宋高僧傳 11.46

11.46

釋靈祐，俗姓趙，祖、父俱福州長溪人也。祐丱年戲于前庭，仰見瑞氣祥雲，徘徊盤欝，又如天樂清奏，真身降靈，衢巷諦觀，耆艾莫測。俄有華巔之叟，狀類罽賓之人，謂家老曰：「此群靈眾聖標異。此童，佛之真子也，必當重光佛法。」久之，彈指數四而去。祐以椎髻短褐，依本郡法恒律師執勞，每倍於役。冠年剃髮，三年具戒。時有錢塘上士義賓授其律科。及入天台，遇寒山子於途中，乃謂祐曰：「千山萬水，遇潭即止。獲無價寶，賑䘏諸子。」祐順途而念，危坐以思，旋造國清寺，遇異人拾得申繫前意，信若合符。遂詣泐潭謁大智師，頓了祖意。元和末，隨緣長沙，因過大溈山，遂欲棲止。山與郡郭十舍而遙，敻無人煙，比為獸窟。乃雜猿猱之間，橡栗充食。浹旬，有山民見之，群信共營梵宇。時襄陽連率李景讓統攝湘潭，願預良緣，乃奏請山門號同慶寺。後相國裴公相親道合。祐為遭會昌之澄汰，又遇相國崔公慎由崇重加禮，以大中癸酉歲正月九日盥漱畢，敷座瞑目而歸滅焉。享年八十三，僧臘五十九。遷葬于山之右梔子園也。四鎮北庭行軍涇原等州節度使、右散騎常侍盧簡求為碑，李商隱題額焉。

Śramaṇa Lingyou was surnamed Zhao, and both his grandfather and father were natives of Changxi in Fuzhou. As a boy, while playing in the front courtyard, You looked up and saw auspicious vapors and portentous clouds lingering and gathering densely, as if heavenly music were being softly played and a true body descending with divine presence; onlookers along the thoroughfares gazed closely, and even the elders could not fathom it. Soon an elder with white hair atop his head, looking like a person from Jibin, said to the family elders: 'This is the exceptional sign of the multitude of spirits and sages. This youth is a true son of the Buddha, and will surely cause the Buddha-dharma to shine anew.' After a long while, he snapped his fingers several times and departed. With a mallet-shaped topknot and coarse short robes, You relied on Vinaya Master Heng of his home commandery to perform labor, in every case doing twice the assigned tasks. At the age of capping he shaved his head, and after three years he received the full precepts (upasampadā). At that time the eminent gentleman Yibin of Qiantang instructed him in the vinaya department. When he entered Tiantai, he met Hanshanzi on the road, who said to You: 'Across a thousand mountains and ten thousand waters, whenever you meet a pool, stop. You will obtain a priceless jewel and succor all your sons.' You kept this in mind along the journey, sitting upright in contemplation; soon he arrived at Guoqing Temple, where he met the extraordinary man Shide, who repeated the earlier sentiment, tallying as accurately as two halves of a tally. He then went to Letan to pay respects to Master Dazhi, and instantly awakened to the ancestral intent. At the end of the Yuanhe era, following conditions to Changsha, he passed by Mount Dawi and wished to settle there. The mountain was ten stages away from the commandery walls, remote and devoid of human smoke, having long been a den of beasts. He mingled among the apes and monkeys, eating acorns and chestnuts for sustenance. After a decade of days, local mountain folk spotted him, and crowds of the faithful joined together to build a Buddhist monastery. At that time, Li Jingrang, the surveillance commissioner of Xiangyang overseeing Xiangtan, wished to participate in this auspicious occasion, so he memorialized the throne requesting that the mountain gate be named Tongqing Temple. Later, Prime Minister Lord Pei [Xiu] became close friends with him, harmonizing in the Way. You encountered the Huichang purge, and later met Prime Minister Lord Cui Shenyou, who revered him and treated him with exceptional courtesy. On the ninth day of the first month of the guiyou year of Dazhong, after washing and rinsing his mouth, he spread his seat, closed his eyes, and returned to extinction. He lived to eighty-three years of age, with a saṅgha age of fifty-nine. He was reburied in the Garden of Gardenias to the right of the mountain. Lu Jianqiu, military commissioner of Jingyuan and other prefectures for the four frontier garrisons of Beiting and vice director of the right in the Bureau of General Affairs, composed the stele, and Li Shangyin inscribed the title header.