宋高僧傳 20.33

20.33

釋法藏，俗姓周氏，南康人也。穉齡爽俊，始研尋史籍，而於醫方明得其工巧，同支法存之妙用焉。有門僧臥疾，幾云不救，藏切脈處方，信宿平復。其僧多接談玄，自爾萌出塵之意。年已長矣，懇辭親，投本郡平田山寶積院從願師下受教，納戒。後遊謁大寂禪師，言喻若石之投水。翛然北下廬山登五老峯，愛其靈異，獨止寒林，采橡栗，掬溪㵎，聊延形氣，而止數年。有二仙乘雲而來，終日談論，或留宵宿，或經月不來，或繼日而至。他人有見者，旁說不同。及乎學僧臻萃，全無蹤跡。又一日告辭藏云：「且歸山去，師當好住。」由是道且馨香，檀越共營一院。寶曆中示滅，年八十二。其年三月四日入塔云。

Śramaṇa Fazang, whose secular surname was Zhou, was a native of Nankang. In his youth he was bright and outstanding; he first researched and investigated historical records, and in the science of medicine he mastered its skill, matching the wondrous efficacy of Zhi Facun. A monk of the temple lay ill with a disease that was said to be incurable; Fazang took his pulse and prescribed medicine, and after staying two nights, the monk recovered. That monk frequently conversed with him on the profound, and from then on the aspiration to transcend the worldly sprouted within him. Having already grown up, he earnestly took leave of his parents and went to Baoji Cloister on Mount Pingtian in his home commandery to receive instruction and take the precepts under Master Yuan. Later he traveled to pay homage to Chan Master Daji, and their dialogue fit like a stone thrown into water. Free and unburdened, he went north down Mount Lu and climbed the Five Elders Peak; loving its spiritual wonder, he stayed alone in the cold forest, gathering acorns and chestnuts and scooping from mountain streams, barely sustaining his physical life, remaining there for several years. Two immortals arrived riding on clouds, conversing with him throughout the day; sometimes they stayed the night, sometimes they did not come for a month, and sometimes they arrived day after day. Other people who caught sight of them gave varying accounts. But when student monks gathered in large numbers, all traces of them vanished entirely. Another day, they bade farewell to Fazang, saying: "We are returning to our mountain; Master, please dwell in peace." Because of this, his virtue became renowned, and the donors collectively built a cloister for him. During the Baoli era, he manifested his extinction at the age of eighty-two. On the fourth day of the third month of that year, he was entered into a stūpa.