宋高僧傳 11.37

11.37

釋法常，俗姓鄭，襄陽人也。稚歲從師於荊之玉泉寺。凡百經書，一覽必暗誦，更無遺忘。冠年，受具足品於龍興寺。容貌清峻，性度剛敏，納衣囊鉢，畢志卯齋。貞元十二年，自天台之于四明、餘姚之南七十里，寓仙尉梅子真之舊隱焉。昔梅福初入山也，見多龍穴，神蛇每吐氣成樓閣，雲雨晦冥。邊有石庫，內貯仙藥神仙經籍。常寄宿于房，乃夢神人語之曰：「君非凡夫。」因話及石庫中聖書懸記既往將來之事，受之者為地下主，不然為帝王之師傅矣。常謂之曰：「石庫之書，非吾所好。昔僧稠不顧仙經，其卷自亡。吾以涅槃為樂，厥壽何止與天偕老耶？」神曰：「此地靈府，俗氣之人輒難居此，立致變怪。」常曰：「吾寓跡於梅尉之鄉，非久據焉。」因號梅山也。由是編苫伐木，作覆形之調，居僅四十年，驗實非常之人也。開成年初院成，徒侶輻湊，請問決疑，可六七百納徒矣。四年，常忽示疾。九月十九日，山林搖盪，鳥獸悲鳴，辭眾而逝，報齡八十八，戒臘六十九。十月十九日焚于南㵎，收舍利，五色璨然圓轉焉。常先隱梅嶺，有僧求拄杖見之，白鹽官安禪師。曰：「梅子熟矣，汝曹往尋，幸能療渴也。」進士江積為碑云爾。

Shi Fachang's secular surname was Zheng, and he was a native of Xiangyang. In his youth, he followed a master at Yuquan Temple in Jingzhou. Whenever he encountered the hundred canonical scriptures, he was certain to recite them by heart after a single glance, forgetting nothing thereafter. Coming of age, he received the complete precepts (upasampadā) at Longxing Temple. His countenance was pure and austere, his nature firm and astute; wearing patched robes and carrying his begging bowl, he devoted his resolution to fasting by morning. In the twelfth year of the Zhenyuan era, he went from Tiantai to a place seventy li south of Yuyao in Siming, where he lodged in the former hermitage of Mei Zizhen, the immortal lieutenant. In former times, when Mei Fu first entered the mountain, he saw numerous dragon dens; divine snakes continually exhaled mist that formed towers and pavilions, while clouds and rain grew dim and dark. Beside them was a stone storehouse containing immortal elixirs and sacred scriptures of the transcendents. When Chang lodged overnight in the chamber, a divine being appeared in a dream and spoke to him, saying, "You are no ordinary mortal." He then spoke of the sacred books in the stone storehouse, which foresaw past and future affairs, telling him that whoever received them would become ruler of the subterranean realms, or else the preceptor and tutor to emperors and kings. Chang said to him, "The books in the stone storehouse are not what I desire. Formerly, Monk Chou paid no regard to the scriptures of transcendents, and their scrolls disappeared of themselves. I find joy in nirvāṇa; how could my lifespan be limited to enduring merely as long as heaven?" The spirit said, "This place is a numinous domain; those of worldly temperament can scarcely reside here without instantly bringing about strange transformations." Chang replied, "I am merely resting my traces in the domain of Lieutenant Mei, not occupying it permanently." The mountain was consequently called Mount Mei. From this time on, he bound reeds and felled wood, fashioning shelter to cover his body, and lived there for nearly forty years, proving indeed that he was an extraordinary person. At the beginning of the Kaicheng era, when the courtyard was completed, disciples gathered like spokes at a hub to inquire and resolve their doubts, amounting to some six or seven hundred robe-wearing disciples. In the fourth year, Chang suddenly showed signs of illness. On the nineteenth day of the ninth month, the mountain forests shook and swayed, while birds and beasts cried mournfully. He bid farewell to the assembly and passed away, with a reported age of eighty-eight and a precept age of sixty-nine. On the nineteenth day of the tenth month, he was cremated at the southern ravine; when his relics (śarīra) were collected, they were brilliant with five colours and rotated roundly. Earlier, when Chang was in seclusion on Mount Mei, a monk seeking a walking staff encountered him and reported it to Chan Master An of Yanguan. An said, "The plum (Mei) is ripe! Go seek him, and by good fortune he will quench your thirst." The jinshi Jiang Ji composed his memorial stele, recording these matters.