景德傳燈錄 27.7

27.7

In the second year of the Tianjia era of the Chen dynasty, the Mahāsattva was circumambulating the intertwined trees on the summit of Songshan and practicing the Way. He moved the seven Buddhas to accompany him: Śākyamuni led in front, and Vimalakīrti followed behind. Only the World-Honoured One Śākyamuni repeatedly looked back and spoke with him, as [Fu Xi] was to succeed him as the next Buddha. A yellow cloud suddenly arose on the mountain, swirling like an umbrella canopy; hence it was called Mount Yunhuang. At that time, Dharma Master Huihe died without sickness, and the dhūta Song entered extinction at Lingyan Temple on Mount Ke. The Mahāsattva knew this in advance and said: "Venerable Song awaits me in Tuṣita; I definitely cannot linger for long." At that time, the flowering trees on the four sides, which were just flourishing and bearing fruit, suddenly withered and dried up. On the twenty-fourth day of the fourth month of the first year of the Taijian era, a jichou year, he instructed the assembly, saying: "This body is utterly detestable, a gathering of manifold sufferings. You must be cautious with the three karmas and vigorously practice the six perfections. If you fall into hell, it will be exceedingly difficult to escape; you must constantly repent." He also said: "After I depart, my couch must not be moved. In seven days, the Superior Person Fameng will bring an image and a bell to enshrine here." The disciples asked, "After your extinction, how should your physical body be treated?" He said, "Burn it on the mountaintop." They asked again, "What if that cannot be carried out?" He said, "Be sure not to place it in a coffin. Merely stack bricks to make an altar and move the corpse upon it. Encircle it with screens and cover it with crimson gauze. Erect a stupa above, with an image of Maitreya placed below it." They asked again, "When all Buddhas enter nirvāṇa, they speak of their merits. May we hear the source from which our Master arose?" He said: "I have come from the Fourth Heaven to liberate all of you, as the next in succession to Śākyamuni. Fu Pumin was Mañjuśrī, Huiji was Avalokiteśvara, and He Chang was Ānanda, who have all come together to assist me. Therefore, the Large Perfection of Wisdom Sūtra says: 'There is a bodhisattva who comes from Tuṣita, whose faculties are keen and sharp, and who swiftly accords with prajñā.' That is indeed myself." Having spoken these words, he sat cross-legged and died. His lifespan was seventy-three years. Soon after, Master Meng indeed brought an image of Maitreya woven of silk and a nine-boss bell, leaving them to enshrine the site, and vanished in an instant. More than ten requisites of the Mahāsattva were preserved. On the seventeenth day of the sixth month of the ninth year of the Tianfu era of the Jin dynasty, a jiachen year, King Qian dispatched an envoy to open the stupa, retrieve sixteen pieces of holy relics of purple-golden color and his requisites, and deposit them at Jianhua Temple on Longshan, south of the prefectural seat, and fashioned an image using the holy relics.