續高僧傳 25.118

25.118

釋尚圓。姓陳。廣漢洛人。出家以呪術救物。梁武陵王蕭紀。宮中鬼怪魅諸婇女。或歌或哭紛然亂舉。王乃令善射者控弦擬之。鬼乃現形。即放箭射。鬼便遙接。還返擲人。久而不已。聞圓持呪。請入宮中。諸鬼競前作諸變現。龍蛇百獸倏忽前後。在空在地怪變多端。圓安坐告曰。汝小家鬼。何因敢入王宮。能變我身。則可自變萬種。秖是小鬼。可住聽我一言。諸鬼合掌住立。圓始發云。南無佛陀。鬼皆失所。自爾安靜。武帝聞召。大蒙賞遇。值梁覆擾。圓行至蜀。所有痛惱因之護衛。年八十一終所住。治城今已摩滅。

Shi Shangyuan, surnamed Chen, was a native of Luo in Guanghan. Having entered pravrajyā, he used mantras and occult arts to deliver living beings. In the palace of Xiao Ji, Prince of Wuling of the Liang, ghosts and apparitions bewitched the palace women: some sang, some wept, raising constant turmoil. The Prince ordered skilled archers to draw their bows and aim at them; the ghosts then manifested their forms, and when arrows were released, the ghosts caught them from afar and hurled them back at the people, without stopping for a long time. Hearing that Yuan upheld dhāraṇīs, the Prince invited him into the palace. The ghosts competed to advance and make various apparitions: dragons, snakes, and hundreds of beasts appeared and vanished in front and behind, in the air and on the ground, manifesting multifaceted anomalies. Yuan sat calmly and addressed them: 'You petty ghosts, how dare you enter the royal palace? If you can transform my body, you may well transform into ten thousand shapes; but you are merely small ghosts. Stand still and listen to one word from me!' The ghosts joined their palms and stood still. Yuan began by reciting: 'Namo Buddhāya!' The ghosts all vanished; from then on, all was peaceful and quiet. Emperor Wu, having heard of this, summoned him and treated him with great favor. When the Liang collapsed into chaos, Yuan traveled to Shu; wherever there was suffering or affliction, people relied on him for protection. At the age of eighty-one, he passed away at his dwelling place. His administrative monastery has by now vanished.