續高僧傳 25.40

25.40

釋僧融。梁初人。住九江東林寺。篤志汎博遊化己任。曾於江陵勸一家受戒。奉佛為業。先有神廟不復宗事。悉用給施。融便撤取送寺。因留設福。至七日後。主人母見一鬼持赤索欲縛之。母甚遑懼。乃更請僧讀經行道。鬼怪遂息。融晚還廬山。獨宿逆旅。時天雨雪中夜始眠。見有鬼兵其類甚眾。中有鬼將帶甲挾刃形奇壯偉。有持胡床者。乃對融前踞之。便厲色揚聲曰。君何謂鬼神無靈耶。速曳下地。諸鬼將欲加手。融默稱觀世音。聲未絕即見所住床後有一天將。可長丈餘。著黃皮袴褶。手捉金剛杵擬之。鬼便驚散。甲冑之屬碎為塵粉。融甞於江陵。勸夫妻二人。俱受五戒。後為劫引。夫遂逃走。執妻繫獄。遇融於路求哀請救。融曰。惟至心念觀世音。更無信餘道。婦入獄後。稱念不輟。因夢沙門立其前。足蹴令去。忽覺身貫三木自然解脫。見門猶閉。閽司數重守之。計無出理。還更眠。夢見向僧曰。何不早出。門自開也。既聞即起。重門洞開。便越席而出。東南數里將值民村。天夜闇冥。其夫先逃夜行晝伏。二忽相遇皆大驚駭。草間審問。乃其夫也。遂共投商者。遠避竟得免難。

Shi Sengrong was a man of the early Liang dynasty. He resided at Donglin Monastery on Mount Jiujiang. Sincere of purpose and broadly learned, he took wandering and converting as his duty. He once urged a household in Jiangling to receive the precepts and take serving the Buddha as their vocation. Previously they had a shrine to a local spirit which they no longer honored; everything was donated as offerings. Rong dismantled it and sent the materials to the monastery, staying behind to establish merit. Seven days later, the mother of the master of the house saw a ghost holding a red rope, intending to bind her. The mother was terrified, so they further invited monks to read the scriptures and practice circumambulation, whereupon the demonic apparitions ceased.

Later, as Rong was returning to Mount Lu, he lodged alone in an inn. At the time, it was snowing, and he only fell asleep in the middle of the night. He saw a host of ghost soldiers, exceedingly numerous. Among them was a ghost general wearing armor and carrying a blade, extraordinarily tall and imposing. An attendant holding a folding chair placed it before Rong, and the general sat down upon it, assuming a fierce expression and raising his voice to say, "Why do you say that ghosts and spirits have no efficacy? Quickly drag him down to the ground!" Just as the ghosts were about to lay hands on him, Rong silently recited Avalokiteśvara's name. Before his voice had ended, he saw behind the bed where he stayed a heavenly general, about ten feet tall, wearing yellow leather trousers and a tunic, raising a vajra pestle to strike them. The ghosts immediately scattered in fright, and their armor and equipment were shattered into fine powder.

Rong once exhorted a husband and wife in Jiangling to both receive the five precepts. Later, implicated in a robbery, the husband fled, while the wife was captured and imprisoned. Meeting Rong on the road, she pleaded for mercy and asked for rescue. Rong said, "Only single-mindedly recite Avalokiteśvara, and do not trust in any other path." After entering the prison, the woman recited without ceasing. In a dream, she saw a śramaṇa standing before her, kicking her with his foot and ordering her to leave. Suddenly she felt the three-piece wooden pillory binding her body naturally fall away. Seeing that the gate was still locked and guarded by several layers of gatekeepers, she thought there was no way out, so she went back to sleep. In her dream, she saw the same monk as before, who said, "Why do you not leave early? The gates will open of themselves." Upon hearing this, she arose at once; the multiple gates stood wide open, and she stepped over the threshold and left. Going several *li* to the southeast, she was about to reach a village. The night was dark; her husband, having fled earlier, traveled by night and hid by day. The two suddenly met and were both greatly startled. Questioning each other in the brush, it turned out to be her husband. Thereupon they joined with merchants and fled far away, ultimately escaping disaster.