續高僧傳 17.24

17.24

釋智越。姓鄭氏。南陽人也。少懷離塵之志。父為求婚。方便祈止。長則勇幹清美。于時樂陽殿下統御荊州。徵任甚高。非其所欲。惟以情願出家。王感彼誠素。因遂夙心。剪落已後隨方問道。仍到金陵。便值智者。北面請業。授以禪法。便深達五門窮通六妙。戒行清白律儀淳粹。又誦法華萬有餘遍。瓶水自盈。經之力也。學徒雖眾。其最居稱首。有臨海露山精舍。梵僧所造。巨有靈異。智者每臨。命越令影響之。晦迹已後。台嶺山眾一焉是囑。二十年間詢詢善誘無違遺寄。便為二眾依止四部歸崇。姿容瓌偉。德感物情。頗存汲引。每於師忌勅設千僧官齋。越以衣盋之餘以充大施。隨文皇帝獻后崩日設齋呪願。每獲百段曾不固留。括州刺史鄭係伯。臨海鎮將楊神貴。師友義重待遇不輕。大業十二年十一月二十三日。寢疾經旬。右脇而臥。卒于國清舊房。春秋七十有四。臨終之時山崩地動。境內道俗咸所見聞。台山又有沙門波若者。俗姓高句麗人也。陳世歸國。在金陵聽講。深解義味。開皇併陳。遊方學業。十六入天台北面智者求授禪法。其人利根上智。即有所證。謂曰。汝於此有緣。宜須閑居靜處成備妙行今天台山最高峯。名為華頂。去寺將六七十里。是吾昔頭陀之所。彼山祇是大乘根性。汝可往彼學道進行必有深益不須愁慮衣食。其即遵旨。以開皇十八年往彼山所。曉夜行道不敢睡臥。影不出山十有六載。大業九年二月忽然自下。初到佛壟上寺。淨人見三白衣擔衣鉢從。須臾不見。至於國清下寺。仍密向善友同意云。波若自知壽命將盡非久。今故出與大眾別耳。不盈數日。無疾端坐。正念而卒于國清。春秋五十有二。送龕山所。出寺大門迴輿示別。眼即便開至山仍閉。是時也莫問官私道俗。咸皆歎仰俱發道心。外覩靈瑞若此。餘則山中神異人所不見。固難詳矣。時天台又有釋法彥者。姓張氏。清河人。周朝廢教之時。避難投陳。於金陵奉遇智者。以太建七年陪從入天台。伏膺請業。授以禪那。既蒙訓誨不停房舍。每處山間林樹之下專修禪寂。三十年中常坐不臥。或時入定七日方起。具向師說所證法相。有人聽聞曰。如汝所說。是背捨觀中第二觀相。亦有山祇數相嬈試。宴坐怡然不干其慮。大業七年二月三十日卒于國清。春秋六十六。智者門徒極多。故敘其三數耳。

Śramaṇa Zhiyue, whose secular surname was Zheng, was a native of Nanyang. From his youth he harbored the resolve to leave worldly defilements. When his father arranged a marriage for him, he used skillful means to plead for it to be stopped. When grown, he was courageous, capable, pure, and handsome. At that time, His Highness the Prince of Yueyang was governing Jingzhou; he offered him a very high appointment, but it was not what he desired, his sole earnest wish being to take pravrajyā. The prince was moved by his sincerity and fulfilled his long-cherished desire. After shaving his head, he traveled in various directions inquiring into the Way, and upon reaching Jinling, he met Zhizhe. Facing north as a disciple, he requested instruction, and Zhizhe transmitted the dhyāna methods to him. He then profoundly mastered the five gates and fully penetrated the six marvelous doors. His moral conduct was immaculate and his vinaya deportment was pure and unadulterated. Furthermore, he recited the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra more than ten thousand times; his water pitcher would fill itself, which was the power of the sūtra. Although the disciples were numerous, he was foremost among them. In Linhai, there was the Lushan Hermitage, built by an Indic monk, which possessed great spiritual anomalies; whenever Zhizhe visited, he would instruct Yue to act as his representative. After Zhizhe concealed his traces, the assembly on Mount Tiantai was entrusted entirely to him. For twenty years, he gently and skillfully guided them, never acting contrary to the bequest left to him. Thus he became the reliance of the two assemblies and was revered by the fourfold community. His appearance was grand and imposing, and his virtue moved the hearts of beings, showing great dedication to drawing people forward. Every year on the anniversary of his master's passing, an imperial meal for a thousand monks was decreed; Yue used what was left over from his robes and bowl to make great donations. On the death anniversaries of Emperor Wen of Sui and Empress Xian, when feasts and dedication prayers were held, he would receive a hundred bolts of cloth each time, yet never retained any. The Prefect of Kuozhou, Zheng Xibo, and the Garrison Commander of Linhai, Yang Shenggui, treated him with profound esteem based on the bonds of master and friend. On the twenty-third day of the eleventh month of the twelfth year of Daye [616 CE], he lay ill for ten days, resting on his right side, and passed away in his former room at Guoqing Monastery at the age of seventy-four. At the time of his passing, the mountains crumbled and the earth shook; clergy and laity throughout the region all saw and heard it. On Mount Tiantai, there was also a śramaṇa named Boruo, whose secular lineage was a man of Goguryeo. During the Chen dynasty, he came to China; in Jinling, he listened to lectures and profoundly comprehended the flavor of doctrine. When the Kaihuang reign annexed Chen, he traveled around to study. In the sixteenth year [596 CE], he entered Mount Tiantai, faced north before Zhizhe, and requested the transmission of dhyāna methods. He had sharp faculties and superior wisdom, and immediately achieved realization. Zhizhe told him, 'You have karmic affinity with this place; you should dwell in seclusion in a quiet place to accomplish and complete marvelous practices. The highest peak of Mount Tiantai today is named Huading, about sixty or seventy li from the monastery, which was the place where I formerly practiced dhūta. The deities of that mountain possess the capacity for the Mahāyāna; you may go there to study the Way and advance in practice, and you will certainly attain deep benefit. Do not worry about food and clothing.' He promptly complied with the instruction and went to that mountain in the eighteenth year of Kaihuang [598 CE]. Walking the Way day and night, he dared not sleep, and his shadow did not leave the mountain for sixteen years. In the second month of the ninth year of Daye [613 CE], he suddenly descended on his own. When he first arrived at the upper monastery of Folong, the pure men saw three white-robed attendants carrying his robes and bowl following him, but they vanished in an instant. When he reached the lower monastery of Guoqing, he secretly said to a good and like-minded friend, 'I know that my lifespan is nearly exhausted and not long remains. I have come out today solely to bid farewell to the great assembly.' In less than a few days, without illness, he sat upright and passed away in right mindfulness at Guoqing Monastery at the age of fifty-two. When his casket was escorted to the mountain, upon leaving the monastery's main gate, the palanquin was turned around to show farewell; his eyes opened, and when they reached the mountain, they closed again. At that time, whether officials or private citizens, clergy or laity, all were moved to admiration and aroused the bodhicitta together. The external spiritual signs were like this, while the divine marvels in the mountain unseen by people are truly difficult to detail. At that time on Mount Tiantai, there was also Śramaṇa Fayan, whose secular surname was Zhang, a native of Qinghe. During the Zhou persecution of Buddhism, he fled the disaster and went to Chen. In Jinling, he met Zhizhe. In the seventh year of Taijian [575 CE], he accompanied him to Mount Tiantai, applied his heart to request instruction, and was transmitted the dhyāna teachings. Having received instructions, he did not stay in monastery rooms, but always remained in the mountain wilderness beneath the forest trees, exclusively cultivating dhyāna stillness. For thirty years, he constantly sat without lying down, sometimes entering samādhi and rising only after seven days. He described to his master all the characteristics of the Dharma he had realized. Someone who heard it remarked, 'As you describe it, this is the sign of the second contemplation among the eight liberations (aṣṭa-vimokṣa).' Mountain spirits also tested and harassed him repeatedly, yet he sat at ease in serenity, undisturbed by their intrusions. On the thirtieth day of the second month of the seventh year of Daye [611 CE], he passed away at Guoqing Monastery at the age of sixty-six. Because Zhizhe’s disciples were exceedingly numerous, only three or four are narrated here.