宋高僧傳 14.35

14.35

釋法慎，姓郭氏，江都人也。孩抱之歲，誓齒空門，親愛所鍾，志不可奪。從瑤臺成律師受具戒。依太原寺東塔，體解律文，絕其所疑，時賢推服。或一言曲分於象表，精理自得於環中，聲振京師，如晞愛日。諸寺眾請綱領，乃默然而東歸。既還揚都，俯允群願，恒誦《金剛般若經》、《如意輪》。般若佛心，我得此心，眾生亦得。如意勝願，我如此願，眾生亦如。謂「天台止觀，包一切經義；東山法門，是一切佛乘。色空兩亡，定慧雙照，不可得而稱也。」慎暑不攝齊，食不求飽，居不易坐。四方捨施，歸於大眾，一身有無，均於最下。朝廷之士銜命往還，路出維揚，終歲百數，不踐門閾，以為大羞。仰承一盻，如洗飢渴。慎與人子言依於孝，與人臣言依於忠，與人上言依於仁，與人下言依於禮。佛教儒行，合而為一。學者流誤，故親校經論。延來者聽受，故大起僧坊。將警群迷，故廣圖菩薩因地。善護諸命，故曲濟眾生壽量。以文字度人，故工於翰墨。以法皆佛法，故兼采儒流。以我慢為防，故自負衣鉢。以規規為任，故綱正緇林。以發揮道宗，故上行恭禮。以感慕遺迹，故不遠他邦。以龍象參議，故再至京國。以軌度端明，故研精律部歟！黃門侍郎盧藏用才高名重，罕於推挹，一見于慎，慕味循環，不能離坐。退而歎曰：「宇宙之內，信有高人！」黃門於院中置以經藏，嚴以香燈，天地無疆，像法常在。太子少保陸象先、兵部尚書畢構、少府監陸餘慶、吏部侍郎嚴挺之、河南尹崔希逸、太尉房琯、中書侍郎平章事崔渙、禮部尚書李憕、辭人王昌齡、著作郎綦母潛，僉所瞻奉，願同灑掃。感動朝宰如此。以天寶七載十月十四日晨興盥漱，就胡床加趺，心奉西方，既曛而滅於龍興寺別院，春秋八十三，夏六十二。緇素弟子，北距泗沂，南踰嶺徼，望哭者千族，會葬者萬人。其上首曰會稽曇一、閩僧懷一、南康崇叡、晉陵義宣、錢塘譚山寺惠鸞、洛京法瑜、崇元、鶴林寺法勵、法海、維揚惠凝、明幽、靈祐、靈一等，罔不成樂說辯才，入法華三昧。眾所知識，物之依怙。天上甘露，正味調柔；人中象王，利根成熟。音樂樹下，長流福慧之泉；雪山峯頂，仰見清涼之月。金剛決定，煩惱無餘。優曇開敷，香潔盈滿。法施之恩，郡居之感，哀奉色身，經始靈塔於蕪城西蜀岡之原，像教也。幽公自幼及衰，恒所親侍，後請吏部員外郎趙郡李華為碑紀述，大曆八年癸丑十二月也。大理司直張從申書，趙郡李陽氷題額。其塔亦幽公經度。建塔之地，廣袤如素，高卑得中。周臨四衢，平視千里。門人環蒔列柏，薦以名香。其塔屬會昌中，例皆毀焉。

Shi Fashen, whose secular surname was Guo, was a native of Jiangdu. In his early childhood, he vowed to join the Buddhist order; though surrounded by the love of his kin, his determination could not be swayed. He received the full precepts (upasampadā) from Vinaya Master Cheng of Yaotai. Residing at the Eastern Pagoda of Taiyuan Temple, he personally comprehended the Vinaya texts and resolved all doubts, winning the admiration of the eminent minds of his day. At times, a single word of his subtly made distinctions beyond mere forms, and the refined principles naturally emerged as if from the hub of a ring; his renown shook the capital like the radiant sun that all adore. When the monasteries requested him to take leadership, he remained silent and returned eastward. Having returned to Yangdu, he graciously complied with the wishes of the multitudes, constantly reciting the Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra and the Cintāmaṇicakra [Dhāraṇī]. Prajñā is the Buddha-mind: 'If I attain this mind, sentient beings shall also attain it.' The wish-fulfilling jewel is the supreme vow: 'If I make this vow, sentient beings shall do likewise.' He remarked: 'The Tiantai Śamatha-Vipaśyanā encompasses all scriptural doctrines; the East Mountain teaching is the vehicle of all Buddhas. When form and emptiness are both transcended, and concentration and wisdom both shine forth, it is beyond all praise.' In summer, Shen did not lift his hems; in eating, he did not seek fullness; in sitting, he did not change his place. What was donated from the four quarters he surrendered to the great assembly; his own personal possessions were on par with those of the lowliest. When court officials traveled back and forth on missions passing through Weiyang—hundreds in a single year—they considered it a great disgrace not to cross his threshold. To catch a single glance from him was like having their hunger and thirst washed away. When speaking with sons, Shen based himself on filial piety; when speaking with ministers, on loyalty; when speaking with superiors, on benevolence; when speaking with subordinates, on ritual propriety. He fused the Buddhist teachings and Confucian conduct into one. Fearing that scholars might fall into error, he collated the scriptures and treatises in person. To welcome newcomers to listen and receive instructions, he constructed grand monastic quarters. Hoping to awaken the deluded, he widely painted representations of the bodhisattvas' causal stages. Being adept at protecting all forms of life, he went out of his way to rescue the lifespans of sentient beings. To deliver people through writing, he was skilled in the art of calligraphy. Believing that all dharmas are the Buddha-Dharma, he incorporated the Confucian stream. Guarding against pride, he carried his own robes and bowl. Taking the maintenance of discipline as his duty, he guided and rectified the monastic community. To illuminate the ancestral line of the Way, he practiced deferential courtesy to his superiors. Out of longing for the traces left behind by the ancients, he did not shun distant lands. To confer with the dragons and elephants [of the saṅgha], he revisited the capital. Was it not for the sake of clarifying standards and models that he investigated the Vinaya division with such thoroughness? Lu Zangyong, Vice Director of the Palace Secretariat, possessed great talent and high renown, yet rarely praised others; but once he met Shen, he savored his words again and again, unable to leave his seat. Withdrawing, he sighed: 'Within this universe, truly there is an exalted man!' The Vice Director established a scriptural library in his cloister, adorning it with incenses and lamps, [wishing that] heaven and earth be boundless and the Semblance Dharma endure forever. Lu Xiangxian, Junior Protector of the Crown Prince; Bi Gou, Minister of War; Lu Yuqing, Director of the Palace Craft Treasury; Yan Tingzhi, Vice Minister of Personnel; Cui Xiyi, Governor of Henan; Fang Guan, Grand Defender; Cui Huan, Vice Director of the Secretariat and Joint Manager of Affairs with the Secretariat-Chancellery; Li Deng, Minister of Rites; the poet Wang Changling; and Qiwu Qian, Assistant Editorial Director, all revered and served him, wishing even to join in sweeping his grounds. Such was his impact on the ministers of the court. On the fourteenth day of the tenth month of the seventh year of Tianbao, he arose at dawn, washed and rinsed his mouth, sat cross-legged on a rope-bed, set his mind upon the Western Direction, and passed away at dusk in the separate cloister of Longxing Temple, at seventy-three years of age and sixty-two dharma age. Monastic and lay disciples stretched north to the Si and Yi rivers and south beyond the mountain passes; thousands of clans mourned him from afar, and ten thousand people gathered for his funeral. Among his foremost disciples were Danyi of Kuaiji, the Min monk Huaiyi, Chongrui of Nankang, Yixuan of Jinling, Huiluan of Tanshan Temple in Qiantang, Fayu and Chongyuan of the Eastern Capital, Fali and Fahai of Helin Temple, and Huining, Mingyou, Lingyou, and Lingyi of Weiyang; none failed to achieve the eloquence of joyful explanation and enter the Lotus Samādhi. They were recognized by the multitude and served as refuges for living beings. Heavenly sweet dew, whose true flavor is gentle and pliable; elephant kings among men, whose sharp faculties had matured. Beneath the trees of heavenly music, the spring of blessings and wisdom flowed ceaselessly; atop the peaks of the snowy mountains, they gazed up at the cool and limpid moon. With vajra-like certitude, afflictions were left without remainder. The uḍumbara blossomed, overflowing with fragrant purity. To repay the debt of his Dharma-giving and commemorate his presence in the commandery, they sorrowfully honored his physical form and erected a sacred stupa on the plateau of Shugang, west of Wucheng, to serve the Semblance Teaching. Master You had personally attended him from youth to old age; later, in the twelfth month of the guichou year, the eighth year of Dali, he asked Li Hua of Zhaojun, Vice Director of the Ministry of Personnel, to compose the stele inscription. Zhang Congshen, Judicial Investigator of the Court of Judicial Review, wrote the calligraphy, and Li Yangbing of Zhaojun inscribed the title. The stupa was also planned and supervised by Master You. The ground where the stupa was built was expansive and level, moderate in elevation. It overlooked the four thoroughfares all around, offering an unobstructed view across a thousand miles. His disciples planted rows of cypresses surrounding it and offered rare incenses. During the Huichang era, this stupa was destroyed along with the others.