宋高僧傳 19.22

19.22

釋阿足師者，莫詳出處。形質癡濁，精神瞢然，時有所言，靡不先覺。雖居無定所，多寓閿鄉。以其踵法雲公之塵躅，憧憧往來，爭路禮謁，檀施山積，曾無顧瞻。人有隱憂，身嬰所苦，獲其指南者，其驗神速。時陝州有富家翁張臻者，產業且多，財貨增溢。少子息，臻恒懼錢帛身後無嗣。後產男，既愚且憃，手足拳攣，語言謇澁，唯嗜飲食，殆與平人有異——口如溪壑，終日無厭。年可十七，父母鐘愛，縱其須索，迎醫求藥，不遠千里。數十年後家業罄窮，或有謂其臻曰：「阿足師其實寶誌之流，何不敷布腹心，求救其疾？」乃夫妻來抵閿鄉，叩頭抆淚，告其拯拔。阿足瞑目久之，謂臻曰：「汝冤未散，尚須數年，憫汝勤拳，為汝除去。」即令選日於河上致齋，廣召眾多，同觀度脫。仍領引其男赴于道場。時眾知阿足奇異，觀者如堵。少選，指呼壯夫三數輩叱曳其子，令投諸河，隨急流而逝。臻且哀且驚，莫測其由。阿足語臻曰：「為汝除災訖。」良久，其子忽於流數十步外聳身水面，戟手罵其父母曰：「與爾冤仇宿世緣業，賴逢聖者遽此解紛。儻或不然，未期畢日。」挺身高呼，辭理分明，都無癡濁之狀。須臾沈水，不知其他。阿足由茲傳播，歸信之人如就市焉。所行化導皆此類矣，蓋大曆、建中中也。殆德宗貞元十二年丙子，勅諡為大圓禪師。至今陝、虢之間，猶崇重焉。

Regarding Master Shi Azu, his origins are unknown. His physical appearance was dull and coarse, and his spirit seemed muddled, yet whenever he uttered words, he was never without foreknowledge. Although he had no fixed dwelling, he mostly resided in Wenxiang. Because he followed in the footsteps of Master Fayun, crowds came and went, vying with one another to pay him homage; his alms accumulated like mountains, yet he never once cast a glance at them. Whenever someone harboured hidden distress or was beset by afflictions, if they obtained his guidance, its efficacy was miraculously swift. At that time, there was an elder of a wealthy household in Shanzhou named Zhang Zhen, who had vast estates and an abundance of wealth and goods. Lacking sons, Zhen was constantly anxious that after his death there would be no heir to his money and silk. Later, a son was born to him, but he was both foolish and stupid, with contracted hands and feet and stammering, labored speech. He was fond of nothing but food and drink, hardly resembling an ordinary person—his mouth was like an abyss, insatiable all day long. When he was around seventeen years old, his parents doted on him dearly and indulged whatever he demanded, inviting physicians and seeking medicines without considering a thousand leagues too far. After several decades, the family estate was completely exhausted. Someone said to Zhen: "Master Azu is in truth of the caliber of Baozhi. Why not pour out your heart to him and seek deliverance from this affliction?" Thereupon husband and wife went to Wenxiang, kowtowed, wiped away their tears, and begged for his rescue. Azu closed his eyes for a long time and said to Zhen: "Your karmic enmity is not yet dispelled; it would still require several years. Pitying your earnest devotion, I shall remove it for you." He immediately ordered that an auspicious day be chosen to hold a vegetarian feast by the river, widely summoning a great assembly to watch the deliverance together. He also had the son led to the place of practice. At that time, the multitude knew that Azu was extraordinary, and the onlookers formed a human wall. After a short while, he directed and called out to three or four robust men, shouting at them to drag the son and throw him into the river, where he was swept away by the swift current. Zhen was both grieving and terrified, unable to fathom the reason. Azu said to Zhen: "I have finished eliminating your calamity." After a long while, the son suddenly raised his body above the surface of the water several tens of paces away down the current, pointed his fingers like halberds, and cursed his parents, saying: "The karmic enmity between you and me was due to deeds from previous lifetimes; thanks to meeting the holy one, this entanglement has been swiftly untied. Had it not been for this, there would have been no foreseeable end!" He stood tall, shouted loudly, and spoke with clear reasoning, showing no sign of foolishness or coarseness at all. In an instant he sank into the water, and nothing more was known of him. From this, Azu's renown spread, and those who placed their faith in him flocked to him like people going to a market. His transformative teachings were all of this sort, roughly during the Dali and Jianzhong eras. Around the twelfth year of the Zhenyuan era of Emperor Dezong, a bingzi year, an imperial decree posthumously bestowed upon him the title "Dhyāna Master Dayuan." Even down to the present, between Shan and Guo, he is still revered and venerated.