續高僧傳 10.25

10.25

釋智琳。姓閭丘氏。高平防輿人也。祖儼閑居傲世。考曇珍梁國常侍。琳弱齡。淑問彰于鄉黨。處士卞詮擅名當世。年在幼學服膺請業。禮易莊老悉窮幽致。詮嘉其早慧。命曰希世神童也。逮于德壯超然離俗。即事仁孝寺沙門法敦。遵就養之儀。稟息慈之戒。蔬餐苦節篤志熏修。法花維摩受持成誦。屬以敦公告逝戒品未圓。乃高步上京更崇師轍。依止東安寺大僧正暅法師。既其力生有奉尸羅乃具。爰稟成論兼習毘尼。既洽聞持將弘傳授。瞻言鄉縣思報地恩。以陳太建十年旋于舊里。南徐州刺史蕭摩訶。深加禮異爰請敷說。於是欝居宗匠盛轉法輪。受業求聞寔繁有眾。至十一年。下勅為曲阿僧正。至德二年。勅補徐州僧都。稱首攸歸諒由德舉。開皇十六年。閏州刺史李海游。屈為斷事。綱維是寄。允當僉屬。所居仁孝寺者。梁故征西諮議郯僧紹捨宅所造。殿堂肇構亂離遄及。琳乃嗣興梓匠爰加藻飾。輪煥弘敞實有力焉。前後造中人像五軀夾紵像一軀。神儀顯曜相好嚴挺。又於育王山頂。造五層塼塔。擬夫八萬同時一期高妙。講大品法花淨名金鼓。各有其遍。所度弟子千有餘人。常想趣道津要。莫尚禪那。以招隱伽藍俗外塵表山房閑寂茂林幽邃。終焉之所有志栖焉。迫以緣礙弗之果也。然其溫嚴自持誨引無倦。財翫靡積隨行給濟。威容感物。信為道門之傑矣。以大業九年五月六日。加趺合掌終於仁孝之東房。春秋七十。先是五月。初有清信士劉正勤請講彌勒。琳諭以無常。初未之許。至是果終。信哉知命。及將大漸誡諸弟子。尸陀林者常所願言。吾謝世後無違此志。沙門智鏗等謹遵遺言。以其月十一日遷于育王之山。時屬流金林多鷙獸。始乎仲夏暨是抄秋。膚體儼然曾無損異。道俗嗟賞嘆未曾有。又以其年閏九月八日。於招隱東山式構方墳。言遵卜兆。全身舍利即窆山龕。方俗並臻同門畢至。洒泣撫心山盈響谷。乃樹碑於寺之門右。其文江陽介生蔡瓌所製。

Śramaṇa Zhilin, whose surname was Lvqiu, was a native of Fangyu in Gaoping. His grandfather, Yan, lived in leisure and spurned worldly affairs. His father, Tanzhen, was an Attendant-in-ordinary in the Liang state. In Lin's tender years, his good reputation was evident in his local community. The retired scholar Bian Quan, famous in that era, was sought out by Lin in his youth, who respectfully requested instruction from him. The Book of Rites, Book of Changes, Zhuangzi, and Laozi—he plumbed the profound mysteries of them all. Quan praised his early intelligence, naming him a rare divine prodigy. When his virtues were matured, he detached himself from secular life and served Śramaṇa Fadun of Renxiao Monastery, adhering to the protocols of filial nourishment and receiving the novice precepts of resting benevolence. Sustaining himself on vegetarian fare with bitter austerity, he devoted his mind to cultivation, memorizing and upholding the Lotus Sūtra and Vimalakīrtinirdeśa Sūtra. Since Fadun passed away before Lin's ordination precepts were fully completed, Lin strode to the capital to further pursue a master's path, taking refuge in the Great Saṅgha Director, Master Xu of Dong'an Monastery. Once he had the capacity to receive them, the śīla was complete; he then received the Satyasiddhi-śāstra and studied the Vinaya. Having attained broad learning and retentive power, he prepared to spread and transmit the teachings. Looking toward his home prefecture, he thought to repay the debt of gratitude to his native place. In the tenth year of the Taijian era of the Chen dynasty, he returned to his old hometown. The Inspector of Nanxuzhou, Xiao Mohe, treated him with extraordinary courtesy and invited him to expound the teachings. Thereupon, dwelling prominently as an ancestral master, he vigorously turned the wheel of the Dharma; those who received instruction and sought knowledge were indeed numerous. In the eleventh year, an imperial decree appointed him Saṅgha Director of Qu'a. In the second year of the Zhide era, an imperial decree appointed him Saṅgha Controller of Xuzhou; that he was hailed as foremost was truly due to his elevation on account of virtue. In the sixteenth year of the Kaihuang era, the Inspector of Runzhou, Li Haiyou, invited him to act as judicial adjudicator; the administration of the order was entrusted to him, fulfilling everyone's expectations. The Renxiao Monastery where he resided was built when Tan Sengshao, the former Advisory Officer of the General Who Campaigns in the West under the Liang, gave up his residence. Just as the halls were first erected, times of disorder quickly arrived. Lin then succeeded to the craftsmanship, adding decorative touches; the splendid and spacious magnificence indeed owed much to his efforts. Earlier and later, he fashioned five medium-sized statues and one dry-lacquer statue, their divine forms shining brightly with marks and signs solemn and prominent. Moreover, atop Mount Yuwang, he built a five-tiered brick pagoda, modeled after the eighty thousand [pagodas] built simultaneously in a single period of supreme wonder. He gave lectures on the Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā-prajñāpāramitā, the Lotus, the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa, and the Suvarṇaprabhāsa, each for a fixed number of series. The disciples he ordained numbered over a thousand. He always considered that among the essential points of approaching the Way, nothing surpassed dhyāna. Because Zhaoyin Monastery was outside worldly dust, with mountain chambers quiet and solitary and dense woods secluded and deep, he had the wish to spend his final days and dwell there, but being constrained by obstacles of circumstance, it was not realized. Nonetheless, gentle yet solemn in his self-restraint, he taught and guided without weariness; he accumulated no wealth or precious curiosities, giving them away according to circumstance to provide relief. His dignified presence moved all beings; he was truly an outstanding figure of the Buddhist gate. On the sixth day of the fifth month of the ninth year of the Daye era, sitting cross-legged with palms joined, he passed away in the eastern chamber of Renxiao Monastery, at the age of seventy. Earlier, at the beginning of the fifth month, the pure-believing upāsaka Liu Zhengqin had requested a lecture on Maitreya; Lin admonished him regarding impermanence and at first did not grant the request. When this time came, he indeed passed away; truly he knew his destiny! When he was near the end, he admonished his disciples: 'The śītavana is what I have always wished for; after I leave this world, do not go against this wish.' Śramaṇa Zhikeng and others respectfully followed his dying words, moving him to Mount Yuwang on the eleventh day of that month. It was then the scorching season of flowing gold, and the forest had many predatory beasts; from midsummer to early autumn, his body remained intact without any damage or alteration. Monastics and laypeople sighed in admiration, marveling at what was unprecedented. Furthermore, on the eighth day of the intercalary ninth month of that year, a square tomb was constructed on the eastern mountain of Zhaoyin, following the divination for the burial site. His whole-body relics were then interred in the mountain grotto. People from all quarters arrived, and all his fellow disciples assembled; shedding tears and beating their breasts, their cries echoed through the mountain valleys. Thereupon a stele was erected to the right of the monastery gate, the text of which was composed by the scholar Cai Gui of Jiangyang.