廬山記 3.8

3.8

劉程之字仲思。彭城聚里人。漢楚元王之苗裔也。歷晉世至卿相。程之少孤事母。州閭稱孝。墳典百家靡不周覽。尤好佛理陳郡殷仲堪桓玄等諸賢。莫不崇仰。解褐府參軍。程之既慕遠公名德。欲白首同社。乃錄尋陽柴桑。以為入山之資。歲滿棄去。結廬西林。蔽以榛莽。義熙間公侯。復辟之皆不應。後易名遺民。遠公社賢推為上客。常貽書關中。與什肇二法師通好。揚搉經論。著念佛三昧詩。道德名實諸詞文義之華。一時所挹。凡居山十有二年。自正月感疾。便依念佛三昧。誦阿彌陀佛。至六月初。果見白毫相。次見佛真影。仍摩其頂。更作齋福。願速盡壽。又請僧讀無量壽法華經至二十七日。僧眾咸集。遺民曰。今逝矣。予氣盡。勿哭以相惱亂。又行香。請眾僧。供養釋迦文佛。以謝令我知有阿彌陀佛。今日願必迎接。少頃合掌。西向而逝。命子雍積土為墓。勿用棺槨。當時無不高仰。即義熙六年庚戌終。春秋五十七。

Liu Chengzhi, styled Zhongsi, was a man of Juli in Pengcheng, a descendant of King Yuan of Chu of the Han dynasty. Through successive generations under the Jin, his family held positions up to high ministers and councillors. Chengzhi was orphaned in youth and served his mother; the commanderies and villages praised his filial piety. There were none among the ancient records and the hundred philosophers that he had not examined comprehensively, and he was particularly fond of Buddhist principles. Worthies such as Yin Zhongkan and Huan Xuan of Chen Commandery all revered and looked up to him. He was appointed an aide in the military headquarters. Admiring Master Yuan's fame and virtue and wishing to grow old together in the same society, Chengzhi was registered at Chaisang in Xunyang to provide the resources for entering the mountain; when the year was completed, he cast it aside and left, building a cottage at Xilin and concealing it with brambles and thickets. During the Yixi era, when dukes and marquises repeatedly summoned him, he did not respond to any of them. Later he changed his name to Yimin (Hermit). Master Yuan and the worthies of the society honored him as an esteemed guest. He frequently sent letters to the Guanzhong region, cultivating friendly relations with the two Dharma masters Kumārajīva and Sengzhao, debating the sūtras and treatises, and composing 'Poems on the Samādhi of Mindfulness of the Buddha'. His writings on morality, fame, and reality were florid in literary grace and meaning, admired by his contemporaries. In all, he lived in the mountain for twelve years. From the first month he fell ill, and thereupon, relying upon the samādhi of mindfulness of the Buddha, he recited 'Amitābha Buddha'. By the beginning of the sixth month, he indeed saw the sign of the white curl of hair between the brows (ūrṇā-lakṣaṇa); next he saw the true shadow of the Buddha, who patted his crown. He further performed fasts and meritorious deeds, wishing to exhaust his life quickly. He also invited monks to read the Sūtra of Immeasurable Life and the Lotus Sūtra until the twenty-seventh day. When the assembly of monks gathered, Yimin said: 'Now I am departing. When my breath ceases, do not weep and disturb me.' He also circulated incense, invited the multitude of monks, and made offerings to Śākyamuni Buddha in gratitude for letting him know that there is Amitābha Buddha, [praying]: 'May he surely welcome me today!' Shortly after, he joined his palms, faced west, and passed away. He commanded his son Yong to pile earth to make a grave and not use inner or outer coffins. At that time, no one did not revere him. He died in the sixth year of Yixi, the year gengxu, at the age of fifty-seven.