淨土往生傳 2.21

2.21

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.