續高僧傳 20.60

20.60

釋智巖。丹陽曲阿人。姓華氏。在童丱日謂人曰。世間但競耳目之前。寧知死生之際。鄉里異之。知有遠度也。及弱冠。雄威武略智勇過人。大業季年豺狼競逐。大將軍黃國公張鎮州。揖其聲節屈掌軍戎。奏策為虎賁中郎將。雖身任軍帥。而慈弘在慮。每於弓首挂漉囊。所往之處漉水養蟲以為常事。及偽鄭之在東都。黃公龔行征伐相陣。鬪將應募者多。黃公曰。非華郎將無以御之。偽鄭大將人馬具全。按轡揚鞭以槍剟地。厲聲曰。若能拔得方共決焉。巖時跨馬徐來。以腋挾槍而去。次巖以槍剟地。彼搖再三不動。乃下馬交刃。遂生擒之。巖反刀截其頸曰。吾誓不斷命。且施君頸。乃放之。武德四年。從鎮州南定淮海。時年四十。審榮官之若雲。遂棄入舒州𡷗公山。從寶月禪師披緇入道黃公眷戀追徵。答曰。以身訊道誓至薩雲。願特捨恕無相撓擾。既山藪幽隱蘭若而居。豺虎交橫訓狎無恐。忽見異僧身長丈餘。姿容都雅言音清朗。謂曰。卿已八十一生出家。宜加精進。言訖不見。蒙此幽屬精勵晨昏。一切世間如幻如夢。一時坐定正在谷中。山水暴長形將欲沒。熙怡端坐嶷然便退。獵者問曰。身命可重何不避耶。答曰。吾本無生安能避死。獵者悟之。所獲並放。故山中飛走依託附焉。昔同軍戎有睦州刺史嚴撰衢州刺史張綽麗州刺史閭丘胤威州刺史李詢。聞巖出家在山修道。乃尋之。既矚山崖竦峻鳥獸鳴叫。謂巖曰。郎將癲邪。何為住此。答曰。我癲欲醒君癲正發。何由可救。汝若不癲。何為追逐聲已規度榮位。至於清爽都不商量。一旦死至荒忙何計。此而不悟非癲如何。唯佛不癡自除階漸。貞觀十七年。還歸建業依山結草性度果決。不以形骸為累。出處隨機請法。僧眾百有餘人。所在施化。多以現事責。覈竟之心周通。故俗聞者毛竪零淚。多在白馬寺。後往石頭城癘人坊住。為其說法。吮膿洗濯無所不為。永徽五年二月二十七日。終於癘所。顏色不變伸屈如恒。室有異香經旬。年七十八矣。

Śramaṇa Zhiyan was a native of Qu'e in Danyang, surnamed Hua. When he was a young boy, he said to people, 'Worldly folk only vie for what is before their ears and eyes; how can they know the boundary between life and death?' The villagers found him extraordinary, knowing he possessed far-reaching capacity. Upon reaching adulthood, his martial prowess and military strategy, wisdom and bravery surpassed others. In the final years of the Daye reign, jackals and wolves vied with one another. General of the Right, Duke of the State of Huang, Zhang Zhenzhou, admired his reputation and integrity, and enlisted him to take charge of military affairs, memorializing the throne to commission him as Palace Attendant Leader of the Huben Guards. Although he held the office of military commander, great compassion was always in his thoughts. He always hung a water-strainer from the tip of his bow; wherever he went, he strained water to protect small creatures as a regular practice. When the puppet Zheng regime was at the Eastern Capital, Duke Zhang launched a punitive expedition and drew up battle lines; many fighting generals responded to the call. Duke Zhang said, 'Without Commander Hua, we cannot resist them.' The great general of the puppet Zheng had his men and horses fully equipped; pulling his reins and raising his whip, he pierced the ground with his lance and shouted, 'If you can pull it out, only then shall we fight to the finish!' Zhiyan then rode his horse and approached slowly, clamped the lance under his armpit, and rode off. Next, Zhiyan pierced the ground with his lance; the other shook it two or three times without moving it. He then dismounted to cross blades, and [Zhiyan] captured him alive. Zhiyan turned his blade to [the general's] neck and said, 'I have sworn not to take life; I grant you your neck,' and released him. In the fourth year of the Wude reign, he followed Zhenzhou south to pacify the Huai and sea regions, being forty years of age. Realizing that glory and office were like clouds, he abandoned them and entered Mount Qianshan in Shuzhou. Following Dhyāna Master Baoyue, he donned the black robes and entered the Way. Duke Zhang, with fond remembrance, sent for him. [Zhiyan] replied, 'I have dedicated my body to seeking the Way, swearing to reach the realm of Sarva[jña]. I pray you will specially forgive me and not disturb me.' Residing in the secluded forest retreat as an araṇya, jackals and tigers crossed paths around him, yet he was familiar and fearless. Suddenly he saw an extraordinary monk over ten feet tall, with an elegant bearing and a clear voice, who said to him, 'You have already left home for eighty-one lifetimes; you should redouble your vigorous effort.' Having spoken, he disappeared. Receiving this hidden instruction, he exerted himself day and night; all worldly things were like illusions and dreams. Once, when he was sitting in samādhi in a ravine, the mountain waters surged violently and were about to engulf him; he sat upright peacefully and majestically, and [the water] subsided. A hunter asked him, 'Physical life is precious; why did you not flee?' He replied, 'I am fundamentally unborn; how could I avoid death?' The hunter was awakened by this, and released all his catch. Therefore, the flying and running beasts in the mountains relied on and attached themselves to him. Formerly in the military, there were Prefect of Muzhou Yan Zhuan, Prefect of Quzhou Zhang Chuo, Prefect of Lizhou Lüqiu Yin, and Prefect of Weizhou Li Xun. Hearing that Zhiyan had left home and was cultivating the Way in the mountains, they sought him out. Seeing the towering mountain crags and the cries of birds and beasts, they said to Zhiyan, 'Are you mad, Commander? Why do you live here?' He replied, 'My madness is about to sober, while your madness is just breaking out; by what means can you be saved? If you are not mad, why do you pursue sounds and forms, scheme for glory and rank, yet when it comes to clarity of mind, you do not consider it at all? Once death arrives, frantic and bewildered, what will be your plan? If you do not awaken to this, how is it not madness? Only the Buddha is not deluded, naturally removing the stages [of delusion].' In the seventeenth year of the Zhenguan reign, he returned to Jianye, building a grass hut against the mountain. His nature was resolute, not considering his physical frame a burden. Appearing or staying in seclusion according to circumstances, over one hundred monks requested the Dharma. Wherever he transformed others through teaching, he mostly scrutinized them through present affairs, [so that their] minds penetrated everywhere; thus laypeople who heard him had their hair stand on end and shed tears. He mostly stayed at Baima Temple. Later he went to live in the leper quarter of Shitou City, expounding the Dharma for them, sucking their pus and washing them, shrinking from nothing. On the twenty-seventh day of the second month in the fifth year of the Yonghui reign, he passed away in the leper quarter. His facial complexion did not change, and his limbs could be bent and stretched as normal. The room had an extraordinary fragrance for ten days. He was seventy-eight years old.