宋高僧傳 21.6

21.6

釋牛雲，俗姓趙，雁門人也。童蒙之歲有似神不足，遣入鄉校，終日不知一字。惟見僧尼，合掌有畏憚之貌。年甫十二，二親送往五臺華嚴寺善住閣院出家，禮淨覺為師。每令負薪汲水，時眾輕其朴鈍，多以謔浪歸之。年滿受具，益難誦習。及年三十有六，乃言曰：「我聞臺上恒有文殊現形。我今跣足而去，儻見文殊，惟求聰明，學誦經法耳。」時冒寒雪，情無退屈，至東臺頂，見一老人然火而坐。雲問曰：「如此雪寒，從何而來？」老人曰：「吾從山下來」雲曰：「從何道上，何無屨跡？」曰：「吾雪前來。」老人却問雲曰：「有何心願，犯雪徒跣而至，豈不苦也？」雲曰：「吾雖為僧，自恨昏鈍，不能誦念經法。此來欲求見文殊，只乞聰明果報。」老人曰：「奇哉！」又曰：「此處不見文殊，更欲何之？」雲曰：「欲上北臺去。」老人曰：「吾意亦然。」曰：「請師先行。」雲乃遊遍臺頂，告別老人，自西而去。薄暮，方到北臺，又見老人然火而坐，頗為驚怪。問曰：「適於東臺相別，為何先至？」老人曰：「師不知要路，所以來遲。」雲雖承此語，心乃猶豫，只此老人莫應文殊也？雲乃嗚足禮拜。老人曰：「吾俗人也，不應作禮。」唯貪設禮，情屬不移。良久，老人云：「休禮，候吾入定，觀汝前身作何行業而昏鈍也。」老人閉目，倏爾開顏語雲曰：「汝前生為牛來，因載藏經，今得為僧而闇鈍耳。汝於龍堂邊取一钁來，與汝斸却心頭淤肉，即明快也。」雲遂得钁度與。老人曰：「汝但閉目，候吾教開即開。」因閉目，次有似當心施钁，身無痛苦，心乃豁然，似闇室立於明燈，巨夜懸於圓月也。雲開目乃見老人現文殊像，語雲曰：「汝自後誦念經法，歷耳無忘。又於華嚴寺㵎東院大有因緣，無得退轉。」雲乃行悲行泣，接足而禮，未舉頭頃，不見菩薩矣。雲後下山，四支無損，凡曰經典，目所一覽，輒誦於口。明年夏五月，遶育王塔行道念經。至更初，乃見一道直光從北臺頂連瑞塔基，久而不散，於光明中現寶閣一所，前有金牌，題云「善住」。雲憶菩薩授記之言，依光中所現之閣而建置焉。道化施行，人咸貴重。於開元二十三年無疾而終，俗齡六十三，法臘四十四矣。雲名亡上字，承文殊記識本迹為牛，故時號之焉。

Shi Niuyun, whose secular surname was Zhao, was a native of Yanmen. In his childhood, his intellect seemed deficient; when sent to the village school, he could not recognize a single character all day long. Only when he saw monks and nuns would he join his palms with an expression of awe and reverence. When he had just reached the age of twelve, his parents sent him to the Shanzhu Pavilion Cloister of Huayan Temple on Mount Wutai to leave household life, where he paid homage to Jingjue as his master. He was always ordered to carry firewood and draw water. The community at the time looked down on his simple-minded dullness and often subjected him to jest and ridicule. When he came of age and received the full ordination, he found it all the more difficult to chant and study. When he reached the age of thirty-six, he said: “I have heard that Mañjuśrī constantly manifests his form upon the terraces. Now I shall go barefoot, and if I see Mañjuśrī, I seek only intelligence so that I may learn and recite the scriptures and teachings.” Braving the cold and snow at that time, his resolve never faltered. Reaching the peak of the Eastern Terrace, he saw an old man sitting beside a kindled fire. Yun asked, “In such snow and cold, where have you come from?” The old man replied, “I have come from beneath the mountain.” Yun said, “By which path did you come up, and why are there no footprints?” He said, “I came before the snow.” The old man then asked Yun, “What is your heart's wish that you have braved the snow and come barefoot? Is it not painful?” Yun said, “Although I am a monk, I lament my own darkness and dullness, unable to chant and recite the scriptures and teachings. I have come here wishing to see Mañjuśrī, begging only for the karmic reward of intelligence.” The old man said, “Remarkable indeed!” He added, “You do not see Mañjuśrī here; where else do you wish to go?” Yun said, “I wish to go up to the Northern Terrace.” The old man said, “My intention is the same.” [Yun] said, “Please go ahead, Master.” Yun then toured all over the terrace peak, took leave of the old man, and departed toward the west. At dusk, he finally reached the Northern Terrace, where he again saw the old man sitting beside a kindled fire, which astonished him greatly. He asked, “We parted just now at the Eastern Terrace; how is it that you have arrived first?” The old man replied, “You, Master, do not know the shortcut, which is why you arrived late.” Although Yun received these words, his heart was still hesitant: could this old man not be Mañjuśrī? Yun thereupon prostrated and kissed his feet in homage. The old man said, “I am a layman; you should not pay homage.” [Yun] was intent only on performing obeisance, his devotion unwavering. After a long while, the old man said, “Cease your bowing. Wait until I enter samādhi and observe what karma you created in your past life that made you so dim and dull.” The old man closed his eyes, and presently beamed with joy, saying to Yun, “In your past life you were an ox. Because you transported the Tripiṭaka, you have now attained monkhood, but remain dim and dull. Go bring a hoe from beside the Dragon Hall, and I will dig away the congested flesh in your heart, and then you will become lucid and bright.” Yun then found a hoe and handed it over. The old man said, “Just close your eyes, and open them only when I tell you to open them.” He therefore closed his eyes. Then it seemed as though the hoe was struck against his heart; his body felt no pain, and his mind suddenly opened, like a dark chamber illuminated by a bright lamp, or a great night hung with a full moon. When Yun opened his eyes, he saw the old man manifest the form of Mañjuśrī, who told Yun, “From now on, whenever you chant and recite the scriptures and teachings, once they pass your ears you will never forget them. Moreover, you have great karmic connections with the Cloister East of the Ravine at Huayan Temple; you must not backslide.” Weeping and shedding tears, Yun touched [the Bodhisattva's] feet in homage; before he could raise his head, the Bodhisattva was gone. Later, when Yun descended the mountain, his four limbs were unharmed. Whenever it came to scriptures, whatever his eyes glanced over, his mouth would immediately recite. In the fifth month during the summer of the following year, as he circumambulated King Aśoka's stupa, practicing the path and chanting scriptures, at the beginning of the first watch he saw a ray of straight light extending from the summit of the Northern Terrace down to the foundation of the auspicious stupa, lasting long without dispersing. Within the radiant light appeared a jeweled pavilion, with a golden placard in front inscribed with the words “Good Abiding” (Shanzhu). Recalling the Bodhisattva's prophecy, Yun constructed [the building] in accordance with the pavilion that had appeared within the light. His spiritual transformation was enacted, and everyone prized and respected him. In the twenty-third year of Kaiyuan, he died without illness at the secular age of sixty-three, with a dharma age of forty-four. The first character of Yun's name was lost; because he received Mañjuśrī's prophecy that revealed his past origin as an ox (niu), people of the time referred to him by that name.