宋高僧傳 11.16

11.16

釋曇藏不知何許人也，得禪訣於大寂之門。後見石頭希遷禪師，所謂再染謂之赬也。貞元二年，嘉遁于衡嶽，棲止峯之絕頂。晚年苦於脚疾，移下西園結茅，參請者繁熾。太和元年終于嶽中，享齡七十。先是藏養一犬，尤靈，嘗夜經行息坐次，其犬銜藏之衣歸房，乃於門閫旁伏守，而吠聲不絕，頻奮身作猛噬之勢。詰旦視之，東厨有大蟒蛇，身長數丈，蟠繞小舍，為之岌嶪。呀張其口，虓闞其聲，毒氣漫然。侍者白藏亟去迴避，藏曰：「死而可逃，何遠之有？彼以毒來，我以慈受。毒無自性，激發則強。慈苟無緣，冤親一揆。無人無我，法性俱空。」言訖，其蟒蛇按首徐行，閃然不見。又嘗一夜，有群盜，其犬亦銜藏衣。藏語盜曰：「諸君，山叟茅舍有中意物，任拈去，終無小悋之分。」盜感其言，散分下山矣。又荊州永泰寺釋靈彖，姓蕭氏，蘭陵人也。其胄裔則後梁為周所滅，支屬星分，彖父居長沙為編戶矣。生彖，宛有出塵之誓，遇諸禪會，罕不登臨，止泊維青，優游自得。長慶元年住百家巖寺。未幾，徙步江陵，太守王潛請居永泰寺。太和三載六月二十三日，終于住寺，春秋七十五。建塔于州北，存焉。又釋超岸，丹陽人也。先遇鶴林素禪師，處眾拱默而已。天寶二載，至撫州蘭若，得大寂開發。四方毳侶依之。

Śramaṇa Tancang—it is not known where he was from. He received the secrets of Chan at the gate of Daji. Later he saw Chan Master Shitou Xiqian, illustrating the saying "that which is dyed twice becomes deep red." In the second year of the Zhenyuan era, he happily secluded himself on Mount Heng, dwelling at the very summit of the peak. In his late years, suffering from foot ailments, he moved down to Xiyuan and built a thatched hut, where visitors seeking instruction gathered in great numbers. In the first year of the Taihe era, he died on the sacred peak at the age of seventy. Prior to this, Cang had kept a dog that was remarkably clever; once, while he was doing walking meditation and then sitting to rest at night, the dog took Cang's robe in its mouth and led him back to the room, then lay on guard beside the door threshold, barking continuously and repeatedly leaping with fierce lunges. When dawn broke, they saw in the eastern kitchen a great python several tens of cubits long, coiled around the small lodge, threatening to topple it. It gaped its mouth wide, roared ferociously, and spewed a flood of venomous vapor. An attendant urged Cang to leave quickly to avoid it, but Cang said, "If death can be escaped, how far could one flee? It comes with venom, but I receive it with kindness. Venom has no intrinsic nature; only when provoked does it become strong. If kindness is without condition, foes and kin are treated as one. There is neither person nor self; the Dharma nature is entirely empty." When he finished speaking, the python lowered its head and slowly crept away, vanishing in an instant. Another night, a band of thieves arrived, and the dog also took Cang's robe in its mouth. Cang said to the thieves, "Gentlemen, if there is anything in this old hermit's thatched hut that pleases you, feel free to take it; there will never be any trace of stinginess from me." Moved by his words, the thieves dispersed and went down the mountain. Furthermore, there was Śramaṇa Lingtuan of Yongtai Temple in Jingzhou, surnamed Xiao, a native of Lanling. His ancestry traced back to the Later Liang, which was destroyed by the Zhou; the lineage branches scattered like stars, and Tuan's father dwelt in Changsha as a registered commoner. He gave birth to Tuan, who had a clear vow to transcend the dust of the world; whenever there was a Chan gathering, he rarely failed to ascend to it, anchoring wherever green mountains lay, leisurely and self-possessed. In the first year of the Changqing era, he dwelt at Baijiayan Temple. Shortly after, he walked on foot to Jiangling, where Prefect Wang Qian invited him to reside at Yongtai Temple. On the twenty-third day of the sixth month in the third year of the Taihe era, he died at the temple of his residence at the age of seventy-five. A stupa was erected north of the prefecture, which still survives. Furthermore, there was Śramaṇa Chao'an, a native of Danyang. He first met Chan Master Su of Helin, remaining silent with folded hands among the assembly. In the second year of the Tianbao era, he reached a hermitage in Fuzhou and received inspiration from Daji. Monks in patchwork robes from all four directions took refuge in him.