Dharma Master Dharmamitra was a native of Kashmir, As a child he was extremely happy to see members of the Sangha, especially when he saw one of them reciting a Sutra. Whenever he encountered a monk reciting a Sutra he would kneel down and listen. On seeing a monk bow to the Buddha he would join in and bow too. This made him extremely happy. Even when he was very small he went to the monastery every day to play, but this play consisted of bowing to the Buddhas and reciting the Sutras. His father and mother watched and thought, “This is very strange behavior for a child. All the boy does is go to the monastery and bow to the Buddha, recite the Sutras, and imitate people who have left the home life.”
By age seven he was keenly intelligent and had developed such a liking for the Buddhadharma that his parents allowed him to leave the home life. In Kashmir at that time, there were many Sages who had been certified to the holy fruit, and so Dharmamitra met many bright-eyed teachers and learned advisors; thus his cultivation was built on a firm foundation He did not cultivate like ordinary people who haphazardly apply effort one day, but not the next. He never wasted his time. He never rested, but recited the Sutras, recollected the Buddha’s name, and bowed to the Buddha until he was so tired he couldn’t go on; then he would sit and practice dhyana. He might have dozed off occasionally, but would have soon roused himself to continue his practice of the Buddhadharma. His practice was so sincere that he didn’t even make distinctions between day and night in his cultivation of the Buddhadharma. Hence, he was able to develop great wisdom. By the time he was aged fifteen, he was speaking the Dharma. His explanations of the principles in the teachings were both subtle and wonderful.
With a firm resolve and great determination, his intention was to propagate the Buddhadharma throughout the world. He went to more than twenty countries during his life to spread the Dharma and teach living beings. One day his travels to propagate the Dharma brought him to Kucha. The day before his arrival, the King of Kucha had a dream in which a god told him, “Tomorrow a person of great blessings and virtue will come to your country. You should make vast offerings and plant fields of blessings before this virtuous person.” When the King awoke he could remember the dream vividly and knew that it had been an extraordinary one. He ordered his customs officials to pay special attention and the news of any particularly unusual person wanting to come into the country was to be brought to his immediate attention via pony express. In those days there were no telegrams, so urgent messages were carried by horseback. The messenger would travel at full speed and would change horses whenever one was exhausted. By never having to slow down, he could travel an immense distance in a day.
Dharma Master Dharmamitra had a peculiar appearance. From birth, his eyebrows had grown together in one continuous line above his eyes, and because of this strange characteristic, he was called Dhyana Master “Connected Eyebrows.” When Dharma Master Dharmamitra reached the border, the customs officers, because of his unusual eyebrows, informed the pony express, who raced to inform the King. The King assumed the monk must be the virtuous person referred to in his dream. The King, setting out immediately, travelled ten miles beyond the city walls to meet Dharma Master Dharmamitra. The King personally invited the Dharma Master to the palace and honored him with a vegetarian feast, which was attended by the ministers and officials of state. Then the King himself received the Five Precepts from Dharma Master Dharmamitra, and made offerings of food (drink), clothing, bedding, and medicines, But basically, Dharma Master Dharmamitra was not interested in good food, fine clothes, pleasant surroundings, or many offerings.
Dharma Master Dharmamitra, being very independent, was not fettered by anything. He decided to stay only one night in Kucha. However, that night the god appeared once again to the King and said, “Did you know that the one of great virtue is preparing to leave? What you did yesterday will be the extent of the fields of merit and virtue that you can plant.”
When the King awoke from his dream, his ministers of protocol confirmed that Dharma Master Dharmamitra was preparing to leave. He quickly called together all his ministers and officials. They knelt before the Dharma Master and begged him to stay. Yet, in spite of their sincere pleas, Dharma Master Dharmamitra would not change his plans. “My causes and conditions here with you are insufficient,” he said, and no matter how they wished to detain him, it was to no avail.
Dharma Master Dharmamitra went on to Dunhuang (敦煌), China, passing through the shifting sands of the vast, desolate desert. It was a difficult journey. When he arrived at Dunhuang, he leveled the earth and built a monastery. Around this he planted a thousand palm trees and enhanced the grounds with flower gardens and pools. From thousands of miles around, members of the Sangha and laity would gather at this Bodhimanda to cultivate. Dharma Master Dharmamitra taught and transformed many Chinese people.
After the completion of the Dunhuang community, however, he moved on to Liangzhou, the present day Xinjiang, There he built another monastery where Shramanas from many miles around came to meet the Master and cultivate Chan.
Dharma Master Dharmamitra promoted the principles and methods of the Chan School in all his teachings. When he heard that the Buddhadharma was flourishing in Nanjing during the Liu-Song dynasty, he once again set out to spread the Chan School. In the first year of the Yuanjia period of the Liu-Song Dynasty (424 A.D.), he went from Xinjiang to Sichuan (四川). Then, from there he travelled to Jingzhou (荊州), near Hubei (湖北). He dwelled in a monastery in Changsha(長沙) and built another large Chan hall which could hold a thousand people. There, a miraculous event occurred. This was similar to what happened when Kang Senghui, sought for the sharira.
Dharma Master Dharmamitra had heard about how Kang Senghui had obtained sharira at that place, so he and his disciples also set up a Dharma platform and prayed for the Buddha’s sharira to appear. They didn’t have to pass through three weeks, as had their predecessor, for after one week’s time, they heard a loud “BANG” in the pan and lifted out a sharira which constantly emitted light. This miraculous response caused the four assemblies of disciples to have deeper faith in him. Everyone realized that what had occurred was an especially rare and auspicious event, and as a result, everyone became very sincere in their cultivation. While Dharma Master Dharmamitra was at Changsha Monastery, over a hundred people became enlightened.
Afterwards, Dharma Master Dharmamitra went from Jingzhou eastward to Nanjing, where he stopped first for a time at Zhongxing Monastery (中興寺). Then, shortly after, he went on to Qihuan Monastery (祇洹寺) to live. By that time the Dharma Master’s reputation as a Chan Master possessing great Way Virtue, had spread far and wide. Many people came to hear him lecture on the Sutras, and explain the Dharma. He was invited to many kingdoms including, Wei, Song, and Jin. He went to Nanjing, where the Emperor extended a personal invitation to him to receive offerings at the palace. The royal family became Buddhist disciples under him and also received the Five Precepts. As a result, the Buddhadharma flourished during the Emperor’s reign. Buddhism became so popular that Dharma Master Dharmamitra, in order to handle the heavy volume of people who wished to pay their respects or ask for instruction, could only be seen by appointment. And even then, because his time was in such demand, it was difficult to arrange such an appointment.
At Qihuan Monastery he translated the Chan Sutra (《禪經》), the Chan Dharma, the Essentials of the Chan Dharma (《禪法要》), the Samantabhadra Contemplation (《普賢觀》), and the Empty Space Store Contemplation (《虛空藏觀》).5 (He is credited with seven works in the Taisho Tripitaka: T.277, T.407, T.409, T.564, T.619, T.814, and T.822.) He taught the Dharma of reflecting on Chan, and for thousands of miles around, people wrote letters asking him to come and teach them. Everyone referred to him as the Great Dhyana Master.
At that time the governor of Pingchang (平昌) was called Meng Yi (孟顗). He believed in Buddhism and used its principles in his work. When he heard of the great fame of this Dhyana Master, he invited him to his province to propagate the Buddhadharma. In Pingchang, Shamanism was the prevalent belief, but when Dhamma Master Dharmamitra arrived, however, the customs began to change. His wonderful Dharma transformed the people there, and they came to realize that Shamanism was wrong—not orthodox Dharma. Hearing his wonderful Dharma, first one household would take refuge with the Triple Jewel, renouncing their belief in Shamanism. Then another would do the same. In this way, the customs and old beliefs gradually wore off.
Dharma Master Dharmamitra dwelt in Pingchang for three years. Then he returned to Zhong Mountain (鍾山) near Nanjing, taking up residence in Dinglin Lower Monastery (定林下寺). However, he felt that this monastery was too near sea level, so he moved to higher ground. He found a piece of land resembling two of the mightiest mountains in China: Mount Song (嵩山) and Mount Hua (華山). With the aid of the people who lived there, he built Dinglin Upper Monastery (定林上寺). In the monastery, Dharma Master Dharmamitra painted a picture of the Dharma Protector and Heavenly Ruler, Kapila, who had protected him as he had set out from Kashmir on his journey to Kucha. Halfway to Kucha, Kapila had manifested the body of a heavenly general, and informed the Dhyana Master that he was going to leave and return to India. Dharma Master Dharmamitra said, “Your divine powers and transformations are inexhaustible, You can have anything you want. It’s all ’as-you-will’ and comfortable for you. Why must you return? Why can’t you come with me?” After he had said that, Kapila disappeared, hiding his body away once more. The Dhyana Master then continued on his journey. Now, strange as it may seem, everyone continually heard words coming from the painting, and when anybody asked the painting of Kapila for anything, they would always get a tremendous response.
After the monastery had been completed, people from all around drew near the Dhyana Master. Since they knew he was a Great Learned Advisor, they crowded around him to make offerings. Also because of his lofty virtue, wherever he went, he always attracted many cultivators.
In the nineteenth year of the Yuanjia reign (442 A.D.), in the seventh month on the sixth day (lunar), Dharmamitra sat in full lotus and said, “I’m going to leave today.” Then he spoke the Dharma for those gathered around him, but before he finished speaking, he fell silent and entered Nirvana. He was eighty-seven years old at the time. His grave still remains on Zhong Mountain at Dinglin Upper Monastery near Nanjing.
5 T09n0277：佛說觀普賢菩薩行法經(一卷)； T13n0407：虛空藏菩薩神咒經(一卷)
T13n0409：觀虛空藏菩薩經(一卷)； T14n0564：佛說轉女身經(一卷)； T15n0619：五門禪經要用法(一卷)； T17n0814：佛說象腋經(一卷)； T17n0822：佛說諸法勇王經(一卷) http://www.sutrapearls.org/toc-C/toc-T.htm#sthash.H7GmGogJ.dpbs