續高僧傳 15.25

15.25

釋玄鑒。俗姓焦。澤州高平人也。天性仁慈志樂清潔。酒肉葷辛自然厭離。十九發心投誠釋種。愛重松林終日庇其下忘遺食息。後住清化寺。依止遠公聽採經論。於大涅槃深得其趣隋運末齡賊徒交亂。佛寺僧坊並隨灰燼。眾侶分散顛仆溝壑。鑒守心戒禁曾無愆犯。食唯蔬菜衣則蘊麻。屢經歲序情無嚬蹙。及至年穀豐熟。還返故鄉。招集緇素崇建法席。勸諸信識。但故伽藍皆得營復。有故塔廟並令塗掃。遂使合境莊嚴赫然榮麗。奉信歸向十室其九。兼以正性敦直言行相高。行值飲噉非法。無不面諫訶毀。極言過狀不避強禦。或與語不受者。便碎之酒器。不酬其費。故諸俗士聚集醼飲。聞鑒來至並即奔散。由是七眾尊虔。敬其嚴厲重其清貞。數有繕造工匠繁多。豪族之人或遺酒食。鑒云。吾今所營必令如法。乍可不造。理無飲酒。遂即止之。時清化寺修營佛殿。合境民庶同共崇建。澤州官長長孫義。素頗奉信聞役工匠其數甚眾。乃送酒兩輿以致之。鑒時檢校營造。見有此事。又破酒器狼籍地上。告云。吾之功德乍可不成。終不用此非法物也。義聞大怒。明欲加惱。夜夢有人以刀臨之。既忽驚寤即事歸懺。又遇疫氣死亡非一。皆投心乞命。鑒為之懺悔令斷酒肉。病者痊復。時大重之。有鄉人李遷者。性偏嗜酒。既遇時氣無由自濟。遂悔酒過用為死調。俄爾鑒至無何便去。遷遂除差。因爾厭離飲酒永不涉言。縱忽聞氣如逢毒勢。告其友曰。自見鑒師已來。尚不喜聞。況當見也。故戒節冥感皆此之類。于今神志貞亮。每講涅槃十地維摩。四時不輟。春秋八十有三。初鑒以傳法之務。職司其憂。眾侶乖儀。則糺彈驅擯。時俗僉訝其梗直也及武德六年。當部濩澤縣李錄事者。死經七日。隱身謂妻曰。吾是李錄事也。計吾猶得六年在世。但為司命枉來取我。生埋塚中。已訴閻王。蒙放在人中。浮遊六年。今在鬼道。未然之事皆預知也。卿家貧窘。但為他卜無不必中。因可獲財以利大小。便爾賣卜。鬼為通疑。方遠皆詣謂為大聖。後謂妻曰。人命無常。何不修福。可往鑒師所聽法。遂相將入講堂中。安置壁角以物自障。共人言議應變迅速。乃經晦朔。或有問者。何不現形耶。答曰。今在鬼趣。受身極陋自不忍見。況復他也。又往景業寺聽維摩經。有餘法師。謂曰。今講此經感何人聽。答曰。自人頭已上便是鬼神。上及諸天。重級充滿。然都講唱文。諸天神等皆斂容傾耳。恐其聲絕。法師解釋皆散亂縱恣無心聽受。願如法講說勿妄飲噉也。何以知然。見天神等聞法師酒氣皆迴面而聽。因即悔過令廢飲之。鬼曰。此定須斷天神不許寧不講也。非惟此會獨感諸天。但有法事無不來降。不可輕矣。鑒聞異寺有此聲告。倍復信奉。兢兢異常。

Shi Xuanjian's secular surname was Jiao. He was a native of Gaoping in Zezhou. By nature benevolent and kind, his aspiration was for purity. He was naturally repelled by wine, meat, and the pungent roots. At the age of nineteen, he brought forth the resolve to entrust himself in sincerity to the Śākya clan. Cherishing pine groves, he would shelter under them the whole day, forgetting to eat and rest. Later he lived at Qinghua Monastery, where he relied upon Master [Hui]yuan to listen to and gather the scriptures and treatises, profoundly grasping the essential purports of the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra. In the final years of the Sui dynasty, rebel factions were in mutual chaos. Buddhist temples and monastic quarters were all reduced to ashes. The assembly of companions scattered, falling dead in ditches and ravines. Jian guarded his mind and moral precepts, never transgressing or violating them. For food he had only vegetables; for clothing, coarse hemp. Though years repeatedly passed, he harbored no frown of distress in his heart. When the harvest of grain turned plentiful, he returned to his home region. Gathering monks and laypeople together, he established seats for the Dharma, exhorting all faithful acquaintances that all old saṅghārāmas should be restored and rebuilt, and that all ancient stūpas and shrines should be replastered and swept clean. As a result, he caused the entire district to be adorned with resplendent magnificence, and nine out of ten households placed their faith in and turned to [the Dharma]. Furthermore, his upright nature was earnest and candid, and his speech and actions were both elevated. When traveling, whenever he encountered illicit drinking or eating, he never failed to admonish and denounce it to their faces, speaking out to the utmost against their faults without shrinking from the overbearing. If he spoke to someone and they refused to accept it, he would smash their wine vessels without compensating them for the cost. Thus, whenever worldly men gathered for banquets and drinking, on hearing that Jian was approaching, they would immediately scatter and flee. Because of this, the seven assemblies revered him devoutly, respecting his strictness and prizing his unblemished integrity. Repeatedly undertaking repairs and constructions, the artisans were numerous. People of prominent clans would sometimes send wine and food. Jian said, 'What I am building now must strictly conform to the Dharma. Better that it not be built at all; by principle there must be no drinking of wine.' And so he put a stop to it at once. At that time, when Qinghua Monastery was rebuilding its Buddha Hall, all the common people of the region jointly erected it. Changsun Yi, an administrative official of Zezhou, had always been somewhat devoted; hearing that the number of conscripted artisans was extremely great, he sent two cartloads of wine to present to them. Jian, who was supervising the construction at the time, saw this happening, broke the wine vessels so that they were strewn over the ground, and proclaimed, 'Better that my work of merit not be accomplished; under no circumstances will I use these illicit items!' Hearing this, Yi was furious and intended to bring distress upon him the next morning. That night, he dreamed that a person held a knife over him. Suddenly awakening in shock, he immediately went to repent. Later, an epidemic broke out and those who died were not few; all turned their hearts to him, begging for their lives. Jian performed repentance on their behalf and had them cut off wine and meat. The sick then recovered, and at that time people greatly venerated him. There was a fellow townsman named Li Qian whose nature was particularly fond of wine. When he was stricken with the seasonal epidemic, he had no means of saving himself. Thereupon, taking his deathly plight to heart, he repented of his fault of wine-drinking. In an instant, Jian arrived, and shortly after he left, Qian was cured. Because of this, he was repulsed by and abandoned drinking wine, never speaking of it again. Even if he caught the odor by chance, it was as if he had encountered the virulence of poison. He said to his friends, 'Ever since I saw Master Jian, I dislike even hearing of it, let alone seeing it!' Thus the hidden resonances of his discipline and moral integrity were all of this kind. Even now, his spirit and resolve are pure and luminous; he lectures on the Nirvāṇa, Daśabhūmika, and Vimalakīrti at all four seasons without cessation. He is eighty-three years of age. Formerly, Jian, taking the duty of transmitting the Dharma as his own anxious concern, would impeach, reprimand, and expel any monastic companions who departed from proper deportment; the people of the time were all amazed at his uprightness. In the sixth year of Wude, a certain Record Keeper Li of Huoze County in the local prefecture had been dead for seven days when he invisibly addressed his wife, saying, 'I am Record Keeper Li. By my reckoning, I still had six years to remain in the world. But because the Arbiter of Lifespans came to take me by mistake, I was buried alive in a tomb. Having appealed to King Yama, I have received release to wander among humanity for six years. Being in the ghostly realm now, I know future events in advance. Your household is in poverty; simply divine for others and you will not fail to hit the mark every time. Thus you can obtain wealth to benefit both great and small.' She then sold divinations, with the ghost resolving doubts for her; people from near and far all visited, regarding her as a great sage. Later, he said to his wife, 'Human life is impermanent; why not cultivate merit? You may go to Master Jian's place to listen to the Dharma.' Thereupon he escorted her into the lecture hall, placing himself in the corner of the wall shielded by an object, conversing with people and reacting with great swiftness. This went on for months. Someone asked him, 'Why do you not show your form?' He replied, 'Now in the realm of ghosts, the body I have received is extremely hideous; I cannot bear to see it myself, let alone let others see it.' Later he went to Jingye Monastery to listen to the Vimalakīrti Sūtra. Another dharmabhāṇaka asked him, 'Who has been inspired to listen now that I am lecturing on this sūtra?' He replied, 'From above human heads upward, there are ghosts and spirits, reaching all the way to the various devas, filling the space in layered tiers. However, when the chief cantor chants the text, the devas and spirits all compose their expressions and incline their ears, fearing the sound will cease; yet when the dharmabhāṇaka gives his explanation, they all become scattered, lax, and have no mind to listen and receive it. Please lecture in accordance with the Dharma, and do not recklessly drink or eat!' 'How do you know this?' [the master asked]. [The ghost replied,] 'I see that the devas and spirits, smelling the dharmabhāṇaka's breath of wine, all turn their faces away as they listen.' Thereupon [the monk] repented of his error and had the drinking discontinued. The ghost said, 'This must certainly be severed; the devas and spirits do not permit it, and it would be better not to lecture at all. It is not only this assembly that uniquely inspires the devas; whenever there is a Dharma service, they never fail to descend. It must not be taken lightly!' When Jian heard of this announcement from the other monastery, his faith and devotion doubled, and his reverent caution was extraordinary.