by Unknown
And threads spun by skilled craftsmen.
Immortal girls did the weaving;
Divine maidens helped at the loom.
Bit by bit, the parts were sewn and embroidered.
Stitch by stitch, it arose—a brocade from the heddle,
Its pellucid weave finer than ornate blooms.
Its colors, brilliant, emit precious light.
Wear it, and crimson mist will surround your frame.
Doff it, and see the colored clouds take flight.
Outside the Three Heavens’ door its primal light was seen;
Before the Five Mountains its magic aura grew.
Inlaid are layers of lotus from the West,
And hanging pearls shine like planets and stars.
On four corners are pearls that glow at night;
On top stays fastened an emerald.
Though lacking the all-seeing primal form,
It’s held by Eight Treasures all aglow.
This cassock
You keep folded at leisure;
You wear it to meet sages.
When it’s kept folded at leisure,
Its rainbowlike hues cut through a thousand wrappings.
When you wear it to meet sages,
All Heaven takes fright—both demons and gods!
On top are the ṛddhi pearl,
The māṇi pearl,
The dust-clearing pearl,
The wind-stopping pearl.
There are also the red cornelian,
The purple coral,
The luminescent pearl,18
The Śārīputra.
They rob the moon of its whiteness;
They match the sun in its redness.
In waves its divine aura imbues the sky;
In flashes its brightness lifts up its perfection.
In waves its divine aura imbues the sky,
Flooding the Gate of Heaven.
In flashes its brightness lifts up its perfection,
Lighting up the whole world.
Shining upon the mountains and the streams,
It wakens tigers and leopards;
Lighting up the isles and the seas,
It moves dragons and fishes.
Along its edges hang two chains of melted gold,
And joins the collars a ring of snow-white jade.
The poem says:
The august Three Jewels’ most noble truths
Judge all Four Creatures on the Sixfold Path.
The mind brightened feeds on God’s Law and man’s;
The nature perceived transmits the wisdom lamp.
Solemn Vajradhātu19 guards one’s body
When a mind’s pure like ice in flasks of jade.
Since Buddha caused this cassock to be made,
Which ten thousand kalpas could harm a monk?”
When the Tang emperor, who was up in the Treasure Hall, heard these words, he was highly pleased. “Tell me, priest,” he asked again, “What’s so good about the nine-ring priestly staff?” “My staff,” said the Bodhisattva, “has on it
Nine joined-rings made of iron and set in bronze,
And nine joints of vine immortal ever young.
When held, it scorns the sight of aging bones;
It leaves the mount to return with fleecy clouds.
It roamed through Heaven with the Fifth Patriarch;
It broke Hell’s gate where Luo Bo sought his Mom.20
Not soiled by the filth of this red-dust world,
It gladly trails the god-monk up Mount Jade.”21
When the Tang emperor heard these words, he gave the order to have the cassock spread open so that he might examine it carefully from top to bottom. It was indeed a marvelous thing! “Venerable Elder of the Great Law,” he said, “we shall not deceive you. At this very moment we have exalted the Religion of Mercy and planted abundantly in the fields of blessing. You may see many priests assembled in the Temple of Transformation to perform the Law and the sūtras. In their midst is a man of great merit and virtue, whose religious name is Xuanzang. We wish, therefore, to purchase these two treasure objects from you to give them to him. How much do you really want for these things?” Hearing these words, the Bodhisattva and Mokṣa folded their hands and gave praise to the Buddha. “If he is a man of virtue and merit,” she said to the Throne, bowing, “this humble cleric is willing to give them to him. I shall not accept any money.” She finished speaking and turned at once to leave. The Tang emperor quickly asked Xiao Yu to hold her back. Standing up in the Hall, he bowed low before saying, “Previously you claimed that the cassock was worth five thousand taels of silver, and the staff two thousand. Now that you see we want to buy them, you refuse to accept payment. Are you implying that we would bank on our position and take your possession by force? That’s absurd! We shall pay you according to the original sum you asked for; please do not refuse it.”
Raising her hands for a salutation, the Bodhisattva said, “This humble cleric made a vow before, stating that anyone who reveres the Three Treasures, rejoices in virtue, and submits to our Buddha will be given these treasures free. Since it is clear that Your Majesty is eager to magnify virtue, to rest in excellence, and to honor our Buddhist faith by having an illustrious monk proclaim the Great Law, it is my duty to present these gifts to you. I shall take no money for them. They will be left here and this humble cleric will take leave of you.” When the Tang emperor saw that she was so insistent, he was very pleased. He ordered the Court of Banquets to prepare a huge vegetarian feast to thank the Bodhisattva, who firmly declined that also. She left amiably and went back to her hiding place at the Temple of the Local Spirit, which we shall mention no further.
We tell you now about Taizong, who held a noon court and asked Wei Zheng to summon Xuanzang to an audience. That Master of the Law was just leading the monks in chanting sūtras and reciting geyas.22 When he heard the emperor’s decree, he left the platform immediately and followed Wei Zheng to come before the Throne. “We have greatly troubled our Master,” said Taizong, “to render exemplary good works, for which we have hardly anything to offer you in thanks. This morning Xiao Yu came upon two monks who were willing to present us with a brocaded cassock with rare treasures and a nine-ring priestly staff. We therefore call specially for you so that you may receive them for your enjoyment and use.” Xuanzang kowtowed to express his thanks.
“If our Master of the Law is willing,” said Taizong, “please put the garment on for us to have a look.” The priest accordingly shook open the cassock and draped it on his body, holding the staff in his hands. As he stood before the steps, ruler and subjects were all delighted. Here was a true child of Tathāgata! Look at him:
His looks imposing, how elegant and fine!
This robe of Buddha fits him like a glove!
Its most lustrous splendor spills o’er the world;
Its bright colors imbue the universe.
Up and down are set rows of shining pearls;
Back and front thread layers of golden cords.
Brocade gilds the robe’s edges all around,
With patterns embroidered most varied and rare.
Shaped like Eight Treasures are the thread-made frogs.
A gold ring joins the collars with velvet loops.
It shows on top and bottom Heaven’s ranks,
And stars, great and small, are placed left and right.
Great is the fortune of Xuanzang, the priest,
Now most deserving of this precious thing.
He seems a living arhat from the West,
Or even better than its true elite.
He holds his staff and all its nine rings clang,
Benefic in his Vairocana hat.
A true Buddha-child, it’s no idle tale,
He matches the Bodhi and that’s no lie!
The various officials, both civil and military, stood before the steps and shouted “Bravo!” Taizong could not have been more pleased, and he told the Master of the Law to keep
his cassock on and the staff in his hands. Two regiments of honor guards were ordered to accompany him along with many other officials. They left the gate of the court and proceeded on the main streets toward the temple, and the whole entourage gave the impression that a zhuangyuan was making a tour of the city. The procession was a stirring sight indeed! The merchants and tradesmen in the city of Chang’an, the princes and noblemen, the men of ink and letters, the grown men and the little girls—they all vied to get a good view. Everyone exclaimed, “What a priest! He is truly a living arhat descended to Earth, a live bodhisattva coming to the world!” Xuanzang went right to the temple where he was met by all the monks leaving their seats. The moment they saw him wearing that cassock and holding the staff, they all said that King Kṣitigarbha23 had arrived! Everyone bowed to him and waited on him left and right. Going up to the main hall, Xuanzang lighted incense to honor the Buddha, after which he spoke of the emperor’s favor to the multitude. Thereafter, each went back to his assigned seat, and soon the fiery orb sank westward. So it was
Sunset: mist hid trees and grasses;
The capital’s first chimes rang out.
Zheng-zheng they struck thrice, and human traffic ceased;
Streets back and front soon grew quiet.
Though lights burned bright at First Temple,
The lone village was hush and mute.
The monk focused to tend the sūtras still—
Time to smelt demons, to nurse his spirit.24
Time went by like the snapping of fingers, and the formal celebration of the Grand Mass on the seventh day was to take place. Xuanzang presented the Tang emperor with a memorial, inviting him to raise the incense. News of these good works was circulating throughout the empire. Upon receiving the notice, Taizong sent for his carriage and led many of his officials, both civil and military, as well as his relatives and the ladies of the court, to the temple. All the people of the city—young and old, nobles and commoners—went along also to hear the preaching. At the same time, the Bodhisattva said to Mokṣa, “Today is the formal celebration of the Grand Mass, the first seventh of seven such occasions. It’s about time for you and me to join the crowd. First, we want to see how the mass is going; second, we want to find out whether Gold Cicada is worthy of my treasures; and third, we can discover what division of Buddhism he is preaching about.” The two of them thereupon went to the temple; and so it is that
Affinity will help old comrades meet
As perfection returns to this holy seat.
As they walked inside the temple to look around, they discovered that such a place in the capital of a great nation indeed surpassed the Ṣaḍ-varṣa,25 or even the Jetavana Garden of the Śrāvastī.26 It was truly a lofty temple of Caturdiśgaḥ,27 resounding with divine music and Buddhist chants. Our Bodhisattva went directly to the side of the platform of many treasures and beheld a form truly resembling the enlightened Gold Cicada. The poem says:
All things were pure with not a spot of dust.
Xuanzang of the Great Law sat high onstage.
Lost souls, redeemed, approached the place unseen;
The city’s highborn came to hear the Law.
You give when time’s ripe: this intent’s far-reaching.
You die as you please, the Canon door’s open.
As they heard him rehearse the Boundless Law,
Young and old were glad and comforted.
Another poem says:
Since she made a tour of this holy site,
She met a friend unlike all other men.
They spoke of the present and of countless things—
Of merit and trial in this world of dust.
The cloud of Law extends to shroud the hills;
The net of Truth spread wide to fill all space.
Asses your lives and return to good thoughts,
For Heaven’s grace is rife as falling blooms.
On the platform, that Master of the Law recited for a while the Sūtra of Life and Deliverance for the Dead; he then lectured for a while on the Heavenly Treasure Chronicle for Peace in the Nation, after which he preached for a while on the Scroll on Merit and Self-Cultivation.28
The Bodhisattva drew near and thumped her hands on the platform, calling out in a loud voice, “Hey, monk! You only know how to talk about the teachings of the Little Vehicle. Don’t you know anything about the Great Vehicle?” When Xuanzang heard this question, he was filled with delight. He turned and leaped down from the platform, raised his hands and saluted the Bodhisattva, saying, “Venerable Teacher, please pardon your pupil for much disrespect. I only know that the priests who came before me all talk about the teachings of the Little Vehicle. I have no idea what the Great Vehicle teaches.” “The doctrines of your Little Vehicle,” said the Bodhisattva, “cannot save the damned by leading them up to Heaven; they can only mislead and confuse mortals. I have in my possession Tripitaka, three collections of the Great Vehicle Laws of Buddha, which are able to send the lost to Heaven, to deliver the afflicted from their sufferings, to fashion ageless bodies, and to break the cycles of coming and going.”
As they were speaking, the officer in charge of incense and the inspection of halls reported to the emperor, “The Master was just in the process of lecturing on the wondrous Law when he was pulled down by two scabby mendicants, babbling some kind of nonsense.” The king ordered them to be arrested, and the two monks were taken by many people and pushed into the hall in the rear. When the monk saw Taizong, she neither raised her hands nor made a bow; instead, she lifted her face and said, “What do you want of me, Your Majesty?” Recognizing her, the Tang emperor said, “Aren’t you the monk who brought us the cassock the other day?” “I am,” said the Bodhisattva. “If you have come to listen to the lecture,” said Taizong, “you may as well take some vegetarian food. Why indulge in this wanton discussion with our Master and disturb the lecture hall, delaying our religious service?”
“What that Master of yours was lecturing on,” said the Bodhisattva, “happens to be the teachings of the Little Vehicle, which cannot lead the lost up to Heaven. In my possession is the Tripitaka, the Great Vehicle Law of Buddha, which is able to save the damned, deliver the afflicted, and fashion the indestructible body.” Delighted, Taizong asked eagerly, “Where is your Great Vehicle Law of Buddha?” “At the place of our lord, Tathāgata,” said the Bodhisattva, “in the Great Temple of Thunderclap, located in India of the Great Western Heaven. It can untie the knot of a hundred enmities; it can dispel unexpected misfortunes.” “Can you remember any of it?” said Taizong. “Certainly,” said the Bodhisattva. Taizong was overjoyed and said, “Let the Master lead this monk to the platform to begin a lecture at once.”
Our Bodhisattva led Mokṣa and flew up onto the high platform. She then trod on the hallowed clouds to rise up into the air and revealed her true salvific form, holding the pure vase with the willow branch. At her left stood the virile figure of Mokṣa carrying the rod. The Tang emperor was so overcome that he bowed to the sky and worshipped, as civil and military officials all knelt on the ground and burned incense. Throughout the temple, there was not one of the monks, nuns, Daoists, secular persons, scholars, craftsmen, and merchants, who did not bow down and exclaim, “Dear Bodhisattva! Dear Bodhisattva!” We have a song as a testimony. They saw only
Auspicious mist in diffusion
And dharmakāya29 veiled by holy light.
In the bright air of ninefold Heaven
A lady immortal appeared.
That Bodhisattva
Wore on her head a cap
Fastened by leaves of gold
And set with flowers of jade,
With tassels of dangling pearls,
All aglow with golden light.
On her body she had
A robe of fine blue silk,
Lightly colored
And simply fretted
By circling dragons
And soaring phoenixes.
Down in front was hung
A pair of fragrant girdle-jade,
Which glowed with the moon
And danced with the wind,
Overlaid with precious pearls
And with imperial jade.
Around her waist was tied
An embroidered velvet skirt
Of ice worm silk
And piped in gold,
In which she topped the colored clouds
And crossed the jasper sea.
Before her she led
A cockatoo with red beak and yellow plumes,
Which had roamed the Eastern Ocean
And throughout the world
To foster deeds of mercy and filial piety.
She held in her hands
A grace-dispensing and world-sustaining precious vase,
In which was planted
A twig of pliant willow,
That could moisten the blue sky,
And sweep aside all evil—
All clinging fog and smoke.
Her jade rings joined embroidered loops;
Gold lotus grew beneath her feet.
For three days oft she came and went:
This very Guanshiyin30 who saves from pain and woe.
So pleased by the vision was Tang Taizong that he forgot about his empire; so enthralled were the civil and military officials that they completely ignored court etiquette. Everyone was chanting, “Namo Bodhisattva Guanshiyin!”31
Taizong at once gave the order for a skilled painter to sketch the true form of the Bodhisattva. No sooner had he spoken than a certain Wu Daozi was selected, who could portray gods and sages and was a master of the noble perspective and lofty vision. (This man, in fact, was the one who would later paint the portraits of meritorious officials in the Lingyan Tower.) Immediately he opened up his magnificent brush to record the true form. The hallowed clouds of the Bodhisattva gradually drifted away, and in a little while the golden light disappeared. From midair came floating down a slip of paper on which were plainly written several lines in the style of the gāthā:
We greet the great Ruler of Tang
With scripts most sublime of the West.
The way: a hundred and eight thousand miles.
This Mahāyāna seek earnestly.
These Books, when they reach your fair state,
Can redeem damned spirits from Hell.
If someone is willing to go,
