Guru Wang Xianglu | 2024-03-30 | Download | AI assisted translation
| 净宗十三祖印光大师，于庚辰冬示寂于灵岩山，天下悼之。从此净宗失所依怙，末法众生，何缘之悭也！师之密行不可测。昔居普陀时，每夜自课，无日不有山鼠千数，叠伏窗外，静听佛号，课罢乃去。徐蔚如姊婿告我如是，则其密行德化可知矣。余苦不文，未能表扬万一，当发愿广宏净业，此文亦聊以塞痛尔。 | Master Yinguang, the thirteenth patriarch of the Pure Land school, passed away at Lingyan Mountain in the winter of the Gengchen year. The whole world mourned him. From then on, the Pure Land school lost its support and refuge. How scant are the favorable conditions for sentient beings in this Dharma-ending age! The Master’s hidden practices were beyond fathoming. In former days, while residing on Mount Putuo, he performed his daily evening practice without fail. Each night, thousands of mountain mice would crowd together outside his window, quietly listening to the Buddha’s name; only when the practice was over would they depart. Xu Weiru’s brother-in-law told me this, and thus one may know something of the transformative power of the Master’s hidden virtues. I regret my lack of literary ability and am unable to praise even a fraction of them. I should make the vow to spread Pure Land practice widely; this essay, too, is but an attempt to assuage my grief. |
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| 懿与光公，一代之宗。终南拔地，屹屹雄峰。 | How admirable was Master Yinguang, a patriarch of his age. Zhongnan rises from the earth, its lofty peaks standing majestic and strong. |
| 诞生圣者，灵秀所钟。通儒通佛，其犹神龙。 | It gave birth to this sage, in whom spiritual excellence was concentrated. Thoroughly versed in both Confucianism and Buddhism, he was like a divine dragon. |
| 云起自陕，法雨徂东。六十年间，震聩发蒙。 | Clouds arose in Shaanxi, and Dharma rain traveled eastward. Over sixty years, he awakened the deaf and enlightened the ignorant. |
| 伤此末世，冀挽颓风。躬行为法，戒德是崇。 | Grieving for this latter age, he hoped to reverse its declining ways. He personally embodied the Dharma, venerating the virtue of the precepts. |
| 时在沪上，共仰云坛。为请法益，幸得瞻韩。 | While in Shanghai, we all looked up to the Dharma platform. Seeking the benefit of the Dharma, I was fortunate enough to behold him. |
| 同舟赴甬，相叙为欢。勖我精勤，启我禅观。 | We traveled by boat together to Ningbo and spoke joyfully with one another. He encouraged me toward diligent practice and opened for me the contemplation of Chan. |
| 始识苦心，非守一经。为开方便，立此典型。 | Only then did I understand his earnest intention: it was not to cling to a single sūtra. In order to open expedient means, he established this exemplary model. |
| 一句弥陀，以作心铭。岂乐小法，而分渭泾。 | The single phrase “Amitābha Buddha” he made the inscription of his heart. How could he have delighted in lesser teachings or drawn divisive distinctions? |
| 公之密行，非世所知。德化禽兽，灵异难思。 | The Master’s hidden practices were unknown to the world. His virtue transformed even birds and beasts; such marvels are beyond conception. |
| 诲人不倦，最惠之施。巍巍功德，不让莲池。 | Untiring in instructing others, he bestowed the greatest gift. His towering merit and virtue were no less than those of Master Lianchi. |
| 呜呼人天，失此福田。谁为依怙，使我情牵。 | Alas, humans and devas have lost this field of merit. Who now will be our support and refuge? My heart remains bound in longing. |
| 灵岩在望，崱屴之巅。慈云常住，三千大千。 | Lingyan stands before my gaze, at the summit of its precipitous heights. Clouds of compassion abide eternally throughout the three-thousand great-thousand world. |
| 民国辛巳新春浙西王骧陆拜书 | Respectfully inscribed by Wang Xianglu of western Zhejiang, at the New Year of the Xinsi year of the Republic of China. |
