續高僧傳 26.75

26.75

釋僧昕。潞州上黨人。自騖道法津周聽大小。逮諸禪律莫不登臨。傾渴身心無席不赴而導戒愚智眾通諠靜。昕一其正度恭慎橫經。聆其披析曾不忽忘。初眾見其低目寡言絕杜論道皆號為曚叟也後有智者問其文理咸陳深奧。輕浮章句略不預懷。有問其故。答曰。勿輕未學妙德常藏。惟夫大覺方能靜照。盛德明約可無細瑕。愚師軌物時有通悟。惟自兩明殷鑒方取會不得以法累人致乖祇奉。暨周滅二教逃隱泰山。大隋開法還歸聽習。遊步洛下從學遠公。十地涅槃咸究宗領。後入關住興善寺。體度高爽不屈非濫。時復談講。辯詞迅舉抑揚有度。至於僧務營造情重勤切躬事率先擔摙運涉。仁壽中歲。置塔毛州護法寺。下勅令送舍利初至公館。有沙門曇義者。高行名僧。聞諸舍利皆放光明我等罪業一無所現。即解衣為懺燒指為燈。竟夕供養。明旦出光通屬人物。又出金瓶迴旋行道青赤。白光三色流照。經于信宿其光乃隱。四月七日初夜放光。赫赤欻然滿佛堂內。須臾出戶流照四檐。將入函時又放赤光。烈盛逾日。通夜又放照于函內。四月十日天花如雪從空亂下。五色相間人皆收得。又感異香微風普遍熏塞寺內。其函忽變為青琉璃。內外通徹。人以白綾周匝數重漫覆其函。又加甎累灰泥其上。尋照其泥還如函色。又灰泥上畫作十花。飾以金薄。及成就後唯一金色。餘花皆釆。未下塔前。有張世謙。清信士也。常持八戒遠離妻孥。靜室誦經。乃聞輿所梵讚之聲出戶看之。見有群僧各執香花遶旋供養。迫之遂失。又見天人持諸幡蓋。及以香花東南飛來。當于塔上變成大雲旋空良久。又見百餘沙門在塔基上。執帚輦土以陪增者。比及明晨寂無所見。時經夏暑土地乾燥。人皆思雨。應念即降。三四寸許。川野除煩。沙丘縣民路如意者。迴心信佛望見光相。路雖遠映舉目徹見寺僧五人在佛堂內。又聞塔邊音樂讚歎聲極亮遠。重雨天花滿四十里。塔基倍多。昕慶斯眾瑞。即具表聞。晚還資業不測其卒。

Śramaṇa Sengxin was a native of Shangdang in Luzhou. Devoting himself to the ferry of the Dharma, he broadly listened to both the Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna, and as for the various traditions of dhyāna and vinaya, there were none he did not climb to the heights of. Yearning with his whole body and mind, there was no assembly he did not attend, yet guiding and cautioning both foolish and wise, his assembly encompassed both clamour and quiet. Sengxin remained steadfast in his proper conduct, reverent and cautious with the scriptures across his lap; listening to their expositions, he never forgot them for a moment. At first, seeing him cast down his eyes and speak little, completely cutting off discussion of the Way, the assembly called him the "Blind Old Man". Later, when there were wise men who questioned him about the texts and principles, he expounded all their deep profundities; frivolous words and phrases he did not harbor in his mind at all. When someone asked the reason, he replied: "Do not slight those who are still learning; marvelous virtue is often hidden. Only the Great Awakened One can calmly illuminate all things. If one's abundant virtue is clearly restrained, how could there be minute blemishes? Foolish teachers who set standards for things sometimes have penetrating realisations. One must only look to both sides for clear examples to achieve understanding; one must not encumber others with the Dharma and cause them to transgress respect and observance." When the Zhou dynasty abolished the two teachings, he fled into hiding at Mount Tai. When the Great Sui revived the Dharma, he returned to listen and learn. Traveling to Luoyang, he studied under Master [Hui]yuan, thoroughly investigating the essential tenets of the Daśabhūmika and the Nirvāṇa. Later, he entered the Pass and resided at Xingshan Monastery. His demeanor was lofty and crisp, never yielding to errors or improprieties. From time to time he gave lectures, his eloquence rising swiftly, its modulations well-measured. As for monastic affairs and building projects, his concern was earnest and urgent; he personally led the work, carrying, hauling, and transporting materials. In the middle of the Renshou era, when a stupa was erected at Hufa Monastery in Maozhou, an imperial decree ordered him to convey the relic. When it first arrived at the official residence, there was a śramaṇa named Tanyi, an eminent monk of lofty conduct. Hearing that all the other relics had emitted light, whereas because of his own sinful karma none had appeared, he immediately stripped off his clothing to make repentance, burning his fingers as lamps, and made offerings all night long. The next morning, a light shone forth, reaching both people and things. It also issued from the golden bottle, revolving as it circumambulated: blue, red, and white, the three colors streaming and illuminating. After staying two nights, the light faded. In the early night of the seventh day of the fourth month, a light was emitted: blazing red, it suddenly filled the Buddha hall. In a moment, it went out the doors and flowed over the four eaves. When it was about to be placed into the casket, a red light was emitted again, outshining the day in fierce brilliance. Throughout the night it emitted light again, shining into the casket. On the tenth day of the fourth month, heavenly flowers fell haphazardly from the sky like snow, variegated in five colors, and everyone gathered them. An unusual fragrance was also evoked, a gentle breeze spreading it until it filled the monastery. The casket suddenly turned into blue lapis lazuli, completely transparent inside and out. People covered the casket with several layers of white damask, and further piled bricks and lime-mortar upon it. When they illuminated the mortar, it was still the same color as the casket. Ten flowers were also painted on the lime-mortar and adorned with gold leaf; when completed, only one was golden, while the rest were painted. Before [the casket] was placed beneath the stupa, there was Zhang Shiqian, a pure-believing upāsaka, who constantly observed the eight precepts and lived apart from his wife and children. As he was reciting sūtras in a quiet room, he heard the sound of brahma-praise coming from the place of the carriage. Going out the door to look, he saw a group of monks, each holding incense and flowers, circumambulating and making offerings; when he approached, they vanished. He also saw devas holding various banners, canopies, incense, and flowers, flying from the southeast; over the stupa they turned into a great cloud, circling in the sky for a long time. He also saw over a hundred śramaṇas on the stupa's foundation, holding brooms and wheeling earth to build it higher; by dawn, nothing was to be seen. At that time, during the summer heat, the ground was dry and everyone longed for rain; answering their thought, it fell immediately, some three or four inches, relieving the distress across the plains. Lu Ruyi, a commoner of Shaqiu County, turned his heart to faith in the Buddha. Looking toward the sign of light, though the road was distant, he raised his eyes and saw clearly five monks of the monastery inside the Buddha hall. He also heard the sound of music and praise by the stupa, extremely bright and distant. Heavenly flowers rained down again, filling an area of forty li, with twice as many at the stupa's base. Xin rejoiced at these many auspicious signs, and memorialised them fully to the court. In his later years, he returned to Ziye [Monastery]; the circumstances of his death are unknown.