淨土往生傳 1.11

1.11

Shi Huigong, whose lay surname was Gong, was a native of Fengcheng in Yuzhang. Ever since he entered the Buddhist order, he was on terms of closest friendship with the three Dharma masters Sengguang, Huikan, and Huilan. In diligent scholarship Lan and the others were hardly a match for Gong, yet regarding the Pure Land, they cultivated and immersed themselves deeply, anchoring their aspirations and reflections there; Gong did not match them in this. Lan once said to him, “Does your diligent learning and vast erudition truly aid you on the Buddha-path? It is merely a deaf man playing music. Have you not heard the clear reproach of the sage? Will you bear that reproach?” Gong replied, “Why should that be so? Learning cannot be abandoned—this is the consensus of wise men. Who, before dying, would willingly remain dim-witted like a fool?” Seven years later, Lan and the others all passed away, and at their deaths each had prior omens. Five years later—in the eleventh year of the Yixi reign-era of the Jin dynasty—Gong fell ill. During his illness he reflected repeatedly: “Lan and the others have already died, whereas I am entangled and oppressed by the suffering of sickness, agitated and without any reliance.” He then said, “Swept along through the six destinies, where will it ever stop?” As his condition grew critical, he further lamented, “Between death and birth, going and coming, where shall I return?” Thereupon he knocked his head until it bled and pledged his resolve to Anyang; though his illness and suffering were extreme, his mindfulness never lapsed for an instant. One day he beheld with his own eyes the Buddha Amitāyus advancing to welcome him with a purple-golden dais. Gong felt his body mount that golden dais, from which light streamed forth like clusters of various jewels. He also saw Sengguang, Huikan, and Huilan of former days amidst that light, who joyfully said to him, “The place of the Elder's rebirth is already in the superior grade! The feelings in our hearts are beyond consoling and delighting. We only reflect that your delay in the five defilements has made our reunion in the Pure Land so late.” On that day, Gong suddenly felt his body and mind freed from all pain. He exerted himself to rise, spoke of this, and then expired.