續高僧傳 20.72

20.72

釋善伏。一名等照。姓蔣。常州義興人。生即白首。性知遠離。五歲於安國寺兄才法師邊出家。布衣蔬食日誦經卷。目覩七行一聞不忘。貞觀三年。竇刺史聞其聰敏追充州學。因爾日聽俗講夕思佛義博士責之。對曰。豈不聞乎。行有餘力所以博觀。如不見信請問前聞。乃試之一無所滯。重為聯類佛教兩用疎通。於是學館傾首。何斯人之若斯也。後逃隱出家。志樂佛法。欲罷不能。忽逢山水。淹留忘返。斯因宿習非近學也。至蘇州流水寺璧法師所。聽四經三論。又往越州敏法師所。周流經教頗涉幽求。至天台超禪師所。示以西方淨土觀行。因爾廣行交桂廣循諸州。遇綜會諸名僧。諮疑請決。又上荊襄蘄部。見信禪師。示以入道方便。又往廬山見遠公淨土觀堂。還到潤州巖禪師所。示以無生觀。後共暉才二師。入桑梓山行慈悲觀。又為鬼神受戒莫噉肉。神又降巫者。令召伏受戒。巫者殺生祀神。神打之次死。降語曰。吾已於伏闍梨受戒。誓不食肉。如何為吾殺生。愍爾愚癡且恕汝命。後更爾者必加至死。自後諸祀永絕羶腥。常婺州二人。同載績麻為貨至江神所。一以蔬祭。一欲殺生。而未行。其麻並濕。前蔬祭麻並乾燥。於是行人忌憚無敢肉祭。故其授戒功驗。人神敬仰。有陵犯者立見禍害。江淮間屠販魚肉。鵝鴨鷄猪之屬。受法開放。市無行肆。官人怪之。有義興令。素不信。嫌伏動眾將加私度之罪。伏昆季賂之。其人忽即狗登繩床眾蛇惱患不久除名往常州。筮之。卦云。由犯賢聖罪不可救。其人得急就伏求免。永徽二年。被括還家。然志好出俗見家如獄。復往山居。苦節翹勤人不堪其憂也。眾又屯聚。因為說法讚令行慈。不殺者佛教之都門也。不能行之。若講禮而為倨傲耳。又勸行六道供。以先祖諸亡者無越此途。又曰。山有玉則草木潤泉有龍則水不竭。住處有三寶則善根增長。常在伏牛山以虎豹為同侶。食蚊虻為私行。視前六尺未曾顧眄。經中要偈口無輟音。大約十五觀四明論以為崖准。顯慶五年。行至衡岳。意欲求靜返更屯結。說法既久忽告曰。一切無常氣息難保。夜深各散緣盡當離。時不測其言也。便返閉而坐。爾夜衡州諸寺鐘及笙管鳴聲徹曉。道俗咸怪。至房關掩。乃破而開之。見伏端坐久終。便以奏聞。

Shi Shanfu, also named Dengzhao, was surnamed Jiang and was a native of Yixing in Changzhou. When he was born he already had white hair, and by nature he understood renunciation. At the age of five he left home under his elder brother, Dharma Master Cai, at Anguo Temple. Wearing coarse cloth and eating vegetarian food, he daily recited volumes of scriptures; seeing seven lines at a glance, he never forgot what he heard once. In the third year of the Zhenguan reign, Prefect Dou heard of his intelligence and summoned him to join the prefectural school. Because of this, he listened to secular lectures by day and contemplated Buddhist doctrines by night. The Erudite rebuked him, to which he replied, 'Have you not heard? "When one has energy to spare after conduct, one uses it to read widely." If you do not believe me, please test me on what was previously taught.' Thereupon [the Erudite] tested him, and there was no blockage at all; [Shanfu] again linked it with Buddhist teachings, smoothly comprehending both. The entire academy bowed their heads in admiration: 'How could such a man be like this!' Later he fled into hiding and left home; his aspiration delighted in the Buddha-Dharma, unable to stop even if he wished. Whenever he came upon mountains and waters, he lingered and forgot to return; this was due to past habits, not recent learning. He went to Dharma Master Bi of Liushui Temple in Suzhou, listening to the four sūtras and three treatises. He also went to Dharma Master Min in Yuezhou, extensively traversing the scriptural teachings and delving into profound inquiry. He went to Dhyāna Master Chao on Tiantai, who showed him the contemplation practice of the Western Pure Land. Because of this, he travelled widely through the prefectures of Jiao, Gui, and Guang, meeting and conversing with various famous monks to inquire into doubts and resolve them. He also went up to Jing, Xiang, and the Qi region, meeting Dhyāna Master Xin, who showed him the skillful means of entering the Way. He also went to Mount Lu to see Master Yuan's Pure Land Hall of Contemplation. Returning, he reached Master Yan in Runzhou, who showed him the contemplation of non-arising. Later, together with the two masters Hui and Cai, he entered Mount Sangzi to practice the contemplation of loving-kindness and compassion. He also administered the precepts to ghosts and spirits that they should not eat meat. A spirit again descended upon a shaman, commanding him to summon Fu to administer the precepts. When the shaman killed living beings to sacrifice to the spirit, the spirit beat him nearly to death, and descending [upon him], spoke: 'I have already received the precepts from Ācārya Fu and vowed not to eat meat. Why did you kill living beings for me? Pitying your ignorance, I spare your life for now; if you do so again, I will surely put you to death.' From then on, all sacrifices permanently discontinued mutton and flesh. Once, two men from Changzhou and Wuzhou together transported spun hemp as merchandise to the river deity's shrine. One sacrificed vegetables, while the other intended to kill animals but had not yet done so. The latter's hemp became completely soaked, whereas the hemp of the former, who sacrificed vegetables, remained completely dry. Thereupon travellers were fearful and none dared offer meat sacrifices. Thus the efficacy of his conferring precepts was revered by both humans and spirits; whoever violated them met with immediate calamity. Along the Yangtze and Huai rivers, butchers and merchants selling fish, meat, geese, ducks, chickens, pigs, and the like, received his teachings and released them, so that the markets had no such shops. Officials were astonished by this. There was a magistrate of Yixing who was habitually faithless; disliking that Fu stirred the multitude, he intended to charge him with illicit ordination. Fu's brothers bribed him; the man suddenly saw a dog climbing his rope-chair, was plagued by many snakes, and soon was dismissed from office and went to Changzhou. He cast divinations, and the hexagram said, 'Because you offended a worthy and holy one, your offense cannot be saved.' The man became desperate and went to Fu to beg for release. In the second year of the Yonghui reign, he was registered and returned to his secular family; however, his aspiration delighted in leaving the world, viewing his family like a prison. He again went to reside in the mountains; his arduous discipline and earnest diligence were more than ordinary men could endure. The crowd gathered again; he therefore expounded the Dharma for them, praising and urging the practice of compassion: 'Non-killing is the main gate of the Buddhist teachings; being unable to practice it is like expounding ritual propriety while behaving arrogantly.' He also encouraged the practice of offerings for the six realms, since deceased ancestors do not go beyond these paths. He also said, 'When a mountain has jade, the vegetation is moist; when a spring has a dragon, the water does not run dry. Where the Three Jewels abide, good roots grow.' He often stayed on Mount Funiu, making tigers and leopards his companions, and taking being eaten by mosquitoes and gnats as his personal discipline. Looking forward six feet, he never glanced sideways; the essential verses of the sūtras never ceased from his mouth. He generally took the fifteen contemplations and the Four Bright Treatises as his guidelines. In the fifth year of the Xianqing reign, he travelled to Mount Heng; intending to seek quietude, a crowd gathered again instead. After preaching the Dharma for a long time, he suddenly announced, 'All things are impermanent, and breath is hard to preserve. The night is deep; let each disperse. When conditions end, one must part.' At the time, they did not fathom his words. He then closed himself in and sat. That night, the bells, sheng, and pipes of the various temples in Hengzhou sounded through until dawn. Monastics and laypeople were all astonished. When they went to his room, the door was bolted; breaking it open, they saw Fu sitting upright, having passed away long before. They then reported this to the throne.