釋氏稽古略 2.27

2.27

佛圖澄和尚　天竺國人也。西晉懷帝永嘉四年至洛陽。自言百歲餘。服氣自養。積日不食。善誦呪役使鬼神。腹旁有孔以綿塞之。夜則拔綿出光以自照。每臨溪從孔出腸胃洗濯。還納腹中。會洛陽𡨥亂。潛伏草野。時石勒屯葛陂多殘殺。澄杖錫謁勒。勒命試以道術。澄取滿鉢水呪之。俄青蓮華生鉢中。勒神敬之延於軍中。東晉成帝咸和三年劉曜圍守洛陽。勒自救之扣澄。澄曰。佛塔無風。一鈴獨鳴。曰秀支替戾岡僕谷劬禿當此羯語也。軍出獲劉曜。勒戰果獲曜。載之襄國。咸和五年勒稱大趙天王。行皇帝事。奉澄彌如篤敬。號曰大和向。勒愛子斌病死將殯。勒嘆曰。朕聞虢太子死。扁鵲能生之。今可得効乎。乃令告澄。澄取楊枝沾水灑之。執斌手曰可起矣。斌乃穌遂起。自是勒諸子多在澄寺中養之。晉咸和八年七月勒殂。弟虎字季龍襲位。徙都鄴（今彰德路冀州之域）尤傾心事澄。至是晉永和四年澄將去世。詣辭季龍。驚曰。大和尚遽棄我國有難乎。澄曰。出生入死道之常也。脩短分定無由增損。但道貴行全德貴不怠。苟道德無玷。雖死如生。咸無焉千歲尚何益哉。然可恨者。國家存心佛理。建寺度僧當蒙福祉。而布政猛虐。賞罰交濫。特違聖典。致國祚不延也。季龍號慟嗚咽。十二月八日澄安坐而逝。壽一百七十歲。入道一百九年。度弟子道安法師等七千餘人。自大教東來至澄而盛（僧傳）。

The Monk Fotudeng
He was a man of India. In the fourth year of Yongjia under Emperor Huai of the Western Jin, he reached Luoyang. He said of himself that he was over a hundred years old. He nourished himself by consuming qi, going without food for days on end. He was skilled in chanting dhāraṇīs and commanding ghosts and spirits. In his side there was a hole stopped with cotton; at night he would pull out the cotton, and light would shine forth to illuminate him. Whenever he came to a stream, he would pull out his intestines and stomach from the hole, wash them clean, and return them into his abdomen. Meeting with the turmoil and rebellion in Luoyang, he lay hidden in the wild countryside. At that time, Shi Le was garrisoned at Gebei and engaged in much slaughter. Deng took his tin staff and went to see Le. Le ordered that he be tested with his arts of the Way. Deng took a bowl full of water and incanted over it; in an instant, a blue lotus flower grew in the bowl. Le revered him as divine and invited him into his army. In the third year of Xianhe under Emperor Cheng of the Eastern Jin, Liu Yao besieged Luoyang. Le went in person to relieve it and consulted Deng. Deng said: "Though there is no wind at the Buddhist pagoda, a single bell tolls on its own, saying: 'Xiuzhiti ligang pugugu tudang.' This is Jie language: 'When the army goes out, it will capture Liu Yao.'" Le went to battle and indeed captured Yao, transporting him to Xiangguo. In the fifth year of Xianhe, Le assumed the title Heavenly King of Great Zhao, exercising imperial affairs. He served Deng with ever deeper devotion and reverence, calling him the Great Monk. When Le's beloved son Bin died of illness and was about to be encoffined, Le sighed: "I have heard that when the Crown Prince of Guo died, Bian Que was able to revive him. Can such an effect be achieved today?" He then ordered that Deng be informed. Deng took a willow branch, dipped it in water, and sprinkled it; taking Bin's hand, he said: "You may rise!" Bin revived and thereupon arose. From then on, many of Le's sons were raised in Deng's monastery. In the seventh month of the eighth year of Xianhe of the Jin, Le died. His younger brother Hu, courtesy name Jilong, inherited the throne and moved the capital to Ye (now Zhangde Route, in the territory of Ji Prefecture). He served Deng with even greater devotion. By the fourth year of Yonghe of the Jin, Deng was about to pass away. He went to take leave of Jilong, who was startled and said: "Is the Great Monk suddenly abandoning me because our state is in danger?" Deng said: "Entering into life and departing into death is the constant law of the Way. Length and brevity of life are determined by destiny and cannot be increased or diminished. But what is noble in the Way is that one's conduct be complete, and what is noble in virtue is that one never slackens. If one's Way and virtue are without blemish, though dead, one is as if alive; if they are absent, what benefit would there be even in a thousand years? Yet what is regrettable is that, although the state sets its heart on the Buddha's principle and should receive blessings and fortune by building monasteries and ordaining monks, its administration is fierce and cruel, its rewards and punishments are erratic and excessive, distinctly violating the sacred scriptures, thereby causing the state's mandate not to endure." Jilong wept aloud and choked with sobs. On the eighth day of the twelfth month, Deng passed away sitting in peace. His lifespan was one hundred and seventy years, having lived in the Way for one hundred and nine years. He ordained more than seven thousand disciples, including Dharma Master Dao'an and others. From the time the Great Teaching came eastward, it flourished most brilliantly with Deng (Biographies of Monks).