神鸾
[8] Divine Luán
昙鸾，少游五台，感灵异出家。
Tánluán, [when] young, travelled [to the] Five-Terrace [Mountain] [五台山], connected [to the] spiritual [and] extraordinary, [and] left [the] household [life].
而性嗜长生，受陶隐居《仙经》十卷。
Yet, [with his] nature fond [of] long life [i.e. longevity], [he] received [the] hermit Táo [Hóngjǐng’s] [陶弘景] Immortality Classic’s ten scrolls.
后遇菩提流支，乃问曰：「佛有长生不死术乎？」
Later meeting Bodhiruci, [he] thus asked, ‘[Does the] Buddha have [a] method [for getting] long life without dying?’
支笑曰：「长生不死，吾佛道也。」乃授以《十六观经》，曰：「学此，则三界无复生，六道无复往。其为寿也，河沙劫石，莫能比焉。」
Bodhiruci laughed [and] said, ‘[For] long life without dying, [there is] our Buddha’s path.’ Thus presenting [him] with [the] Sixteen Contemplations Sūtra, saying, ‘Learning this, then [in the] three realms not again born, [in the] six paths not again reborn. [With] this for lifespan, [it is what] rivers’ sands [and] kalpas’ rocks, [are] not able [to] compare.’
[Note: The Buddha spoke of an analogy to describe the lengthiness of a kalpa, which is one world cycle, the time for a world to be formed and destroyed, about 1,334,000,000 (one billion, three hundred and thirty-four million) years. He spoke of a great rock mountain of 40 lǐs (i.e. 20 kilometres) in height, with a long-living person using a piece of fine and soft cloth, wiping it once every 100 years to gradually reduce its size. By the time this rock is completely ‘sanded’ away, the end of one kalpa will still not be reached. Thus, ‘kalpas’ rocks’ (劫石) are used to describe a duration of time that is long and distant. As the ‘Ganges River’s sand grains’ (恒河沙) are extremely fine like powder, they are also used by the Buddha to describe the innumerable or immeasurable. Note that this is not the same as the infinite.]
鸾大喜，遂焚《仙经》，而专修净业，寒暑疾痛，曾无少懈。
[Tán]luán, [with] great joy, thereupon burnt [the] Immortality Classic, and focused [on] cultivating pure karmas. [In] winter [and] summer, [with] sickness [and] pain, not once [with] slight laziness.
魏主号为神鸾。
[The Eastern] Wèi [Dynasty’s] Emperor named [him] as [the] Divine Luán.
一日见梵僧谓曰：「吾龙树也，以汝同志，故来相见。」
One day, [he] saw [an] Indian monk [who] called [him], saying, ‘I [am] Dragon Tree [i.e. Nāgārjuna Bodhisattva (龙树菩萨)], with you [having the] same aspiration, thus coming [to] see each other.’
鸾自知时至，集众诫曰：「地狱诸苦，不可不惧。九品净业，不可不修。」
[Tán]luán, personally knowing [the] time [of his] departure, gathered [the] assembly [and] admonished [them], saying, ‘[The] hells’ all [forms of] suffering, cannot [be] not feared. [The] Nine Grades’ pure karmas cannot [be] not cultivated.’
令弟子高声念佛，西向稽首而终。众闻天乐自西而来，良久乃已。
[He] led [his] disciples [to] aloud recite [Āmítuó]fó. [To the] western direction, [he] prostrated and departed. [The] assembly heard heavenly music, [which] from [the] West then came, [for] a long time, thereupon ending.
玉峰怀西居士周梦颜安士氏汇辑
[By] Yùfēng’s Layperson Huáixī, Zhōu Mèngyán And Ānshì’s Clan Collected [And] Compiled
《安士全书》：西归直指：卷四：往生事略：高僧往生类
Ānshì’s Complete Book: Western [Pure Land’s] Return’s Direct Pointers: Scroll Four: Rebirth Matters [In] Brief: High Monastics’ Rebirths’ Category
Namo Amituofo : Translation and note by Shen Shi’an
相关教理
Related Teachings:
龙树菩萨劝念佛偈
Verses Of Nāgārjuna Bodhisattva’s Exhortation To Be Mindful Of Buddha
https://purelanders.com/2021/08/31/selections-from-nagarjuna-bodhisattvas-aspiration-verses
相关传记
Related Biographies:
后魏壁谷僧昙鸾
[7] Later Wèi Dynasty’s Bìgǔ’s Monastic Tánluán
https://purelanders.com/2022/01/22/7-later-wei-dynastys-bigus-monastic-tanluan
中国净土宗昙鸾大师传
[i] Biography Of The Chinese Pure Land Tradition Great Master Tánluán
https://purelanders.com/2017/06/08/biography-of-the-chinese-pure-land-tradition-great-master-tanluan
