高僧傳 4.28

4.28

When Emperor Ai of Jin ascended the throne, he repeatedly sent two envoys to summon and invite him out to the capital. He stayed at Dong'an Temple and lectured on the Daoxing bore [Prajñāpāramitā]; monastics and laypeople alike revered him, and the court and countryside joyfully submitted. Wang Meng of Taiyuan, having long formulated subtle principles and crafted his rhetoric, went to visit Dun and spoke several hundred words, privately believing Dun would be unable to counter him. Dun slowly said: 'It has been many years since I parted from you, sir, yet your words have made no progress whatsoever.' Meng withdrew in shame and sighed: 'He is truly the king among the monastic robes and bowls, is he not?' Xi Chao asked Xie An: 'How does Master Lin's conversation compare to Ji Kang?' An said: 'Ji Kang could only barely manage to keep up with effort.' He asked again: 'How does he compare to Yin Hao?' An said: 'In tireless debating, I fear Yin would constrain Zhi; but in soaring directly upward to the deep source, Hao truly has reason to feel ashamed.' Xi Chao later wrote in a letter to relatives and friends: 'Master Lin's spiritual insight penetrates everywhere, and his mystical transcendence is his own awakening. Truly, in inheriting and illuminating the great Dharma for several centuries so that the true reality should not be severed, he is the only one.'