宋高僧傳 16.17

16.17

釋慧靈，未詳何許人也。幼脫塵機，勤從誦習，及當應法，戒品方圓，銳意毘尼，探賾持犯，以行副解，心口相符。由是講訓，名望翕如也。人皆奉畏，神明如也。大中七年，宣宗幸莊嚴寺，禮佛牙，登大塔，宣問耆年，乃賜紫衣。其年六月，勅補靈為新寺上座矣。帝望寺西北廢總持寺，乃下勅曰：「朕以政閑賞景，幸于莊嚴，其寺複殿重廊，連甍比棟，幽房祕宇，窈窕疏通，密竹翠松，垂陰擢秀，行而迷道，天下梵宮，高明寡匹。當建之時，以京城西昆明池勢微下，乃建木浮圖，高三百尺。藩邸之時，遊此伽藍，覩斯勝事。其總持寺，大業中立，規制與莊嚴寺正同，今容像則毀，忍草隨荒，香徑蕪侵，尚存基址。其寺宜許重建，以副予心。」三月十一日，令三教首座辯章勾當修寺，及畢工，推靈為綱任，崇聖寺賜紫叡川充寺主，福壽寺臨壇大德賜紫玄暢充都維那。靈居寺職，清眾咸序，帝所欽重。寺中常貢梨華蜜，其色白，其味愈常蠟房所取者。靈居新寺終矣。究其靈公如曾預代宗永泰中參譯證義，則可年百奇歲矣！如不見不空，良賁乃春秋夏臘無理知焉。

Shi Huiling: it is not known where he was from. In his youth, he cast off worldly entanglements and applied himself diligently to chanting and study. When he came of age for ordination according to the Dharma, his observance of the precepts was flawless and complete; he set his mind firmly upon the vinaya, probing its subtle depths regarding observance and transgression, matching his practice to his understanding, with heart and word in total accord. Because of this, his fame as a lecturer and instructor flourished widely. All revered him with awe, looking up to him as to a deity. In the seventh year of the Dazhong era, Emperor Xuanzong visited the Zhuangyan Temple, paid homage to the Buddha's tooth relic, ascended the great pagoda, inquired after the elderly monks, and bestowed a purple robe upon him. In the sixth month of that year, an imperial decree appointed Ling as the prior (sthavira) of a new temple. Gazing northwest of the temple toward the abandoned Zongchi Temple, the Emperor issued an imperial decree stating: 'Taking leisure from administrative affairs to enjoy the scenery, We have visited Zhuangyan Temple. Its tiered halls and layered corridors, its contiguous eaves and matching beams, its secluded rooms and secret chambers are graceful and airy; dense bamboo and green pines cast shade and rear their elegance. Walking therein, one loses the way; among all the Buddhist palaces in the realm, its loftiness and brilliance are without peer. At the time of its founding, because the ground at Kunming Lake in the west of the capital was low-lying, a wooden stupa three hundred feet high was erected. In Our days in the princely mansion, We toured this monastery and beheld these magnificent scenes. Now, the Zongchi Temple was founded during the Daye era, and its scale and design were identical to those of the Zhuangyan Temple; yet today its holy images are ruined, weeds of forbearance run wild, the fragrant paths are overgrown with thorns, and only the foundations remain. It is fitting that this temple be permitted to be rebuilt, to fulfill Our wish.' On the eleventh day of the third month, Bianzhang, the chief of the three teachings, was ordered to supervise the temple's reconstruction. When the work was completed, Ling was recommended to take charge of the monastery's administration; Ruichuan of Chongsheng Temple, who had been bestowed the purple robe, was appointed abbot, and Xuanchang of Fushou Temple, a great virtuous one of the ordination platform who had been bestowed the purple robe, was appointed rector (karmadāna). Ling held office in the temple; the pure assembly was kept in perfect order, and the Emperor held him in deep esteem. The temple regularly presented as tribute pear blossom honey, which was white in color and far surpassed in flavor that taken from ordinary honeycombs. Ling lived out his days in the new temple. If we investigate Venerable Ling's having taken part in verifying meanings during the translations of the Yongtai era under Emperor Daizong, he must have been over a hundred years old! But if he never met Amoghavajra or Liangbi, then his age and saṅgha age cannot reasonably be determined.