三寶感應要略錄 2.7

2.7

釋靈幹。每講花嚴。遠近涼燠。開皇十七年。遇疾悶絕。唯心不冷。未敢藏殯。後醒云。我生兜率天。見休遠二法師。並座花臺。光侇絕世。謂幹曰。汝與我諸弟子。復皆生此矣。至十八年正月卒於寺。春秋七十有八。乃火葬於終南之陰。初幹志奉花嚴。常依本作蓮花藏世界海觀。及彌勒天宮觀。至于疾甚。目精上視。不與人對。久乃如常。沙門童真。問疾在側。幹謂真曰。向見青衣童子引至兜率天宮。而天樂非久。終墜輪迴。蓮花藏是所圖也。不久氣絕。須臾復童真問。何所見耶。幹曰。見大水遍滿。花如車輪。幹坐其上。所願滿足。尋爾便車矣。

Whenever the Śākya Linggan lectured on the Avataṃsaka, far and near were cooled or warmed [accordingly]. In the seventeenth year of the Kaihuang era [597], he fell ill and swooned away into unconsciousness; only his heart remained warm, so they dared not inter him. Later he awoke and said: 'I was born in Tuṣita Heaven, where I saw the two Dharma masters Huiyuan and Tanyou, sitting side by side on a lotus platform, their brilliance peerless in the world. They said to Gan, "You and my disciples will all be born here again!"' In the first month of the eighteenth year [598], he died at the monastery at the age of seventy-eight, and was cremated on the northern side of Mount Zhongnan. Earlier, Gan had dedicated his will to honoring the Avataṃsaka, and frequently based himself on the text to contemplate the Ocean of the Lotus Treasury World, as well as the contemplation of Maitreya's heavenly palace. When his illness became severe, his pupils stared upward and he did not respond to people. After a long while, he returned to normal. The śramaṇa Tongzhen, who was at his side inquiring after his illness, was addressed by Gan: 'Just now I saw a blue-clad youth lead me to the Tuṣita heavenly palace. However, heavenly pleasure does not last long; in the end one falls back into saṃsāra. The Lotus Treasury is what I aim for.' Shortly thereafter his breath ceased. In a moment, Tongzhen asked again, 'What did you see?' Gan said: 'I saw great waters filling everywhere, with a flower like a chariot wheel; I sat atop it. My wish has been completely fulfilled.' Soon thereafter he expired.