無見。日以絕食日久。支體罷怠。由此輒復輕利。然日西邁至于東歸。總二十一年。所歷者七十餘國。開元七年達長安。進佛真容梵夾等。感悟帝心。帝旌其德。號慈愍三藏焉。然日之志。動在淨土。甞著淨土文記五卷。為時宗信。其為潛心誘俗。與道綽善導諸賢近之。天寶七年。卒於住寺。年六十九。全身葬於白鹿原之西嶺。未卒前三日自言。目擊蓮華如日輪焉。 > Shi Huiri, whose secular surname was Xin, was a man of Donglai. He was ordained during the reign of Emperor Taizong of the Tang. Soon after, he met Tripiṭaka Master Yijing returning from the Western Regions, and consulted him day and night, thoroughly mastering the Buddha vehicle. Whenever he heard Jing speak of the Tathāgata’s relics and traces in the Western Regions, he felt an airy lightness of spirit, having the aspiration to make a journey of ten thousand miles. By the Dazu era of Empress Wu Zetian, he boarded a ship and set off into the faraway southeastern seas for three years, passing through virtually all the countries such as Kunlun, Fo-shi (Śrīvijaya), and Lion Island (Siṃhala). Next he arrived in India, where he visited spiritual friends for thirteen years, receiving the teachings of the Dharma without letting a single day go to waste. In the Snowy Mountains (Himālaya) and the Twin Trees (Kuśinagara), he spent another four years, undergoing prolonged hardships, and developed a profound revulsion toward Jambudvīpa. Thereupon he asked, “Which country and which direction has joy without suffering? Which teaching and which practice will allow one to see the Buddha most swiftly?” He inquired of all the Tripiṭaka masters across India, and every one praised the Pure Land, also saying, “The Lord of the Teaching of the Pure Land has deep compassion and vast vows; whoever wishes to be born there, none will fail to have their wish fulfilled.” Having heard this, Ri leaped with joy and felt comforted. When he arrived in the kingdom of Gandhāra, there was a great mountain to the northeast of its city, atop which was an image of Avalokiteśvara; whenever one prayed with singular devotion, \[the bodhisattva\] would mostly manifest in bodily form. Ri thereupon fasted, praying with the devotion of his entire life for seven days. When the seven days were complete, in the late night, Avalokiteśvara appeared in the sky in a purple-golden form more than ten feet tall, seated on a jeweled lotus flower. Rubbing the crown of Ri’s head with his right hand, he said, “You wish to transmit the Dharma to benefit people, and you also wish to be born in Amitābha’s land. If you only tie your mindfulness to it, how could you fail to fulfill your wish? You should also know that the Pure Land gate surpasses all other practices.” Having spoken, he disappeared. Because Ri had fasted for many days, his limbs were weak and exhausted, but from this encounter he immediately regained lightness and vigor. Ri’s travels, from going west to returning east, totaled twenty-one years, during which he passed through more than seventy countries. In the seventh year of the Kaiyuan era, he arrived in Chang'an and presented authentic likenesses of the Buddha, Sanskrit palm-leaf manuscripts, and other items, deeply moving the Emperor's heart. The Emperor commended his virtue and bestowed upon him the title Tripiṭaka Master Cimin. Ri's mind was ever focused on the Pure Land, and he once composed a five-fascicle Pure Land Record, which was revered by his contemporaries. In his dedication to guiding the common people, he was close to the worthies Daochuo and Shandao. In the seventh year of the Tianbao era, he passed away at his dwelling monastery at the age of sixty-nine. His entire body was buried on the western ridge of Bailuyuan. Three days before passing away, he said himself that he had seen with his own eyes a lotus flower shaped like the solar disc. > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 2.20](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2071.2.20) - [Next: 2.22](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2071.2.22) - [Up: 2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2071.2) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2071~en-mt.2.21) — English, machine translation ## Linked texts (1) - [佛祖統紀](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2035.27.54) — 志磐, Classical Chinese --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2071.2.21](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2071.2.21) · Pramāṇa