海東高僧傳

I. PROPAGATION

1. Giác Đức.

2. Trí Minh.

3. Viên Quang.

4. An Hàm.

5. A-li-da-bạt-ma.

6. Tuệ Nghiệp.

7. Tuệ Luân.

8. Huyền Khác.

9. Huyền Du.

10. Huyền Đại Phạm.

1. Śramaṇa Giác Đức

The Master was a native of the kingdom of Silla. He was intelligent and widely learned, and no one could fathom whether he was an ordinary being or a sage. He propagated the Buddha-Dharma in Silla, and great numbers of people came to take refuge and learn from him.

Being wise, he knew how to teach in accordance with the circumstances. The Master said: “Those who wish to leave darkness and reach a place of radiant light, lofty and vast, must seek a teacher while studying the Way. Wherever the Way is found, they should remain; where it is absent, they should depart.

In doing so, disciples of the Śākya are certainly not willfully forgetting the kindness they have received!” Therefore, he boarded a ship and crossed the sea to the Liang kingdom, becoming the first person to seek the Dharma abroad, though it is not known in which year this occurred. He was the first person from Silla to travel to China to study the Way. In seeking teachers and studying the Way, he received instruction as though a veil had been lifted and a splinter removed from his eye.

From beginning to end, he was neither heedless nor indolent. His virtue was exalted, his reputation esteemed, and his renown in the Dharma of meditation spread far and wide. Like one who gathers precious jewels not for his own use, he carried them home to aid the poor and distressed.

In the tenth year of King Chân Hưng’s reign, the Master and an envoy from the Liang dynasty brought relics of the Buddha back to the capital. At that time, the king of Silla ordered the officials of the competent bureau to assemble the ministers and prepare the ceremonial observances. They went forth to welcome the relics and escorted them to Hưng Luân Monastery.

This was also the first Buddha relic in that kingdom.

Long ago, when Master Tăng Hội went to the kingdom of Wu, he prayed for seven days before a miraculous response occurred. The Master caused the king to develop faith in the Buddha-Dharma. Silla maintained relations with China, and its kings repeatedly sent envoys to learn the institutions and customs of China, encountering no difficulty whatsoever.

Furthermore, the teaching spread throughout the five continents and the four seas, causing even the proud and arrogant to desire to turn back and seek refuge. What other path could surpass Buddhism in its efficacy and benefit? In the twenty-sixth year, the ruler of the Chen kingdom dispatched an envoy named Lưu Tư and the monk-student Minh Quán to bring many collections of Buddhist sutras and treatises back to the kingdom, amounting to more than two thousand seven hundred fascicles.

From then on, the Buddha-Dharma began to spread widely throughout Silla. Although scriptures and images had previously been greatly lacking, only now were they fully provided. It is not clearly known where either of the two masters passed away.

2. Śramaṇa Trí Minh.

The Master was a native of the kingdom of Silla. His wisdom and understanding surpassed those of his peers, and his dignified conduct served as a model. Inwardly, he cultivated hidden and subtle practices; he always praised the virtues of others, constantly contemplated his own mind, and treated everyone cheerfully, humbly, and courteously.

The teaching had been transmitted from India to Haedong, where it had not existed at first. The Master gathered a large community, and gradually outstanding men arose one after another, boldly undertaking the propagation of the Buddha-Dharma. Some awakened through their own efforts and then displayed their abilities, while others traveled afar in pursuit of learning.

The newly trained studied under those trained of old, and thus the orthodox and heterodox were clearly distinguished; senior officials instructed new officials, just as teachers transmitted knowledge to disciples. At that time, the monks who came from India to China were all thoroughly versed in the Buddha-Dharma, and they followed one another in expounding and propagating it.

Renowned in his time for both talent and virtue, in the seventh year of King Chân Bình’s reign, during the seventh month in autumn, the Master inquired about a suitable route through the kingdom of Chen in order to seek the Dharma. Crossing the vast sea and traveling overland throughout east and west, whenever he heard of someone renowned for understanding the Buddha-Dharma, he immediately went to consult and study under that person. He was like wood made straight by an ink line, or gold fashioned into an ornament. In the blink of an eye, his single journey of study had lasted ten years. He mastered the essential marrow of the teachings and wholeheartedly aspired to propagate the Buddha-Dharma.

In the ninth month of the twenty-fourth year of King Chân Bình’s reign, the Master returned to his kingdom with a tributary mission. Admiring his manner in the Way and revering his spirit of honoring the precepts, the king bestowed upon him the laudatory title “Great Virtuous One,” thereby encouraging later generations. His virtue towered like a mountain, and the capacity of his mind was vast as the sea.

He illuminated all with the light of wisdom and brought rectification through his manner in the Way. Thus, his instruction and example served both monastics and laypeople. He was later further honored by the king with the title “Great Great Virtuous One.” The Master occupied a lofty and honored position, but the year of his passing is unknown.

Five years after he entered the kingdom of Chen, Dharma Master Viên Quang went to Chen for eight years, while Đàm Dục went to the Sui kingdom for seven years. Afterward, they returned home with the court envoy named Huệ Văn. Both the Master and Trí Minh were renowned for their exalted virtue and were in no way inferior to the outstanding men of their age.

Note:

Quý Trát appraised the music of the Zhou royal dynasty, and Trọng Ni^[95] asked Lão Đam^[96] about “ritual propriety.” It was not that they had only just begun to learn; rather, each already possessed his own established principles. Eminent monks of profound virtue traveled to China to inquire into the Way and then returned. Although each of them differed, they all shared a single aspiration.

3. Śramaṇa Viên Quang.

The Master’s family name was Tiết, though it is also said to have been Phác. He was a native of the capital. At the age of thirteen, he shaved his head, left the household life, and became a monk (according to the Continued Biographies of Eminent Monks, the Master entered monastic life at Đường Monastery).

He possessed a serene and magnanimous bearing and intelligence surpassing that of others. He had thoroughly examined the profound and subtle principles of both the Dark Learning and Confucian learning. He delighted in literature, cherished lofty aspirations, and disliked noisy places.

At the age of thirty, he withdrew into seclusion on Mount Tam Kì and did not leave his cave. At that time, a bhikshu came to live nearby and constructed a monastery for study and practice. One night, while the Master was sitting and reciting sutras, a deity came and said: “Excellent!

Although many renunciants engage in cultivation, I have seen none who surpasses you, Dharma Master! That bhikshu now devotes himself exclusively to the practice of incantations. He only disrupts your recitation and obstructs my coming and going, yet attains nothing.

I have long resented him deeply. Please advise him to move elsewhere. If he refuses to heed you, calamity will certainly befall him.”

Early the following morning, the Master went to the bhikshu and said:

– You should move elsewhere to avoid calamity. Otherwise, misfortune will befall you.

The bhikshu replied:

– Our noble conduct has already been obstructed by demons and ghosts. Why are you still afraid of the threats of those evil spirits?

That night, the deity came and asked the Master about the matter previously discussed, wishing to know how the bhikshu had replied. Fearing that the deity would become angry, however, the Master spoke evasively:

– I have not yet conveyed the matter you entrusted to me. How could that bhikshu dare refuse to listen?

The deity said:

– I already know everything. Moreover, seeing that the man is still there is sufficient for me to know.

That evening, there was a tremendous sound like a thunderclap. At first light the following morning, the Master went to investigate and found that a mountainside had indeed collapsed upon the monastery. The deity also came and said: “I have lived for several thousand years, and my awesome power is exceedingly great. A deed of this small measure is nothing remarkable.”

Taking this occasion, the deity admonished him: “Although you now possess some measure of benefit for yourself, you still lack the benefit of others. Why do you not go to China and study the Dharma of the pāramitās, so that you may teach and transform your followers in the future?”

The bhikshu said:

– Studying the Way in China has always been my aspiration, but the sea and overland routes are distant and perilous, and I cannot make the journey on my own.

At that time, the deity clearly instructed the master concerning his journey to study in China. In the spring, in the third month of the twelfth year of King Jinpyeong’s reign, the master arrived in the Chen kingdom. He visited the various lecture halls where sutras and treatises were taught and thoroughly mastered the wondrous Dharma.

He was subsequently instructed in the Satyasiddhi Treatise, the Nirvana Sutra, the Tripitaka, and numerical treatises. Later, the master went to Mount Huqiu in the kingdom of Wu, where he cultivated concentration and wisdom. Thereupon, lay devotees invited him to lecture on the Satyasiddhi Treatise.

People revered him and came in an unbroken procession to entreat him to teach. At that time, the Sui army invaded and occupied Yangdu. When the commanding general saw a stupa on fire, he immediately had the flames extinguished and discovered the master bound before the stupa.

The master’s countenance remained unchanged. Astonished, the general ordered him unbound. During the Kaihuang era (…), when the teachings of the Mahayana-samgraha Treatise began to flourish, the master studied this treatise, and his renown spread ever farther as his merit and virtue reached fulfillment.

The Buddha’s Dharma needed to be perpetuated in Haedong, and so the royal court issued an edict inviting the master to return to his country. In the Gengshen year, the twenty-second year of King Jinpyeong’s reign, the master returned home together with an envoy named Naema and an official of the rank of Daesa,^[97] who belonged to the royal clan.

When they reached the middle of the sea, a mysterious being suddenly appeared, bowed at the master’s feet, and asked: “Please build a monastery for me in which to expound the Dharma, so that your disciple may obtain supreme blessings.” The master accepted his request. For many years the master traveled back and forth, and all people, young and old, rejoiced. The king also showed reverence and admiration for the teachings of the Able and Benevolent One. The master went to dwell at his former place on Mount Samgi. At midnight, a deity came and asked:

– Have you returned?

The master thanked him and said:

– Through the grace of your assistance, all my affairs have proceeded as I wished.

The deity said:

– I shall always protect you.

Moreover, the master had promised the dragon deity that he would build a monastery, and now the dragon deity also arrived. The master asked:

– Where may it be built?

The deity said:

– When you reach Unmun, build the monastery wherever you see a magpie pecking at the ground.

Early the following morning, the master returned together with the dragon deity and indeed saw that place. He had people excavate the ground, and they found a stone stupa there. The master immediately built a monastery on that site, named it Unmun, and took up residence there as its abbot.

The deity continually protected him. One day, the deity said: “Before long I shall die. I now ask the master to confer the bodhisattva precepts upon me as provisions for my final departure.” After the master had conferred the precepts, the deity vowed that they would assist one another life after life.

The master asked: “May I behold your form?” The deity said: “Wait until dawn is near, then look toward the east. You will see an arm passing through the clouds in the sky.” The deity continued: “Do you wish to see my arm? Although I am a deity, I have not escaped the dominion of impermanence.

One day I too shall die and return to the earth. I shall come to bid you farewell.” When the appointed time arrived, the master went to look and saw a black raccoon dog cry out and die. It was that deity.

A dragon maiden from the western sea regularly followed the master to hear his teachings. When a severe drought arose, the master told the dragon maiden:

– Make it rain.

The dragon maiden replied:

– The Lord of Heaven has not permitted it. If I insist on making rain, I shall certainly offend Heaven, for no sacrificial offering or supplication has been made.

The master said:

– By my power, that punishment can be averted.

Suddenly, rosy clouds appeared over the southern mountain, and before long rain poured down. Then thunder and lightning arose in the sky, about to punish the dragon maiden. The dragon maiden hastily reported this to the master, who concealed her beneath the platform from which he lectured on the sutras. A celestial messenger arrived and said:

– I have received the Lord of Heaven’s command that the master surrender the offender who is hiding here. If my lord’s command has reached me and I do not obey it, what am I to do?

The master pointed to a pear tree in the courtyard and said:

– That dragon has transformed into this tree. Take it away.

The celestial messenger struck the pear tree with lightning and then departed. The dragon reappeared, bowed in gratitude to the master, and thought: “This tree has endured the punishment in my place.” Having said this, the dragon stroked the trunk with her hand, and the tree immediately came back to life.

In the thirtieth year of King Jinpyeong’s reign, the king was beset by the calamity of Goguryeo repeatedly invading the border. He wished to borrow troops from the Sui dynasty to launch a campaign against Goguryeo. The king ordered the master to devise a strategy for attacking Goguryeo. The master said: “To preserve oneself by destroying others is not the practice of a sramana. Yet this poor monk lives within Your Majesty’s realm and consumes the food and clothing provided by Your Majesty; how could I dare disobey?” The master then presented a strategy to the king.

The master was altruistic and broad-minded by nature. He was always smiling and conversing and never displayed anger or resentment. The king ordered the master’s teachings to be recorded and compiled into a book. They were counsels drawn from the depths of his heart. The entire country followed them, adopting them as policies for governing the realm, applying them according to circumstances, and establishing them as models for later dynasties.

In the thirty-fifth year, Hwangnyong Monastery convened the Assembly of One Hundred Seats and gathered monks to lecture on the sutras. The master presided over them. He often stayed at Gasil Monastery to lecture on the sutras.

The two men Gwisan and Chuhang of Saryang District came to the monastery, grasped the master’s robe, and said: “People of the world are ignorant and understand nothing. We beseech you to give us words of counsel that everyone may take as a lifelong rule.”

The master said:

– There are the bodhisattva precepts, among which ten are especially distinguished. Yet if everyone is an ordinary person, I fear they will be unable to practice them. I shall now give five precepts for ordinary people:

1. Serve the sovereign with utmost loyalty.

2. Be filial toward one’s parents.

3. Maintain trust with friends.

4. Never retreat in battle.

5. Do not take life indiscriminately.

Remember to practice these principles and never forget them.

Gwisan said:

– We shall respectfully uphold the first four, but we do not understand what it means not to take life indiscriminately.

The master said:

– During the first months of spring and summer,^[98] and on the six days of abstinence each month, one must not kill living beings. This means choosing the proper time for killing. Do not kill domesticated animals employed in service, such as oxen, horses, chickens, and dogs. Do not kill small creatures whose flesh would not provide even a single mouthful. This means choosing what may be killed. Conversely, even when circumstances make killing unavoidable, one must not kill excessively. These may be called the wholesome precepts for laypeople. Gwisan and all of you, you must uphold these precepts and never violate them.

Some time later, the king became gravely ill and did not recover despite taking medicine, so he invited the master to expound the Dharma. The master entered the palace and sat upright. Whether he lectured on the sutras or simply conversed, the king wholeheartedly accepted, upheld, and practiced his words.

At the beginning of the night, the king saw above the crown of the master’s head a golden radiance like the orb of the sun. Everyone in the palace came together to behold it, and the king’s illness immediately abated. The master was advanced in years and physically weak, so whenever he entered the palace, he had to ride in a carriage.

The king personally provided him with robes and medicine, seeking only to obtain blessings. The master used all the property and offerings he received to build monasteries. He kept only his robe and alms bowl as personal possessions while propagating the true Dharma.

He devoted himself to teaching monastics and laypeople until the final days of his life. The king personally came to comfort him, whereupon the master urged the king to ensure that the teachings would spread among all the people of the country and to make known to them the auspicious signs.

In the fifty-eighth year of the Jianfu era, the master sat silently for seven days. He then instructed his disciples to uphold the precepts and remain vigilant regarding impermanence. Having completed his instructions, the master sat upright and passed away on the spot.

At that time, music resounded throughout the sky northwest of Huanglong Monastery, and an extraordinary fragrance filled the entire room. Throughout the kingdom, sorrow and joy mingled. His coffin and burial garments were like those used in a royal funeral.

He lived to the age of ninety-nine; that year was the fourth year of the Zhenguan era ⁽⁶⁰⁸⁾. Later, a person suffered a miscarriage and heard a popular saying that if the fetus were buried beside the grave of a virtuous person, one would be blessed with many children and grandchildren. Knowing this, that person secretly buried the fetus beside the grave.

That very day, thunder and lightning raged violently, and the fetus was blasted out of the grave. The stupa on Mount Samgi remains there to this day.

The principal disciple of Master Won'gwang was also a native of Silla. His spiritual responsiveness was exceedingly keen; he delighted in roaming among mountains and rivers and greatly admired renowned sacred sites. He therefore traveled northward to the capitals of the nine states, but was unable to reach Dongguan^[99].

He later journeyed through Western Yan and Northern Wei, and afterward proceeded again to the imperial capital. Thus, he became acquainted with the geography, customs, and traditions of many regions. He also sought instruction in the sutras and treatises, mastered the Vinaya Pitaka, thoroughly understood the meaning of the sutras, and possessed lofty virtue in the Way.

He frequently taught both monastics and laypeople. Su Wu, an official bearing the title Tejin, invited him to remain there, built Xinliang Monastery in Lantian County, and provided him with the four requisites^[100]. It is not known, however, where he later passed away.

Notes:

In former times, Master Huiyuan^[101], when lecturing on the treatises, frequently drew supporting examples from secular writings. He cited relevant passages from Zhuangzi and Laozi to enable people to understand the profound purport of the sutras and treatises. Like a skilled teacher explaining the precepts for laypeople, one must be well versed in both the inner and outer canons. Only then can one teach the Dharma according to the capacities of the audience and thereby achieve the desired result.

Yet even in killing living beings, distinctions must be made. Why did King Tang command that nets be left open on three sides? And why did Zhongni advise that one may shoot birds, but not those that are sleeping? Moreover, if one disturbs the celestial spirits and acts contrary to the heavenly mandate, spiritual power can surely discern it.

4. Śramaṇa Anham.

The master’s family name was Kim, and he was a grandson of the poet Yi San. From birth, he was intelligent and perceptive. His disposition was free and unrestrained, while his resolve was firm and noble. He traveled widely, observing the customs and practices of many regions. In the twenty-second year of King Jinpyeong’s reign, he became a companion of the eminent monk Hyesuk. Thereafter, he paddled a bamboo raft, drifting to and fro across rivers and waterways. One day, as he guided the raft past the lower side of an island, a sudden storm arose and drove his raft backward until it drifted into a harbor of Silla.

The following year, the king issued an order to select those deemed fit vessels for the Dharma and summon them to court for an examination of their learning. Following the examination, the king decreed that the Dharma master was a suitable person to serve as an envoy. The master and the envoy then boarded a ship and crossed the sea. After traversing immense distances through wind and waves, their ship finally reached the imperial court. Palace attendants came forth to welcome them and escorted them into the king’s presence. Upon seeing the master, the emperor was exceedingly delighted and immediately ordered that he reside at Daxingsheng Monastery. Over the course of a month, the master expounded in meticulous detail the profound and hidden meanings of the Buddha-Dharma.

At that time, an immortal brought the master ten relay horses, and at the appointed hour that very day, the master returned to his homeland. Who heard the drum in the night? From the Qinling Mountains, a thousand li distant from the royal palace, he galloped as swiftly as a falling star—how could he have needed to await the bell at early dawn? The ten vehicles of the secret Dharma contemplation^[102] and the profound meanings of the scriptural texts could not possibly be examined in full within five years. Over the course of twenty-seven years, the śramaṇa Vimalasatya from Khotan, the śramaṇa Aṅgada, and others all came to Silla. In addition, monks from the Western Regions and India came directly to Gyerim. All of this had its origin here.

Therefore, in the Biography of Uisang compiled by Choe Chiwon, it is recorded: “In the reign of King Jinpyeong, in the forty-second year of the Jianfu era, the master was newly born. In that year, the sage of Silla, Dharma Master Anhong, two Tripitaka masters from India, and two Chinese monks from the Tang kingdom arrived.”

A note states: “In the forty-fourth year, Vimalasatya from Uḍḍiyāna, north of India, arrived. In the forty-sixth year, Aṅgada arrived. Also in the forty-sixth year, Buddhasaṅgha from the kingdom of Mathura arrived. They passed through fifty-two countries before reaching China. They then traveled eastward to Silla, where they stayed at Huanglong Monastery and translated the scriptures entitled Sandalwood Incense, Radiance of the Fire-Star, and Wondrous Woman. A local monk named Tanhwa served as the scribe. Not long afterward, the two Chinese monks submitted a memorial requesting permission to return to their country. The king consented and sent them on their way. Thus, Anhong was indeed the venerable monk.”

According to the Basic Annals of Silla: “In the thirty-seventh year of King Jinheung’s reign, Anhong traveled to China to seek the Dharma. He later returned to his country together with two Indian monks, Vimala and another, and presented the two sutras, the Laṅkāvatāra and Śrīmālādevī Siṃhanāda, as well as relics of the Buddha.” From the end of King Jinheung’s reign to the Jianfu era under King Jinpyeong, approximately fifty years elapsed.

Which Tripitaka master, then, had previously arrived and returned? Accordingly, if it is supposed that Anham and Anhong were distinct, there must indeed have been two persons. Yet the accounts of their lives do not differ from those of the Tripitaka masters, nor do their names and reputations differ.

They have therefore now been gathered together and written as a single biography.

It is likewise unknown where those Indian Tripitaka masters later traveled, resided, or passed away. After returning to his country, the venerable monk composed a single fascicle of prophetic records. In printing and engraving, the characters were sometimes joined together and sometimes separated; it is therefore difficult to conjecture their meaning.

Moreover, when their hidden purport is examined according to reason, it is truly difficult to fathom fully. They speak, for example, of the scattering of the owl-birds. (The inscription is obscure and unclear.) They also speak of the queen being buried in the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven; of the defeat of warriors a thousand li away; of the completion of the Monastery of the Four Heavenly Kings; of five royal princes returning to their homeland; and of the prosperous reigns of five kings.

All these were predictions of later events, and they proved as accurate as though witnessed with one’s own eyes, without the slightest error.

The master passed away at the Myriad Virtues Bodhimanda on the twenty-third day of the ninth month in the ninth year of the reign of King Seondeok, at the age of sixty-two. In that same month, an envoy returning from the land of Han happened to encounter the Dharma master seated upon the blue waves, serenely proceeding westward. This was truly what is called soaring through the air as though walking upon steps and sitting upon the water as though traveling over land.

An academician of the Hanlin Academy surnamed Xue, acting under imperial command, composed the inscription. He recorded: “The queen was buried in the Trayastrimsa Heaven; the Monastery of the Four Heavenly Kings was built; strange birds cried at night, and soldiers died by day; the prince crossed the frontier pass and entered the royal court, remained with the king for five years, went abroad for thirty years, and then returned.

Drifting to and fro, how could either others or oneself escape it? He lived to the age of sixty-two and passed away at Myriad Virtues. The envoy returning by ship also encountered the master, who was seated upon the surface of the water, proceeding westward. (The inscription is covered with moss, and its characters are damaged and no longer intact.

Four or five parts out of ten have been lost; therefore, what remains visible has been selected and tentatively reconstructed into a coherent text.)” Thus, even without relying upon other materials, something of the master’s life and deeds may still be discerned.

Note:

The master had attained supernormal powers and liberation, and therefore exercised mastery over life and death. These were the natural deeds of a great bodhisattva, concerning which there was scarcely any occasion for written or spoken accounts. From the time the master first entered the court and joined the Tripitaka masters of the Western Regions, he upheld the source of truth, sounded the Dharma conch, and poured down the rain of Dharma, causing its nourishing influence to reach even the remotest corners beneath heaven.

As for the characters used to write the name of the holy person who propagated the Dharma, I fear that one of the two characters han and hong (含, 弘) was written incorrectly. For when characters are copied again and again, errors arise, just as the characters wu and yan (烏, 焉) may be mistakenly written as the character ma (馬).

5. Shi Aryavarman.

The master was intelligent and wise, and his appearance differed from that of ordinary people. He was the first person from Silla to travel to China in search of teachers and study of the Way. He journeyed from place to place seeking instruction, even to regions where mountains and waters came to an end. With aspirations soaring to the heavens, he was not only a model and exemplar of his time but also one deeply devoted to teaching and guiding later generations.

Accordingly, the master resolved to travel and visit every region, reaching even the most remote and secluded places. He later went to Western India in search of the Dharma. Traveling ten thousand li over long and arduous roads, he crossed the Congling Mountains to seek out wondrous sacred sites.

In this way, he beheld many holy places and fulfilled his long-cherished aspiration. At that same time, however, the provisions he had brought were exhausted. He remained at Nalanda Monastery and, not long afterward, passed away there.

At that time, there was also an eminent monk named Huiye residing at the Bodhi Monastery. In addition, the two masters Xuanke and Xuanzhao reached the Mahabodhi Monastery. During the Zhenguan era, all four persons mentioned above journeyed to Western India in search of the Dharma.

Four other monks from Silla also traveled with them on that occasion. All of them had planted causes and conditions of surpassing excellence and thus possessed the seeds of Buddhahood in full; from afar, they turned toward their former homeland and bowed in gratitude. Thereafter, they traveled throughout India, making pilgrimages to all its sacred sites.

Their renown spread throughout east and west, and they extended blessings along ten thousand paths. Had they not been persons of vast resolve, how could they have accomplished such deeds? According to the Chronological Record: “The master and Tripitaka Master Xuanzang^[103] both went to India, but it is not known in which year he departed.”

6. Shi Huiye.

The master was magnanimous by nature and possessed a lofty spirit. His bearing was dignified, his demeanor refined, and his speech measured and proper. He entered China and, during the Zhenguan era, traveled to the Western Regions.

He crossed vast and boundless deserts and climbed the towering peaks of the Snow Mountains. By day, he often concealed himself in deep forests; when the moon shone, he continued on his way. Exposed to the sun, drenched by dew, and enduring countless tempests, he did not cherish his own life but firmly resolved to ensure the wide propagation of the teachings.

In due course, he reached the Bodhi Monastery, where he beheld and bowed in reverence before the holy sites. He then went to Nalanda Monastery, where for a very long time he cultivated his true nature and requested permission to study the Vimalakirti Sutra. He thereupon compared it with the Tang recension of the sutra, and through this came to understand it thoroughly.

The second fascicle of the Liang Treatise records: “Beneath the Buddha-Tooth Tree, this was recorded by a monk from Silla named Huiye.” His biography states: “Master Huiye passed away at this monastery at an age exceeding sixty.” All the Sanskrit scriptures copied by the master came from Nalanda Monastery.

7. Shi Huilun.

The master was a native of Silla. His Sanskrit name was Prajnavarman (according to the Tang translation, this means “Armor of Wisdom,” using the character 甲; however, the original text has the character 申, yielding the meaning “Body of Wisdom”). He entered monastic life in Silla and longed to behold the sacred places.

He therefore sailed across the sea to Minyue^[104] and, after an arduous journey, reached Chang’an, enduring exposure to the sun and dew and passing through many dangers and hardships. Later, by imperial command, he accompanied Dharma Master Xuanzhao on his journey to India, likewise crossing forests and streams amid danger and suffering. After reaching India, he traveled everywhere and bowed in reverence at all the holy sites.

He remained for ten years at the Monastery of the Faithful in the kingdom of Amrava. Not long afterward, he continued onward to eastern India. At that time, the Shanzha Monastery in Gandhara possessed abundant resources, and no other monastery surpassed it in providing vegetarian feasts and offerings.

Monks arriving from northern India all stayed at this monastery. A great multitude of monks assembled there, each practicing his own Dharma method. Through mutual discussion and study, the master became highly proficient in Sanskrit and thereby comprehended the essential meaning of the Abhidharmakosa.

Accounts of these matters continued to survive in later times. The master lived to the age of forty. His story is recorded in full in the Biographies of Eminent Monks Who Sought the Dharma by Tripitaka Master Yijing.

8. Shi Xuanke.

The master was a native of Silla. His appearance was imposing and dignified, his character firm and resolute, and his learning profound and extensive. He delighted in expounding the Dharma and taught beings according to their capacities.

People of the time compared him to a lotus blossom amid flames. He often lamented that he had been born in a borderland and had never seen China. When he heard of the customs and traditions of China, joy arose in his heart, and he immediately traveled there by mountain roads.

The farther he went from his homeland, the greater was his joy as he drew near to China. Feeling ashamed throughout the day, he aspired to seek instruction everywhere, like the moon coursing through the sky and moving freely at midnight. At times he hovered upon mountain summits amid clouds soaring a thousand fathoms high; at times he traversed a thousand li of ice and snow.

At times he moved like the wind, and at times he rested like a cloud. Together with Dharma Master Xuanzhao, he went to reside at the Mahabodhi Monastery in India. Thereafter, he traveled the roads of Manyan, viewed the scenery of Wuying, read texts, and investigated the teachings, like polishing jade into an ornament.

When he was over forty years old, he fell ill and died. Master Xuanzhao was likewise an eminent monk from Silla. Xuanzhao and the master were fellow disciples who shared the same aspirations.

It is not known where the master passed away.

Later, two other monks from Silla, whose names and ages are unknown, also set out from Chang’an. Their ship drifted to the kingdom of Srivijaya, where they fell ill and died.

9. Shi Xuanyou.

The master was a native of Goguryeo. Gentle in disposition and endowed with a lofty character, he constantly contemplated benefiting both himself and others and aspired to pursue learning. Standing upon a cup, he traveled against the current and endured countless hardships before reaching the Tang realm, where he bowed at the feet of Chan Master Sengzhe, took him as his teacher, and studied under him.

Mindful of the traces left by the sages, Sengzhe then boarded a ship, crossed the sea to the Western Regions, and taught beings in accordance with conditions. He traveled throughout the land, paying homage at all the sacred sites. Later, the master returned from India to China and formed associations with officials; through these connections, his endeavors came to fruition.

Because he remained there, his virtue and ability shone ever more brightly, the Chan school swiftly flourished, and monastics and laypeople from all quarters came in great numbers to study and practice. He was truly worthy of being a pillar of Buddhism and a leader of the Sangha. Later, he reflected upon the vicissitudes of worldly affairs, grieved over the changes of the world, and lamented the impermanence of life.

It was like a fire going out when its fuel is exhausted—what remained worthy of attachment?

The Tripitaka Master Yijing^[105] praised him, saying that from his youth he cherished the Buddhadharma and aspired to travel to the Eastern Xia^[106]. He also wished to seek learning in India and journeyed to and from China many times. For the sake of all people, he remained there and transmitted the ten teachings^[107], propagating the Buddhadharma for a full thousand years rather than merely one.

Although he relinquished his body in a foreign land, he never had any intention of returning to his former homeland. Since his merit and renown were so exalted, how could they not be recorded in the annals to instruct later generations? For this reason, Yijing composed the Biographies of Eminent Monks Who Sought the Dharma^[108].

I happened upon this passage while reading the Great Canon. Filled with profound admiration, I extracted it and copied it into this work.

10. Śākya Xuántài.

The master was a native of Silla. His Dharma name was Sarvajñānadeva (translated in the Tang as “Deva of Omniscience”). From childhood, he was profoundly discerning and reserved and possessed the marks of a great person. He did not eat meat or fish. He once traveled by ship to the Tang realm (China), where he became deeply and broadly learned and thoroughly comprehended the ultimate principles of the Way.

During the Yonghui era of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang dynasty (650–655), he traveled to Central India to pay homage to the bodhi tree. He journeyed alone like a roaming lion and did not seek the company of companions. Supporting himself with his khakkhara staff, he traveled to the Five Regions of India, hoping to ascend the jeweled terraces of the Three Vehicles^[109].

Because of his profound admiration, he crossed through innumerable hardships and difficulties to learn all the customs and practices of the various lands, yet he was still unable to master them completely. He returned and resided at the Mahabodhi Monastery, where he studied sutras and treatises and investigated the customs of different regions. Later, he returned to Zhendan (China), where he propagated the Buddhadharma and taught sentient beings.

Only then did Xuánjī record the master's great accomplishments.

Note:

All the masters discussed above traveled to China, following in the footsteps of Dharma Masters Faxian^[110] and Xuanzang. Thus, when they journeyed to distant countries, it was as though they were merely walking through their own villages. They may be compared to envoys such as Zhang Qian and Su Wu.

Annotations:

^[95] Zhongni 仲尼: A native of the state of Lu during the Zhou dynasty. His personal name was Qiu and his courtesy name was Zhongni. He once served as an official in Lu. After traveling throughout the realm for a time, he returned to Lu, where he edited the Book of Odes and the Book of Documents, revised the Book of Rites, critiqued and explained the Book of Changes, and compiled the Spring and Autumn Annals. He also opened a school and founded Confucianism. His disciples numbered more than three thousand. He lived to the age of seventy-three (551–479 BCE).

^[96] Lao Dan 老聃: A great philosopher of the Zhou dynasty. His surname was Li and his personal name was Er. He was the founder of Daoism.

^[97] Daesa 大舍: An official title in Silla.

^[98] The first months of spring and summer: the first and fifth lunar months.

^[99] Eastern Observatory 東觀: The name of a hall within the imperial palace south of the city of Luoyang.

^[100] Offerings of the four necessities (Fourfold Offering 四事供養): The offering to the Buddha and the Sangha of four necessities for daily life. These four are clothing, food and drink, bedding, and medicine; alternatively, they are clothing, food and drink, medicine, and lodging.

^[101] Huiyuan 慧遠: An eminent Chinese monk who lived during the Eastern Jin dynasty. His family name was Jia, and he was a native of Loufan in Yanmen (Guo County, Shanxi Province). He was the first patriarch of the Chinese Pure Land school.

At the age of thirteen, the master traveled to study in Xuchang and Luoyang. He acquired a profound and extensive understanding of the Six Classics—the Book of Odes, Book of Documents, Book of Changes, Book of Rites, Book of Music, and Spring and Autumn Annals—as well as the works of Laozi and Zhuangzi. At the age of twenty-one, the master and his younger brother Huichi heard Master Dao’an expound the Prajnaparamita Sutra at Mount Heng in the Taihang Mountains (northwest of Quyang County, Hebei Province).

He gained a measure of awakening and exclaimed with emotion: “The nine schools of Confucian thought are all but husks and chaff.” (The nine schools were the Confucian, Daoist, Yin-Yang, Legalist, School of Names, Mohist, Diplomatic, Syncretic, and Agricultural schools.) He and his younger brother then bowed at the feet of Master Dao’an and requested ordination. The master was highly accomplished in the prajnaparamita teaching of emptiness.

At the age of twenty-four, he ascended the Dharma seat and frequently cited the writings of Zhuangzi to explain the Buddhist meaning of true reality, enabling those whose minds were confused to develop faith and understanding. In 381, the master went to Mount Lu and resided at Donglin Monastery, where he transmitted the Dharma to a great many disciples. In 402, the master, together with Liu Yimin and more than one hundred others, founded the White Lotus Society.

They devoted themselves to the Pure Land practice of mindfulness of the Buddha and jointly vowed to attain rebirth in the Western Pure Land. For more than thirty years, the master never left the mountain. Because he thoroughly understood Buddhist principles and was also highly accomplished in non-Buddhist classics, he was revered by his contemporaries and honored by Sangha communities in foreign lands.

The master passed away in 416 at the age of eighty-three.

^[102] The Ten-Vehicle Method of Contemplation 十乘觀法: Ten methods of contemplation that serve as a model for the primary object of contemplation after the practitioner has completed the twenty-five preparatory practices within the Tiantai school's perfect and sudden method of calming and contemplation. They are: 1. Contemplating the inconceivable object; 2. Arousing the true and proper bodhicitta; 3. Skillfully settling the mind in correct contemplation; 4. Universally refuting dharmas; 5. Discerning passage and obstruction; 6. Regulating and adapting the factors of the Path; 7. Applying antidotes and auxiliary practices to facilitate opening; 8. Knowing the stages of progression; 9. Being able to abide in patient endurance; 10. Being free from attachment to dharmas.

^[103] Xuanzang 玄奘: an eminent Chinese monk who lived during the Tang dynasty. His family name was Chen, and his given name was Hui. He was a native of Goushi County, Luozhou (present-day Yanshi County, Henan Province).

He was the founding patriarch of the Faxiang school and the most renowned translator of Buddhist scriptures in China, honored by later generations as the Tripitaka Dharma Master or the Tang Tripitaka Master. According to one account, he was born in 600 during the Sui dynasty. His father served as an official in Jiangling and had four sons, of whom Xuanzang was the youngest.

He entered monastic life at an early age. In 622, during the Tang dynasty, he received the full precepts and studied the Vinaya texts. He subsequently studied the Satyasiddhi Shastra under Master Daoshen, the Abhidharmakosha Shastra under Master Daoyue, and the Mahayana-samgraha Shastra under Masters Fachang and Sengbian.

Yet he often lamented that the masters’ explanations were not consistent and that discrepancies could also be found upon examining the sacred scriptures. Consequently, many doubts arose in him, and he did not know what to rely upon as a foundation. He therefore vowed to travel to India to seek Buddhist scriptures and resolve his doubts.

In 629, he set out and, after enduring many hardships and dangers, reached India. He paid homage at sacred sites such as the Bamboo Grove and Anathapindika’s Garden. Eventually, he stayed at Nalanda Monastery in the kingdom of Magadha and revered the great master Shilabhadra as his teacher.

This was in 631, when he was thirty years old. He remained there for five years, listening to Master Shilabhadra expound sutras and shastras. He then left Nalanda Monastery to study with eminent and virtuous masters and to seek Sanskrit manuscripts throughout India.

Upon returning to Nalanda Monastery, Master Shilabhadra entrusted him with lecturing on the Mahayana-samgraha Shastra and the Treatise on the Decisive Analysis of Consciousness-Only. In 643, Master Xuanzang began his journey home, and in 645 he arrived in Chang’an. He passed away on the fifth day of the second month of the Jiazi year ⁽⁶⁶⁴⁾, the second year of the Linde era, at Yuhua Palace, at the age of sixty-three.

A stupa honoring him was built on the hill north of Fanchuan.

^[104] Minyue 閩越: the name of an ancient region, now part of Fujian Province. It is also a name used for Fujian Province. Also called Minyue.

^[105] Yijing 義淨: an eminent Chinese monk who lived during the Tang dynasty. His family name was Zhang, his courtesy name was Wenming, and he was a native of Zhuo County, Hebei Province. He entered monastic life at an early age. Naturally intelligent, he traveled widely to study under eminent and virtuous masters. At the age of twenty, he received the full precepts. He later became one of the four most renowned translators of Buddhist scriptures in China. He passed away in 713 at the age of seventy-nine, and a stupa was built for him at Longmen, Luoyang.

^[106] Eastern Xia 東夏: refers to the eastern region of ancient China.

^[107] The Ten Dharmas (Ten Dharmas 十法): ten qualities whose accomplishment enables a bodhisattva to abide in the Mahayana. According to the Sutra of the Ten Mahayana Dharmas, they are: 1. Accomplishing right faith; 2. Accomplishing practice; 3. Accomplishing the intrinsic nature; 4. Delighting in bodhicitta; 5. Delighting in the Dharma; 6. Delighting in contemplating the true Dharma; 7. Practicing the true Dharma and conforming to the Dharma; 8. Abandoning pride, conceit of self, and so forth; 9. Skillfully penetrating subtle and marvelous esoteric utterances; 10. Taking no delight in the Dharmas of the shravakas and pratyekabuddhas.

^[108] Biographies of Eminent Monks Who Sought the Dharma 求法高僧傳: the full title is Biographies of Eminent Monks of the Great Tang Who Sought the Dharma. Consisting of two fascicles, it was compiled by Master Yijing during the Tang dynasty in the kingdom of Srivijaya. Its contents record the lives and deeds of fifty-six eminent monks who sought the Dharma in the Western Regions.

^[109] Three Vehicles 三乘: the Shravaka, Pratyekabuddha, and Bodhisattva Vehicles.

^[110] Faxian 法顯: an eminent Chinese monk who lived during the Eastern Jin dynasty. He was a native of Wuyang, Pingyang (present-day Shanxi Province), China, and his family name was Gong. He entered monastic life at the age of three and received the full precepts at the age of twenty.

In 399, together with Masters Huijing, Daozheng, Huiying, Huiwei, and others, he departed Chang’an, crossed the desert region, traversed the Pamir Mountains, and journeyed to India in search of the Dharma. At that time, he was already sixty years old. After paying homage at regions containing Buddhist sacred sites, he remained in Pataliputra to study for three years, studied for two years in the lower reaches of the Ganges River, and then spent two years in Sri Lanka.

He brought a great many Sanskrit scriptures back to his homeland. He passed away at Xin Monastery in Jingzhou sometime between 418 and 423, at the age of eighty-six.