續高僧傳 25.148

25.148

釋法空者。不知何人。隋末任雁門郡府鷹擊郎將。時年四十。欻自生厭離。見妻子家宅。如牢獄桎梏。志慕佛法情無已。已總召家屬曰。吾為爾沈日久矣。旦夕區區。止是供給。可各自取計。吾自決矣。便裹糧負襆獨詣臺山。飢則餐松皮柏末。寒則入穴苫覆。專思經中要偈。亦無所參問。時賊寇交起。追擊攸歸。府司郡官所在追掩。將至禁所。正念不語。志逾慷慨。跏坐不動不食不息已經五日。守令以下莫不鷺愕。因放之任其所往。一坐三十餘載。禽獸以為親隣。妻子尋獲欲致糧粒。空曰。吾厭俗為道。以解脫為先。自今以往願為善知識。非爾纏縛吾何解之。更不須相見。於是遂絕。幽居日久每有清聲。召曰空禪。如是非一。空知是自心境界以法遣之。後遂安靜。初學九次。以禪用乃明。終為對礙。遂學大乘離相。有從學者。並以此誨之。不知所終。

Regarding Śramaṇa Fakong, it is not known who he was. Toward the end of the Sui dynasty, he served as a Langjiang of the Soaring Falcon in the government of Yanmen Commandery. When he was forty years old, a sudden aversion [to worldly existence] arose within him. He saw his wife, children, and household like a prison and fetters, and his yearning for the Buddhadharma was ceaseless. He thereupon gathered his family together and said, 'I have been sunk in worldliness on your account for a long time. From morning till evening I have toiled, merely to provide for you. You may each make your own plans; I have made up my mind.' He then packed his provisions, took up his bundle, and went alone to Mount Wutai. When hungry, he ate pine bark and powdered cypress; when cold, he entered caves and covered himself with thatch. He contemplated exclusively the essential gāthās from the scriptures and did not seek instruction from anyone. At that time, bandits and rebels arose on all sides, pursuers and fugitives swept about, and the authorities of the commanderies and prefectures arrested people wherever they went. When he was taken to the place of detention, he maintained right mindfulness and did not speak, his resolve growing ever more impassioned. He sat cross-legged without moving, without eating, and without resting for five days. From the magistrate on down, all were astonished like storks. Consequently, they released him and let him go wherever he pleased. He remained seated in this manner for more than thirty years, taking birds and beasts as his close neighbors. When his wife and children tracked him down and wished to deliver grain to him, Fakong said, 'I grew weary of the world to pursue the Way, taking liberation as the foremost goal. From now on, may we be good spiritual friends. If it were not for your entanglements, from what would I have been liberated? We have no need to meet again.' Thereupon, they parted for good. Having dwelled in seclusion for a long time, there was repeatedly a pure voice that called out, 'Fakong Chan!' This occurred more than once. Fakong knew it was a state of his own mind and dispelled it through the Dharma. Afterwards, he became tranquil. Initially, he studied the nine sequential attainments, through which his application of dhyāna became luminous, though it still involved subtle dualistic hindrances. He then studied the Mahāyāna practice of transcending appearances. Whenever anyone came to study under him, he instructed them with this. It is not known where he ended his life.