jing and the Shouleng'yan jing as justification for his actions.(92)
　　　　  Self-immolators in biographies of eminent monks very rarely get to
　　　　  speak in their own voices, and there is little discussion of
　　　　  motivation or justification other than the formulaic "wish to
　　　　  imitate the Medicine King." This letter by Zhili is probably as
　　　　  close to the mind of a self-immolator as it is possible for us to
　　　　  get. And it indicates that apocryphal texts affected the motivations
　　　　  and beliefs not just of the less talented members of the monastic
　　　　  community but also of the scholastic elite.
　　　　  The Shouleng'yan jing could be used to justify autocremation, but
　　　　  did it effectively silence critics of self-immolation? Well, perhaps
　　　　  not. As noted above, Daocheng was unwilling to admit the legitimacy
　　　　  of self-immolation (she shen) in his Shishi yaolan some three
　　　　  hundred years after the creation of the apocryphon. In the Ming, the
　　　　  eminent cleric Zhuhong wrote an extremely critical piece on the
　　　　  practice of burning the body, contained in his Zheng'e ji
　　　　  (Rectification of Errors, 1614). It is titled Huo fen (Burning
　　　　  Alive).
　　　　  There are demonic people (moren) who pour on oil, stack up firewood
　　　　  and burn their bodies while still alive. Those who look on are
　　　　  overawed, and consider it the attainment of enlightenment. This is
　　　　  erroneous. In the thoughts of all humans there is attachment, and
　　　　  this is where Mara arises. If one has a single moment of thought of
　　　　  admiration for the wonder of this burning while alive, then before
　　　　  this [thought of] admiration is complete, Mara enters the mind and
　　　　  one is no longer self-aware.
　　　　  As they sit upright in the midst of the fire, it seems as if they
　　　　  have no suffering. They do not realize it is Mara's power which aids
　　　　  them. They temporarily attain suchness, but when their life-force is
　　　　  exhaused Mara departs. Then they are miserable and in pain which is
　　　　  quite indescribable. For hundreds of kalpas and thousands of
　　　　  rebirths they are always in the midst of flames, screaming and
　　　　  waiting as they run. So that they are dead ghosts to whom one should
　　　　  give compassionately.
　　　　  Some might say, "The sutras extol the Medicine King who burned his
　　　　  body, so what of that?" Alas! How can a green insect surpass [a bird
　　　　  with] golden wings? When the Medicine King burned his body, the
　　　　  radiance was illuminating. It lasted for many kalpas and extended to
　　　　  the ten directions. But these people who burn themselves alive,