宋高僧傳 19.41

19.41

釋明瓚者，未知氏族生緣。初遊方詣嵩山，普寂盛行禪法，瓚往從焉。然則默證寂之心契，人罕推重。尋於衡巖閑居，眾僧營作，我則晏如，縱被詆訶，殊無愧恥，時目之懶瓚也。一說伊僧差越等夷——或隨眾齋飡，或以瓦釜煮土而食——，云是彌陀佛應身，未知何證驗之？一云好食僧之殘食，故殘也（殘上聲呼）。或隨逐之，則時出言語，皆契佛理，事迹難知。天寶初，至南嶽寺執役，盡專一寺之上，夜止群牛之下，曾無倦也。如是經二十年。相國鄴公李泌避崔、李之害，隱南嶽而潛察瓚所為，曰：「非常人也。」聽其中宵梵唄，響徹山谷。李公情頗知音，能辯休戚，謂瓚曰「經音悽愴而後喜悅，必讁墮之人時將去矣。」候中夜，李公潛往謁焉，望席門自贊而拜。瓚大詬，仰空而唾曰：「是將賊我。」李愈加鄭重，唯拜而已。瓚正撥牛糞火，出芋啗之，良久乃曰：「可以席地。」取所啗芋之半以授焉。李跪捧盡食而謝。謂李公曰：「慎勿多言，領取十年宰相。」李拜而退。居一月，刺史祭岳，修道路極嚴。忽中夜風雷，而一峯頹下，其緣山蹬道為大石所攔，乃以數牛縻絆而挽之，又以數百人鼓噪以推之，物力竭而石愈固，更無他術。瓚曰：「奚用如許繁為？我始去之。」眾皆大笑，瓚遂履石而動，忽轉盤而下，聲若震雷。山路既開，眾僧禮而踴躍，一郡呼為至聖，太守奉如神明。瓚悄然乃懷去意。寺外虎豹忽爾成群，日有殺傷，無由禁止。瓚曰：「授我一小箠，為爾驅除。」眾曰：「大石猶可推，虎豹當易制。」遂與之荊梃，皆躡後以觀之。出門，見一虎銜之而去。瓚既去矣，虎亦絕蹤矣。李鄴公於天寶末，肅宗北巡，至靈武即位，遣使訪召。會泌自嵩、頴奔赴行在所。帝喜用之，俾掌樞務，權逾宰相，判廣平王府司馬事。肅宗曰：「卿為朕師友。今父子三人資卿道義。」尋為崔圓、李輔國害其能，泌懼，乞遊衡嶽，詔許之。絕粒數年，遂見瓚焉。後終居相位，一如瓚之懸記矣。勅諡大明禪師，塔存嶽中云。

Śramaṇa Mingzan's clan, lineage, and origins are unknown. When he first traveled on pilgrimage, he went to Mount Song, where Puji was actively propagating the methods of dhyāna; Zan went and followed him. He silently realized an affinity of mind with [Pu]ji, yet few people esteemed him. Soon after, he lived in leisure on the crags of Heng[shan]. While the monastic assembly engaged in labor, he remained nonchalant; even when subjected to rebuke, he felt no shame whatsoever, and people at the time called him 'Lazy Zan' (Lanzan). Another account says that this monk was far superior to his peers—sometimes he dined along with the assembly, and at other times he cooked dirt in an earthenware pot and ate it—and it was said that he was an apparition body of Amitābha Buddha, though by what proof this was verified is not known. Another says that he liked to eat the monks' leftover food, hence he was called 'Leftover' (Zan, read in the falling tone). If one followed him, the words he occasionally uttered all conformed to the Buddhist truth, though his deeds were difficult to fathom. At the beginning of the Tianbao era, he went to Nanyue Temple to undertake physical labor. He took charge of all the work of the temple, and at night rested among the cattle without ever tiring. In this manner twenty years passed. Duke of Ye and Grand Councilor Li Mi, seeking to avoid injury from Cui [Yuan] and Li [Fuguang], lived in seclusion at Nanyue and secretly observed what Zan did, saying, 'He is no ordinary person.' Hearing his mid-night chanting of Sanskrit hymns resound throughout the mountain valleys, Duke Li, who was rather discerning in musical tones and capable of distinguishing between auspiciousness and sorrow, said to Zan, 'The sound of your chanting is mournful at first and joyful afterwards; surely you are a transcendent being banished to this world whose time to leave is near.' Waiting until midnight, Duke Li secretly went to call on him; looking toward his rush mat door, he announced himself and bowed. Zan reviled him loudly, spat toward the sky, and said, 'This one is going to rob me.' Li became even more solemn and simply continued to bow. Zan was poking a fire of cow dung, pulled out a taro, and was eating it; after a long while he said, 'You may sit on the ground.' Taking half of the taro he was eating, he handed it to him. Li knelt, received it with both hands, ate it completely, and thanked him. Zan said to Duke Li, 'Be careful not to speak too much; accept and serve as prime minister for ten years.' Li bowed and withdrew. A month later, the prefect was to sacrifice to the Sacred Peak, and the road was repaired with great strictness. Suddenly, in the middle of the night, there were wind and thunder, and a mountain peak collapsed, so that the stepped road winding along the mountain was blocked by a massive rock. They tied several oxen together to haul it, and several hundred men shouted and clamored to push it, but human and material strength were exhausted while the rock remained ever firmer, and there was no other method. Zan said, 'Why make such a fuss? I will go remove it.' The crowd all laughed loudly. Zan then trod upon the rock, moving it, and suddenly it rolled downward with a sound like pealing thunder. Once the mountain road was cleared, the monks prostrated and leaped for joy; the entire commandery called him a supreme sage, and the governor revered him like a divine being. Zan quietly harbored the intention to leave. Outside the temple, tigers and leopards suddenly formed into packs, causing injuries and deaths daily, with no way to stop them. Zan said, 'Give me a small whip, and I will drive them away for you.' The crowd said, 'If a massive rock could be moved, tigers and leopards should be easy to subdue.' Thereupon they gave him a bramble staff, and all trailed behind to watch. Going out the gate, they saw a tiger carry him away in its mouth. Once Zan had departed, the tigers' tracks vanished as well. In the late Tianbao era, when Suzong journeyed north and acceded to the throne at Lingwu, he dispatched envoys to seek out and summon Duke Li of Ye. It happened that Mi rushed from Song and Ying to the emperor's traveling quarters. The emperor was delighted to employ him, made him manage the pivotal affairs of state with power surpassing that of prime ministers, and put him in charge of the affairs of the Adjutant of the Prince of Guangping's household. Suzong said, 'You, Sir, are my teacher and friend. Today, father and sons, the three of us rely upon your morality and justice.' Soon after, because Cui Yuan and Li Fuguo were jealous of his talent, Mi became fearful and begged to roam the Heng Sacred Peak, which was granted by imperial decree. Having abstained from grain for several years, he finally met Zan. Later, he ultimately held the prime minister's post, exactly as Zan had prophesied. By imperial decree he was granted the posthumous title Chan Master Daming, and his stūpa remains on the Sacred Peak.