釋氏要覽 1.5

1.5

Since I, Daocheng, was entrusted with lecturing at the capital monasteries, I returned east to my homeland. I first stayed at the Longhua Chan Monastery and later resided at the Yuelun Hermitage. In the intervening ten years, I completely cut off external affairs, solely reading the canon as my daily regular practice to fulfill my former resolve. Yet when facing the texts, I was sometimes obscure about their meanings, like a thirsty man drinking from a river: he can only fill his belly, without knowing its depth or breadth. Whenever I saw matters that those who have undertaken pravrajyā ought to know, I copied them down as convenient. Coming to the autumn of the third year of the Tianxi era,