續高僧傳 15.18

15.18

釋法敏姓孫氏。丹陽人也。八歲出家。事英禪師為弟子。入茅山。聽明法師三論。明即興皇之遺屬也。初朗公將化。通召門人。言在後事。令自舉處。皆不衷意。以所舉者並門學有聲。言令自屬。朗曰。如吾所舉乃明公乎。徒侶將千名明非一。皆曰。義旨所擬。未知何者明耶。朗曰。吾坐之東柱下明也。明居此席不移八載口無談述身無妄涉。眾目癡明。既有此告莫不迴惑。私議。法師他力扶矣。朗曰。吾舉明公必駭眾意。法教無私不容瑕隱。命就法座對眾敘之。明性謙退泣涕固讓。朗曰。明公來吾意決矣。為靜眾口聊舉其致。命少年捧就傳座。告曰。大眾聽。今問論中。十科深義。初未曾言。而明已解。可一一敘之。既敘之後。大眾愜伏。皆慚謝於輕蔑矣。即日辭朗。領門人入茅山終身不出。常弘此論。故興皇之宗或舉山門之致者是也。敏採摘精理出聽東安。言同意異更張部別。年二十三又聽高麗實公講大乘經論。躬為南坐結軫三周。及實亡後。高麗印師上蜀講論。法席彫散陳氏亡國。敏乃反俗三年潛隱。還襲染衣避難入越。住餘姚梁安寺。領十沙彌講法華三論相續不絕。貞觀元年。出還丹陽講華嚴涅槃二年。越州田都督。追還一音寺。相續法輪。于時眾集義學沙門七十餘州八百餘人。當境僧千二百人。尼眾三百。士俗之集不可復紀。時為法慶之嘉會也。至十九年。會稽士俗請往靜林講華嚴經。至六月末。正講有蛇。懸半身在敏頂上。長七尺許。作黃金色吐五色光。終講方隱。至夏訖還一音寺。夜有赤衣二人。禮敏曰。法師講四部大經功德難量。須往他方教化。故從東方來迎法師。弟子數十人同見此相。至八月十七日。爾前三日三夜無故闇冥。恰至二十三日將逝。忽放大光夜明如日。地為震動因爾遷化。春秋六十有七。身長七尺六寸。停喪七日異香不滅。莫不怪歎。道俗莊嚴。送於隆安之山焉。

Śramaṇa Famin had the secular surname of Sun and was a native of Danyang. He entered monastic life at the age of eight, serving Dhyāna Master Ying as his disciple. Later, he entered Maoshan to listen to Dharma Master Ming's lectures on the *Three Treatises* (*Sanlun*). Ming was precisely the successor designated by [Dharma Master] Xinghuang [Falang]. Earlier, when Master Lang was about to pass away, he summoned all his disciples together to speak of the affairs after his death, bidding them to name his successor themselves; however, none was to his satisfaction. Because all those nominated were scholars within the school who had renowned reputations, they suggested that he should designate someone himself. Lang said: 'The one I nominate is Master Ming.' His disciples numbered nearly a thousand, and those named Ming were not just one. They all said: 'As for the meaning and intent intended, we do not know which Ming you mean.' Lang said: 'It is the Ming under the pillar to the east of my seat.' Ming had occupied that seat without moving for eight years, uttering no explanations with his mouth and never recklessly straying with his body; the assembly considered him dull and foolish. Once this pronouncement was made, everyone was perplexed and unsettled, privately whispering: 'The Dharma Master must be supported by some other power.' Lang said: 'My nominating Master Ming will certainly astound everyone. Yet the teaching of the Dharma is impartial and allows no concealing of flaws.' He ordered him to mount the Dharma seat and expound before the assembly. Ming, humble and deferential by nature, wept and firmly declined. Lang said: 'Master Ming, step forward; my mind is decided. To silence the multitude, I will briefly present the points.' He ordered young men to lift him up and carry him to the transmission seat, and announced: 'Assembly, listen! Now I shall ask about ten profound topics of doctrine in the treatises which have never been discussed before, but which Ming already understands; he may expound them one by one.' After he had expounded them, the great assembly was fully convinced and submitted, and they all felt ashamed and apologized for having slighted him. That very day, he took leave of Lang, led his disciples into Maoshan, and never left for the rest of his life, constantly propagating these treatises. Hence, when the school of Xinghuang mentions the tradition of the mountain cloister, it refers to this. Famin gathered essential doctrines and came out to study at Dong'an; though their words were identical, their interpretations differed, thereby establishing different lineages. At the age of twenty-three, he also listened to Master Shi of Koguryŏ lecture on the Mahāyāna sūtras and treatises, personally taking the southern seat as his respondent for three cycles. After Shi passed away, Master Yin of Koguryŏ went up to Shu to lecture on treatises; the Dharma assemblies dispersed, and the Chen dynasty fell. Min then returned to secular life, remaining in hiding for three years. He later donned the dyed robes again, fled the troubles into Yue, and resided at Liang'an Temple in Yuyao. Leading ten śrāmaṇeras, he lectured continuously without interruption on the *Lotus Sūtra* and the *Three Treatises*. In the first year of the Zhenguan era (627), he went out and returned to Danyang, lecturing on the *Avataṃsaka* and the *Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra* for two years. Tian, the Area Commander of Yuezhou, invited him back to Yiyin Temple to continuously turn the Dharma wheel. At that time, more than eight hundred śramaṇas of doctrinal learning from over seventy prefectures gathered, along with one thousand two hundred local monks and three hundred nuns; the lay gathering of literati and commoners could not be fully recorded. It was a splendid assembly of Dharma celebrations for the time. In the nineteenth year (645), the literati and commoners of Kuaiji invited him to Jinglin to lecture on the *Avataṃsaka Sūtra*. Toward the end of the sixth month, while he was lecturing, there was a snake suspended with half its body above Min's head, about seven feet long, golden in colour and emitting five-coloured light; it vanished only when the lecture concluded. When the summer retreat ended, he returned to Yiyin Temple. At night, two men in red garments bowed to Min and said: 'The merit of the Dharma Master's lecturing on the four great scriptures is immeasurable. You must go to another world to teach and transform; thus we have come from the east to welcome the Dharma Master.' Several tens of disciples saw this auspicious sign together. On the seventeenth day of the eighth month, for three days and three nights prior, it became dark and gloomy for no reason. Right when he was about to pass away on the twenty-third day, a great light suddenly shone forth, bright as day in the night, and the earth shook; he thereupon passed away. His age was sixty-seven, and his height was seven feet and six inches. His funeral was held for seven days, during which the extraordinary fragrance did not dissipate. Everyone marvelled and sighed in admiration. Monastics and laypeople adorned his cortege and escorted him to Long'an Mountain.