法苑珠林 22.44

22.44

At Zhiyuan Temple in the Song capital there was the Śākya [monk] Zhiyan. He was a man of Western Liangzhou. He went forth at the capping age (twenty), and immediately became renowned for his diligence. He traveled throughout the Western countries, inquiring about and receiving the methods of dhyāna. He was thoroughly versed in the sūtras and treatises, with few equals. He returned from the Western Regions, but before he could translate and copy the sūtras and treatises he had obtained, by the fourth year of the Yuanjia era of the Song (427 CE), he translated them together with Baoyun and others. He did not accept private invitations, sustaining himself solely by alms-begging (piṇḍapāta). His teaching of the Way had spiritual resonance, subduing both the unseen and the manifest. A person who could see ghosts said that he saw ghosts in the Grand Altar of the Soil in Xizhou talking to one another, saying, “When Lord Yan arrives, we must make way.” This person did not understand it. Shortly after, Zhiyan arrived. Casually asking his name, he indeed claimed to be Zhiyan; the man silently noted it and secretly paid him extraordinary courtesy. The wife of Xiao Sihua, Specially Advanced with the Equal Rank of the Three Excellencies and native of Lanling, was née Liu. She fell ill and frequently saw ghosts coming to call her, which was terrifying. At that time, Zhiyan was invited to preach the Dharma. When Zhiyan had just reached the outer hall, Lady Liu saw the flock of ghosts scatter in all directions. After Zhiyan entered and expounded the sūtras for the lady, her illness was cured thereby. Thereupon she received the five precepts, and the whole family revered him. Zhiyan was pure, simple, and of few desires, giving away whatever he received. When young he traveled far, completely without attachments. By nature he was modest and retiring, never promoting himself; thus, although he had many fine deeds, the world could not transmit them all. In the past, before he had gone forth, Zhiyan had once received the five precepts and committed an infraction against them. Later, after entering the Way and receiving full ordination, he constantly doubted whether he had truly obtained the precepts and was perpetually fearful of it. For years he practiced dhyāna-contemplation but could not resolve it himself. He therefore sailed across the sea again to reach India, inquiring of clear and discerning arhat monks, asking about the matter in detail. The arhat did not dare to make a definitive judgment; he then entered samādhi for Zhiyan and went to Tuṣita Palace to consult Maitreya. Maitreya replied, “He has obtained the precepts.” Zhiyan was overjoyed. Thereupon he returned on foot to Jibin (Kashmir), and died without illness at the age of seventy-eight. In that country, ordinary monks and holy ones had their bodies cremated in different places. Although Zhiyan’s conduct of the precepts was lofty and clear, his actual level of attainment had not been discerned. When they first moved the corpse toward the cemetery for ordinary monks, the corpse became heavy and could not be lifted; when they turned toward the cemetery of the holy ones, it became airy and light of its own accord. Zhiyan’s disciples Zhiming and Zhiyuan intentionally came from the West to report these auspicious signs, and both returned to foreign lands. Deducing from this, Zhiyan truly attained the Way; it is only unknown what the depth was between the fruit and the path.