High Master Zhimeng, was from Yongzhou (雍州) near Xinfeng (新豐), not far from the capital of Chang’an. From the time he was born, he displayed unusual intelligence and propriety. He left the home life when very young to become a Shramanera and cultivated the Dharma door of reciting and upholding the Sutras. Night and day, he never ceased in his cultivation.
He had often heard the Dharma Masters from India talk about the efficacious events which took place during the Buddha’s life. He was especially inspired by the various accounts of how the Buddha subdued demons. The story which moved him the most was the account of how the Buddha sat under the Bodhi Tree, crossed over the demons, and accomplished the Way. He realized that it wasn’t much good sitting around dreaming about Shakyamuni Buddha’s life: he would actually have to visit all the holy places connected with these events. Moreover, he knew that time waits for no one, so right there and then he decided to go to India.
In the sixth year of the reign of Hongshi (弘始) of the Qin (後秦) Dynasty (404 A.D.), he advertized his journey: “I plan to travel to India to visit all the holy places connected with the life of Shakyamuni Buddha. Would you like to go?”
“Oh, yes,” came some replies.
“Do you want to go?”
“Yes.”
“I would like to go.”
“I’d be happy to…” came other replies, until fifteen people had volunteered to accompany him.
He set out from Chang’an for India. At that time transportation was very primitive (he made his journey even before Tripitaka Master Xuanzang of the Tang Dynasty), and before they had even reached Xinjiang on the western border of China, they had already forded thirty-six treacherous rivers. No sooner had they finished these dangerous crossings then they found themselves struggling through two hundred and fifty miles of quicksand in the arid desert region. It would have been very easy to die of starvation or thirst; but they survived. Pilgrims had never experienced such severe difficulties.
Eventually they reached Kucha and then khotan, and as they passed through, they observed the customs of these various countries. From Khotan they travelled west for more than seven hundred miles until they came to the Himalayas. By that time, the original party of fifteen had diminished to six. Nine had been unable to endure the hardships and had turned back.
Dharma Master Zhimeng and the five remaining members of his party were determined to go on. They continued for another six hundred miles until they reached the region of Bolan. There, one member of the party named Zhu Daosong (竺道嵩) died, and while Dharma Master Zhimeng prepared the grave, the corpse disappeared without a trace! It was nowhere to be found. Who knows whether it was stolen or eaten by the vultures?
The party of five continued across the Himalayas until they reached the Indus River and the country of Kashmir which, at that time, was inhabited by five hundred Arhats who were always on the go. While the party was staying at Anavatapta Lake, one of the Arhats was overjoyed on encountering Dharma Master Zhimeng. “Where have you come from?” he asked.
“What place is this?” Dharma Master Zhimeng asked in reply, and the Arhat spoke the Dharma for him. There, Dharma Master Zhimeng found many of Shakyamuni Buddha’s relics, including a stone pitcher the Buddha had used, and the Buddha’s bowl. The bowl was violet in color and emitted light both day and night. Dharma Master Zhimeng used incense and flowers to make offerings to it. Lifting the bowl reverently over his head, he made a vow that in every life he would make offerings to the Triple Jewel, leave the home life, cultivate the Way, and seek the Great Vehicle Dharma.
As he held the bowl aloft and made his vow, he noticed the bowl became alternately light and heavy. When it was heavy he could barely hold it up over his head, but when it was light, it seemed as if there were nothing there at all. This inconceivable response caused him to be even more deeply determined to cultivate the Way.
From there, the party went about four hundred miles to Kapilavastu, where Master Meng respectfully made offerings to the Buddha’s hair, teeth, and the bones of his cowl-like crown. Whenever he encountered a relic of the Buddha, he would spend the entire day making offerings to it and paying his respects. Finally, he arrived at the Bodhi Tree where the Buddha had crossed over the demons, and saw the Buddha image commemorating this event. He was inexpressibly happy and he used his robe to wipe the image clean before reverently making offerings to it. His pilgrimage included many of the Buddha’s relics. In addition to visiting the Buddha’s relics, he went to King Ashoka’s capital and saw the gigantic “Buddha” pagoda. There he met a Brahman named Luo Yuezong (羅閱宗) whose only concern was the propagation of the Buddhadharma. His entire household was Buddhist and consequently, the Brahman was greatly trusted by the reigning King.
When the Brahman met Master Meng he asked, “Is there any Great Vehicle Buddhadharma in China?”
Master Zhimeng emphatically replied, “The study of Great Vehicle Buddhism is carried on throughout China.”
“Very rare, Very rare,” replied the Brahman. “Bodhisattvas must have gone to China to spread the Buddhadharma. That accounts for its flourishing there,” The Brahman gave Dharma Master Zhimeng many Sutras which he carried back to China.
In the reign period Jiazi (甲子歲), Dharma Master Zhimeng set out to return to China. Three members of the party died on the road, so only he and a certain Tan Zuan (曇纂) returned to Liangzhou. There he compiled an edition of the Nirvana Sutra in twenty volumes which he had brought back with him. Then in the l4th year of the Yuanjia reign period of the Liu-Song Dynasty (437 A.D.) he went to Sichuan where he wrote a book about all the experiences on his pilgrimage. It was finished two years later, in the seventh month. In the last year of the Yuanjia period (453 A.D.), he completed the stillness.
Dharma Master Zhimeng was highly influential in the spread of Buddhism in China.