續高僧傳 7.19

7.19

釋慧布。姓郝氏。廣陵人也。少懷遠操。性度虛梗。年十五處于江陽。家門軍將。時有戎役。因願領五千人為將清平寇塞。豈不果耶。眾偉其言。十六遭兄亡。悟世非常。思解俗網。親眷知有武略咸不許之。二十有一方從本願。既蒙剃落便入楊都。從建初寺瓊法師學成實論。通假實之旨。物議所歸。而布恨斯至理未盡懷抱。承攝山止觀寺僧詮法師大乘海嶽聲譽遠聞。乃往從之聽聞三論。學徒數百翹楚一期。至於洞達清玄妙知論旨者。皆無與尚。時號之為得意布。或云思玄布也。故詮之解難。聽者似解而領悟猶迷。及依言領通．而構難踈略。致使談論之際每有客問必待布而為答。時人為之語曰。詮公四友。所謂四句朗。領語辯。文章勇。得意布。布稱得意最為高也。後於大品善達章中悟解大乘。煩惱調順。攝心奉律威儀無玷。常樂坐禪遠離囂擾。誓不講說護持為務。末遊北鄴更涉未聞。於可禪師所暫通名見。便以言忤其意。可曰。法師所述可謂破我除見莫過此也。乃縱心諸席備見宗領。周覽文義並具胸襟。又寫章疏六馱。負還江表。並遺朗公令其講說。因有遺漏重往齊國。廣寫所闕齎還付朗。自無所畜。衣鉢而已。專修念慧獨止松林。蕭然世表學者欣慕。嘗造思禪師與論大義。連徹日夜不覺食息。理致彌密言勢不止。思以鐵如意打案曰。萬里空矣。無此智者。坐中千餘人同聲嘆悅。又與邈禪師論義。即命公之師也。聯綿往還三日不絕。邈止之嘆其慧悟遐舉而卑身節行不顯其美。梁太清末。侯景作亂。荒餒累年三日失食。至第四日有人遺布飯。而微以猪肉覆之。雖腹如火然。結心不食。故得遭斯困厄不履非濫。又曾患脚氣。醫令服薤。自此至終常陳此罪。或見諸人樂生西方者。告云。方土乃淨非吾願也。如今所願化度眾生。如何在蓮花中十劫受樂。未若三途處苦救濟也。陳至德中。邀引恭禪師。建立攝山栖霞寺。結淨練眾江表所推。名德遠投稟承論旨。時為開滯理思幽微。不為僧師不役下位。常自縫洗六時無闕。纔扣揵搥已居眾首。端坐如木見者懍然。名聞光遠請謁如市。陳主諸王並受其戒。奉之如佛。末以年暮不參眾食。勅給其乳牛。而布迴充入眾。煢煢謹攝實高僧焉。年七十與眾別云。布命更至三五年在。但老困不能行道。住世何益。常願生邊地無三寶處為作佛事去也。幸各好住願努其力。於是絕穀不食命將欲斷。下勅令毉診之。縮臂不許。沈皇后欲傳香信。又亦不許。臨終遺訣曰。長生不喜夕死無憂。以生無所生滅無所滅故也。諸有學士徒眾並委恭禪師。吾無慮矣。以陳禎明元年十一月二十三日卒于栖霞。終後手屈三指。捋之雖伸還屈。乃至林中一月猶爾。未終前大地連動。七日便卒。移屍就林。山地又動。太史奏云。得道人星滅矣。時以當之。初將逝告眾前云。昨夜二菩薩見迎。一是生身。一是法身。吾已許之。尋有諸天又來迎接。以不願生故不許耳。流光照於侃禪師戶。侃怪光盛出戶見。二人向布房中不知是聖也。旦往述之。恰然符合。言已端坐而化。有見鬼者。望見幡花滿寺光明騰焰。不測其故。入山視之。乃布公去世。

Śramaṇa Huibu was surnamed Hao, a native of Guangling. In his youth, he harbored lofty resolve, his nature and disposition being open and straightforward. At the age of fifteen, he lived in Jiangyang. His family were military commanders, and at the time there was a military expedition; he therefore wished to lead five thousand men as a general to pacify the bandit strongholds, saying, “How could it not be achieved?” The crowd marveled at his words. At sixteen, he encountered the death of his elder brother; realizing the impermanence of the world, he thought to untie the worldly nets. Because his relatives knew of his martial strategy, none would grant permission. Only at the age of twenty-one did he fulfill his original wish. Having received tonsure, he entered the capital Yang[du]. He studied the Tattvasiddhi-śāstra under Dharma Master [Bao]qiong of Jianchu Monastery, penetrating the purport of the provisional and the real, and becoming the object of public acclaim. Yet Bu regretted that this ultimate principle did not fully satisfy his heart's desire. Hearing that Dharma Master Sengquan of Zhiguan Monastery on Mount She was an ocean and mountain of the Mahāyāna whose reputation was heard far and wide, he went to follow him and listen to the Three Treatises. His fellow students numbered several hundred, the preeminent of the era; but when it came to penetrating the pure and profound and subtly knowing the treatises' purports, none could surpass him. At the time, he was called “Grasping-the-Meaning Bu” or “Thinking-the-Profound Bu.” Thus, when Quan resolved difficulties, the listeners seemed to understand yet remained confused in their comprehension; when they followed the words to comprehend, their formulations of difficulties were coarse and sketchy. Consequently, during discussions, whenever a visiting guest posed a question, they always waited for Bu to answer. The people of that time had a saying: “Master Quan's four friends: Lang of the Four Phrases, Bian of Comhending Words, Yong of Literary Style, and Bu who Grasps the Meaning.” Bu was praised as Grasping the Meaning, the very highest of them. Later, upon the “Good Understanding” chapter of the Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā-prajñāpāramitā, he awakened to and understood the Mahāyāna; his afflictions were subdued, he controlled his mind and upheld the vinaya, and his deportment was flawless. He constantly delighted in sitting in dhyāna, distancing himself from clamor and confusion, vowing not to lecture but making preservation and upholding his sole task. Later, he traveled north to Ye to study what he had not yet heard. When he briefly presented his name to see Dhyāna Master Ke, his words immediately clashed with [Ke's] ideas. Ke said, “What the Dharma Master has expounded can be called shattering the self and eliminating views; nothing surpasses this.” He then gave free rein to his mind among the various assemblies, thoroughly observing their core tenets, surveying their texts and meanings until they were fully held within his breast. He also copied six camel-loads of treatises and commentaries, which he carried on his back back to the south of the Yangtze, leaving them all to Master Lang to lecture upon. Because there were omissions, he traveled again to the state of Qi, copying extensively what was missing and carrying it back to entrust to Lang. He himself possessed nothing, keeping only his robes and bowl. Dedicated to cultivating mindfulness and wisdom, he dwelt alone in the pine forest, detached beyond the mundane world, an object of admiration for scholars. Once he visited Dhyāna Master Si to discuss the great meaning, carrying on through days and nights without awareness of food or rest. The principles became ever more subtle, and the force of their words did not cease. Si struck the table with an iron ruyi and said, “For ten thousand miles it is empty! There is no wise man like this!” The more than one thousand people seated in the assembly sighed and rejoiced with one voice. He also discussed doctrines with Dhyāna Master Miao, who was the teacher of Master Ming; they went back and forth continuously for three days without stopping. Miao brought it to an end, praising his wisdom and awakening for soaring far, while he demeaned himself and moderated his conduct, never displaying his own excellence. At the end of the Taiqing era of the Liang, when Hou Jing caused rebellion, there was famine for successive years, and [Bu] went without food for three days. On the fourth day, someone gave Bu some rice, but faintly covered it with pork. Although his stomach burned like fire, he steeled his heart and did not eat it. Thus, even when encountering such distress, he did not step into transgression or excess. Once he also suffered from beriberi; a physician told him to take shallots, and from then until the end of his life, he constantly confessed this transgression. When he saw people who longed to be reborn in the Western Pure Land, he would tell them, “That land may be pure, but it is not my wish. My present vow is to transform and deliver sentient beings; how could I enjoy bliss inside a lotus flower for ten kalpas? It is not as good as being in the suffering of the three evil paths to rescue them.” In the Zhide era of the Chen, he invited Dhyāna Master Gong to establish Qixia Monastery on Mount She; their setting up purity and training the assembly were esteemed throughout the region south of the Yangtze. Eminent and virtuous monks came from afar to receive the treatises' purports; occasionally he would resolve obstructions and clarify profound subtleties. He would not act as a monastic leader, nor would he employ those of lower rank. He always washed and sewed his own garments, without missing any of the six intervals of the day. Barely had the ghaṇṭā been struck when he was already at the head of the assembly, sitting upright like a log so that those who saw him were awestruck. His fame spread brightly far and wide, and people requesting audiences gathered like a marketplace. The Chen ruler and the various princes all received precepts from him, revering him like a Buddha. Later, due to old age, he did not participate in the communal meals. An imperial decree provided him with a dairy cow, but Bu redirected it to the assembly. Solitary and cautiously restrained, he was truly an eminent monk. At the age of seventy, he took leave of the assembly, saying, “Bu's life still has three to five years remaining; but I am old and fatigued, unable to practice the Way. What benefit is there in remaining in the world? My constant vow is to be reborn in a borderland where there is no triratna, to perform Buddha-work there. May you each dwell well, and I pray you exert your strength.” Thereupon he ceased eating grains, and his life was about to end. An imperial decree ordered physicians to examine him, but he withdrew his arm and refused. Empress Shen wished to send an offering of incense, but he also refused it. On the verge of passing away, his final instruction stated: “Long life brings no joy; dying in the evening brings no sorrow, because in birth there is nothing born, and in extinction there is nothing extinguished. All students and disciples are entrusted to Dhyāna Master Gong; I have no worries.” On the twenty-third day of the eleventh month in the first year of the Zhenming era of the Chen, he passed away at Qixia. After his death, three fingers of his hand curled; though uncurled when smoothed, they curled back again, remaining so for a month even when moved into the forest. Before his passing, the great earth shook continuously, and seven days later he passed away. When moving his corpse to the forest, the mountain earth shook again. The Grand Astrologer memorialized, “The star of a person who has attained the Way has been extinguished,” which at the time was applied to him. When he was first about to depart, he announced to the assembly: “Last night two bodhisattvas came to welcome me: one is the physical body, the other is the Dharma-body. I have already accepted. Soon after, various devas also came to welcome me; because I did not wish to be born [there], I refused.” A streaming light shone upon the door of Dhyāna Master Kan; Kan, marveling at the bright light, stepped outside and saw two men heading toward Bu's room, not knowing they were sages. In the morning he went to recount it, and it matched exactly. Having spoken, [Bu] sat upright and passed away. Someone who could see spirits gazed from afar and saw banners and flowers filling the monastery and bright light blazing forth; not understanding the reason, he entered the mountain to look, and found that Master Bu had departed from the world.