續高僧傳 29.23

29.23

釋慧胄。姓王。蒲州蒲坂人。少在道門樂崇福事。受具已後師表僧祇。及至立年又專禪誦。曉夕相繼偏重法華。後住京邑清禪寺。草創基構並用相委。四十餘年初不告倦。故使九級浮空重廊遠攝。堂殿院宇眾事圓成。所以竹樹森繁園圃周遶。水陸莊田倉廩碾磑。庫藏盈滿莫匪由焉。京師殷有無過此寺。終始監護功實一人。年至耳順便辭僧任。眾以勤劬經久。且令權替。及於臨機斷決。並用諮詢。寺足淨人無可役者。乃選取二十頭。令學鼓舞。每至節日設樂像前。四遠同觀以為欣慶。故家人子弟接踵傳風。聲伎之最高於俗里。遇患極困自然知卒。香湯沐浴正理衣襟。曰吾有小罪須加重病。事由營造掘鑿故也。至於終晨。言氣不昧。告弟子曰。酬債了矣。吾其去矣。尋聲而卒。春秋六十有九。即貞觀初年也。乃露骸收葬。為起方墳。就而銘之。時京邑會昌有沙門法素者。倜儻不倫。操業奇卓。雅為眾怪。本師智顗專行勸福。昔在江表。遊適所至皆設萬人大會。夜告纔竟明即成辦。此例非一。隋末東都嬰城自固。肌骨相望有若塊焉。寺有金像二軀各長一丈。素不忍見斯窮厄。取一融破籴米作糜餧諸餓者。須臾米盡。又取欲壞。時沙門辯相。與諸僧等拒諍不與。素曰。諸大德未知至理也。昔如來因地為諸眾生。尚不惜頭目髓腦。或生作肉山。或死作大魚。以濟飢餧。如何成果。復更貪惜化形。必不然矣。素今身肉堪者亦所不惜。大德須知。今此一像若不惠給眾生城破之後亦必從毀。則墜陷多人。何如素今一身當也。眾不許之。及偽鄭降日。像先分散。如其言焉。然其言行譎詭。險而難遵。其例不一。後入京室。卒會昌寺。

Shi Huiwei had the surname Wang and was a native of Puban in Puzhou. In his youth within the religious gate, he took joy in promoting affairs of merit; after receiving full ordination, he served as a model for the Saṅgha. When he reached the age of thirty, he focused solely on meditation and recitation, continuing from dawn to dusk, giving special weight to the Lotus Sūtra. Later, he resided at Qingchan Monastery in the capital. The initial founding and construction were all entrusted to him; for over forty years, he never showed weariness. Thus, a nine-story stupa rose into the sky, double corridors reached far, and halls, pavilions, and courtyards were fully completed in every detail. Consequently, bamboo and trees grew lush and dense, gardens and vegetable patches encircled it, and water and land estates, storehouses, and millstones were completely filled in the storehouses—none of which did not originate from him. For wealth and abundance in the capital, no monastery surpassed this one. From beginning to end, the supervising and guarding were truly the work of this one man. When he reached sixty years of age, he resigned from monastic duties. Because of his long and arduous labor, the assembly appointed a temporary replacement, but when matters required immediate judgment and decision, they all consulted him. The monastery had plenty of pure attendants (kappiyakārakas) and none who lacked tasks; he selected twenty of them and had them learn drumming and dancing. On every festival day, music was performed before the statues, and people from all four quarters watched together in joy and celebration. Thus the sons and brothers of households followed one another in spreading the tradition, and their musical artistry was the highest among the secular wards. Falling critically ill, he naturally knew his death was approaching. He bathed in fragrant water, straightened his robes, and said: 'I have a minor fault for which I must endure a severe illness; this is due to construction, digging, and excavating.' When the morning of his end arrived, his speech and breath were clear, and he said to his disciples: 'The debt is repaid; I shall depart.' Following his words, he passed away at the age of sixty-nine, in the early years of the Zhenguan reign. His remains were left exposed and then buried, and a square tumulus was raised for him with an epitaph inscribed there. At that time, at Huichang Monastery in the capital, there was a śramaṇa named Fasuo, who was untrammeled and unconventional, with eccentric and prominent conduct that was greatly wondered at by the assembly. His original master, Zhiyi, had focused entirely on exhorting merit. Formerly in the region south of the Yangtze, wherever he traveled, he would set up great assemblies of ten thousand people; the announcement made at night was barely finished before it was accomplished the next morning, and such instances were not few. At the end of the Sui dynasty, when the Eastern Capital was besieged and kept on defensive alert, skeletons gazed at one another like lumps of earth. The monastery had two gilded statues, each ten feet tall. Fasuo could not bear to see such distress; he took one, melted it down, and bought rice to make porridge to feed the starving. Soon the rice was exhausted, and he wanted to take the other and destroy it. At that time, Śramaṇa Bianxiang and other monks resisted and disputed with him, refusing to hand it over. Fasuo said: 'Bhadantas, you do not yet understand the ultimate principle. Formerly, when the Tathāgata was on the causal ground for the sake of sentient beings, he did not even spare his head, eyes, marrow, or brain; he was either born as a mountain of flesh or died as a giant fish to save the starving. How could it be that having attained the fruition, he would instead begrudge a transformed likeness? That surely cannot be. If my own flesh could serve the purpose, I would not begrudge it either. Bhadantas, you must know: if this one statue is not given to relieve sentient beings, then after the city falls, it will surely be destroyed anyway, and many more will perish. How could it compare to me taking the responsibility upon myself now?' The assembly did not permit it. When the false Zheng regime surrendered, the statues had already been dispersed and lost, just as he had said. However, his words and deeds were deceptive, strange, perilous, and hard to follow, and such instances were not few. Later, he entered the capital and died at Huichang Monastery.