續高僧傳 8.17

8.17

釋僧範。姓李氏。平鄉人也。幼遊學群書。年二十三備通流略。至於七曜九章天竺呪術。諮無再悟。徒侶方千指掌解頤誇矜折角。時人語曰。相州李洪範。解徹深義。鄴下張賓生領悟無遺。斯言誠有旨矣。兼以年華色美都無伉儷之心。思附法門燒指而修供養。年二十九栖遲下邑聞講涅槃。輒試一聽開悟神府。理思兼通。乃知佛經之祕極也。遂投鄴城僧始而出家焉。初學涅槃經頓盡其致。又栖心林慮靜其浮情。復向洛下從獻公聽法華華嚴。宗匠前修是非衢術。後徙轍光師而受道焉。耽味虛宗歲紀遷貿。既窮筌相學志無雜。乃出遊開化利安齊魏。每法筵一舉聽眾千餘。逮旋趾鄴都可謂當時明匠。遂使崔覲注易諮之取長。宋景造曆求而捨短。大儒徐遵明李寶頂等。一對信於言前。授以菩薩戒法。五眾歸之如市。講華嚴十地地持維摩勝鬘各有疏記。復變疏引經製成為論。故涅槃大品等並稱論焉。地持一部獨名述也。然屬詞繁壯不偶世情。亦是一家之作。故可觀採。而言行相輔祥徵屢降。嘗有膠州刺史杜弼。於鄴顯義寺請範冬講。至華嚴六地忽有一雁飛下。從浮圖東順行入堂。正對高座伏地聽法。講散徐出還順塔西爾乃翔遊。又於此寺夏講。雀來在座西南伏聽終於九旬。又曾處濟州。亦有一鴞飛來入聽訖講便去。斯諸祥感眾矣。自非道洽冥符。何能致此。嘗講花嚴。輒有一僧加毀云。是乃伽斗。竟何所解。當夜有神加打。死而復蘇。其見聞者皆深敬異。嘗宿他寺意欲聞戒。有僧昇座將欲竪義。乃曰。竪論法相深會聖言。何勞布薩。僧常聞耳。忽見一神形高丈餘貌甚雄峻。來到座前問竪義者。今是何日。答曰。是布薩日。神即以手搨之曳于座下。委頓垂死。次問上座。搨曳同前。由是自勵。至終僧事私緣竟無說欲。乃至疾重舁而就僧。將終之日延像入房。下床跪地惟悔宿觸而已。時當正午遺誡而卒於鄴東大覺寺。時春秋八十。即天保六年三月二日也。初範背儒入釋崇信日增。寂想空門不緣世務。口無流略之語。身絕非法之遊。隨得財賄即施門人。衣食有無未曾宣述。安忍善惡喜怒不形。洗穢奉禁終始如一。而留意華嚴。為來報之業。夜禮千佛為一世常資。末歲年事既隆。身力不濟。猶依六時叩頭枕上。自有英悟之量。罕能繼者。而感通靈異。則事全難准云。

Shi Sengfan, surnamed Li, was a native of Pingxiang. In his youth, he traveled to study the diverse texts; by the age of twenty-three, he was thoroughly versed in the classifications of learning. As for the seven luminaries, the nine chapters [of mathematics], and Tianzhu incantations, he never needed a second consultation to achieve comprehension. His disciples numbered nearly a thousand; snap-fingers and broad smiles accompanied his ability to break the pride of others. Contemporaries had a saying: 'Li Hongfan of Xiangzhou penetrates deeply into the profound doctrines; Zhang Binsheng of Ye comprehends without omission.' These words were truly meaningful. Furthermore, youthful and handsome in appearance, he had no intention whatsoever of taking a spouse. Desiring to attach himself to the Dharma gate, he burned his fingers to perform offerings. At the age of twenty-nine, while sojourning in a subordinate district, he heard a lecture on the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra; testing it by listening just once, the spiritual seat of his mind was awakened, and both his reasoning and reflection attained thorough comprehension. He thereby knew that the Buddhist scriptures contained the utmost secrets. Thereupon, he went to Sengshi in the city of Ye and underwent pravrajyā under him. He first studied the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra, exhausting its purport all at once. He also settled his mind in Linlü to quiet his superficial passions. Furthermore, he headed to Luoyang, where he followed Lord Xian to listen to the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra and the Avataṃsaka-sūtra; honoring the former masters, he distinguished the right paths from the wrong. Later, he transferred his allegiance to Master Guang (Huiguang) and received the Way from him. Indulging in the flavor of the teaching of emptiness, years slipped by. Having exhausted the worldly symbols and words, his mind was devoted to study without distraction. He then went forth to travel, transform, and bring benefit and peace to the lands of Qi and Wei. Each time a Dharma assembly was held, the audience numbered over a thousand. When he returned to the capital at Ye, he could be called a luminous master of that era. Consequently, Cui Jin, in commenting on the Yijing, consulted him to adopt his strengths; Song Jing, in compiling the calendar, sought him out to eliminate shortcomings. Great Confucians such as Xu Zunming and Li Baoding had faith inspired in them upon a single encounter with his words, and he conferred the Bodhisattva Precepts upon them. The fivefold assembly flocked to him like people to a marketplace. He lectured on the Avataṃsaka, Daśabhūmika, Bodhisattvabhūmi, Vimalakīrtinirdeśa, and Śrīmālādevī, producing commentaries and notes for each. Furthermore, adapting commentaries by citing scriptures, he composed them into treatises (śāstra); hence his works on the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra and the Mahāprajñāpāramitā-sūtra were both titled treatises (lun). That on the Bodhisattvabhūmi alone was titled an account (shu). His phrasing, however, was dense and vigorous, not conforming to worldly tastes; yet, being the work of a distinct master, it is worthy of perusal. Moreover, his words and deeds reinforced each other, and auspicious omens frequently descended. Once, Du Bi, the regional inspector of Jiaozhou, invited Sengfan to give a winter lecture at Xianyi Monastery in Ye. When he reached the sixth ground of the Avataṃsaka, a wild goose suddenly flew down, circumambulated clockwise from the east of the pagoda, and entered the hall; facing directly toward the high seat, it prostrated on the ground to listen to the Dharma. When the lecture ended, it slowly exited, again circumambulating clockwise west of the pagoda, and only then took flight and soared away. Furthermore, during a summer lecture at this monastery, a sparrow came and lay listening at the southwest of the seat throughout the entire ninety days. Again, when he once stayed in Jizhou, an owl also flew in to listen, leaving as soon as the lecture was finished. Such auspicious resonances were numerous; were it not for his virtue blending with the unseen realm, how could this have come to pass? Once, while he was lecturing on the Avataṃsaka, a monk disparaged him, saying: 'This is just [a game of] curved vessels; what does he actually understand?' That very night, a spirit beat him, so that he died and then revived; those who saw or heard of this were all deeply awed by the anomaly. Once, staying overnight at another monastery, he wished to listen to the recitation of the precepts. A monk mounted the seat and was about to propound the doctrine, saying: 'To propound and debate the characteristics of dharmas profoundly accords with the holy words; why trouble ourselves with the poṣadha? We monks hear it constantly.' Suddenly, a spirit appeared, over a zhang tall and of exceptionally heroic and imposing appearance. Coming before the seat, it asked the speaker: 'What day is today?' The speaker answered: 'It is the poṣadha day.' The spirit immediately struck him with its hand and dragged him beneath the seat, leaving him bruised and battered on the verge of death. Next, it questioned the rector (sthavira), striking and dragging him in the same manner. From this, Sengfan disciplined himself: to the end of his life, whether for monastic business or personal affairs, he never declared consent [by proxy]. Even when gravely ill, he was carried to join the saṅgha. On the day of his death, he invited an image into his room, stepped down from the bed, and knelt on the ground, only repenting past violations. At the exact hour of noon, having given his final admonitions, he passed away at Dajue Monastery east of Ye. His age was eighty; this was on the second day of the third month of the sixth year of Tianbao (555 CE). Initially, when Sengfan turned his back on Confucianism to enter the Buddhist path, his reverence and faith increased daily. With his thoughts stilled in the gate of emptiness, he was detached from worldly affairs; his mouth spoke no words of the worldly books, and his person engaged in no unrighteous travels. Whenever he received wealth, he immediately gave it away to his disciples; he never mentioned whether he had clothing or food. Patient in the face of good and evil, he showed neither joy nor anger. Washing impurities away and observing the prohibitions, he was consistent from beginning to end. He focused his mind on the Avataṃsaka as karma for his future retribution, and bowed to the Thousand Buddhas at night as his constant capital for this lifetime. In his final years, with his age advanced and his physical strength failing, he still bowed on his pillow according to the six intervals of the day. Endowed with a brilliant capacity of comprehension, few could match him; and as for his spiritual resonance and marvels, they are entirely beyond standard measures.