續高僧傳 12.24

12.24

釋靈幹。姓李氏。金城狄道人。祖相封於上黨。遂隨封而遷焉。年始十歲。樂聞法要。遊寺觀看情欣背俗。親弗違之。年十四。投鄴京大莊嚴寺衍法師為弟子。晝夜遵奉無怠寸陰。每入講堂想處天宮無異也。十八覆講華嚴十地。初開宗本披會精求。僉共怪焉。又酬抗群鋒無所躓礙。眾益欣美。冠年受具專志毘尼而立性翹仰恭攝成節。三業護持均持遮性。周武滅法通廢仁祠。居家奉戒儀體無失。隋開佛日。有勅簡入菩薩數中。官給衣盋少林置館。雖蒙厚供而形同俗侶。開皇三年。於洛州淨土寺方得落采。出家標相自此繁興。有海玉法師。講華嚴眾。四方追結用興此典。幹即於此眾講釋華嚴。東夏眾首咸共褒美。開皇七年。因修起居道業夙聞。遂蒙別勅令住興善。為譯經證義沙門。至十七年遇疾悶絕。惟心不冷未敢藏殯。後醒述云。初見兩人手把文書戶前而立曰。官須見師。俛仰之間乃與俱往。狀如乘空。足無所涉。到一大園。七寶樹林端嚴如畫。二人送達便辭而退。幹獨入園東西極目。但見林地山池無非珍寶。焜煌亂目不得正視。樹下花座或有人坐或無坐者。忽聞人喚云。靈幹汝來此耶。尋聲就之。乃慧遠法師也。禮訊問曰。此為何所。答是兜率陀天。吾與僧休同生於此。次吾南座上者。是休法師也。遠與休形並非本身。頂戴天冠衣以朱紫。光偉絕世。但語聲似舊依然可識。又謂幹曰。汝與我諸弟子後皆生此矣。因爾覺悟重增故業。端然觀行絕交人物。仁壽三年舉當寺任。素非情望。因復俯從。其年奉勅。送舍利於洛州。便置塔於漢王寺。初建塔所屢放神光。風起燈滅。而通夕明亮不須燈照。又感異香從風而至。道俗通見。四月八日下舍利時。寺院之內樹葉皆萎。烏鳥悲叫。及填平滿還如常日。時漢王諒作鎮晉陽。承幹起塔王之本寺。遠遣中使䞋賜什物。然其善於世數。機捷樞要辯注難加。嘗為獻后述懺。帝心增感歔欷連洏。乃賜帛二百段。用旌隆敬。大業三年置大禪定。有勅擢為道場上座。僧徒一盛匡救有敘至八年正月二十九日卒於寺房。春秋七十有八。幢蓋道俗相與奔隨。乃火葬於終南之陰。初幹志奉華嚴。常依經本。作蓮華藏世界海觀及彌勒天宮觀。至于疾甚。目精上視不與人對。久之乃垂顧如常日。沙門童真問疾因見是相。幹謂真曰。向見青衣童子二人來召。相逐而去。至兜率天城外。未得入宮。若翹足舉望。則見城中寶樹花蓋。若平立則無所見也。旁侍疾者曰。向舉目者。是其相矣。真曰。若即往彼。大遂本願。幹曰。天樂非久終墜輪迴。蓮華藏世界是所圖也。不久氣絕須臾復還。真問何所見耶。幹曰。見大水遍滿華如車輪。幹坐其上所願足矣。尋爾便卒。沙門靈辯。即幹之猶子也。少小鞠育誨以義方。携在道位還通大典。今住勝光寺。眾議業行擢知綱任。揚導華嚴擅名帝里云。

Śramaṇa Linggan, surnamed Li, was a native of Didao in Jincheng. His grandfather was enfeoffed as minister in Shangdang, and the family subsequently relocated following the fiefdom. At merely ten years of age, he delighted in hearing the essentials of the Dharma; he visited temples, and his heart rejoiced in turning away from the secular world. His parents did not oppose him. At fourteen, he went to Dharma Master Yan at Dazhuangyan Temple in the capital of Ye to become his disciple. Day and night he followed and served him without squandering a moment. Whenever he entered the lecture hall, he imagined it to be no different from dwelling in a heavenly palace. At eighteen, he repeated lectures on the Avataṃsaka and Daśabhūmika; when he first elucidated their essential teachings, analyzing and inquiring with precision, all marvelled at him. Moreover, when responding to host of challenges, he met with no impediment, and the assembly admired him all the more. When he reached the age of capping, he received full ordination and dedicated his resolve to the Vinaya, his disposition being reverent and noble, restraining himself to perfection. In guarding and maintaining the three karmas, he held to both proscriptive and naturally sinful precepts equally. When Emperor Wu of the Zhou suppressed the Dharma and universally abolished Buddhist shrines, he observed the precepts at home, never failing in deportment or conduct. When the Sui dynasty opened the era of the Buddha's sun, an imperial decree selected him to be counted among the Bodhisattvas. The court provided him with robes and bowl and established lodgings for him at Shaolin [Temple]. Although he received generous offerings, in outward form he remained like a layperson. In the third year of the Kaihuang reign era, he was at last able to shave his hair at Pure Land Temple in Luozhou, and the visible signs of the monastic order flourished anew from this point on. Dharma Master Haiyu was lecturing to an Avataṃsaka assembly; people from the four directions gathered to promote this scripture, and Gan thereupon lectured and explained the Avataṃsaka to this assembly. The leaders of the sangha in the Eastern Land all praised him together. In the seventh year of the Kaihuang era, because he had compiled the Daily Records of the Emperor's life and his religious practice had long been celebrated, he was specially decreed to reside at Xingshan Temple as a śramaṇa who verified the doctrinal meaning in the translation of scriptures. In the seventeenth year, he fell ill and lost consciousness; but because his heart remained warm, they did not dare bury him. Later, upon awakening, he recounted: 'At first, I saw two men standing before the doorway holding documents in their hands, who said: "The official must see the Master." In an instant, I went along with them. It felt as if I was riding upon emptiness, my feet touching nothing. We arrived at a great park, its grove of seven-jeweled trees stately and ornate as a painting. The two men, having delivered me, bowed and departed. I entered the park alone and gazed far and wide to the east and west. I saw only that the groves, ground, mountains, and ponds were made entirely of rare jewels, so dazzling and blinding that I could not look directly at them. Under the trees were flower thrones, some with people sitting on them, some empty. Suddenly I heard someone call out, saying: "Linggan, have you come here?" Following the voice, I approached him, and it was Dharma Master Huiyuan. I bowed, inquired after him, and asked: "What place is this?" He answered: "This is Tuṣita Heaven. I and Sengxiu were both born here. The one on the southern throne next to mine is Dharma Master Xiu." Neither Yuan nor Xiu appeared in their original bodily forms: they wore heavenly crowns on their heads and were clad in crimson and purple robes, their radiance exceeding the mundane world. Yet their voices were like of old, and thus recognizable. He also said to Gan: "You and all my disciples will later be born here." Thereupon, he awakened to this realization and redoubled his former practices, calmly abiding in contemplative practice and severing relations with the secular world. In the third year of the Renshou reign era, he was recommended for duties at his own temple; though this was contrary to his original wishes, he acquiesced. That year, by imperial decree, he escorted relics to Luozhou and erected a pagoda at Hanwang Temple. When construction of the pagoda first began, spiritual lights repeatedly shone forth; though winds arose and extinguished the lamps, the entire night remained bright without needing lamplight. Furthermore, a marvelous fragrance was carried by the wind and perceived by all, both monastics and laity. On the eighth day of the fourth month, when the relics were interred, the leaves of all the trees within the temple grounds withered, and crows cried mournfully; once the ground was leveled and filled, they returned to their normal state. At that time, Prince Liang of Han was garrisoned at Jinyang. Hearing that Gan had erected a pagoda at the prince's own temple, he sent an envoy from afar to bestow daily necessities. Gan was skilled in worldly arts, quick-witted, and grasped the crux of affairs, with an eloquence that was hard to surpass. He once composed a repentance ritual for Empress Xian; the Emperor was deeply moved, weeping and sobbing profusely, and consequently bestowed two hundred bolts of silk to honor and respect him. In the third year of the Daye reign era, when the Daxianding Temple was established, an imperial decree promoted him to the post of rector of the monastery. The monastic community flourished, and his governance was well-ordered. On the twenty-ninth day of the first month of the eighth year, he passed away in his temple quarters at the age of seventy-eight. With banners and canopies, monastics and laity rushed to follow him, and he was cremated on the northern slopes of the Zhongnan Mountains. Previously, Gan had dedicated his resolve to the Avataṃsaka, constantly relying on the text of the scripture to cultivate the contemplation of the Ocean of the Lotus Treasury World and the contemplation of Maitreya's Heavenly Palace. When his illness became severe, his pupils stared upward and he did not respond to others. Only after a long while did he look down and attend to them as usual. When Śramaṇa Tongzhen visited to inquire after his illness, he observed this phenomenon. Gan said to Zhen: "Just now I saw two boys in blue garments come to summon me. I followed them and arrived outside the city of Tuṣita Heaven, but was not yet able to enter the palace. If I stood on tiptoe and looked up, I could see the jeweled trees and flower canopies within the city; if I stood flat on my feet, I saw nothing." The attendant beside him said: "Your looking upward just now was indeed that very sign!" Zhen said: "If you go there directly, your fundamental aspiration will be largely fulfilled." Gan said: "Heavenly pleasures do not last, and one eventually falls back into saṃsāra; the Lotus Treasury World is what I truly seek." Shortly thereafter, his breath stopped, but he revived a moment later. Zhen asked what he had seen, and Gan said: "I saw great waters everywhere and flowers like cartwheels. Gan was seated upon them—my aspiration is fulfilled." Soon afterward, he passed away. Śramaṇa Lingbian was Gan's nephew. Raised and nurtured by him from childhood, he was instructed in proper principles; brought into the path, he in turn mastered the great scriptures. He now resides at Shengguang Temple. By consensus of the monastic community, he was promoted to manage the temple's administrative duties; propagating and guiding others in the Avataṃsaka, he holds great renown in the imperial capital.