[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) › 19.30 # 續高僧傳 19.30 續高僧傳 19.30 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [19.30](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060.19.30) 釋法喜。俗姓李。襄陽人也。七歲出家。顥禪師為其保傅。顥道素溫贍有聞同侶。後住禪定。將終前夕。所居房壁自然外崩。顥曰。依報已乖。吾將即世。於是端坐閉目。如有所緣。奄然而卒。初不覺也。自喜恭恪奉侍積經載紀。而顥專修定業略於言誨。便以觀量知人。審喜機度。事逾先習不肅而成。鑽仰景行惟德是輔。荊州青溪山寺四十餘僧喜為沙彌。親所供奉。晝則炊煮薪蒸。夜便誦習經典。山居無炬。燃柴取明。每夕自課誦通一紙。如是累時。所緣通利。雖學諸經部類。而偏以法華為宗。常假食息中間兼誦一卷。餘則專以禪業繫念在前。纔有惛心便又溫故。仁壽年內。文帝勅召追入京師住禪定寺。供禮隆異。儉行為先。接撫同倫。謙虛成德。爰有佛牙舍利。帝里所珍。檠以寶臺處之上室。璝寶溢目非德不知。大眾以喜行解潛通幽微屢降。便以道場相委任其監護。喜遂綱維供養日夕承仰。又以顥師去世。意欲冥被靈爽。願誦千遍法華。因即不處舊房。但用巡遶寺塔。行坐二儀誓窮本願。數滿八百精厲晨宵。繫心不散覺轉休健。同寺僧者見有白牛駕以寶車入喜房內。追而觀之了無蹤緒。方知幽通之感有遂教門。而卑弱自守營衛在初。諸有疾苦無論客舊。皆周給瞻問親為將療。至於屎尿膿吐皆就而𠲿之。然則患疾之苦。世所同輕。而喜都無污賤。情倍欣懌。以為常業也。致有遠近道俗帶疾相投。皆悅慰其心終其報類。或有外來問疾。並為病者陳苦。有問其故。喜云。病人纏惱來問致增故耳。武德四年。右僕射蕭瑀。於藍田造寺名津梁。夙奉徽風嘉其弘度。召而居之。時屬運開猶承饑荐。四方慕義相次山門。便減撤衣資用充繼乏。稟歸行務眾所宗焉。凡有遲疑每為銷釋。並會通旨理暢顯神心。而為行沈密卒難備紀。傳者嘗同遊處。故略而述之。後乃屏退自資。超居眾伍。驪山南阜鄉號盧陵。即九紀之故墟也。北負露臺之嶺。南對赫胥之陵。交㵎深林。仙賢是集。即卜而宅之。乃有終焉之志。篤勵子弟誘導山民。福始罪終十盈八九。貞觀初年。夜涉其半。見有焰火數炬從南而來正趣山舍。僧俗驚散。慮是賊徒以事告喜。喜曰。此應無苦。但自修業。及至尋顧不知所由。其居處降靈皆此類也。六年春創染微疾。自知非久。強加醫療終無進服。至十月十二日乃告門人。無常至矣。勿事囂擾。當默然靜慮。津吾去識。勿使異人輒入房也。時時唱告。三界虛妄但是一心。大眾忽聞林北有音樂車振之聲。因以告之。喜曰。世間果報久已捨之。如何更生樂處。終是纏累。乃又入定。須臾聲止。香至充滿。達五更初端坐而卒。春秋六十有一。形色鮮潔如常在定。初平素之日歷巡山嶮。行見一處幽隱可為栖骸之所。命弟子示之。及其終後寺僧屬其儀貌端峙。不忍行之。鑿山為窟將欲藏瘞。爾夕暴雪忽零有餘一尺。周迴二里蔽於山路。遂開行送。中道降神於弟子曰。吾欲露屍山野給施眾生。如何埋藏違吾本志。雪平荒逕可且停行。眾不從之乃安窟內。經久儼然都無摧腐。宗國公親往觀之。神色如在。歎善而歸。爾後怪無損壞。遂舉其納衣。方見為物所噉。頭項已下枯骨鮮明。詳斯以論。寔本願之所致耳。且喜學年據道。事仰名師。青溪禪眾天下稱最。而親見奉養。故得景行成明日光聲采加以敬慎戒約。聞即依行。計業分功步影而食。時少覺差必虛齋而過。晦望懺洗清心布薩安䘏貧病固是常宜。衣弊食麁誠其恒志。輕清拯濟見美東郊矣。 > Śramaṇa Faxi had the lay surname Li and was a native of Xiangyang. He received pravrajyā at age seven, with Dhyāna Master Hao as his preceptor. Hao's practice of the Way was gentle and abundant, renowned among his peers. Later he resided at Chanding Monastery. On the eve before his passing, the wall of his chamber naturally collapsed outward. Hao said, 'The dependent reward has already diverged; I am about to leave this world.' Thereupon he sat upright and closed his eyes as if engaged in an object of meditation, passing away suddenly without prior warning. Xi had served him respectfully for many years, while Hao devoted himself to dhyāna practice and was sparing with verbal instructions; he appraised people by observation and accurately assessed Xi's spiritual capacity. Xi's achievements exceeded what had been previously learned, accomplished naturally without sternness. Looking up to Hao's noble conduct, he supported only virtue. In the mountain monastery of Qingxi in Jingzhou, there were over forty monks; Xi served as a śrāmaṇera, attending to them personally. By day he boiled food and gathered firewood; by night he recited and practiced scriptures. Mountain living had no torches, so he burned firewood to obtain light. Each evening he assigned himself the task of reciting one sheet until fluent; after an extended period, all his cognitive objects became fluid and unobstructed. Although he studied various classes of scriptures, he took the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra as his principal focus. In between eating and resting, he would recite an additional fascicle; for the rest, he focused exclusively on dhyāna practice, fixing his mind before him. As soon as a drowsy thought arose, he would review what he had recited. During the Renshou era, Emperor Wen issued a summons calling him to the capital to reside at Chanding Monastery. The provisions and ceremonies were exceptionally grand, but he made frugal conduct his priority, comforting his peers and perfecting his virtue through humility. There was a Buddha's tooth relic, a treasure of the imperial capital, supported on a jeweled stand and kept in an upper room. Precious jewels dazzled the eyes; none but the virtuous could comprehend it. Because Xi's practice and understanding secretly resonated with the subtle realm and numinous signs repeatedly descended, the community entrusted him with the sanctuary, appointing him to supervise and protect it. Xi then took charge of the offerings, looking up with reverence day and night. Furthermore, because Master Hao had passed away, wishing to bestow unseen benefits on his spirit, he vowed to recite the Lotus Sūtra a thousand times. Thus he did not remain in his old room, but simply circumambulated the monastery's stupa; through the two postures of walking and sitting, he vowed to fulfill his original aspiration. Having completed eight hundred recitations, he redoubled his efforts day and night; his mind remained focused without distraction, and he felt increasingly hale and hearty. A monk of the same monastery saw a white ox pulling a jeweled carriage enter Xi's room; following behind to look, no trace could be found. Only then was it known that his hidden communion had answered the teachings. Yet he remained humble and self-restrained, keeping vigilance at the forefront. Whenever someone suffered from illness, whether visitor or long-time resident, he visited and inquired after them all, personally nursing and tending to them. Even regarding excrement, urine, pus, and vomit, he went up to clean them away. Suffering from illness is commonly disparaged by the world, but Xi showed no revulsion, feeling redoubled joy and taking it as his routine practice. As a result, monastics and laity from near and far who bore diseases came to rely on him; he comforted all their minds until the end of their retributive lives. When visitors came to inquire after the sick, he would explain the afflictions on behalf of the patients. When asked the reason, Xi said, 'The patients are entangled in vexation; visitors inquiring only increase it.' In the fourth year of Wude, Vice Director of the Right Xiao Yu built a monastery named Jinliang in Lantian. Having long admired Xi's fine reputation and praising his broad demeanor, he invited him to reside there. At that time, though the new dynasty had begun, famine still persisted. People from all quarters yearning for righteousness came one after another to the mountain gate; Xi then reduced and discarded his own robes and provisions to relieve their want. The community took refuge in his practices and revered him as their leader. Whenever doubts arose, he resolved them; all reconciled with the essential principle, clearly revealing the spiritual mind. His conduct was reserved and deep, difficult to record fully; because the biographer once lived and traveled with him, he has recounted it briefly. Later, he retired in seclusion to provide for himself, dwelling far beyond the ordinary assembly. The southern knoll of Mount Li, a village called Luling, was the ancient ruin of the Jiuji era; backed by the peak of Loutai to the north and facing the mound of Hexu to the south, with intersecting ravines and deep forests where immortals and sages gathered, he divined it as his residence with the intention of finishing his life there. He earnestly encouraged his disciples and guided the mountain folk, so that eight or nine out of ten began with merit and ended their transgressions. In the early years of Zhenguan, around the middle of the night, several burning torches were seen coming from the south, heading straight toward the mountain cottage. Monastics and laity scattered in alarm, fearing they were bandits, and reported the matter to Xi. Xi said, 'There is no harm here; simply cultivate your practice.' When they went to look, they could not discern their origin; all numinous descents in his dwelling were of this kind. In the spring of the sixth year, he contracted a slight illness; knowing he would not last long, he refused to take medicine even when urged. On the twelfth day of the tenth month, he told his disciples, 'Impermanence has arrived. Do not make noise or commotion; remain silent in quiet contemplation to ferry my departing consciousness, and let no strange persons casually enter the chamber.' From time to time he proclaimed, 'The three realms are empty and false, only the one mind.' The assembly suddenly heard the sound of music and vibrating carriages north of the forest, and informed him of it. Xi said, 'I have long abandoned worldly retribution; why should I be reborn into a place of pleasure? In the end it is only entanglement.' He then entered dhyāna again; in an instant the sounds ceased, and fragrance pervaded the area. Reaching the beginning of the fifth watch, he passed away sitting upright at the age of sixty-one. His complexion was fresh and clean as though he were still in dhyāna. In normal times, he had traveled through the mountain precipices and saw a secluded spot suitable for housing his remains, which he had pointed out to his disciples. After his death, the monastery monks, observing his dignified and upright demeanor, could not bear to carry it out, and hollowed out a cave in the mountain to entomb him. That evening, a violent snowfall suddenly dropped more than a foot of snow, covering two li around and blocking the mountain path; so they cleared a path to convey his body. On the way, his spirit descended upon a disciple, saying, 'I wished to expose my corpse in the wilds to bestow it upon living beings; why bury it against my original intention? The snow has leveled the desolate paths; you may halt the procession.' The assembly did not heed this and placed him inside the cave. After a long time, his form remained solemn without any decay. The Duke of the Imperial Clan personally went to view it; his spirit and complexion appeared as though alive, and he returned sighing in praise. Later, wondering at the lack of decay, they lifted his patched robe and saw that it had indeed been eaten by creatures: from the head and neck down, the dry bones were clean and bright. Examining this, it was truly brought about by his original vow. Moreover, from his student years Xi adhered to the Way and served famous masters; the Qingxi dhyāna assembly was celebrated as the foremost in the empire, and he personally served them. Thus his illustrious conduct shone forth and his fame grew bright; added to this was his reverence, caution, and discipline: hearing a rule, he acted upon it. He divided his merits by assessing his practice and ate according to the shadow; if he noticed even a slight discrepancy in the time, he would skip the meal and fast. Repenting and purifying himself at the dark and full moon, clearing the mind during poṣadha, and comforting the poor and sick were his standard practices. Tattered robes and coarse food were truly his constant resolve; his light, pure salvation was praised in the eastern suburbs. > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 19.29](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060.19.29) - [Next: 19.31](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060.19.31) - [Up: 19](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060.19) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060~en-mt.19.30) — English, machine translation ## Linked texts (1) - [法華傳記](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2068.3.44) — Classical Chinese --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060.19.30](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060.19.30) · Pramāṇa