續高僧傳 22.16

22.16

釋慧蕭。俗姓劉。本彭城人。世家徙于許州之長葛。故又為縣人焉。奕葉以衣纓稱士大夫。十八為書生。聰悟敏達善說詩禮。州郡以明經舉之。非其所好。遂入嵩高山求師出家。強識前聞。而以戒行見稱。耆舊明達相謂曰。若人如此。必今代之優波離也。開皇初遊學鄴城博綜經律。乃貫練眾部偏宗四分。聞泰山靈巖寺幽栖潔行之宅也。乃往從焉。後以和上年衰復還中嶽。于時隋祖創業四海為家。故得縱任往還無所拘礙。時龍門沙門明朗。河東持律之最。承蕭道聲藉甚。不遠從之。朗雖年齒隆蕭。而卑身禮事。並深相悅服。道合欣然。淹留歲序。請歸河曲。蕭亦不滯物我。相與同行住于龍門之定林寺。歷緣山水居隨所好。尋訪同志不憚危險。馬頭山有僧善禪師。聚徒結業從而習定。時還朗寺弘暢毘尼。仁壽中頻向黃頰山依巖夏坐。有亡命者因事投焉。不忍遣之留匿經久。後以事發。引蕭為侶。所在督課追徵赴獄。會朗善俱亡。又兼匿罪。便振錫徂南路經蒲坂。時沙門道積神素道傑等。晉川英彥素與周旋。留連累載。屬隋煬墜歷法令滋彰。藏匿嚴科殊為峻刻。蕭以許身為道隨務東西。名貫久除栖遁幽阻。自中條王屋巨壑深林。無險不登若遊庭戶。逮中原版蕩妖氣一亂河東郡丞丁榮。敬服德音招住仁壽。長弘律藏學者肩隨。義寧中。被擁西城不虧講業。及後安靜彌崇法會。蒲陝晉絳五眾師焉。以貞觀十四年終于仁壽。春秋七十有三。自蕭服心戒業。演導為宗。友接朋勝時無與貳。每念朗善遊好。不覺涕之無從。不能裁止。便登眺而慟。斯重交募善為如此也。曾講涅槃僅十許遍。猶恨大乘無功。遂翫讀華嚴。於數年間口不輟音文不釋手。有請蕭為方廣講主。乃止之曰。吾尚未解經意安可講乎。時以為貞而且諒。又懼誤諸後學云。

Śramaṇa Huixiao had the secular surname Liu. Originally from Pengcheng, his family had moved over the generations to Changge in Xu prefecture, hence he was considered a man of that county. For successive generations they were considered gentry wearing cap and tassels. At eighteen he was an academy student, intelligent and perceptive, skilled in expounding the Book of Odes and Book of Rites. The commandery and prefecture recommended him on the basis of [his mastery of] the Classics, but this was not his wish. He thereupon entered Mount Songgao, seeking a master under whom to leave household life (pravrajyā). He had a strong memory for what he had formerly heard, and gained distinction for his observance of the precepts. Elders and the discerning said to one another, 'If this man is thus, he is surely the Upāli of the present age!' At the beginning of the Kaihuang reign, he traveled to study in the city of Ye, comprehensively integrating the sūtras and the Vinaya; traversing and mastering the various traditions, he took the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya (Sifen lü) as his particular focus. Hearing that Lingyan Temple on Mount Tai was a dwelling for secluded residence and immaculate practice, he went there to join it. Later, as his upādhyāya was advanced in years, he returned again to the Central Peak. At that time, the founder of the Sui dynasty established the dynasty, taking all within the four seas as his household; thus [Huixiao] was able to travel back and forth unrestrained without impediment. At that time, Śramaṇa Minglang of Longmen, the foremost observer of the Vinaya in Hedong, heard of Huixiao's renowned religious reputation and traveled from afar to join him. Although Lang was far senior in years to Xiao, he humbled himself to serve him with ritual respect; both were deeply pleased and submissive to each other, united in the Way with delight. Delaying as the years turned, [Minglang] invited [Huixiao] to return to Heku. Xiao was not bound by notions of self and other; together they traveled and dwelt at Dinglin Temple in Longmen. Passing through and aligning with the mountains and waters, he took up residence according to his inclination, seeking out like-minded companions without dread of danger. On Mount Matou was Dhyāna Master Sengshan, who gathered disciples to cultivate practice; [Xiao] followed him to practice meditation (dhyāna), occasionally returning to Lang's temple to broadly elucidate the Vinaya. During the Renshou reign, he repeatedly went to Mount Huangjia, spending the summer retreat (varṣā) against a cliff. A fugitive on the run took refuge with him on account of an incident; unable to bear sending him away, he harbored and concealed him for a long time. Later, when the matter came to light, [the fugitive] implicated Xiao as his associate. Everywhere authorities pursued and pressed him to appear in prison. It happened that both Lang and Shan had passed away, and burdened by the crime of harbor, he shook his mendicant staff and departed south, traveling by way of Puban. At that time, the śramaṇas Daoji, Shensu, Daojie, and others—the finest talents of the Jin River basin—had long associated with him and detained him for consecutive years. Under the decline of the reign of Emperor Yang of the Sui, legal decrees became increasingly onerous, and strict penal clauses regarding harboring were exceedingly harsh. Xiao, having pledged himself to the Way, drifted east and west according to circumstances, his name long removed from registration registers, residing in remote and rugged places. From the Zhongtiao and Wangwu ranges to vast ravines and deep forests, there was no danger he did not climb, as if strolling in a courtyard. When the Central Plains fell into chaos and demonic vapors brought total turmoil, Ding Rong, vice-governor of Hedong Commandery, reverently submitted to his virtuous teaching and invited him to dwell at Renshou [Temple], where he continuously propagated the Vinayapiṭaka, with students following shoulder to shoulder. During the Yining reign, he was detained in the Western City, yet did not compromise his teaching activities. Later, when peace was restored, the Dharma assemblies were held in even higher esteem; the fivefold assembly from Pu, Shaan, Jin, and Jiang prefectures took him as their master. In the fourteenth year of Zhenguan, he passed away at Renshou [Temple], at the age of seventy-three. Ever since Xiao devoted his heart to the practice of the precepts, expounding and guiding had been his primary purpose. In receiving friends and associating with the virtuous, none in his time could match him. Whenever he remembered his past pleasant travels with Lang and Shan, tears would unconsciously stream without cause; unable to restrain them, he would climb to a height and weep bitterly. Such was the extent of his valuing friendship and yearning for the virtuous. He once lectured on the Nirvāṇa [Sūtra] about ten times, yet still regretted that he had not achieved merit in the Mahāyāna; thereupon he immersed himself in reading the Avataṃsaka [Sūtra], reciting it incessantly for several years without letting the text leave his hands. When someone invited Xiao to be the chief lecturer on the Vaipulya (Fangguang), he stopped them, saying, 'I have not yet comprehended the meaning of the sūtra; how could I lecture on it?' People at the time regarded him as upright and scrupulous, and he also feared misleading later students.