續高僧傳 29.18

29.18

釋僧晃。姓馮氏。綿州涪城南昌人。形長八尺。顏貌都偉。威容整肅。動中規矩。而鷹眼虎身鵝行象步。聲氣雄亮志略宏遠。綱維法任有柱石焉。故使岷巴領袖咸所推仰。昔年在志學。文才博達。時共聲譽。嘗夢手擎日月太虛中坐。便晃然厭俗。欣慕出家。私即立名為僧晃也。父母未之許。拘械兩足牢繫屋柱。決意已絕誓心無改。不移旦夕鎖自然解。乃歎曰。夫志之所及也。山岳以之轉。江河以之絕。城臺以之崩。瀛海以之竭。日月為之潛光。須彌為之崩頹。星辰為之改度。嘉樹為之藏摧。況復金木之與桎梏。奚足以語哉。二親顧其冥感。任從道化。依彖法師出家受業。學通大小夙夜匪懈。會梁末周初佛法淆濫。行多浮略迂誕毘尼。晃具戒未聞。而超然異表。少能精苦性自矜持。卒非師友所成立也。眾皆挹其神宇。密相高尚。及昇壇之後。偏攻十誦。數年劬勞朗鑒精熟。研微造盡彬欝可崇。周保定後更業長安。進學僧祇討其幽旨。有難必究是滯能通。又於曇相禪師稟受心法。觀道圓淨由此彌開。又於開禪師方等行道。洞入時倫無與相映。自此罕得而傳者。由多營福業勞事有為。是以隱墜世不稱也。既而遐邇諷德。聲聞天庭。武帝下勅。延於明德殿。言議開闡彌遂聖心。乃授本州三藏。大隋啟祚面委僧正。匡御本邑。而剛決方正賞罰嚴平。綿益欽風貴賤攸奉。前後州主十有餘人。皆授戒香斷惡行善。開皇十五年。又於寺中置頭陀眾。僧事蠲免以引墮者。仁壽以後。重率寺眾共轉藏經。周而復始初不斷絕。供給䞋錫一出俗緣。皆晃指授。故福報所至如泉不窮。僧業茂盛方類推舉。以武德冬初。終於所住之振嚮寺。春秋八十五矣。初未終前。佛堂蓮華池自然枯竭。池側慈竹無故彫死。寺內薔薇非時發花曄如夏月。眾以榮枯兩瑞不無生滅之懷德異常倫故。感應之所期耳。

Śramaṇa Shenghuang. His surname was Feng, and he was a native of Nanchang in Fucheng of Mianzhou. He stood eight feet tall, with a magnificent countenance and appearance. His dignified manner was orderly and reverent, and his movements conformed to rule and measure. With eagle-like eyes, a tiger's frame, the walk of a wild goose, and the stride of an elephant, his voice was powerful and resonant, and his aspirations were vast and far-reaching. In administrative monastic duties he served as a pillar and foundation; hence, the leaders across Min and Ba all deferred to and respected him. In his earlier years, when his mind was set on learning, his literary talent was broad and proficient, and he enjoyed a shared reputation at the time. He once dreamed that he held the sun and moon in his hands and sat in the void; he then had an awakening, grew weary of worldly life, and longed to leave householder life, privately taking for himself the name Shenghuang. His parents did not permit it; they placed irons on both his feet and tied him firmly to a house pillar. His determination was absolute, and he vowed not to change his mind. Before morning turned to evening, the shackles unlocked of their own accord. He then sighed and said: 'Where the will reaches, mountains and peaks turn for it; rivers and streams are severed for it; city walls and terraces crumble for it; oceans and seas dry up for it; the sun and moon dim their light for it; Mount Sumeru collapses for it; the stars and constellations alter their courses for it; and auspicious trees conceal and break themselves for it. How much less can metal, wood, and shackles be worth speaking of!' Seeing this unseen resonance, his parents allowed him to follow the transformation of the Way. He left household life and pursued his studies under Dharmabhāṇaka Tuan, learning both the Mahāyāna and the Hīnayāna, untiring day and night. At that time, at the end of the Liang and the beginning of the Zhou, the Buddhadharma was disordered and lax; conduct was mostly superficial and slack, and the Vinaya was regarded as convoluted and absurd. Before Huang received the full precepts, he had already surpassed ordinary standards, being capable of rigorous asceticism from youth and naturally restrained; in the end, his character was not merely shaped by teachers and friends. The assembly all admired his spiritual bearing and secretly held him in high esteem. After ascending the precept platform, he focused exclusively on the Sarvāstivāda Vinaya. After several years of laborious effort, his insight was bright and his mastery thorough; he probed its subtleties and mastered its depths, possessing a dignified and admirable presence. After the Baoding reign-period of the Zhou [561–565 CE], he pursued further studies in Chang'an, advancing into the Mahāsāṃghika Vinaya and investigating its obscure meanings; whenever there was a difficulty, he invariably examined it, and wherever there was a knot, he could unravel it. He also received the mind-dharma from Dhyāna Master Tanxiang, whereby his cultivation of the path of contemplation, being round and pure, was all the more unfolded. He also cultivated the Vaipulya circumambulation under Dhyāna Master Kai, penetrating it deeply so that none among his contemporaries could rival him. From this time on, few [of his teachings] were transmitted, because he engaged extensively in meritorious works and toiled in conditioned activities; for this reason, his teachings remained hidden and fallen, and were not celebrated by the world. Soon, his virtue was praised far and wide, and his fame reached the imperial court. Emperor Wu issued an edict inviting him to the Mingde Hall; his discourse was elucidating and expansive, fully meeting the imperial wish. He was then granted the title of Master of the Tripiṭaka of his home prefecture. When the Great Sui established its mandate, he was personally entrusted with the office of Rectifier of Monks (Sengzheng) to oversee his native region. Firm, decisive, upright, and just, his rewards and punishments were strict and equitable; Mianzhou and Yizhou admired his style, and high and low alike complied. Over ten successive prefectural administrators all received the fragrance of precepts, cutting off evil and doing good. In the fifteenth year of the Kaihuang reign-period [595 CE], he also established a group of dhūta practitioners within the temple, exempting them from monastic duties in order to guide the lax. From the Renshou reign-period [601–604 CE] onward, he again led the temple assembly to collaboratively turn [and recite] the entire canon of sūtras, cycling through repeatedly without ever ceasing. Provisions, offerings, and donations all derived from lay connections, all guided and instructed by Huang. Therefore, the karmic rewards that arrived were inexhaustible like a spring. Monastic affairs flourished, and contemporaries praised him. In the beginning of the winter of the Wude reign-period, he died at Zhenxiang Temple, where he resided, at the age of eighty-five. Prior to his passing, the lotus pond before the Buddha hall naturally dried up; the benevolent bamboos beside the pond withered and died without cause; and the roses inside the temple blossomed out of season, flourishing as if in the summer months. The assembly considered that these two omens of flourishing and withering could not be without relation to sentiments of arising and ceasing, and because his virtue was extraordinary, they were the anticipated spiritual responses.