淨土往生傳 3.4

3.4

釋辯才。俗姓李襄陽人。母氏懷之。倏惡葷茹。至其誕夕。香氣盈室。七歲依峴山寂禪師出家。十六落髮。隷本州大雲寺。次乃周遊列郡。博窮經籍。後聞長安安國寺懷威律師法門。具瞻身就請業。遂有大成。唐天寶十四年。玄宗皇帝。以北方之人稟。氣剛毅積成風俗。列剎之中。多習騎射詔。才為教誡。臨壇以調習之。至德初肅宗即位。宰臣杜鴻漸等。奏住龍興寺。詔加朔方管內教授。俾其訓勵。以革訛風。祿山干紀血腥河洛。才乃託疾。絕音不語凡三年。祿山兵敗。肅宗疊降璽書。以形褒美。大曆三載。詔充章信寺大德。時府帥虢國常公。與護戎任公。雖仰才名未揖。其實及親道論。彌加心服。才於淨土。潛修密進二十許年。未甞言於人。及交任公乃曰。才以幻身。已及頹齡。齡盡身死。必生淨土。期遂所生非十年耶。十三年秋有疾。至于暮冬八日。謂弟子曰。汝詣任公言之。向之所期已及十年。公無忘焉。弟子以其言白之。公曰。豈師之別我耶。驟約常公省問之。二公及門。或報之曰。任公至也。才曰。至則吾其去矣。乃自趺坐。湛然云滅。時邑子石顒。從役城上聞其音樂西來合奏。又聞諸妙香氣。由西散下至清于旦。益又盛之。

Shi Biancai's secular surname was Li, and he was a native of Xiangyang. When his mother was pregnant with him, she suddenly abhorred meat and pungent foods. On the night of his birth, a fragrant aroma filled the room. At the age of seven, he went forth under Chan Master Ji of Mount Xian. At sixteen, he shaved his head and was registered at Dayun Monastery in his home prefecture. Next, he traveled widely through various commanderies, thoroughly investigating the scriptures and texts. Later, hearing of the Dharma gate of Vinaya Master Huaiwei of Anguo Monastery in Chang'an, he gazed up to him and went in person to request instruction, whereupon he attained great accomplishment. In the fourteenth year of Tianbao of the Tang, Emperor Xuanzong, considering that the people of the north were endowed with a fierce and resolute disposition which had formed into a custom, and that many in the monasteries practiced riding and archery, decreed that Biancai serve as an instructor, ascending the platform to train and tame them. Early in the Zhide era, when Emperor Suzong ascended the throne, the Chief Minister Du Hongjian and others memorialized that he reside at Longxing Monastery, and an imperial decree added the post of Instructor within the Shuofang Jurisdiction so that he might admonish and encourage them in order to reform the corrupt customs. When An Lushan rebelled against the dynasty, shedding blood along the Yellow and Luo rivers, Biancai feigned illness, cut off all sound, and did not speak for three years. After An Lushan's troops were defeated, Emperor Suzong repeatedly issued imperial edicts to express praise. In the third year of Dali, an imperial decree appointed him as a Great Virtuous One of Zhangxin Monastery. At that time, the Prefectural Commander Lord Chang of the Guo State and the Defense Commissioner Lord Ren, though admiring Biancai's reputation, had not yet bowed in greeting to him in person; when they personally discussed the Way with him, their admiration deepened even more. Regarding the Pure Land, Biancai had practiced secretly and made hidden progress for some twenty years without ever speaking of it to others. When interacting with Lord Ren, he then said: "With this phantom body, I have already reached declining years. When my years are exhausted and my body dies, I will surely be born in the Pure Land. The period for fulfilling this rebirth—will it not be ten years?" In the autumn of the thirteenth year, he fell ill. When it reached the eighth day of late winter, he said to his disciples: "Go to Lord Ren and tell him: 'The period that was previously promised has now reached ten years. May your Lordship not forget it.'" The disciples reported his words, and Lord Ren said: "Could the Master be bidding farewell to me?" He hastily made an appointment with Lord Chang to go and inquire after him. When the two lords reached the gate, someone reported: "Lord Ren has arrived." Biancai said: "Since he has arrived, I shall depart." He then sat cross-legged and serenely passed away. At that time, Shi Yong, a townsman serving on the city wall, heard music coming from the west played in ensemble, and also smelled various wondrous fragrances drifting down from the west, which grew even more intense by the clear morning.