廣弘明集 19.54

19.54

His Majesty loved and esteemed the Great Vehicle, roaming freely through the treasury of the Dharma. He aligned with the Way and accorded with the truth, holding the dhāraṇī close to his heart. In person he gave voice to sovereign words, which were wondrous beyond silk cords and jade seals; they guided as a far-reaching snare for clarifying the mind, and marked the wondrous bent of understanding emptiness. He therefore had it set forth on emerald silk and engraved in golden seal-script. Adorned completely with manifold treasures, each item was of unsurpassed price. The lingzhi's beauty yielded to its artistry; gold and emerald outshone one another. Though the glorious luminescence that assisted the Yellow River Chart was wondrous, compared with this it was no omen; the celestials' tablets of green jade are in this surpassed. The Crown Prince, taking advantage of a day free from the ten thousand affairs and availing himself of a moment of leisure between court audiences, longed to hear the grand exposition as if yearning for the balmy breeze. He earnestly submitted a petition, and only then was it granted. On the twenty-sixth day, jiashen, of the second month, jiwei being the first day, in the guichou year, the fifth year of the Zhongdatong reign era, the imperial carriage went out through Datong Gate to visit Tongtai Temple to begin the lectures. A great non-discriminating assembly of monastics and laity was established. Ten thousand steeds galloped like dragons, a thousand carriages stirred like thunder. The heavenly music completed nine movements, and the Brahmā sounds converged from four sides. Resounding and vast, clouds of dust reached the sky, as they approached the bodhimaṇḍa and established the field of merit. Soon the dragon robe was laid aside, and the monastic robes were donned for the august presence. The hall was adorned with purple and blue, and the seat rivalled the high and broad throne. The celestial realms could not equal it, and novice scholars could not ascend it. The Heavenly Countenance was serene, and the imperial pronouncements were issued. He unfolded swift and sharp eloquence, and galloped through fearless phrases. The flowing axle was inexhaustible, and the linked rings spontaneously unlocked. According to whatever was asked, it was dissolved as ice. Obstructed meanings were together dispelled, and webs of doubt were utterly removed. It was just like a suspended mirror that conceals nothing, or a crossroads goblet awaiting someone to ladle it. In addition, the long mats spanned the steps, and capped officials gathered in thousands of groups. Filling the halls and overflowing the eaves, monastics piled up like mountains. Facing the side halls, shoulders pressed against shoulders; encircling the high corridors, they sat side by side. There was no room even to stand an awl, nor ground to place a thorn. Receiving the universal soaking of the Dharma rain, they delighted in the amṛta and forgot to return. It was like the hundred rivers rushing into the great sea, or the host of stars gazing up at the sun and moon. From the Crown Prince and princes down to the Palace Attendant and Minister of Works Yuan Ang and others, there were 698 people. The doctrinal monks presiding over the assembly, such as the Sangha Director Huiling, numbered 1,000. By day, they listened and received with one mind; by night, they further expounded the doctrinal meanings formulated. As for the other monks, nuns, the assembly of upāsakas, the assembly of upāsikās, male and female Daoist priests, and laymen and laywomen; envoys from Persia; envoys from Khotan; and surrendered people at the Northern Hostel: those assigned seats at the lecture hall and provided with rations numbered 319,642. Furthermore, of the armed guards of the two palaces on night duty, standing with feather-crested halberds and staying in golden armor, all were granted lecture meals and separately bestowed funds from the treasury; several tens of thousands more were not included among the audience. A foreign monk, Śāhāyaśa, nearly a hundred years of age, had been practicing dhyāna in Mount Daṇḍa. Hearing that there would be a great lecture in the Middle Kingdom, he came from afar; the response of their faculties had connected in advance, spanning ten thousand miles as if a single foot. Because their tongues could not communicate, it was proclaimed through double interpreters. The sage's mind shed light from afar upon his understanding of the Tripiṭaka. Moreover, the Persian chief envoy, Anjuwei, a barbarian from a remote and desolate region, was invited to take a near seat. Touching his head to the ground with bared crown, he joyfully received what he had never heard. Many of them renounced household life, deeming it precious to hear the doctrine: four people had their hair shaved at the same time. Prior to this, Dharma Master Baozhi possessed unfathomable supernormal powers and very many spiritual traces, which have their own separate biography. In the first year of the Tianjian reign era, when the Emperor first gloriously possessed the realm, he had just turned his attention to ritual and music and had no leisure for the lofty retreat of Fenyang. In the ninth month of that year, the Dharma Master personally held a deer-tail fan and an iron khakkhara to present to the Emperor, without saying a word. The Emperor did not take his meaning either. It has now been more than thirty years since then. The handle of that fan was tied with a small cord, where he regularly held and grasped it; the marks of his fingers remain just as they were. When it came to this occasion, His Majesty sounded the staff, ascended the hall, and held the fan to deliver the lecture. Thus one knows that shaking the great chiliocosm and roaring the Dharma indeed had a secret correspondence. At that time, it was fragrant spring. Every evening rain poured down, but as the Dharma drum sounded at dawn, it invariably turned clear and bright. When more than two decades of days had passed, full three sevens of days, the gentle warmth of the yang force matched the seasons, and the clouds and sun shone with auspicious omens. When the day came to conclude the lecture, the fourfold assembly gathered like clouds. As the repentance ritual had just concluded, the great statues of the ten directions in the main hall suddenly emitted bright light, starting between their brows and spreading around the swastikas on their chests. The spiritual marks shone forth, and the golden forms were dazzlingly brilliant. Shortly after, the statues of the bodhisattvas of the ten directions on the left side sequentially emitted light again, starting from the lower right ear down to the shoulder. His Sacred Majesty personally prostrated with reverence, and the great assembly all beheld it. Thus one knows that the appearance of light from these faces verified the doctrines expounded. Now, just as the disciple of vast learning [Ānanda] handed down the sage's legacy within, and the Scribe of the Right recorded the words of the Emperor as a sovereign model, imperial attendants were commanded to compile and record the events of the time. Every inquiry raised was completely noted. Sometimes, after a thorough explanation had long passed, doubts and clarifications were only then brought forward; sometimes, before the main thesis had opened, requests were already submitted. Those subsequent queries were all things harbored from their prior training. Sometimes, across different days and hours, doctrines were settled earlier or later; or though dialogue was exchanged back and forth, it all stemmed from a single question. His Majesty’s sacred intentions responded to each direction, just as an echo answers a sound. That he regarded the ten thousand things as his own mind was manifested in this. Later scholars should comprehend this principle. His Majesty had propagated the Dharma for many years. All the student monks gathered from near and far, converging in the capital. Yet the learning of the monastic order followed master-disciple traditions, relying only on verbal transmission and solely trusting the work of the ear; few could examine the sūtra texts to seek the definitive meaning. His Majesty would always provide an overarching explanation for them: when their spirits were bewildered, his comprehension had already preceded their words. Just citing textual phrases, he would reach several tens of passages; his meticulousness, clarity, and richness were such that none could catch up to or grasp them. The monks of the old learning felt as dim as if a candle had been removed, disheartened and tongue-tied—there was none who was not so. The ten thousand gathered looked up in reverence, their hearts rejoicing at once. Things such as this cannot be described by brush and ink. Furthermore, what the foreign monks debated did not necessarily concern the thesis established; they simply brought long-held inner doubts to seek resolution. Some spoke verses and only then made inquiries; some, having completed their questioning, offered praises and made vows; some finished speaking and returned to their seats, unknown to all in the assembly; some went away immediately after inquiring, with no one knowing where they were. Their appearance and dress were extraordinary; it was hard to tell whether they were ordinary or holy. In this lecture, the Crown Prince originally requested only seven days. As the monks looked up with deep aspiration and could not bear to stop, he petitioned again and was granted another two weeks. Yet the assembly seeking further instruction was yearning unceasingly. Because state affairs had long been suspended, His Majesty did not grant their request. As he was about to conclude the lecture series, the Emperor relinquished wealth and gave universal donations: coins, silk, silver, tin staffs, and other articles of 201 kinds, worth 10,960,000 cash.