淨土往生傳 2.18

2.18

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.