續高僧傳 10.33

10.33

釋寶儒。幽州人也。童子出家。遊博諸講居無常准惟道是務。後至鄴下依止遠公。十地微言頗知綱領。值周喪法寶。南歸在陳。達命清通亟振名譽。自隋氏戡定文軌大同。便歸洛汭。還師於遠。聽大涅槃首尾三載。通鏡其旨。即蒙覆述。遠自處坐印可其言。慕義相從還居淨影。慧心更舉。遐討前英立破之間。深鑒彌密。仁壽建塔鄧州。乃勅令往寺。名大興國也。帝昔龍潛所基。既至求石訪無美者。乃取寺內璞石鐫斲為凾。石本麁惡。磨飾將了。乃變成馬碯。細膩異倫。復有隸字三枚。云正國得也。形設正直巧類神工。名筆之人未可加點。又見種種林木麟鳳等像。儒與官人圖以表奏。返寺之後閉門修業。時因食次方見其面。不久卒於本寺。

Śramaṇa Baoru was a native of Youzhou. Having left home as a youth, he traveled extensively among various lecture gatherings, having no fixed residence and devoting himself solely to the Way. Later he arrived at Ye and relied upon Master Huiyuan; of the subtle words of the *Daśabhūmika*, he came to understand their general outline quite well. When the Zhou dynasty destroyed the Dharma Jewel, he went south to the Chen dynasty. Discerning and possessing an unhindered understanding of life, he frequently enhanced his renown. After the Sui pacified the realm and unified culture and governance, he returned to the mouth of the Luo River and again took Yuan as his master. He listened to the *Mahāparinirvāṇa [Sūtra]* from beginning to end for three full years; fully penetrating its principles, he was immediately granted permission to give recapitulatory lectures. Yuan sat in his seat in person and gave his approval to Baoru's expositions. Yearning for the Dharma, Baoru accompanied him back to reside at Jingying [Monastery]. His insightful mind rose even higher, investigating ancient luminaries at length, and his deep discernment in establishing and refuting doctrines became ever more precise. When a pagoda was being constructed in Dengzhou during the Renshou era, an imperial decree ordered him to proceed to the monastery named Daxingguo. This had been founded when the Emperor was still a dragon in hiding (before his accession). Upon arriving, he searched for stone, but finding none of good quality, he took an unworked stone from within the monastery and carved it into a casket. The stone was originally coarse and ugly, but as the polishing and finishing were nearly complete, it transformed into agate, unusually fine and smooth. Moreover, there were three characters in clerical script reading: 'Obtained by the Proper State.' Their shape was upright and straight, their craftsmanship like divine workmanship, such that no master calligrapher could add a dot to them. Various images of forests, trees, qilins, phoenixes, and the like also appeared. Ru and the officials made drawings of them and presented them to the throne in a memorial. After returning to the monastery, he closed his doors and cultivated his practice, his face seen only occasionally at mealtimes. Soon afterward, he passed away at his home monastery.