47. Ching-kuei
[OMITTED]
The nun Ching-kuei (Pure Symbol) (d. 494) of Voice of the
Teaching Convent
Ching-kuei's secular surname was Chou. Her family was originally
from Chin-ling [to the southeast of the capital, Chien-k'ang], but they
had lived in the Chien-k'ang district for three generations by the time
she was born.[57]
As a child Ching-kuei was very intelligent and often needed to hear
something only once to understand it. By natural inclination she did
not associate with worldly people and very early on wished to leave
the household life. Her parents, sympathizing with her, did not
oppose her resolve, and she took up residence in Voice of the Teaching
Convent as a disciple of the nun Fa-ching.
She was pure in conduct, broadly versed in both the scriptures and
the monastic rules, and well accomplished in all the meditative secrets
of the three types of Buddhist paths.[58] In short, Ching-kuei's spiritual
capacity was so vast that no one could fathom it; on the other hand
she neglected her body and forgot the taste of food to the point that
she was always emaciated. Her vigor and memory were models for the
world, and her teaching and guidance greatly benefited everyone of
that time who turned to her.
Ching-kuei lived together with the nun T'an-chien in Voice of the
Teaching Convent, and she [too] eventually moved to White Mountain,
where she dwelt beneath the trees, her meritorious influence
spreading far.
In the first year of the chien-wu reign period (494), on the night of
the eighth day of the second month [traditionally thought to be the
day of the Buddha's complete and final entry into nirvana], Ching-kuei
burned her body at the same time as the nun T'an-chien (no. 46).
Religious and laity, all grieving and weeping, collected her relics and
buried them in a tomb.
[57]
Chin-ling, in present-day Chiangsu Province, Wu-chin County.
See map.
[58]
Reading Sheng in conformity with the Sung, Yüan, and Ming editions.
These are the ways of (1) the arhat or hearer, who gains enlightenment after
hearing the Buddhist teaching preached; (2) the solitary Buddha who becomes
a Buddha through his own efforts without hearing the teaching from others;
and (3) the bodhisattva who follows the bodhisattva path and use his accomplishments
to teach and to help others.
