續高僧傳 13.20

13.20

釋慧因。俗姓于氏。吳郡海鹽人也。晉太常寶之後胤。祖朴梁散騎常侍。父元顯梁中書舍人。並碩學英才世濟其美。因稟靈溫裕清鑒儉通。徽音深靡緇素欽屬。十二出家。事開善寺慧熙法師。志學之年。聽建初瓊法師成實。曾未具戒便齊入室。慧聲廣被道眾相推。而欣味靜心未指章句。乃詣鍾山慧曉智瓘二禪師。請授調心觀法。定水既清道思逾肅。師襲宏略曲盡幽微。而悟言神解獨酌標致。又造長干辯法師。稟學三論。窮實相之微言。弘滿字之幽旨。寫水一器。青更逾藍。辯後歸靜山林。便以學徒相委。受業弟子五百餘人。踵武傳燈將三十載。陳太建八年。安居之始忽感幽使。云王請法師。部從相諠絲竹交響。當即氣同捨壽。體如平日。時經七夕若起深定。學徒請問乃云。試看箱內見有何物。尋檢有絹兩束。因曰。此為䞋遺耳。重問其故。曰妄想顛倒知何不為。吾被閻羅王召。夏坐講大品般若。於冥道中謂經三月。又見地獄眾相五苦次第。非夫慈該幽顯行極感通。豈能赴彼冥祈神遊異域。陳僕射徐陵。高才通學。尚書毛喜。探幽洞微。時號知仁。咸歸導首。隋仁壽三年起禪定寺。搜揚㝢內遠招名德。因是法門龍象乃應斯會。既德隆物議大眾宗歸。遂奉為知事上座。訓肅禪學柔順誘附。清穆僧倫事等威權。同思啟旦。又寺初勝集四海一期。名德相亞通濟斯美。因又寔兼之矣。頻講三論並製文疏。要約標控學者高奉。大唐弘運重興佛日。舉十大德當其一焉。以身御法不令而行。讓以得之屈己成務。故京寺宿望心敬遵承。咸崇菩薩戒師。後進具戒者。無不依而羯磨。左僕射蕭瑀。器局貞亮玄風凝遠。刑部尚書沈叔安。溫彝弘雅達信通神。並崇仰欽承于茲二紀。因定慧兩明空有兼照。弘法四代常顯一乘。而莫競物情喜怒無色。故遊其道者莫測其位。以貞觀元年二月十二日卒于大莊嚴寺。春秋八十有九。未終初夜告弟子法仁曰。各如法住。善修三業無令一生空過。當順佛語勿變服揚哀。隨吾喪後事不可矣。乃整容如常。潛思入定於後夜分正坐而終。咸聞異香滿室。遂遷坐于南山至相寺。于時攀轅扶轂。道俗千餘送至城南。又聞天樂鳴空。弟子等為建支提塼塔。勒銘封樹。蘭陵蕭鈞掣文。仁是鄉人少所供奉。清淨身心修行念定。卑弱著性有名門學。

Shi Huiyin was of the secular surname Yu, and was a native of Haiyan in Wujun. He was a descendant of the Jin Dynasty Minister of Ceremonies Yu Bao. His grandfather Yu Pu was a Cavalier Attendant-in-Ordinary of the Liang, and his father Yu Yuanxian was a Palace Secretariat Drafter of the Liang; both were scholars of broad learning and outstanding talent whose fine repute passed down through the generations. Yin was endowed with a gentle and generous spirit, clear discernment, restraint, and wide comprehension; his fine renown spread far, admired and revered by both clergy and laity. At the age of twelve he left the household, serving Master Huixi of Kaishan Monastery. At the age of fifteen, when his mind was set on study, he listened to Master Qiong of Jianchu Monastery [lecture on] the Tattvasiddhi-śāstra; even before he had taken the full precepts, he had matched the others and entered the master's inner chambers. His reputation for wisdom became widespread, and he was held in high esteem by the Sangha. Yet, rejoicing in the taste of a tranquil mind, he did not set his aims solely upon chapters and sentences. He therefore went to Mount Zhong to the two dhyāna masters Huixiao and Zhiguan, asking to be taught the method of contemplating and regulating the mind. Once the waters of concentration became clear, his thoughts on the Path turned ever more solemn. He inherited his masters' grand scope and fully plumbed the abstruse subtleties, while his awakened words and spiritual comprehension independently set an exemplary standard. He also visited Master Bian of Changgan Monastery to receive instruction in the Three Treatises. He thoroughly grasped the subtle words of true reality and widely propagated the profound principles of the full-letter teachings. Like water poured from one vessel into another, the green became deeper than indigo. Later, when Bian retired to the seclusion of the mountains and forests, he entrusted his disciples to Yin. The disciples who received instruction from him numbered over five hundred, and following in his master's footsteps to transmit the lamp of the Dharma, he continued for nearly thirty years. In the eighth year of the Taijian reign of the Chen Dynasty, at the beginning of the summer retreat, he suddenly felt a spiritual messenger, who said: "The King invites the Dharmabhāṇaka." Retinues were clamoring, and stringed and wind instruments sounded in concert. Immediately his breath seemed as though he had given up his life, yet his body remained just as on ordinary days. Seven nights elapsed, and then he rose as if from deep concentration. When his disciples inquired, he merely said: "Try looking inside the box to see what is there." Upon inspecting it, there were two bolts of silk. Yin said: "These are merely offerings of cloth." When they pressed for the reason, he said: "Under inverted, false conceptions, what would one not do? I was summoned by King Yama to lecture on the Large Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra during the summer retreat. In the underworld, it felt as though three months had passed. I also saw all the aspects of the hells and the five kinds of suffering in succession." Were it not that his compassion extended to both the unseen and visible realms and his conduct reached the utmost of spiritual resonance, how could he have responded to that prayer from the underworld and wandered in spirit to other realms? The Chen Vice Director of the Left Xu Ling, a man of eminent talent and broad learning, and Minister Mao Xi, who probed the mysterious and penetrated the subtle—both known at the time as men of knowledge and benevolence—bowed their heads in submission to him as their guide. In the third year of the Renshou era of the Sui, the Chanding Monastery was built. Eminent scholars throughout the realm were sought out and gathered, and renowned and virtuous masters were summoned from afar. Because Yin was a dragon and elephant among the gates of the Dharma, he responded to this assembly. His virtue being high in public esteem and the assembly looking up to him, he was appointed Rector and Prior. He disciplined the students of meditation with solemnity, yet drew them in with gentleness and accommodation. Clear and reverent among the Sangha, his deeds commanded authority, and everyone shared his aims as if watching the dawn break. Moreover, when the monastery was first founded in this auspicious gathering, it brought together the eminent from the four seas for an epoch; the famous and the virtuous rivaled one another in mutual aid, and Yin embodied all of these virtues. He frequently lectured on the Three Treatises and composed commentaries; concise and focused, scholars held them in high esteem. When the Great Tang's glorious fortune arose and the Sun of the Buddha flourished anew, ten bhadantas were chosen, and he was one among them. Leading the Dharma by his own conduct, things were accomplished without issuing orders; through concession he achieved his aims, humbling himself to bring matters to completion. Hence the veteran elders of the capital's monasteries revered and obeyed him from their hearts, and all esteemed him as a preceptor of the Bodhisattva Precepts. Later monks who received the full precepts all relied upon him for the karma ritual. Xiao Yu, Vice Director of the Left, whose capacity was steadfast and luminous and whose profound style was lofty and far-reaching, and Shen Shu'an, Minister of the Ministry of Justice, who was gentle, refined, grand, faithful, and possessed of spiritual comprehension—both revered and obeyed him for twenty-four years. Yin was brilliant in both concentration and wisdom, illuminating both emptiness and existence. Propagating the Dharma through four dynasties, he constantly revealed the One Vehicle. He never vied with worldly emotions, and joy or anger never showed on his face. Thus, those who traveled his path could never measure his stage of attainment. On the twelfth day of the second month of the first year of the Zhenguan era, he passed away at Dazhuangyan Monastery at the age of eighty-nine. In the first watch of the night before his passing, he told his disciple Faren: "Let each of you dwell in accordance with the Dharma. Cultivate the three karmas well, and do not let your whole life pass in vain. You must comply with the Buddha's words; do not change into mourning attire or give vent to wailing. Do not let such things happen after my death." He then composed his appearance as usual, silently contemplated, entered concentration, and in the latter watch of the night passed away sitting upright. All smelled an extraordinary fragrance filling the room. His seat was then moved to Zhixiang Monastery on South Mountain. At that time, more than a thousand clergy and laity held the shafts and wheels of his carriage, escorting him to the south of the city. Heavenly music was also heard sounding in the sky. His disciples built a caitya brick stupa for him, inscribing an epitaph and planting trees. Xiao Jun of Lanling composed the inscription. Ren was a fellow townsman who had served him since youth; he purified his body and mind, practiced mindfulness and concentration, was modest and unassuming by nature, and was famous among his peers.