續高僧傳 13.36

13.36

釋玄續。姓桑。蜀郡成都人。出家既久。經綸道業。涅槃成實所學之宗。常講法華導引蒙曉。然風彩高峻容止方複。言談之際機俊變通。達外書工草隷。時吐篇什繼美前修。又能折節下人。僮少道俗有才調者。命來與語愛而狎之。至於侯王雄伯名儒大德。便傲然特立。不以介意。而神爽更高辯給電疾。有梓州東曹掾蕭平仲者。梁高之孫也。博學機關當時絕偶。往參談敘文集相示。平仲尚之從容曰。仰承高懷蔑略諸貴等。今蒙禮顧深愧非人。續曰。諸貴驕蹇須以驕蹇對之。明公汎愛。故以汎愛相答。仲曰。法師從來不爾。今日忽然。疑是虛談恐非實錄。答曰。貧道待公之虛實。亦如公遇續之實虛耳。相與驩笑。嘗為寶園寺製碑銘。中有彈老莊曰。老稱聖者莊號哲人。持螢比日用岳方塵。屬有祭江道士憑善英。過寺禮拜見而惡之謂續曰。文章各談其美。苦相誹毀未識所懷。若不除改。我是勅使當即奏聞。續曰。文之體勢非爾所知。若稱勅使欲相威愶者。我寺內年別差人當莊。此是勅許。亦是勅使。卿欲奏我。我當莊人亦能奏卿。英雖大恨無如之何。寺僧五十。雖並遲暮。皆順伏之。嘗見人述莊子鵬鷃之喻。便歎曰。莊蒙以小大極於此矣。豈知須彌不容金翅。世界入於隣虛。井蛙之智穢人耳目。後疾甚召僧。集已罄捨都盡曰。生死常耳。願各早為津濟。其夜命終。貞觀中矣。

Śramaṇa Xuanxu, surnamed Sang, was a native of Chengdu in the Shu commandery. Having long left household life, he managed his practice of the Way, taking the Nirvāṇa Sūtra and the Satyasiddhi-śāstra as the foundational objects of his study. He regularly lectured on the Lotus Sūtra to guide the unenlightened toward clarity. His demeanor was lofty and austere, his comportment dignified and square. In conversations, his sharp wit was versatile and adaptable. He was thoroughly versed in secular books and skilled in cursive and clerical calligraphy; occasionally, he composed poetic pieces that matched the beauty of past masters. Moreover, he could humble himself before those of lower rank: whenever young youths, whether monastics or laypeople, possessed talent and tone, he would summon them to converse, showing them affection and closeness. Yet when it came to princes, lords, prominent scholars, and eminent monks, he would stand aloof and solitary, paying them no heed; his spirit was all the more lofty, and his eloquence as swift as lightning. There was Xiao Pingzhong, an Administrative Assistant in the Eastern Section of Zizhou, who was a grandson of Emperor Gao of the Liang dynasty. Extensively learned in machinery and clever mechanisms, he was without match in his time. He went to visit and converse with Xu, presenting his literary collection. Pingzhong admired him, and leisurely said: 'I have long looked up to your lofty sentiments, which treat all the nobility with disdain. Today, receiving your courteous regard, I am deeply ashamed that I may not be the right person.' Xu said: 'The nobility are arrogant and insolent; one must respond to them with pride. Your Excellency possesses universal benevolence; therefore, I respond with universal benevolence.' Pingzhong said: 'You have never been like this before, Dharma Master; today you suddenly are. I suspect this is empty talk and perhaps not your true feeling.' Xu replied: 'The sincerity or falseness with which this poor monk treats you is just like the genuineness or emptiness with which you meet me.' They laughed together in delight. Once, he composed a stela inscription for Baoyuan Monastery, in which there was a critique of Laozi and Zhuangzi, saying: 'Lao is called a sage, and Zhuang is styled a philosopher; yet this is like holding a firefly to compare with the sun, or using a mountain peak to measure dust.' It happened that Feng Shanying, a Daoist priest in charge of river sacrifices, visited the monastery to pay homage. Seeing the inscription, he detested it and said to Xu: 'Compositions each discuss their own merits; bitterly slandering others leaves your intentions unclear. If you do not remove and alter it, I am an imperial commissioner and shall immediately memorialize this to the throne.' Xu said: 'The style and essence of literature are not things you understand. If you claim to be an imperial commissioner to intimidate me, within our monastery each year we also assign people to manage the monastic estates; this is sanctioned by imperial decree, so they too are imperial commissioners. If you wish to memorialize against me, my estate manager can also memorialize against you.' Although Ying was greatly resentful, there was nothing he could do. The monastery had fifty monks; though they were all in their declining years, they all submitted to him obediently. Once, seeing someone recount Zhuangzi's parable of the Peng bird and the quail, he sighed and said: 'Zhuang Zhou thought small and large reached their limits here! How could he know that Mount Sumeru cannot contain the garuḍa bird, and that worldly realms can enter into atomic dust? The wisdom of a frog in a well only sullies people's ears and eyes.' Later, when his illness grew severe, he summoned the monks. Having gathered them, he gave away all his possessions completely, saying: 'Birth and death are merely ordinary matters; I pray that each of you will soon cross to the other shore.' That night, his life came to an end. This occurred during the Zhenguan era.