續高僧傳 25.52

25.52

釋僧遠。不知何人。住梁州薛寺為性疎誕不修細行。好追隨流蕩歡醼為任。以齊武平三年。夢見大人。切齒責之曰。汝是出家人。面目如此。猶縱造惡。何不取鏡自照。遠忽覺悸流汗。至曉以盆水自映。乃見眼邊烏黯。謂是垢汗。便洗拭之。眉毛一時隨手落盡。因自咎責。奈遭此譴。遂改革常習反形易性。弊衣破履一食長齋。遵奉律儀。昏曉行悔。悲淚交注。經一月餘日又夢。前人含笑謂曰。知過能改。是謂智乎。赦汝前愆。勿復相續。忽驚喜而覺。流汗遍身面目津潤眉毛漸出。遠頻感兩報信知三世。自後竭精奉法。中不暫怠。卒為練行僧也。鄉川所歸終於本土。

Śramaṇa Sengyuan: His origins are unknown. He resided at Xue Temple in Liangzhou. By nature he was careless and unrestrained, not cultivating minor rules of conduct. He was fond of following wandering profligates and took merry banqueting as his pursuit. In the third year of Wuping of the Qi, he dreamed of seeing a tall person who gnashed his teeth and rebuked him, saying: 'You are an ordained person. With such a face, you still indulge in committing evil. Why do you not take a mirror to examine yourself?' Sengyuan suddenly woke up, trembling and sweating. At dawn, he looked at his reflection in a basin of water and saw that the area around his eyes was blackened. Thinking it was dirt and sweat, he wiped and washed it, whereupon his eyebrows entirely fell out following his hand. Thereupon he reproached himself for incurring such retribution. He then transformed his regular habits, changed his appearance, and altered his nature: wearing tattered robes and broken sandals, taking one meal a day in continuous fasting, he adhered to the Vinaya rules. From dusk to dawn he practiced repentance, his sorrowful tears pouring forth. After more than a month, he again dreamed of the former person, who smiled and said to him: 'To recognize one's error and be able to reform—is this not wisdom? I pardon your former offense; do not continue it again.' He suddenly awakened in pleasant surprise, sweat covering his body. His countenance was refreshed and moist, and his eyebrows gradually grew back. Having repeatedly experienced these two retributions, Sengyuan firmly believed in the three existences. From then on he exhausted his vigor in serving the Dharma, never slacking for a moment, and eventually became a monk of refined conduct. The local populace took refuge in him, and he died in his native region.