華嚴經傳記 3.10

3.10

Shi Zhiyan, surnamed Zhao, was a native of Tianshui. His great-great-grandfather Hong was lofty in his ambitions. His father Jing was an administrative officer (lushi canjun) of Shenzhou. When his mother first conceived, she dreamt that an Indian monk holding a pewter staff said to her, "You should quickly observe the precepts and purify your body and mind." She then awoke with a start, smelled an extraordinary fragrance, and became pregnant. When Yan was several years old, he was markedly distinct from ordinary boys. Sometimes he would pile up clumps of earth to make stupas, or weave flowers into canopies, or lead his peers as an audience while acting as Dharma master himself. His innate wisdom planted in past lives was entirely of this kind. At the age of twelve, there was the divine monk Dushun, who without prior notice suddenly entered his house. Stroking Yan's head, he said to Jing, "This is my son; you may return him to me." His parents, knowing that Dushun possessed the Way, were delighted and did not begrudge him. Shun immediately entrusted Yan to his senior disciple, Dharma Master Da, ordering him to instruct him. Day and night Yan recited and upheld texts, never needing to ask a second time. Later, two Indian monks happened to visit Zhixiang[si]. Seeing that Yan was exceptionally spirited, they taught him the Sanskrit script, which he mastered in no time. The Indian monks said to the assembly of monks, "This child will become a master craftsman in propagating the Dharma." At the age of barely fourteen, he already entered the clerical ranks. At that time, the Sui dynasty's fortunes were drawing to a close, and the people were starving. Although Yan was still a youth, his resolve was all the more resolute. Later, he relied on Dharma Master Chang to listen to the Mahāyānasaṃgraha. In less than several years, his verbal comprehension became refined and subtle. Often, when dragons and elephants (great monks) gathered in abundance, Master Chang had him establish the thesis. At that time there was Dharma Master Bian, who was the standard of the arcane gate. Wishing to observe Yan's extraordinary vessel, he personally challenged and debated him. In repeated inquiries and cross-examinations, Yan's words and reasoning became all the more paramount. All admired his insightful awakening, calling him a sage endowed by Heaven. After receiving full ordination, he heard the Four-Part Vinaya, the Kātyāyanābhidharma, the Satyasiddhi, the Daśabhūmika, the Bodhisattvabhūmi, the Nirvāṇa, and other scriptures. Later, at the place of Dharma Master Lin, he extensively studied the examination of mind, searching into the hidden and exploring the subtle, and was acclaimed at the time for grasping their purports. Considering the Dharma gates to be manifold and vast, and the ocean of wisdom fathomless, Yan felt like one attempting to align a compass without knowing where to place it. He thereupon went before the canon of scriptures, bowed, made a vow, and drew at random with his hand, obtaining the first fascicle of the Avataṃsaka. He immediately listened to and received this scripture under Dharma Master Zhizheng of that monastery. Although reviewing what he had previously heard, he constantly harbored new insights. Though hot and cold seasons repeatedly shifted, his doubts were not yet resolved. He then comprehensively examined the canon of scriptures, investigating the various commentaries. Coming upon the commentaries by Vinaya Master Guangtong, they slightly opened up an extraordinary path, indicating that the Distinct Teaching of the Ekayāna is inexhaustible conditioned arising; he was delighted and appreciative, having gained a rough outline. Later he met an extraordinary monk who came and said to him, "If you wish to attain an understanding of the Ekayāna meaning, do not take lightly the doctrine of the six characteristics within the ten grounds! You should collect yourself in quiet contemplation for one or two months; then you will understand it naturally." Having finished speaking, he suddenly disappeared. Yan was startled and awed for a long time. Thereupon he refined and investigated it, and before many months had passed, he experienced a great opening. He thereupon established the teachings and classified the lineages, composing a commentary on this scripture, being twenty-seven years of age at the time. Furthermore, he practiced the Way for seven nights, praying for confirmation of what was right and wrong. Whereupon he dreamt of a divine youth who bestowed profound seal of approval. Yet he lingered in the grassy marshes, not competing in his generation. Only when he reached old age was he prevailed upon to propagate the teachings. The imperial heir, formerly enfeoffed as the Prince of Pei, personally acted as the host of the lectures, repeatedly commanding his princely bureau to make abundant provisions; thus the wheel of Dharma was turned without cease, thanks to his support. Furthermore, Yan was adept in various affairs, rich in literary talent and multifaceted skills. He produced a painting of the Padmagarbha World, which was something unheard of from ancient times to the present east of the Pamirs. In the first year of the Zongzhang reign era (668), he dreamt that the Prajñā Terrace of the monastery collapsed. His disciple Huixiao also dreamt of ascending a high banner that reached up to the clouds, the jewel atop the banner shining as bright as the morning sun; gradually it moved, entering the capital, and then collapsed. Yan, aware himself that the time for his spirit's departure had come, told his disciples, "This illusory body of mine arises from conditions and lacks intrinsic nature. Now I shall temporarily go to the pure realm, and later wander in the Padmagarbha World. All of you who follow me should also share this aspiration." Soon after, on the night of the twenty-ninth day of the tenth month, with his demeanor as normal, he lay on his right side and passed away at Qingjingsi, at the age of sixty-seven. At that time, there was someone cultivating the pure realm who, that night, heard fragrance and music in the sky coming from the west and returning after a brief while; he took it to be evidence of a person of great blessings and virtues being reborn there. Inquiring the next morning, he indeed found that it corresponded. The doctrinal commentaries authored by Yan explaining various scriptures and treatises numbered more than twenty works in all; all were concise in sentences and phrases, yet revealed the luminous and novel; therefore, those who could enter his gate were few indeed. His disciples included Huaiji and Xianshou. Recently, in the Yonglong reign era (680–681), Guo Shenliang, a native of Chang'an County in Yongzhou, whose brahma-conduct was pure, suddenly suffered an acute illness and died. Various devas led him to the Tuṣita Palace to pay homage to Maitreya. There was a bodhisattva who said to Liang, "Why do you not uphold the Avataṃsaka?" He replied, "Because there is no one lecturing on it." The bodhisattva said, "Someone is currently lecturing on it; why do you say there is no one?" Liang later revived, and fully recounted this matter to Dharma Master Bochen. Appraising it by this, [Xian]shou's magnificent turning of the wheel of Dharma follows in the footsteps [of his master] and participates in the subtle. Huaiji flowered but bore no fruit, departing early to the nether realms. The Sagely and Divine Emperor of the Great Zhou planted the seeds of the Way for dust-speck kalpas, deservedly acclaimed by hundreds of millions. Receiving the prophecy in the Great Cloud, she turns the golden wheel to govern; corresponding to the records of the River Chart, she strikes the jade drum to oversee. Being holy and divine, she wields the six supernormal powers inexhaustibly; being utterly good and utterly beautiful, she unfolds the transformation of the ten virtues without limit. Loosing the nets and weeping for the guilty, she surpasses the Xia and outstrips the Yin. Thereupon she tours the earthen mounds of Xiangcheng along the Fen River, while comparing the sun of wisdom to mere drams and grains. Therefore, from rubbing the crown to touching the heels, she directs her energy to the Ten Powers; grasping her hair and spitting out her food, she entrusts herself to the Four Refuges. Casting bronze and carving sandalwood, she reflects the rosy glow across thousands of gates; riding bowls and shaking pewter staffs, [monks] gather like mists within the ninefold palace. Even the extraordinary responses under the Han and Wei, or the profound faith under the Liang and Qi, how could they be sufficient to compare? As for opening the jewel treasury of the Dragon Palace and welcoming the heroic and eminent through the elephant doors, days and months follow one another, seasons and years never ceasing. Praising the Buddha's virtues and singing the Dharma words, strings and pipes overflow, brush and ink pile up in profusion. On the night of the seventh day of the first month in the first year of the Yongchang reign era (689), she decreed the monks and others to erect an Avataṃsaka high seat and eight-assembly bodhimanda at the North Gate of Xuanwu to expound the subtle scripture of the Vaipulya. On the eighth day, several thousand monks and nuns jointly held a vegetarian feast. At that time, the officials storing ice obtained a block of auspicious ice, inside of which appeared twin pagodas. Over a foot high, their tiers were naturally formed, white-silver in color, complete in shape and features, and luminously transparent. By imperial decree it was shown to the monks, and the great assembly marvelled in astonishment, prostrating with tears of joy, all proclaiming it to be evoked by sagely virtue, truly a rare and auspicious omen. The sovereign thereupon composed a poem on listening to the Avataṃsaka together with a preface, which read: "Taking a brief respite from affairs, I listened to the lecture on the Avataṃsaka, observing the vastness of debating wisdom and witnessing the pacing of dragons and elephants. Having aided my cultivation and suddenly resolved deep doubts, I express what I cherish in my heart and compose this short piece." The poem ran: "The Dharma seat opens the Vaipulya; / Monks in black fill the splendid banquet. / The holy assembly gathers like clouds; / Heavenly flowers shine fresh in the sun. / The seat unfolds flowers of a thousand petals; / Incense draws smoke light as six zhu. / The bell's sound is heard in the Highest Heaven (Bhavāgra); / Sanskrit tones resonate without end. / With one voice the subtle meaning is proclaimed; / In seven places it is propagated again and again. / Mind-only illumines the eight assemblies; / Purifying the vessel, one embodies the three dhyānas. / Having awakened to neither arising nor ceasing, / One ever rejoices in the Buddha appearing before oneself." Thereupon in the Padmagarbha World, the surges of the sāgaramudrā pour forth; in lands of fine dust motes, the net of Indra is entered. In the midst of myriad state affairs, Her Sagely Majesty takes pity on the multitude, brightening the seven limbs of awakening to awaken those at the confused ford, and brandishing the four unobstructed knowledges to startle worldly customs. Reaching the peak of the arcane gate, she stands uniquely prominent across the realm; her refined comprehension entering the spiritual, she stands solitary beyond the bounds. Expounding the subtle with one voice, it is truly what has never been heard before; propagating across seven places, it is truly what has never been seen before. How could this be mentioned in the same breath with Empress Ma's praise of the Changes or Empress Deng's mastery of the Odes?