續高僧傳 25.38

25.38

釋慧達。姓劉。名窣（蘇骨反）和。本咸陽東北。三城定陽稽胡也。先不事佛。目不識字。為人兇頑。勇健多力樂。行獵射。為梁城突騎。守於襄陽。父母兄弟三人並存。居家大富。豪侈鄉閭縱橫不理。後因酒會遇疾。命終備覩地獄眾苦之相。廣有別傳。具詳聖迹。達後出家。住于文成郡。今慈州東南高平原。即其生地矣。見有廟像。戎夏禮敬處于治下安民寺中。曾往吳越。備如前傳。至元魏太武大延元年。流化將訖。便事西返。行及涼州番禾郡東北望御谷。而遙禮之。人莫有曉者。乃問其故。達云。此崖當有像現。若靈相圓備。則世樂時康。如其有闕。則世亂民苦。達行至肅州酒泉縣城西七里石㵎中死。其骨並碎。如葵子大可穿之今在城西古寺中。塑像手上。寺有碑云。吾非大聖。遊化為業。文不具矣。爾後八十七年至正光初。忽大風雨。雷震山裂。挺出石像。舉身丈八。形相端嚴。惟無有首登。即選石命工彫鐫別頭。安訖還落。因遂任之。魏道陵遲。其言驗矣。逮周元年。治涼州城東七里㵎。忽有光現徹照幽顯。觀者異之。乃像首也。便奉至山巖安之。宛然符會。儀容彫缺四十餘年。身首異所二百餘里。相好還備。太平斯在。保定元年。置為瑞像寺焉。乃有燈光流照鍾聲飛嚮。相續不斷。莫測其由。建德初年。像首頻落。大冢宰及齊王。躬往看之。乃令安處。夜落如故。乃經數十。更以餘物為頭。終墜於地。後周滅佛法。僅得四年隣國殄喪。識者察之方知先鑒。雖遭廢除像猶特立。開皇之始經像大弘。莊飾尊儀更崇寺宇。大業五年。煬帝躬往禮敬厚施。重增榮麗。因改舊額為感通寺焉。故令模寫傳形量不可測。約指丈八臨度終異。致令發信彌增日新。余以貞觀之初歷遊關表。故謁達之本廟。圖像儼肅日有隆敬。自石隰慈丹延綏威嵐等州。並圖寫其形所在供養。號為劉師佛焉。因之懲革胡性。奉行戒約者殷矣。見姚道安制像碑。

Shi Huida: his surname was Liu and his given name was Sahe (pronounced *sugufan*). Originally, he was a Jihu barbarian from Dingyang in Sancheng, northeast of Xianyang. Formerly he did not serve the Buddha and was illiterate. By character he was ferocious and recalcitrant, brave and strong with great vigor, and took delight in hunting and archery. He served as an assault cavalryman of Liangcheng, stationed at Xiangyang. His parents and three brothers were all still living; his household was very wealthy, and he acted haughtily and lawlessly in the local villages, behaving without restraint. Later, at a wine banquet, he fell ill and died, whereupon he witnessed the marks of the manifold sufferings of hell in their entirety. There is an extensive separate biography detailing the sacred traces. Later, Da went forth from the household and dwelt in Wencheng Commandery; the high plains southeast of present-day Cizhou were his birthplace. Today there is a shrine and an image of him, revered by both barbarians and Han Chinese, located within Anmin Monastery under its administration. He once traveled to Wu and Yue, just as recorded in the previous biography.

In the first year of the Dayan era of the Northern Wei emperor Taiwu, his transformative teaching was drawing to a close, and he set out to return to the west. Traveling as far as Fanhe Commandery in Liangzhou, he looked northeast toward the Yugu Valley and bowed to it from afar. None of the people understood this, so they asked him the reason. Da said, "On this cliff, an image will appear. If the spiritual image is complete and perfect, then the world will be peaceful and the times tranquil; if it has defects, then the world will be in turmoil and the people will suffer." Da traveled as far as a stone gully seven *li* west of the county seat of Jiuquan in Suzhou, where he died. His bones were all shattered, the size of sunflower seeds, and could be threaded through; they are currently in the hands of a sculpted image in an ancient monastery west of the county seat. A stele at the monastery reads, "I am not a great sage; wandering and converting others is my practice." The inscription is incomplete.

Eighty-seven years later, at the beginning of the Zhengguang era, there was suddenly a great storm with thunder, and the mountain split open, projecting forth a stone image eighteen feet in height. Its form and features were dignified and majestic, but it had no head. Stone was immediately selected and craftsmen were ordered to carve a separate head; when it was mounted, it fell off again. They therefore left it as it was. The fortunes of the Wei declined, and his words were verified. When the first year of the Zhou dynasty arrived, while dredging the gully seven *li* east of the city of Liangzhou, a light suddenly appeared, illuminating both the hidden and visible realms. Onlookers marveled at it, and it turned out to be the image's head. They respectfully conveyed it to the mountain cliff and installed it, and it matched seamlessly. For more than forty years the appearance had been missing parts, and the body and head were separated in different places by more than two hundred *li*; now the auspicious marks were complete again, and peace was present in this time. In the first year of the Baoding era, it was established as Ruixiang Monastery. There were lamps whose light flowed and shone, and the sounds of bells echoed through the air without interruption, none being able to fathom their cause.

In the early years of the Jiande era, the head of the image repeatedly fell off. The Grand Preceptor and the Prince of Qi went in person to inspect it and ordered it to be repositioned, but at night it fell as before. After several dozen attempts, they used other materials to make a head, but in the end it fell to the ground. Later, the Northern Zhou eliminated the Buddhadharma; it lasted only four years before the neighboring state perished. Only when perceptive people observed this did they realize his foreknowledge. Although it suffered destruction, the image remained standing upright. At the beginning of the Kaihuang era, the scriptures and images were widely propagated; the venerable image was adorned, and the monastery buildings were further elevated. In the fifth year of the Daye era, Emperor Yang went in person to pay homage and presented lavish donations, adding further glory and splendor. Consequently, he changed the old name to Gantong Monastery. Therefore, copies made to transmit its form were of unfathomable proportions: estimated at eighteen feet, whenever measured directly, it always differed. This caused faith to increase and renew day by day.

At the beginning of the Zhenguan era, I traveled through the regions beyond the passes and thus visited Da's original shrine; the sculpted image was solemn and dignified, receiving growing respect day after day. Across the prefectures of Shi, Xi, Ci, Dan, Yan, Sui, Wei, Lan, and others, they all painted and copied his likeness and made offerings to him everywhere, calling him "Master Liu the Buddha." Because of him, the barbarian nature was reformed, and those who practiced the precepts were numerous. This is recorded on the stele for the making of the image by Yao Dao'an.