44. Fa-ch'üan
[OMITTED]
The nun Fa-ch'üan (Complete Law) (412-494) of Eastern Green
Garden Convent
Fa-ch'üan, whose secular surname was Tai, was from Tan-yang [near
the capital]. Of excellent conduct and fond of quietude, she persisted
in her efforts to practice meditation and to acquire wisdom. At first
under the direction of Seng-tsung (438-496) and Fa-yüan (409-489)
she broadly inquired into the various scriptures,[44] and afterward she
widely traversed the methods of meditation and contemplation under
the instruction of the masters of meditation Seng-shen (416-490) and
Fa-yin.[45] During the day she delved into the profundity of texts, and
during the night she passed through the subtle realms of contemplation
so that she could elucidate all the difficult writings of the Great
Vehicle of Buddhism and exercise the skills of a master craftsman in
the secret methods of gaining meditative tranquility.
Fa-ch'üan ate only vegetarian food and wore only what was necessary
to conceal the body. She instructed and guided those who had not
yet heard the Buddhist teachings, and she encouraged her own students
to greater efforts. Those who heeded her words realized many
benefits from their practice.
Because the [Green Garden] convent had become very large and
managing it was therefore difficult, in the third year of the
t'ai-shih
reign period (467), the community discussed dividing it into two convents.
At that time the nun Pao-ying sought to establish a meditation
hall and a pagoda on the east side of the convent, and thereupon Eastern
Green Garden Convent was founded. In the second year of the
sheng-ming reign period (478), Pao-ying died, but, because the community
in Eastern Green Garden Convent was newly established, and
because there was no one in the new community capable of succeeding
to the position, they chose Fa-ch'üan from Green Garden Convent to
be the abbess of the new convent. Everyone was delighted with the
choice, and she treated everyone fairly without any bias.
In the first year of the lung-ch'ang reign period (494), she died at the
age of eighty-three.
At that time there were also in the same convent the nuns Ching-lien,
Seng-lü, and Hui-hsing who were all well known for their
learning.
[44]
Seng-tsung and Fa-yüan. See biography 42 for Seng-tsung. The text
does not supply the full name of the monks. Although this is common practice,
it nevertheless sometimes creates ambiguity, and this is true in the case of
the monk Yüan who is tentatively identified as Fa-yüan whose biography
appears in Kao seng chuan 8:376.c.
[45]
Seng-shen and Fa-yin. See biography 43, n. 42.
