Master Yongming Yanshou
(904–975) was a monk during the late Tang and Five Dynasties periods. He is
revered as the Sixth Patriarch of the Pure Land School and the Third Patriarch
of the Fayan School. His secular name was Wang Chongyuan, and he was a native
of Qiantang (present-day Hangzhou, Zhejiang). From a young age, he believed in
Buddhism, abstained from killing and liberated living beings. During the reign
of King Wenmu of the Wuyue Kingdom, he served as a tax official. Whenever he
saw fish, shrimp, birds and other animals, he would buy and release them. When
his own salary was exhausted, he used official funds to continue this practice.
His unauthorized usage of the treasury funds was eventually exposed, a crime
punishable by death. When Wang was escorted to the execution ground, King Wenmu
instructed the executioner that if Wang showed fear, he should be executed;
otherwise, he was to be released.
Right before the execution, Wang remained perfectly calm and his expression did
not change at all. He said, "I have not used a single penny for myself; I
spent it all on buying and releasing lives, countless in number. I will be born
directly into Sukhavati when I die. Is that not a joy?" Hearing this, King
Wenmu pardoned Wang and set him free.
Following his release, Wang went to Mingzhou and became a monk under Chan
Master Cuiyan at the age of thirty. The Biographies of Eminent Monks in the
Song Dynasty records the Master's ascetic life in the monastery: "He
performed hard labor to serve the congregation of monastics, completely
forgetting himself. His clothes were coarse and his food was plain. He spent
his days in this manner." He labored during the day and practiced Chan
meditation at night, subsisting on wild vegetables and fruits while living a
simple, detached life.
Later, he visited National Master Deshao at Mount Tiantai where he quickly
grasped the essence of Chan meditation. The Biographies records: "While
Yongming was in Deshao's Dharma assembly, during a communal work period, he
heard the sound of falling firewood and suddenly achieved awakening. He said,
'What falls away is not some other thing, what pervades everywhere is not
dust. The mountains, rivers, and great earth all reveal the Dharma King's
body.'" Through this realization, he became the Third Patriarch of the
Fayan School.
(Note: 'Dust' is commonly used in Buddhist philosophy to refer to the sense objects, because they defile an unenlightened mind.)
Afterward, the Master set up an altar at Guoqing Temple on Mount Tiantai to
practice the Lotus Repentance for twenty-one days. He also traveled to Tianzhu
Peak in Jinhua to recite the Lotus Sutra for three years, deepening his
cultivation and meditation skills.
During this period of practice on Mount Tiantai, he saw Guanyin Bodhisattva
pouring sweet dew (amrita) into his mouth during meditation, conferring upon
him great eloquence. While performing walking meditation in the middle of the
night, he saw the lotus flower offered before the
statue of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva appearing in his own hand.
Feeling undecided about the life-time focus of his practice, the Master went to
Zhizhe Chan Monastery and wrote up two lots: one read "One-Pointedly on
Chan Practice," and the other read "Myriad Virtues to Adorn the Pure
Land." After calming his mind and praying, he drew lots seven consecutive
times; each time, he drew "Myriad Virtues to Adorn the Pure Land."
Resolving his doubts, the Master committed himself wholeheartedly to
cultivating Pure Land practice.
From then on, the Master vowed to seek rebirth in Sukhavati, chanting the holy
name of Amitabha Buddha 100,000 times a day. At dusk, he would walk to another
peak to circumambulate and recite the Buddha's name, often accompanied by
hundreds of followers.
On clear, moonlit nights, heavenly music and the sounds of conch shells were
said to echo around him. King Zhongyi deeply respected the Master's virtue.
Upon hearing of these occurrences, he was moved and remarked, "Since
ancient times, among those who seek the Pure Land, there has never been anyone
as earnest as this!" The king subsequently built the Western Incense
Adorned Hall to support the Master's practice and bestowed upon him the title
"Chan Master Zhijue."
The Master resided at Yongming for fifteen years, guiding thousands of
disciples. He frequently conferred the Bodhisattva Vows upon the assembly and
established 108 Buddhist practices as his daily routine, including reciting
mantras, bowing in repentance, chanting sutras, sitting in Chan meditation,
releasing lives, and teaching the Dharma. Every night, he offered food to
spirits in the wilderness, dedicating all merits to sentient beings as a
provision for their rebirth in the Pure Land.
*Manifesting Parinirvana*
In 974 (the seventh year of the Kaibao era of the Northern Song Dynasty), the
elderly Master returned to Mount Tiantai. He established an altar to transmit
the Bodhisattva Vows to more than ten thousand attendees, marking his final
large-scale precepts-transmission ceremony.
Knowing that his worldly karmic affinities were drawing to an end, the Master
closed his doors to visitors to concentrate solely on reciting Amitabha's name.
On the twenty-sixth day of the twelfth lunar month in 975, he rose in the
morning, burned incense, bowed to the Buddha, addressed the assembly and passed
away while sitting in the full lotus posture at the age of seventy-two, having
lived forty-two years as an ordained monk.
*Anecdotes*
In 976 (the first year of the Taiping Xingguo era), his disciples erected a
stupa and monastery on Mount Daci in his memory, which Emperor Taizong named
"Shouning Chan Monastery." Later, a wandering monk from Lin'an
regularly circumambulated this stupa. When asked why, he explained: "When
I fell ill and entered the underworld, I saw a portrait of a monk enshrined to
the left of the hall, before which King Yama bowed in reverence. When I asked
about it, I learned it was Chan Master Yongming of Hangzhou who had achieved
the highest grade of rebirth in Sukhavati. King Yama revered his virtue, and so
I have come to pay homage to his relic stupa."
According to tradition, King Qian Chu of the Wuyue Kingdom once held a grand
vegetarian feast for a thousand monastics. Afterwards, the King asked Master
Yongming, "With a thousand monks gathered today, did any enlightened
beings attend?" The Master replied, "Dipankara Buddha came today as
Monk Da-er."
The King immediately went to pay respects to Monk Da-er to repent for not
receiving him with proper honor. Da-er was meditating, but opened his eyes and
said, "Amitabha talks too much," and immediately entered parinirvana.
Startled, the King realized Master Yongming was Amitabha Buddha and rushed back
to Yongming Monastery. Just as he arrived at the mountain gate, an attendant
met him with the news that Master Yongming had just passed away. Because of
this account, later generations established Master Yongming's birthday, the
17th day of the 11th lunar month, as the celebration of Amitabha Buddha's
birthday.
