續高僧傳 29.24

29.24

釋智通姓陳。住梓州。八歲出家。為正道法師弟子。後誦法華并講在牛頭山。善持威儀奉戒貞苦。降伏皇老。士女奏章必杖之五十。遠近皆憚。寺宇成就。惟其終始。合眾畏懾無蓄私財者。常有雙鵝依時聽講。講百餘遍兩度放光。至貞觀二十三年十月十三日告眾。吾造山寺可用十萬貫。恨未周備。今便永別。言訖而卒。春秋九十七矣。小食時終。合寺房堂皆動而作白色。經一食頃。

Shi Zhitong had the surname Chen and resided in Zizhou. He left household life at the age of eight, becoming a disciple of Dharma Master Zhengdao. Later, he recited the Lotus Sūtra and lectured on it at Mount Niutou. He was skilled in upholding deportment and observed the precepts with austere purity. He subdued Daoists; if gentlemen or women submitted Daoist petitions, he would certainly strike them with fifty blows of a staff, so that all near and far feared him. The completion of the monastery buildings was entirely his work from start to finish. The whole assembly stood in awe of him, and none possessed private wealth. There was constantly a pair of wild geese that came at the regular times to listen to his lectures. When he had lectured more than a hundred times, light was emitted twice. On the thirteenth day of the tenth month in the twenty-third year of the Zhenguan reign, he addressed the assembly: 'I built this mountain monastery, spending perhaps a hundred thousand strings of cash; I regret only that it is not yet complete. Now I bid you an eternal farewell.' Having spoken, he passed away at the age of ninety-seven. He died at the time of the morning meal; the rooms and halls of the entire monastery shook and turned white for the duration of a single meal.