The greatly virtuous High Master Gunavarman, was born into the royal family of Kashmir. His grandfather, Haribhadra, had been a highly respected and virtuous king, but eventually was overthrown by his subjects for being too rigid and unyielding. Consequently, his son, Sanghananda, who was Gunavarman's father, never became king but fled to the mountains to cultivate the way. Gunavarman also liked to cultivate and was especially intelligent, even as a child.

When Master Gunavarman was fourteen years old, his mother, who enjoyed eating the flesh of wild beasts, asked Gunavarman to find some meat for her , Gunavarman refused. "All creatures love life and dread death," he said. "Eating the flesh of animals is not compassionate. Not only do you destroy your own compassionate sensibilities, but you create killing karma as well."

His mother flew into a rage. "Supposing," she said, "just supposing there were an offense involved. It would be my offense, not yours. I would stand it on your behalf to receive the retribution for it."

Gunavarman did not reply, nor did he go out hunting for his mother. A few days later, he accidentally splattered some boiling oil and burned his hand in several places. In great pain, he went to his mother and said, "Mama! The pain in excruciating! Won't you please stand in for me and undergo this pain on my behalf?"

"You're just a child," said his mother, "and not a very bright one, at that. Your body, not mine, is in pain. How can I possible bear it for you?"

"If it is the case that you can't take the pain I suffer in the present, how will you be able to undergo in the future the karma for the offenses I went hunting, you would take the retribution on yourself, but now you can't even undergo the pain of a burned hand for me. How do you expect to suffer for my offense karma?"

One who wishes to save his mother and father must have a clever method. Suddenly his mother understood. She ceased killing and ate only vegetarian food. The young Gunavarman had purposely splattered the oil on his hand in an attempt to his mother to believe in the Buddhadharma. His method worked extremely well.

When he was eighteen years old, a physiognomist said of him, "When you are thirty you will sit with your back to the north and your face to the south; you shall be proclaimed an honored one and will be the ruler of a great nation. However, should you dislike worldly glory, you may leave home and you will be able to certify to the fruit of Sagehood and become a world-transcending Sage."

When he was twenty, Gunavarman left the home life and received the complete Precepts. Then he travelled around propagating the Buddhadharma. People were very respectful to him and had great faith in him. He read all the Great and Small Vehicle Sutras, several million words, and could recite many of them from memory. When he was thirty, the king of Kashmir died without leaving an heir. The officials and the common folk got together to select a leader and since they greatly revered the Master, they decided, "Gunavarman is virtuous and learned and should become king." They asked him to ascend the throne, but he refused, saying, "I left home to cultivate the Way and care nothing for worldly matters. Find someone else. I won't do it."

He continued to travel throughout India, spreading the Great Vehicle Teaching. The people persisted and asked him gain. In fact, they asked him three, four, five, six seven times to take the throne, and what do you think happened? He ran away. He went off to the deep mountain valleys where no one could find him, ate leaves and roots, and saw nobody at all. He cultivated the Way among the wild beasts and later he travelled to Sri Lanka (Simhala), where he studied and propagated the Teaching. Among the people it was known that he had certified to the First Fruit of Arhatship. His speech was cogent and principled and his deportment was so awesome that the people, having seen him only once, would bring for the resolve to attain enlightenment.

Then the Master went to Java. The day before he arrived, the king of Java's mother had a dream in which she saw a boat flying across the sea, carrying a Shramana. When Gunavarman arrived the following day, she recognized him. "Yesterday, I had a dream in which a Shramana came to our country. You look just like him." She deeply believed in him and received the five lay Precepts from him: No killing, no stealing, no sexual misconduct, no false speech, and no intoxicants. She studied under the Master, cultivated, and learned a lot.

One day she spoke to her son, the king. "I have a great affinity with you and so you are my son and I am your mother. This is most propitious. But I am a Buddhist and you are not, and so our causes and conditions are divergent. I fear that in the future things will not be as fortunate, for we are headed down two different roads."

The king understood that his mother wanted him to become a Buddhist, even though she had not said so openly, and she certainly would not have demanded it. "I shall take the Five Precepts," he said to her, and he forced himself to go ahead, even though he wasn't very interested in the Buddhadharma. Because Master Gunavarman had been certified to the first fruit, he taught the doctrines so effectively that the king eventually came to believe in the Dharma. "It's incredibly wonderful," he said. "Why didn't I begin studying it sooner? How fortunate I am to have such a fine mother who believes in the Buddhadharma and who has saved me as well!" He was overjoyed.

Just when he was most elated, trouble came. The neighboring country invaded. The king went to Gunavarman and said, "Master, if you believe in the Buddha, then people bully you! If you're evil, people fear you, but if you're good, they push you around. Before I became a Buddhist, no one dared opposed me. Now they have come to wage war. If I fight them with troops I will kill many men. If I don't fight, the country is finished. Master, I ask you, what am I to do?"

Gunavarman said, "If they attack, use your troops, but hold thoughts of compassion, not cruelty. Since you have taken the Five Precepts, you should pity your enemies, not hate them."

The King instructed his troops to recite "Homage to the Greatly Compassionate Bodhisattva Who Contemplates the Sounds of the World" (Avalokiteshvara), and to take, as their guiding principle, pity, rather than the intent to kill. So although they went off to battle, they recited the Bodhisattva's name. As a result, as soon as the King's troops met the enemy, the enemy retreated, frightened by their awesome virtue. The King, although injured in the foot by a arrow, was still happy about the victory. Gunavarman recited the Great Compassion Mantra over some water and then washed the King's wound. It healed completely in just a few days, and didn't hurt at all. This caused the King to believe in Gunavarman even more sincerely.

Having gained such a victory, the King realized that the Buddhadharma was truly unfathomable. He studied every day and after a while he had an awakening: he awoke to the fact that being a King was a lot of trouble--"This is a problem! We'd better ask the King. That's a problem. We'd better ask the King. Ask the King! Ask the King!" He decided he would be better off leaving home to become a member of the Sangha than remaining so caught up in trivial worldly matters.

When he announced his decision to join the Sangha, all the ministers, scholars, and the people knelt and begged him not to abdicate. He denied their request and they wept. "All right," he finally said, "if you insist that I remain King you must agree to three conditions. Otherwise, I am going to leave home."

"What are your three conditions?" they asked. "First of all, within the country I rule, everyone must be respectful toward, make offerings to, and take refuge with the Triple Jewel. All the citizens must do this."
"That can be arranged," they said, "What is the second conditions?"
"All the citizens must uphold the Five Precepts and cultivate the Ten Good Acts including no killing, no stealing, no sexual misconduct, no greed, no hatred, no stupidity, no lying, no vulgar speech, no abusive speech, no backbiting. What is more, they must cease killing and eat only pure vegetarian food."

See how this Dharma Master first convinced his mother to quit eating meat and now his disciple, the King, has convinced the whole country to do so!

"There's no problem with that one," they said. "What's the third?"
"You must distribute all the treasures and wealth in the treasuries to the needy, the sick, the widows, widowers, the orphans, and the childless."
"Fine," they said, and the King remained on the throne.

He then erected a temple for his teacher, Master Gunavarman. He joined the other carpenters and industriously pounded nails. However, on one occasion a board fell on his toe, causing considerable swelling.

"Master," he cried, "My toe!"
"You," Master Gunavarman said, "are just looking for trouble. Why are you working as a carpenter?"
"I wanted to express my true sincerity toward my Master," the King replied.
"Well then, you can undergo a little pain," said the Master. But then he applied a mantra which healed the toe on the spot, thus redoubling the King's faith.

Master Gunavarman became well-known for converting the King of Java. In Chung Kuo, during the Liu-Sung Dynasty, Buddhabhadra's disciple, Dharma Master Hui Kuan, as well as Dharma Master Hui Tsung and others, went to the Emperor Wen and asked that someone be sent to request Master Gunavarman to come to Chung Kuo to spread the Dharma. The Emperor ordered the Magistrate of Chiao Chou along with Dharma Master Fa Ch'ang and Tao Ch'ung and others to serve as envoys to request Master Gunavarman to come to Chung Kuo. However, the King of Java did not wish to let his Master leave the country. Yet, when he thought it over, he realized that people should not be selfish. His own country was small, whereas Chung Kuo was large and he thought it best to allow his Master to go to Chung Kuo to teach and transform living beings there.

But, before the party from Chung Kuo had even arrived in Java, Master Gunavarman had already set sail on a merchant ship. His intention was to travel to a small kingdom to teach the Dharma. Strangely enough, a wind came up an blew the Master directly to Canton. Hearing of his arrival, the Emperor of Chung Kuo sent people to welcome him and bring him to the capital. On the way he passed through Shih Hsing where there was a mountain called Hu Shih ("Tiger City") which Master Gunavarman said resembled Mount Gridhrakuta ("Vulture Peak") in India, and its name was accordingly changed.

In the monastery on the mountain, many Sangha members cultivated the Way. The Master built a small hut about a mile from the monastery where he cultivated Dhyana samadhi. Although the sound of the large monastery bell did not reach as far as his hut, whenever the small hand bell was run, the Master immediately went to the monastery.

It was generally known that the Master had been certified to the first Fruit of Arhatship because his actions differed from those of ordinary men. Although it looked like he was walking on the ground, he actually was walking in space, about one inch off the ground. People noticed that when it rained, the bottoms of his shoes did not get muddy, and so they knew he was a Sage.

There were many man-eating tigers on the mountain, but whenever the Master met one, he would put his staff on the tiger's head, and speak the Dharma. The tiger would then tamely saunter away. After this happened several times, the tigers never bothered anyone again.

On several occasions the Master entered Dhyana samadhi and did not emerge from his room for days on end. Once, the monks sent a novice to inquire after him. The novice saw a white lion guarding the Master's door and green lotuses filling empty space. Startled, the novice called out, but by the time the other monks arrived, the vision had vanished. There were many such miraculous occurrences.

The Emperor invited the Master to come to Nanking. He arrived in 431 A.D. The Emperor asked him, "I wish to be a vegetarian, but court etiquette, and the pressure of those around me, all of whom eat meat, prevent his. What can I do?"

The Master replied, "The way is to be found within the heart, not in specific affairs. the Emperor's cultivation will naturally differ from that of the common folk, for the Emperor has the charisma which the common people do not. You need not necessarily eat vegetarian food. What you should do is benefit the people. Be a just and benevolent \ruler and command the people not to kill. Teaching the people not to kill is your form of vegetarianism. Its merit for surpasses that derived from simply eating one meatless meal, thus saving one creature's life. Your cultivation does not reside in simply eating less meat or in drinking less wine. Teaching your subjects to be filial is you form of filial piety. You must influence the citizens not to commit evil actions, but to practice only good deeds. That should be your cultivation."

The Emperor exclaimed, "Most Shramanas are confused about broad principles and most scholars are caught up in the specific teachings. Those confused about broad principles speak about cause and effect and the illusory nature of things in an unclear way. those attached to specific teachings cling to their books and literature. Today, having had this discussion with the Dharma Master, I finally understand the Great Heavenly Way." The Emperor arranged for the Master to live in the Jeta Monastery and made abundant offering sot him. Many Bhikshus, Bhikshunis, Upasakas, and Upasikas cultivated there, attending the Master's lectures on the Sutras, such as the Lotus Sutra and the Ten Grounds Sutra. One day at lunch, after he had taken a few bites of food, Master Gunavarman suddenly rose and returned to his room. There he sat upright in the full-lotus position and entered the stillness. When his attendant noticed he had left the dining room he went to ask after him and found that the Master had suddenly gone off to rebirth. He was sixty-five years old.

He had announced to his disciples previously, the time of his death. He had also written a set of thirty-six verses which narrated the events of his life as a cultivator and described his contemplation of corpses. He had watched the corpse swell, turn green, leak pus and blood and then be eaten by worms. finally, only the skeleton remained. He had realized that no matter how beautiful the woman or how charming the man, when they are dead, their corpses are equally disgusting. What is there to cling to? Through such contemplation, he had won great bliss and his meditation was ineffably delightful. He had then been certified to the First Fruit of Arhatship. After that, he had continued to cultivate, but he was disturbed the constant barrage of people who came to make offerings to him and consequently he retired to the mountains and saw no one. He had continued to cultivate in the stillness of his retreat and had attained the Second Fruit of Arhatship. He then left Sri Lanka for Java, and later went to Chung Kuo to propagate the great Vehicle. When the affinities which drew him to this world had been fulfilled, he died and was cremated according to Buddhist custom. He truly had independence over birth and death. When he was burned on a pyre of sandalwood, his faithful disciples watched the smoke form into lotuses and saw a dragon fly out of the smoke into empty space. Because of theses occurrences, everyone trusted his translations of the Sutras and Vinaya, and knew that his merit and virtue was exceedingly great.

In our own cultivation of the way we should imitate the greatly virtuous ones of the past by never relaxing or slacking off, but always forging ahead with all our might in order to quickly put an end to birth and death.