宋高僧傳 10.20

10.20

釋靈默，俗姓宣，毘陵人也。本成立之歲，悅學忘疲，約以射策登第，以榮親里。承豫章馬大師聚眾敷演。造禪關，馬師振容而示相，默密契玄機，便求披剃，若熟癰之待刺耳。受具之後，苦練行門，確乎不拔。貞元初入天台山，中有隋智者蘭若一十二所，懸記之曰：「此地嚴妙，非雜器所棲，若能居此，與吾無異。」默因住白砂道場，經于二載。猛虎來馴，近林產子，意有所依。又住東道場，地僻人稀，山神一夜震雷暴雨，懸崖委墜。投明，大樹倒欹，庵側樹枝交絡，茅苫略無少損。遐邇聞旃，皆來觀嘆。後遊東白山，俄然中毒，而不求醫，閉關宴坐。未幾，毒化流汗而滴，乃復常矣。行次浦陽，盛化，有陽靈戍將李望請默居五洩焉。元和初亢陽，田畯惶惶。默沿㵎見青蛇夭矯瞪目，如視行人，不動。咄之曰：「百姓溪竭苗死，汝胡不施雨救民邪？」至夜果大雨，合境云足，民荷其賜。屬平昌孟簡中丞廉問浙東廢管內蘭若，學徒散逸。時暨陽令李胄狀舉靈山，許重造院。十三年三月二十三日，澡沐焚香，端坐繩床，囑累時眾，溘然而絕。壽齡七十二，法臘四十一。高僧志閑，道行峭拔，文辭婉麗，亦江左之英達，為默行錄焉。

Shi Lingmo had the secular surname Xuan and was a native of Piling. When he reached the age of adulthood, he took delight in learning and forgot weariness, aiming to pass the civil examinations by answering policy questions so as to bring glory to his parents and kinsmen. Hearing that Grand Master Ma of Yuzhang was gathering an assembly to expound [the Dharma], he went to the dhyāna gateway. Master Ma composed his demeanor and displayed signs; Mo silently tallied with the profound mechanism and promptly sought tonsure, just like a ripe abscess waiting for a lance. After receiving full ordination, he cultivated the practices diligently, steadfast and unyielding. In the early Zhenyuan era, he entered Mount Tiantai, which contained twelve āraṇyas of Zhiyi of the Sui; [Zhiyi] had left a prediction, saying, "This ground is solemn and wondrous, not a place for mixed vessels to perch; if one can dwell here, he is no different from me." Mo thereupon resided at the Baisha Bodhimaṇḍa for two years. A ferocious tiger became tame and came to give birth near the forest, seeming to rely upon him. He also resided at the East Bodhimaṇḍa, where the location was remote and people were few; one night the mountain spirit brought thunder and torrential rain, causing a sheer cliff to collapse. At dawn, a large tree had fallen over, its branches interlaced beside the hermitage, yet the thatch roof had suffered not the slightest damage. Far and near, those who heard of it all came to view it in admiration. Later, he traveled to Mount Dongbai, where he was suddenly poisoned; yet instead of seeking a physician, he closed the door and sat in peaceful meditation. Before long, the poison transformed into perspiration and dripped away, whereupon he returned to normal. Traveling on to Puyang, he converted many; Li Wang, a garrison commander of Yangling, invited Mo to dwell at Wuxie. In the early Yuanhe era, there was a severe drought, and the farmers were filled with panic. Mo walked along a ravine and saw a blue-green serpent writhing and staring with wide eyes as if looking at travelers, without moving. He scolded it, saying, "The streams of the common people have dried up, and their sprouts are dying; why do you not send down rain to save the people?" That night, heavy rain indeed fell, completely sufficing the whole district, and the people were grateful for his favor. It happened that Censor Meng Jian of Pingchang conducted an investigation in Zhedong and abolished the āraṇyas within his jurisdiction, causing the students to disperse. At that time, Li Zhou, magistrate of Jiyang, submitted a memorial recommending Ling mountain, and permission was granted to rebuild the cloister. On the twenty-third day of the third month in the thirteenth year, he bathed, burned incense, sat upright on a rope-bed, gave his final instructions to the assembly, and suddenly passed away. His lifespan was seventy-two, and his dharma age was forty-one. The eminent monk Zhixian, whose practice was lofty and steep and whose literary style was graceful and elegant, was also an outstanding talent of Jiangzuo, and he composed the account of Mo's conduct.