續高僧傳 20.53

20.53

釋無礙。姓陳氏。有晉永嘉。中原喪亂。南移建業。父曠梁元帝徵蕃學士。以承聖元年礙生成都。神姿特異知有濟器。九歲便能應對。十歲入學隨聞不忘。入長安遇姚秦道安法師。安與語怪其意致。勸令出家。即依言欣喜。令誦太子瑞應經。思尋聖跡哀泣無已。天和三年。周武皇后入朝。投名出家先蒙得度。雖有弱冠戒操逾嚴。建德三年。法門大壞隨緣陸沈。乃值泥塗情逾氷王。開皇開法即預搜揚。便住永寧。於齊大德超法師所聽智度論。一聞教義神思豁然。財食頓清形心俱遣。又入長安學十地阿毘曇等。時休法師於興善寺命講大論。辯析分明義端無擁。然於文句頗滯弘通。因誦本文獲六十卷。因抱心疾獎眾斯睽便還秦隴。開皇十年。總管河間王。特屈寺任統御遺法。大業二年。召入洛陽。於四方館刊定佛法。後還永寧依前綱理。大業五年。煬帝西征。躬受勞問賜綵二百段。十三年州破入京住莊嚴寺。眾以素知寺任識達機緣還欲請之。任非所好。以武德八年還返故寺。以無相觀而自調伏。貞觀十九年二月二十八日。無疾而終。春秋九十四。道俗哀慟。若喪厥親焉。

Śramaṇa Wu'ai, whose secular surname was Chen, was descended from ancestors who had moved south to Jianye when the Central Plains fell into chaos during the Yongjia era of the Jin. His father, Kuang, was an Academician of Barbarian Affairs summoned by Emperor Yuan of the Liang. In the first year of the Chengsheng era, Wu'ai was born in Chengdu. Endowed with extraordinary spirit and bearing, he was recognized as a vessel destined for broad salvation. At nine years of age he could already converse readily; at ten, when he began his schooling, he retained whatever he heard without forgetting. Entering Chang'an, he met Dharma Master Dao'an of the Yao Qin. Dao'an spoke with him, marveled at his inclinations and aspirations, and exhorted him to leave home. Wu'ai joyfully followed his advice. Dao'an had him recite the Crown Prince's Auspicious Omens Sūtra; reflecting upon the sacred traces, he wept ceaselessly in sorrow. In the third year of the Tianhe era, when the empress of Emperor Wu of the Zhou entered court, he submitted his name to leave home and was among the first granted ordination. Though just coming of age, his strict discipline in upholding the precepts grew increasingly rigorous. In the third year of the Jiande era, the Buddhist teachings suffered great destruction, and he submerged himself in secular life according to circumstance; though cast into the mire, his aspiration remained purer than clear ice. When the Dharma was reopened under the Kaihuang era, he was immediately selected and promoted, whereupon he took up residence at Yongning Monastery. He listened to the Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa under the great virtuous monk Master Chao of the Qi dynasty; having once heard its doctrinal teachings, his spiritual insight expanded broadly. Food and worldly wealth were entirely renounced, and both body and mind were set aside. Later he entered Chang'an to study the Daśabhūmika, the Abhidharma, and other works. At that time, Dharma Master Xiu instructed him to lecture on the Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa at Xingshan Monastery; his analysis and distinction of points were lucid, with unobstructed doctrinal reasoning. However, when it came to reciting the phrasing of the text, he was somewhat hindered in propagating it smoothly. Thereupon, through reciting the root text, he committed sixty fascicles to memory. Later, contracting a heart ailment, he was unable to continue leading the assembly, and so returned to Qin and Long. In the tenth year of the Kaihuang era, the area commander, the Prince of Hejian, specially invited him to assume monastic office to preside over and manage the legacy of the Dharma. In the second year of the Daye era, he was summoned to Luoyang to collate and edit the Buddhist scriptures at the Sifang Guan. Afterwards, he returned to Yongning to resume his previous administrative duties. In the fifth year of the Daye era, when Emperor Yang led an expedition to the west, he personally inquired after Wu'ai's welfare and bestowed upon him two hundred bolts of colored silk. In the thirteenth year, when the prefecture was destroyed, he went to the capital and resided at Zhuangyan Monastery. Because the community was well aware of his administrative skill and clear grasp of opportune moments, they repeatedly wished to request his service; however, holding office was not to his liking. In the eighth year of the Wude era, he returned to his old monastery, disciplining himself through contemplation of signlessness. On the twenty-eighth day of the second month in the nineteenth year of the Zhenguan era, he died without illness at the age of ninety-four. Monastics and laypeople grieved bitterly, as though they had lost their own parent.