高僧傳 5.4

5.4

Later, the master had him receive the full precepts and permitted him to travel and study as he wished. Arriving in Ye, he entered the Zhong Temple and encountered Fotudeng. Deng sighed in admiration upon seeing him and spoke with him all day long. The assembly saw that his appearance was unremarkable, and all looked down on him and found him peculiar. Deng said: “This man has profound insight; he is no peer of yours.” Dao'an then served Deng as his teacher. Whenever Deng lectured, An would always recapitulate it. The assembly was not yet satisfied with him and all said: “Wait until next time; we will certainly baffle this Kunlun child with difficult questions!” When An next recapitulated the lecture, doubtful objections arose like spear points; An blunted their sharpness and unraveled the tangles, executing it with ease to spare. The people of the time had a saying: “The lacquer-dark man of the Way startles the four corners of the land.” At that time, scholars mostly clung to what they had merely heard and seen. An then sighed, saying: “Although the ancestral masters are distant, the profound purport can still be traced. One ought to investigate the hidden and remote to the utmost, probing the subtle and profound, so that the principle of the unarisen may be proclaimed in this decadent age, enabling wandering seekers to have a basis to return to.” Thereupon he travelled widely to seek the Way, thoroughly investigating the sūtras and vinaya.