續高僧傳 9.25

9.25

Shi Huizang, whose lay surname was Hao, was a native of Pingji in the state of Zhao. He went forth from home at the age of eleven, immediately applying himself to wide study and observation. Before capping and full ordination, he repeatedly lectured on the Nirvāṇa Sūtra, analyzing its profound and wondrous parts in perfect accordance with the text and its meaning. When he was fully equipped with the monastic rules and deportment, he turned his study to the Vinaya; his practice was like a luminous pearl, and his understanding surpassed that of earlier adepts. Before he had listened to [lectures on] the Dazhidu lun, the Daśabhūmika, the Avataṃsaka, and the Prajñāpāramitā scriptures and treatises, who among those widely recognized for extensive learning would have deferred to him? Yet because he deeply penetrated the nature and essence and his doctrinal arguments were difficult to subdue, all looked up in gratitude to his elevated judgments, and rare was the person who did not take him as a teacher. When he reached forty years of age, he retired into seclusion on Que Mountain. Eating wild plants and drinking spring water, he settled his mind on the profound and obscure. Although his detailed investigations were broad, he took the Avataṃsaka as his fundamental lineage. He thoroughly fathomed its subtle obscurities, yet not having tested what was unorthodox or orthodox, he looked upward to rely on holy aid, hoping for a sign of right and wrong. Straightaway that night a spiritual resonance descended: a voice from the sky said, 'It is correct, it is correct!' Having heard this announcement, he accordingly composed a doctrinal commentary and personally propagated it. All those belonging to the scholarly stream partook of it and bowed before it. Emperor Wucheng of Northern Qi issued an imperial letter inviting him to unfold and explain the Avataṃsaka in the Taiji Palace. Monastic companions gathered like dense clouds, and the gentry all assembled; everyone regarded it as an honour, and it was a magnificent spectacle. From then on, he specialized in propagating this scripture, and his transmission and teaching spread even further. When the Zhou dynasty destroyed the scriptural Way, he erased his traces among humanity, dwelling amid the mists and clouds, and protecting and upholding the net of the Dharma. In the beginning of the Sui dynasty, when the Dharma was reopened, he was among the first to leave home [again]. He expounded and dispersed the obscure points, opening enlightenment along the path of return. His transformation spread from the eastern lands, like wind bending the grass. His practice was accomplished, his understanding of the doctrines complete, and he used virtue to attract the benevolent. His mind was comparable to ice and jade; his character was like that of the pine and bamboo. Therefore the rain of the Dharma constantly flowed, and the benevolent wind blew everywhere, causing both monastics and laity to rejoice in their revival, and the ignorant in their hearts to value his opening and encouragement. In the seventh year of Kaihuang, Emperor Wen, having heard of and revered his virtuous reputation, sent an envoy from afar to summon and invite him. When the carriage with rush-wrapped wheels was sent down, he did not fail to comply with the imperial decree. Seizing the opportunity, Huizang established teachings, finding it beneficial to see the great man. Leaning on his staff, he went to the capital and straightaway had an audience with the Emperor in the Chengming Hall, repeatedly explaining the profound tenets. All his cultivation and guidance fully accorded with the imperial mind, and he was designated one of the Six Bhadantas. By imperial decree, exceptional honours were added to him; hence for two decades, across all four seasons, [imperial favour] did not decline. Later, considering that many had lectured on the Prajñā commentary (Dazhidu lun) but none had matched it in deep appreciation, and as there were at that time the śramaṇas Zhiwen, Senglang, Fayan, and others—all of whom were of virtuous renown in the capital with spiritual wisdom rising like peaks—who, following the old tradition, hoped to receive the new texts, they requested him to open lectures on the Diamond Prajñā Treatise (*Vajracchedikā-śāstra). Huizang's vitality cut through the clouds and mist, and his wisdom surpassed the luminaries of the age; wishing to rescue those burning and drowning, he promptly expounded it. At that time, his years had reached the autumn of life, yet his powers of thought were vast and open. He merely grasped and held up the essential threads, marked out extraordinary new principles, and synthesized words and meanings without any superficiality. Therefore, his disciples feared the cessation of his voice, and all venerated and respected him. On the twenty-ninth day of the eleventh month of the first year of Daye, he fell ill and died at Kongguan Monastery, at the age of eighty-four. Facing death, his sincere mind was vast in its aim to deliver beings; he repeatedly instructed that his corpse be exposed. His disciples respectfully observed his parting instructions, laying his corpse out in the forest and foothill. They subsequently buried his bones, built a stūpa, and erected it on the front peak of Zhixiang Monastery on Mount Zhongnan. They inscribed an epitaph commemorating his virtues on the stūpa, and later the śramaṇa Mingze composed an inscription for the stele, which appears in his separate collection.