卷一傳五建福寺康明感尼

明感。本姓朱。高平人也。世奉大法經。為虜賊所獲。欲以為妻。備加苦楚。誓不受辱。 謫使牧羊經歷十載。懷歸轉篤反途莫由。常念三寶兼願出家。忽遇一比丘就請五戒。仍以觀世音經授之。因得習誦晝夜不休。

願得還家立五層塔。不勝憂念逃走東行。初不識路晝夜兼涉。徑入一山見有斑虎。去之數步初甚恐懅小卻意定心願逾至。遂隨虎而行。積日彌旬得達青州。將入村落虎便不見。

至州復為明伯連所虜。音問至家夫兒迎贖。家人拘制其志未諧苦身。懃精三年。乃遂專篤禪行戒品無[保/言]。脫有小犯輒累晨懺悔要見瑞相然後乃休。或見雨花。或聞空聲。或睹佛像。或夜善夢。

年及桑榆操行彌峻江北子女師奉如歸。晉永和四年春與慧湛等十人。濟江詣司空公何充。 充一見甚敬重于時京師未有尼寺。充以別宅。為之立寺。問感曰。當何名之。答曰。大晉四部今日始備。檀越所建皆造福業。可名曰建福寺。公從之矣。

後遇疾少時便卒

1.5 (Tsai no.5) K'ang Ming-kan

The nun K'ang Ming-kan (Bright Influence) (in the lineage of a Sogdian monk) of Establishing Blessings Convent

Ming-kan's secular surname was Chu, and her family was from Kao-p'ing [in northeast China]. ¹ For generations the family had venerated the [Buddhist] teachings known as the Great Vehicle. ²

A bandit who wanted to make her his wife abducted her, but, even though she suffered increasing torment, she vowed not to give in to him. She was forced to serve as a shepherdess far from her native home. Ten years went by and her longing for her home and family grew more and more intense, but there seemed to be no way back. During all this she kept her mind fixed on the Three Treasures, and she herself wished to become a nun. ³

One day she happened to meet a Buddhist monk, and she asked him to bestow on her the five fundamental precepts [of a Buddhist householder]. ⁴ He granted her request and also presented her with a copy of the Bodhisattva Kuan-shih-yin Scripture, which she then practiced chanting day and night without pause. ⁵

Deciding to return home to build a five-story pagoda, she fled to the east in great anxiety and distress. At first she did not know the road but kept traveling both day and night. When crossing over a mountain she saw a tiger lying only a few steps away from her. After momentary terror she composed her mind, and her hopes were more than met, for the tiger led the way for her, and, after the days had grown into weeks, she finally arrived in her home territory of Ch'ing Province [in the northeast]. As she was about to enter the village, the tiger disappeared, but at that moment, having arrived in the province, Ming-kan was again abducted, this time by Ming Po-lien. When word reached her family, her husband and son ransomed her, but the family did not let her carry out her wishes [to enter the life of a Buddhist nun]. Only after three years of cultivating stringent religious practices was she able to follow her intention. As a nun, she especially concentrated on the cultivation of meditation, and she kept all the regulations of a monastic life without any transgressions. If she happened to commit a minor fault, she would confess it several mornings in a row, ceasing only after she received a sign or a good omen. Sometimes as a good omen she saw flowers rain down from the sky or she heard a voice in the sky or she saw a Buddha image or she had auspicious dreams.

As Ming-kan approached old age, her moral cultivation was even more strict and lofty. All the men and women north of the Yangtze River honored her as their spiritual teacher in whom they could take refuge.

In the spring of the fourth year of the yung-ho reign period (348) of the Chin dynasty, ⁶ she, together with Hui-chan (no. 7) and others— ten in all—traveled south, crossed the Yangtze River, and went to see the minister of public works, Ho Ch'ung (292-346), in the capital of the Eastern Chin dynasty. ⁷ As soon as he met them, he showed them great respect. Because at that time there were no convents in the capital region Ho Ch'ung converted one of his private residences into a convent for them.

He asked Ming-kan, "What should the convent be named?"

She replied, "In the great realm of the Chin dynasty all the four Buddhist assemblies of monks, nuns, and male and female householders are now established for the first time. ⁸ Furthermore, that which you as donor have established will bestow blessings and merit. Therefore, let us call the convent Establishing Blessings Convent." Ho Ch'ung agreed to her suggestion. Not long afterward Ming-kan took sick and died.