續高僧傳 13.34

13.34

釋神素。姓王。字紹則。其先太原。遠祖勇從宦虞州遂徙居安邑鳴條之野焉。氏族英望無煩述作。少與道傑結張范之好。相携問道。儒學之富禮易是長。至於篇什繼美英采。故其遊學講肆周流國境。必與相隨。若比人矣。所習詞義博覽俊悟。則難兄難弟也。至於誦經學定當席索隱。則後於傑。文理會通。素則先之。為傑出安般念觀。令其徙滯如彼傳述。大業四年傑公停講。學門清素接軫相尋。遂從命專講毘曇四十餘遍。續講成實將二十遍。自餘小部不足述之。其為講也片言契理少語釋多。學者玄悟聽覽不倦。則傑高於素。若多陳同異廣定是非。鄭重校角開生覺意。則素賢於傑。所匠成者。則蓋裕隆深英泰之徒是也。故晉川稱謂素傑二公秋菊春蘭各擅其美。然素溫恭退讓慈愛矜恕。侍士慕賢不伐諸己。貞觀二年。栖巖大眾請知寺任。辭以法事相繼有阻僧網。眾又固請。依傑師故事乃許之。性寬厚善物性。故得上下和睦。風塵攸靜。以貞觀十七年二月二十三日卒於栖巖。春秋七十二。自一生行業屬想西方。於臨終日普召門人大眾爰逮家臣。與之別已。自加結坐正威容已令讀觀經兩遍。一心靜聽。自稱南無阿彌陀佛。如是五六。又令一人唱餘人和。迄於中夜端坐儼然不覺久逝。依即坐殯。肌肉雖盡骨坐如初。又感祥瑞。略故不述。初終之夕。仁壽寺志寬法師夜坐如悶。夢素來過同床止息勤勤告別曰。如來大悲為諸眾生。曠劫苦行勤求大法。流布人天欲使不絕。我等雖居下流。然佛遺寄末能發輝。道業遂有季位在前。素雖不肖深懷辜負。每欲推命竭愚上于天聽。今大運忽臨長思永別。好住努力。寬送目極忽然而覺。及明莫知凶問。須臾信至方知昨逝。寬致書述懷。與諸門人如彼。

Śramaṇa Shensu, surnamed Wang, courtesy name Shaoze, had ancestors from Taiyuan. His distant ancestor Yong served as an official in Yuzhou and consequently relocated to the wilderness of Mingtiao in Anyi. The prominence of his lineage needs no detailed account. In his youth, he formed an intimate friendship like that of Zhang [Shao] and Fan [Shi] with Daojie. Together, they sought the Way hand in hand. In the richness of Confucian scholarship, he excelled in the Rites and the Changes; as for poetic composition, he continued an inherited brilliance of exquisite style. Thus, as they travelled to attend scholastic lectures across the realm, he inevitably accompanied Daojie, as if they were of one spirit. In his erudite exploration and remarkable comprehension of doctrinal terminology and meaning, they were truly well-matched peers. As for reciting scriptures, practicing dhyāna, and inquiring into the arcane while occupying the lecturer's seat, he lagged behind Daojie; but in synthetically grasping the patterns of literature and doctrine, Su was ahead of him. He composed an anāpānasmṛti contemplation for Daojie, causing him to overcome his stagnation, as recorded in Daojie's biography. In the fourth year of the Daye era, Master Jie suspended his lectures. The scholarly community, admiring Shensu's purity, arrived in unbroken succession. He therefore yielded to their requests and lectured exclusively on the Abhidharma more than forty times, followed by nearly twenty lecture cycles on the Satyasiddhi-śāstra; the other minor treatises are not worth enumerating. In his manner of lecturing, hitting upon the principle with a single remark and explaining much with few words, so that students grasped the arcane and never grew tired of listening and studying—in this, Jie was superior to Su. But in expounding similarities and differences at length, broadly settling right and wrong, rigorously weighing arguments, and stimulating awakening in students' minds—in this, Su was superior to Jie. Those whom he shaped and completed were disciples such as Gairong, Shenying, and Fatai. Hence, in the Jin River region people said that the two masters, Su and Jie, were like autumn chrysanthemums and spring orchids, each displaying their own beauty. Yet Su was warm, courteous, deferential, yielding, compassionate, and forgiving. Attending gentlemen and yearning for the worthy, he never boasted of his accomplishments. In the second year of the Zhenguan era, the community of Xiyan Monastery invited him to take charge of the monastery's affairs. He declined on the grounds that consecutive Dharma affairs would hinder the monastic administration. The assembly firmly pleaded again, and, following Master Jie's precedent, he finally consented. By nature broad-minded and gentle, he treated people and things adeptly; thus superiors and subordinates lived in harmony, and worldly dust remained tranquil. On the twenty-third day of the second month in the seventeenth year of Zhenguan, he passed away at Xiyan Monastery at the age of seventy-two. Throughout his life, his practices and aspirations were oriented toward the Western Pure Land. On the day of his passing, he summoned his disciples, the monastic community, and even his household attendants. Having bid them farewell, he adjusted his seat into the full lotus posture, straightened his demeanor, and instructed that the Contemplation Sūtra be read twice. He listened intently with single-minded focus and recited 'Namo Amitābha Buddha' five or six times. He then had one person chant while the others joined in unison. By midnight, he sat upright and dignified; before anyone realized it, he had already passed away. He was interred directly in his seated posture. Even after his flesh was gone, the seated skeleton remained intact as before. Miraculous omens were also experienced, which are omitted for brevity. On the night of his demise, Master Zhikuan of Renshou Monastery was sitting in meditation at night when, feeling groggy, he dreamt that Su came to visit, sharing his couch to rest, and earnestly bid him farewell, saying: 'Out of great compassion for sentient beings, the Tathāgata underwent hardships for vast eons, striving to seek the Great Dharma and disseminate it among humans and devas, wishing that it would never cease. Though we dwell in the downstream current, the legacy entrusted by the Buddha has not been fully illuminated. The course of the Way has consequently declined in our later generation. Although I am unworthy, I am deeply conscious of having fallen short. I always wished to exert my life and exhaust my meager abilities to reach the imperial ear. Now that the great fate has suddenly arrived, I bid you a long and eternal farewell. Remain well and strive diligently.' Kuan watched him until he vanished into the distance, and suddenly awoke. By dawn, no news of his demise had arrived; shortly afterward, a messenger came, and only then did he learn of his passing the previous night. Kuan sent a letter expressing his sentiments to all the disciples, as recounted above.