高僧傳 3.4

3.4

Shi Faxian, whose surname was Gong, was a native of Wuyang in Pingyang. He had three elder brothers who all died in early childhood; fearing that misfortune would reach Faxian, his father had him ordained as a śrāmaṇera at the age of three. He remained at home for several years, but fell gravely ill and was near death; he was thereupon sent back to the monastery, and after staying two nights he recovered. He was unwilling to return home again; his mother wished to see him but could not, so later a small cottage was built outside the monastery gate to accommodate his comings and goings. At the age of ten, he suffered the loss of his father. His uncle, considering that his mother was widowed and could not sustain herself alone, pressured him to return to lay life. Faxian said: "It was not originally because I had a father that I went forth from household life; it was precisely because I wished to depart far from the dust and leave the secular world that I entered the Way." His uncle approved of his words and desisted. Soon after, his mother died; his filial nature surpassed that of ordinary men, and once the funeral rites were completed, he immediately returned to the monastery. Once, together with several tens of fellow students, he was reaping rice in the fields. At that time, starving bandits attempted to seize their grain; all the other śrāmaṇeras fled, and only Faxian remained alone. He said to the bandits: "If you need grain, take as you please. It is only because you gentlemen did not practice dāna in the past that you have incurred starvation and poverty; now taking from others again, I fear that in future lives it will be even worse. I, a poor monk, am merely worried on your behalf in advance." Having finished speaking, he returned, and the bandits abandoned the grain and departed; none among the several hundred monks failed to admire him. When he received the full precepts, his aspiration and conduct were clear and discerning, and his demeanor was upright and solemn. He constantly lamented the discrepancies and deficiencies in the sūtras and vinaya, and vowed to seek them out.