宋高僧傳 11.29

11.29

釋甄公，姓魯氏，江陵人也。少而警慧，七歲誦通《詩．雅》，遂應州舉，三上中第，未釋褐。與沙門議論玄理，乃願披緇，投福壽寺辯初法師，以為模範。後於洛京昭成寺講法數座，因禮嵩山禪師，通暢心決。方至丹陽茅山，尋挂錫於蘇州楞伽山，四遠參玄者駢肩疊足矣。時白樂天牧是郡，接其談道，不覺披襟解帶，心遊無物之場，得甄之閫閾矣。遂堅請出水流寺，不樂安止，以山水為娛情之趣耳。太和三年，示疾，云終九十歲。以其年四月十七日入塔焉。

Shi the Venerable Zhen's surname was Lu, and he was a native of Jiangling. In his youth he was alert and intelligent; at the age of seven he recited through the Ya poems of the Shijing. He subsequently took the provincial examinations, passing three times with high rank, though he had not yet shed his plain clothes for office. Discussing profound principles with śramaṇas, he then resolved to don the black robes, placing himself under Dharma Master Bianchu of Fushou Temple as his exemplar. Later, he lectured on the Dharma for several series at Zhaocheng Temple in the Eastern Capital Luoyang. Paying respects to the dhyāna master of Mount Song, his mind's doubts were thoroughly resolved. He then arrived at Mount Mao in Danyang, and soon hung his staff at Mount Laṅkā in Suzhou, where seekers of the mystery from the four directions stood shoulder to shoulder and heel to toe. At that time Bai Letian (Bai Juyi) governed this commandery; when he received him and conversed on the Way, he unconsciously loosened his robe and unfastened his belt, his mind wandering into the realm of nothingness, having attained Zhen's inner sanctum. He then firmly invited him out to Shuiliu Temple, but Zhen took no delight in settling peacefully, finding pleasure only in mountain and river landscapes. In the third year of the Taihe era, he showed illness and passed away at the age of ninety. On the seventeenth day of the fourth month of that year, he was placed in a stupa.