續高僧傳 22.18

22.18

釋慧進。姓鮑氏。潞州上黨人。弱歲辭親。慕從緇侶修習戒檢。極用偏功將欲剪削。父母留戀遂停俗里。以仁孝見知。年至三十。鄉閭覿其精苦潔身斷愛無思妻累。乃共白其所親。委其元度。方任出家。住州治梵境寺。既受具已。聞說受淨衣毛㱇然。重問持犯又闕諮悟。承鄴下講律徒侶僅千。欣喜滿懷。以律假緣求非文不合。因即閉關自讀八十餘遍。行要耳目頗亦具瞻。而義理由蹤必從師受。便往相州洪律師所。一坐伏聽不移其席乃經八遍。中靜緣務相續而聽又經八年。爾後栖遑隨師南北。或山或世遊採經論用裨律宗。略計前後四分一。宗百二十遍。并覆尋讀強三百遍。自有同塵專志累功罕儔其匹。隋文末曆。有同寺僧。弊進學業匹難齊競。陰而嫉之。進曰。相與出家同遵律業。潛加繩扇豈不以身名致嫌乎。昔聞無諍行者惟在空生聖立芳規義非自結。余雖不敏請從雅喻。即日往謝。擲棄公名揭襆而出。眾有止之。進曰。余不滯於去留也。為緣故耳。因逖聽諸方勝徒名地。五臺泰岳東川北部常山雁門。隨逐禪蹤無遠必屆。沙門慧瓚道王朔川。又往投焉。定師宗傅。及瓚入關遂往箕山訪蹤巢許。巖名便利有古寺焉。掃以居之。足不下溪三十餘載。言行成範緇素尋焉。舊本幽阻由之喧泰。故其法屬常以禪律繼業。以貞觀十九年正月十五日。因疾跏坐終於山舍。春秋八十有六。時同鄉沙門道瓚者。善宗四分心明清亮。講解相仍具傳章鈔。而形氣弘偉少共齊倫。在法住寺御眾揚化。韓潞沁澤四州從範。末齡風疾頓增。相乖儀節。雖衣服頹陊。而藥食無瑕。余聞往焉。欣然若舊。敘悟猶正。年八十餘矣。

Śramaṇa Huijin had the secular surname Bao and was a man of Shangdang in Luzhou. In his youth he took leave of his parents, aspiring to follow the monastics in black robes to cultivate and observe the disciplinary rules; he exerted singular effort, preparing to have his hair shaven. His parents, bound by affection, detained him in the secular neighborhood. He became known for his benevolence and filial piety. When he reached the age of thirty, the local villagers, witnessing his rigorous austerity, bodily purity, and severance of worldly love without thought of wife or familial encumbrances, jointly informed his parents and urged his original ordination. Only then was he permitted to leave household life (pravrajyā). He resided at Fanjing Temple in the administrative seat of the prefecture. After he received the full precepts, hearing the explanation of receiving clean robes made his hairs stand on end; yet when he repeatedly inquired about offenses and observances, he lacked instruction and realization. Hearing that the congregation lecturing on the Vinaya in Ye numbered nearly a thousand, his heart was filled with joy. Believing that the Vinaya relies on circumstances and cannot be mastered without the texts, he shut his door and read it by himself over eighty times. He became quite familiar with the essentials of practice and could recite them, but the deep principles and subtle reasons inevitably required receiving them from a master. He then went to Vinaya Master Hong in Xiangzhou; sitting attentively to listen without leaving his mat, he went through it eight times. After an interval of resting from duties, he continued listening for another eight years. Thereafter, he wandered following his master north and south, whether in the mountains or the secular world, gathering from sūtras and treatises to supplement the Vinaya school. Roughly calculated, he studied the Dharmaguptaka lineage one hundred and twenty times in total, and thoroughly re-read it nearly three hundred times. Among those dwelling in the dust of the world, his single-minded dedication and accumulated practice had few peers. In the final years of Emperor Wen of Sui, a monk from the same monastery, feeling frustrated that Jin's learning was difficult to match, harbored secret jealousy against him. Jin said: 'We left household life together and both abide by the Vinaya; why should secret slanders and instigations cause resentment over body and reputation? In ancient times I heard that the one who cultivated non-contention was solely Subhūti (Kong Sheng); the sage established this noble model not for personal entanglement. Though I am undiscerning, I beg to follow this refined instruction.' That very day he went to apologize, cast aside his official registry, took up his bundle, and walked out. When some in the assembly tried to stop him, Jin said: 'I am not attached to staying or leaving; it is merely due to conditions.' Thereupon he ranged widely to listen to the superior communities and famous places across all directions: Mount Wutai, the Eastern Peak Mount Tai, the eastern river valley, the northern region, Mount Chang, and Yanmen; following traces of dhyāna, no distance was too far to reach. Śramaṇa Huizan, whose Way was renowned in the Shuochuan region, was another master under whom he studied, inheriting the Dhyāna tradition. When Zan entered the Pass, [Jin] went to Mount Ji to trace the footsteps of Chaofu and Xu You. On a cliff named Bianli was an ancient temple; he swept it out and lived there, never setting foot down into the valley for over thirty years. His words and deeds became a model, sought after by monastics and laity alike. The place, originally remote and obstructed, became bustling and expansive on his account; thus his Dharma descendants continuously took dhyāna and Vinaya as their heritage. On the fifteenth day of the first month of the nineteenth year of Zhenguan, on account of an illness, he sat in full lotus posture and passed away in his mountain lodge, at the age of eighty-six. At that time, Śramaṇa Daozan, from the same hometown, was well-versed in the Dharmaguptaka lineage, his mind clear and bright. He lectured continuously and transmitted the full commentaries and notes. In physical vigor and noble stature, few were his equal. Dwelling at Fazhu Temple, he guided the assembly and propagated transformation; the four prefectures of Han, Lu, Qin, and Ze took him as their model. In his later years, wind illness abruptly worsened, disrupting his demeanor and etiquette; although his clothing was disheveled, his medicine and food were pure. When I heard of this, I went to visit him; he was delighted as if we were old friends, and his explanations and insights remained completely correct. He was then over eighty years old.