高僧傳 11.41

11.41

釋僧周，不知何人。性高烈，有奇志操。而韜光晦迹，人莫能知。常在嵩高山頭陀坐禪。魏虜將滅佛法，周謂門人曰：「大難將至。」乃與眷屬數十人，共入寒山。山在長安西南四百里，溪谷險阻，非軍兵所至，遂卜居焉。俄而魏虜肆暴，停者悉斃。其後尋悔，誅滅崔氏，更興佛法。偽永昌王鎮長安，奉旨將更修立，訪求沙門。時有說寒山有僧，德業非凡，王即遣使徵請。周辭以老疾，令弟子僧亮應命出山。周後將殂，告弟子曰：「吾將去矣。」其夕見火從繩床後出燒身，經三日方盡。烟焰漲天，而房不燼。弟子收遺灰架，以塼塔。

Shi Sengzhou—it is not known what sort of person he was. His character was lofty and resolute, and he had extraordinary aspirations and conduct. Yet he concealed his light and hid his traces, so that no one could know him. He constantly practiced dhūta and sat in dhyāna on Mount Songgao. When the Wei barbarians were about to eradicate the Buddhadharma, Zhou said to his disciples, "A great calamity is about to arrive." Thereupon, together with several dozen companions, he entered Mount Hanshan. The mountain was four hundred li southwest of Chang'an, its ravines and valleys treacherous and rugged, beyond the reach of military forces, and so they made their dwelling there. Soon after, the Wei barbarians gave free rein to violence, and all [monks] who had remained behind were killed. Later, [the Wei emperor] soon repented, exterminated the Cui clan, and revived the Buddhadharma. When the illegitimate Prince of Yongchang garrisoned Chang'an, he received an imperial decree to restore and rebuild, and searched for śramaṇas. At that time, someone said that on Mount Hanshan there was a monk of extraordinary virtue and practice, and the prince immediately sent an envoy to summon him. Zhou declined on account of old age and illness, ordering his disciple Sengliang to answer the summons and leave the mountain. Later, when Zhou was about to pass away, he said to his disciples, "I am about to depart." That evening, fire was seen emerging from behind his rope bed and burning his body; it took three days to burn out completely. The smoke and flames rose to the sky, yet the room was not consumed. The disciples gathered his remaining ashes and built a brick stūpa.