續高僧傳 18.28

18.28

Śramaṇa Honglin, whose clan name is unknown, was a native of Taiyuan. In his youth he walked the Buddhist path, receiving the pure transforming teaching. His disposition was graceful and refined, and his conversation was subtle and serene. He lived at the Daxingguo Monastery in Bingzhou, where his conduct was quiet and secluded, shunning people and worldly matters. Although his quarters were adjacent to and surrounded by the dwellings of the assembly, he was upright, solemn, sparse in speech, and seldom engaged in worldly affairs. The eminent monks and virtuous elders of the assembly all revered and served him. When passing by Lin’s room, everyone would lift their shoes, walk softly, and swiftly hurry past. Such was the esteem in which the world held him. He lived alone in one room for fifty years; in welcoming and seeing off guests, his feet never crossed the threshold. As for the monastic regulations and the two meals for clergy and laity, he took the lead at the head of the seats, exerting his strength to perform and uphold them, never compromising the assembly on account of his own virtue. At other times he sat upright in his room, towering and dignified. His water bottle, robes, and utensils were kept perfectly aligned and orderly. Thus, those who entered his door unconsciously felt their hairs stand on end. If anyone asked him about matters, he would converse with ease, his words and meanings being exact and appropriate, though none could fathom the depths of his mind. Therefore, the more than one hundred monks of the great Xingguo Monastery revered and admired him as if looking up to the shore of heaven. During the Wude era, he passed away at his residence, at the age of over eighty.