[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [續高僧傳](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060) › 16.45 # 續高僧傳 16.45 續高僧傳 16.45 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [16.45](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060.16.45) 釋曇詢。楊氏。弘農華陰人。後遷宅于河東郡焉。弱年樂道久滯樊籠。年二十二。方捨俗事遠訪巖隱。遊至白鹿山北霖落泉寺。逢曇准禪師而蒙剃髮。又經一載進受具戒。謹攝自修宗稟心學。而專志決烈。同侶先之圓備戒律。又誦法華。初夏既登還師定業。承僧稠據于蒼谷。遂往問津。稠亦定山郢匠前傳所敘。詢以聲光所被。遙相揖敬。住既異林精融理極。思展言造每因致隔。但為路罕人蹤崗饒野獸。栖幽既久性不狎塵。來往質疑未由樵逕。直望蒼谷以為行表。荊棘砂礫披跨不難。巖壑幽阻攀緣登陟。志存正觀也。故不以邪道自通。又以旁垂利道。由曲前而通滯。吾今標指雖艱。必直進以程業。用斯徵意隨境附心不亦善乎。每云。與其失道而幸通。寧合道不幸而窮耳。故履踐重阻不難塗窮。後經三夏移住鹿土谷修禪。屬枯泉重出䴥麋遶院。故得美水馴獸日濟道隣。從學之徒相慶茲瑞。時因請法暫往雲門。值徑陰霧昏便成失道。賴山神示路方會本途。此乃化感幽冥神明翊衛。時有盜者來竊蔬菜。將欲出園乃為群蜂所螫。詢聞來救。慈心將治得全餘命。嘗有趙人遠至殷勤致禮陳云。因病死蘇故蒙恩澤。往見閻王詰問。罪當就獄。賴有曇詢禪師。來為請命。王因放免。生來未委。訪尋方究。又山行值二虎相鬪。累時不歇。詢乃執錫分之。以身為翳。語云。同居林藪計無大乖。幸各分路。虎低頭受命。便飲氣而散。屢逢熊虎交諍。事略同此。而或廓居榛梗。唯詢一蹤入鳥不亂獸見如偶。斯又陰德感物顯用成仁。何以嘉焉。每入禪定七日為期。白虎入房仍為窟宅。獨處靜院不出十年。自有禪蹤斯人罕擬。自爾化流河朔盛闡禪門。杖策裹糧鱗歸霧結。隋文重其德音致誠虔敬。勅儀同三司元壽。親送璽書。兼以香供。以開皇末年風疾忽增。卒於柏尖山寺。春秋八十五。五十夏矣。初遘疾彌留。忽有神光照燭香風拂扇。又感異鳥。白頸赤身遶院空飛聲唳哀切。氣至大漸。鳥住堂基自然狎附不畏人物。或在房門至于臥席。悲叫逾甚血沸眼中。既爾往化。鳥便飛出外空旋轉奄然翔逝。又感猛虎遶院悲吼兩宵雲昏三日天地結慘。又加山崩石墜林摧㵎塞。驚發人畜栖遑失據。其哀感靈祥未可殫記。後以武德五年十二月。弟子靜林道慧方等。乃闍毘餘質建塔立碑。沙門明則為文。見于別集。 > Śramaṇa Tanxun, surnamed Yang, was a native of Huayin in Hongnong, whose family later moved their residence to Hedong Commandery. In his youth he delighted in the Way but was long detained in worldly entanglements. When he was twenty-two, he finally abandoned secular affairs to seek cliffside hermits far away. Wandering to the north of Mount Bailu to the Linluoquan Temple, he met Dhyāna Master Tanzhun and received the shaving of his hair. After another year, he advanced to receive the full precepts. He practiced with careful restraint and self-cultivation, relying upon the study of the mind as his core. Resolute and fiercely determined, his companions placed him first in completely fulfilling the monastic discipline, and he also recited the \*Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra\*. When the first summer \[retreat\] was concluded, he returned to mastering the practice of dhyāna. Hearing that Sengchou was residing in Canggu, he went there to ask for guidance. Chou was also an adept craftsman of the mountain of dhyāna, as recounted in the previous biography. Xun, inspired by the reach of his fame and luster, bowed in homage to him from afar. Although they dwelled in different groves, their subtle absorption reached the ultimate principle. Whenever Xun wished to pay a visit and converse, obstructions would arise. Because human tracks were rare along the paths and the ridges abounded with wild beasts, having lodged in seclusion for so long his nature was unfamiliar with the dust of the world; his travels to resolve doubts did not take the woodcutters' paths. Looking directly toward Canggu as his signpost, he did not find it difficult to push through thorns, gravel, and sand, climbing and ascending steep and secluded precipices and ravines, for his intention lay in correct contemplation. Thus he did not seek passage by crooked paths. Moreover, \[he thought\]: 'By bending along advantageous side paths, one traverses obstacles through winding forwards. Although my present destination is difficult, I must advance straight ahead to measure my spiritual work. To employ this intention and make the mind conform to the environment—is that not good?' He often said: 'Rather than straying from the Way and luckily getting through, it is better to accord with the Way and be stranded by misfortune.' Therefore, treading through layered obstacles, he did not consider reaching a dead end difficult. After three summer \[retreats\], he moved to reside at Lutu Valley to cultivate dhyāna. At that time, a dried spring welled up again, and wild deer encircled his courtyard; thus sweet water and tamed beasts daily assisted the neighborhood of the Way. His fellow students congratulated one another on this auspicious sign. Once, because he had to request the Dharma, he went briefly to Yunmen. Meeting with dark clouds and dense fog along the path, he lost his way. Relying on a mountain spirit who revealed the path, he was finally able to join the original route. This was his spiritual transformation moving the unseen realm, with divine spirits flanking and guarding him. At that time, a thief came to steal vegetables; as he was about to leave the garden, he was stung by a swarm of bees. Xun heard of it and came to the rescue, treating him with a compassionate mind so that his remaining life was preserved. Once, a man from Zhao came from afar, bowed with earnest courtesy, and said: 'Having fallen ill, died, and revived, I received your gracious kindness. When I went and met King Yama and was interrogated, my offenses dictated that I should enter the prisons. Fortunately, Dhyāna Master Tanxun came to plead for my life, and on that account the King released and pardoned me. During my life I did not know you, but only found out after inquiring.' Furthermore, while walking in the mountains, he came upon two tigers fighting each other without stopping for a long time. Xun took up his khakkhara staff and separated them, using his own body as a screen, and spoke to them: 'Living together in the forest, surely there is no great discord; fortunately each of you can go your separate ways.' The tigers lowered their heads and obeyed his command, thereupon swallowing their anger and dispersing. He frequently encountered bears and tigers contending, and the incidents were roughly similar to this. Or, when he dwelled alone in dense thickets, with Xun as the solitary human trace, he could walk among birds without disturbing them, and beasts saw him as a companion. This was his hidden virtue moving living things, its manifest function turning into benevolence—how could one not praise it? Whenever he entered meditative concentration, seven days was his period. A white tiger entered his room and treated it as its den. He stayed alone in a quiet courtyard without coming out for ten years. Since the traces of dhyāna began, few could compare to this man. From then on, his transformation flowed through Heshuo, flourishingly expounding the gate of dhyāna; leaning on their staves and packing provisions, people gathered like fish scales and dense fog. Emperor Wen of the Sui dynasty esteemed the reputation of his virtue and showed utmost sincerity and devotion, ordering Yuan Shou, the Specially Advanced of the Three Dignitaries, to personally deliver an imperial missive along with offerings of incense. In the final years of the Kaihuang era, an illness caused by wind suddenly flared up, and he passed away at the Baijianshan Temple. His worldly age was eighty-five, and his monastic age was fifty summers. When he first fell ill and lingered near death, suddenly a divine light shone brightly, and a fragrant wind fanned across. Furthermore, an extraordinary bird appeared with a white neck and a red body, circling above the courtyard in the sky and uttering sorrowful, plaintive cries. When his breath reached the final extremity, the bird rested on the base of the hall, naturally drawing near without fearing people; it went to his doorway and even to his sleeping mat, its sorrowful cries growing more intense, and blood welling in its eyes. Once \[Xun\] had passed away, the bird flew out into the open sky, circled, and swiftly soared away. A fierce tiger was also moved to circle the courtyard, roaring in sorrow for two nights; clouds darkened the sky for three days, and heaven and earth congealed in sorrow. In addition, the mountain collapsed, rocks fell, forests were crushed, and ravines blocked, startling and driving humans and beasts into helpless panic. The spiritual portents of his mournful passing cannot be fully recorded. Later, in the twelfth month of the fifth year of the Wude reign, his disciples Jinglin, Daohui, Fang, and others cremated his remaining remains, built a pagoda, and erected a stele. The śramaṇa Mingze composed the inscription, which can be seen in his separate collection. > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 16.44](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060.16.44) - [Next: 16.46](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060.16.46) - [Up: 16](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060.16) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060~en-mt.16.45) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060.16.45](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060.16.45) · Pramāṇa