宋高僧傳 22.34

22.34

丹成轉數，服則登仙；慧鍊功夫，驗之果證。若或名未標於籙籍，力未合於經王，烏以輕舉此身，出過凡世，徒秖眩曜肉眼，驚忙猿心。所謂釋氏之儔，高下異爾。亦乃譬同群象也——牙能觝觸，鼻善卷舒，力却九牛，奔過駟馬矣。別有阿耨池岸，香醉山陰象，則鼓雙翼以飛騰，用七支而巧便，與夫海山之象，百倍絕倫，厥號藹羅伐拏——象中龍也。諒知沙門有所感通，斯之謂歟！若夫能感所通，則修行力至，必有天神給侍是也；能通所感，則我施神變，現示於他是也；能、所俱感通，則三乘極果無不感通也。昔梁慧皎為傳，創立〈神異〉一科，此唯該攝究極位之聖賢也。或資次徵祥，階降奇特，當收不盡，固有缺然。及乎宣師不相沿襲，乃釐革為〈感通〉，蓋取諸「感而遂通」，通則智性，修則感歟，果乃通也。覈斯理長，無不包括，亦猶班固增加九流，變「書」為「志」同也。復譬聖人重卦，不亦愈於始畫者乎？然則前不仰觀俯察，後何變通？此非宣師之能，據嘉祥變例而能矣！原夫室靜生虛白，心靜則神通。儒、玄所能，我道奚若？引發靜慮，自在現前；法不喧囂，萬緣都泯；智門開處，六通由是生焉。動相滅時，五眼附茲照矣。目連運用，彰何第一之名？那律觀瞻，有是半頭之見。迷盧入其芥子，海水噏於毫端。不思議時，凡夫之心口兩喪；神通生處，諸佛之境界一如。復次，我教法中以信、解、修、證為准的：至若譯經傳法，生信也；義解習禪，悟解也；明律護法，修行也；神異感通，果證也。孰言像、末無行果乎？亦從多分說也：秖如檀特刻杖，表侯景之西歸；河禿指天，知文襄之南面；光師入《安樂》之行，弟子證三昧之門；泗上僧伽，十九類身之應現；萬迴尊者，五千餘里之往來。諸方更有其異名，此剎彌觀其奇迹，難拘定態，莫檢恒形：從願海而起身，元惟智積；自意生而分質，素是康僧；岸覩菩薩之迎生；英致秦襄之就食。留年不測，示跡無方：或揚化於數朝，或受齡於三百，或令竈祠而墮，或得御笛而迴，珪戒嶽神，安救唐相，或漉龍兒而至，或擎銷骨而征，入聖寺門認諸葛亮，或神光出口，或怪物沈河，豐干識其文殊，無相免其任俠，夢送浮圖而渡海，身分窰窟以安禪，或放毫相之光，或令公主之誕，或獲珠之爍爍，或擾虎之眈眈，或記宰臣，或移巢鵲，壽過百歲，身隱五臺，或讖草書，或求聽眾，或隱形而留影，或見母而便生，或題異辭，或語虓獸，記韋公之滅度，驚張瀆之夜歸，不濡其服而渡溪，不泄其穢而恒食，或倒立而死，或直吐其鳩，或身首異處而還連，或半年坐亡而復起。若以法輪啟迪，多作沙門之形；設如異迹化成，或作老叟之貌（寒山、拾得）。瘡痍可惡，疥癘堪嫌。或逆逜於恒流，或譸張於下類。伊皆難測，孰曰易知？將逆取順之由，反權合道之意耳。或曰：「感通之說近怪乎？」對曰：「怪則怪矣，在人倫之外也。苟近人情之怪，乃反常背道之徒歟！此之怪也，非心所測，非口所宣能至其涯畔矣。令神仙鬼物皆怪者也——仙則修鍊成怪，鬼則自然為怪。佛法中之怪則異於是，何耶？動經生劫，依正法而修致，自然顯無漏果位中之運用也。知此怪，正怪也——在人情則謂之怪，在諸聖則謂之通。感而遂通，故目篇也。故《智論》云：『以禪定力，服智慧藥；得其力已，遂化眾生。』復置世界於一毛，凝海水為五味，故曰：緣法察境，唯寂乃照。始驗佛門龍象間代一生出，而攝諸不慚愧也矣！」

The evaluation: When the elixir is perfected through [repeated] cycles of transformation, swallowing it brings ascent to immortality; when the effort of smelting wisdom is undertaken, its verification lies in the realization of the fruit. If one's name is not yet inscribed in the registers [of heaven] and one's capacity does not yet accord with the King of Sūtras, how could one lightly lift this physical body and transcend the mortal realm? That would merely dazzle fleshly eyes and startle the restless monkey-mind. What is called the fellowship of the Śākyan lineage varies greatly between superior and inferior. This may also be illustrated by the herds of elephants: their tusks can thrust and gore, their trunks can skillfully coil and unroll, their strength can drive back nine oxen, and their speed surpasses a four-horse team. Yet there is another, on the shores of Lake Anavatapta and in the northern shade of Mount Gandhamādana: an elephant that beats a pair of wings to soar aloft and employs seven limbs with nimble dexterity. Compared to the elephants of ocean and mountain, it is a hundredfold unmatched; its name is Airāvaṇa—a dragon among elephants. Truly we know that when śramaṇas possess supernatural resonance, it is just like this! As for the capacity to stimulate and that which is resonated with: when the power of cultivation reaches its acme, heavenly spirits will unfailingly attend upon them; this is what is meant. As for the capacity to resonate and that which is stimulated: when I manifest supernatural transformations and display them to others; this is what is meant. When both the subject and the object resonate, then none of the ultimate fruits of the three vehicles fail to resonate supernaturally. Formerly, when Huijiao of the Liang composed his biographies, he first established the single category of "Supernatural Wonders" (Shenyi); this encompassed only the sages and worthies of the ultimate stages. Where portents were subordinate or extraordinary deeds lesser, they could not all be included, and shortcomings naturally remained. When it came to Master Daoxuan, he did not follow the old conventions, but revised it into "Supernatural Resonance" (Gantong), drawing upon the phrase 'stimulated and thereupon resonating' (gan er sui tong). Resonance is the nature of wisdom; cultivation is the stimulation; and the fruition is the resonance. Examining this principle, it is comprehensive and leaves nothing out—just as Ban Gu added the nine schools of thought and changed the "Treatises" (Shu) into "Monographs" (Zhi). Furthermore, it is like the holy man who doubled the hexagrams: is that not superior to the one who first drew them? Thus, if those before had not looked up to observe [the heavens] and looked down to inspect [the earth], how could those after have made alterations and accommodations? This was not due solely to Master Daoxuan's ability, but rather he was able to do so by relying on Jiaxiang's changes of precedents! Originally, when the chamber is quiet, empty radiance is born; when the mind is quiet, supernatural penetrations appear. If Confucianism and the Mysterious Learning can attain this, how much more so our Way! When quiet contemplation is aroused, sovereignty manifests before one; phenomena are free from clamor, and the myriad conditions are entirely extinguished; where the gate of wisdom opens, the six supernatural penetrations are born from it. When active marks cease, the five eyes shed their illumination accordingly. In Maudgalyāyana's exercise [of supernormal powers], on what basis was his name proclaimed foremost? In Aniruddha's seeing, there was this perception of half a head. Mount Meru enters into a mustard seed; the ocean waters are drawn up into the tip of a single hair. When the inconceivable arrives, both the mind and speech of the ordinary worldling are lost; where supernatural powers arise, the realm of all Buddhas is of a single Suchness. Furthermore, within our teaching and Dharma, faith, understanding, practice, and realization serve as the standard: as for translating scriptures and transmitting the Dharma, that is to generate faith; exegetical understanding and the practice of dhyāna are awakening and understanding; elucidation of the vinaya and protection of the Dharma are practice; and supernatural wonders and supernatural resonance are the fruits of realization. Who says that in the Semblance and Final Dharma ages there are no practices and fruits? This is spoken from the perspective of the majority. Consider how the carved staff of Dande portended Hou Jing's westward return; the bald-headed man at the river pointed to the sky, and Wenxiang's taking the throne facing south was known; Master Guang entered the practice of "Peace and Bliss", and his disciple realized the gate of samādhi; Saṅgha of the Si River manifested nineteen types of bodies; and the Venerable Wanhui traveled back and forth over five thousand li. Other regions have yet more extraordinary names, and in this land one observes their miraculous traces all the more. They are difficult to bind to a fixed disposition and cannot be checked by constant forms: emerging with a body from the ocean of vows, originally it was only Zhiji; dividing his corporeal form by mind-born transformation, in origin it was Sengsheng; [Daoxian] of the riverbank beheld bodhisattvas welcoming his rebirth; and Ying brought Xiang of Qin to come take food. Their remaining years cannot be measured, and the manifestations of their traces have no fixed direction: some propagated transformation across several dynasties; some were endowed with an age of three hundred years; some caused the stove-shrine to collapse; some obtained the imperial flute and returned; [Yuan]gui conferred the precepts on the mountain god; An saved the Tang prime minister; some caught a dragon child and arrived with it; some raised bone-melting potion and set forth; [one] entered the gate of the Holy Temple and recognized Zhuge Liang; some emitted divine light from the mouth; some caused strange monsters to sink into the river; Fenggan recognized Mañjuśrī; Wuxiang was spared from knight-errantry; [one] dreamed of delivering a pagoda across the sea; [one] divided his body among kiln-caves to sit peacefully in dhyāna; some emitted light from the ūrnā; some caused a princess to be born; some obtained a sparkling pearl; some tamed a glaring tiger; some made predictions about prime ministers; some moved the nest of magpies; some lived beyond a hundred years and hid their bodies on Mount Wutai; some prophesied through cursive script; some sought audiences; some hid their forms and left only shadows; some beheld their mother and were immediately reborn; some inscribed strange words; some spoke to roaring beasts; [one] recorded the extinction of Duke Wei; [one] startled Zhang Du by returning at night; [one] crossed the stream without wetting his clothes; [one] ate constantly without discharging impurities; some died standing upside-down; some directly vomited up a dove; some had their head separated from their body and rejoined again; some sat in death for half a year and arose again. If using the Dharma wheel to enlighten and instruct, they mostly assume the form of a śramaṇa; but if demonstrating transformative realization through extraordinary traces, they may assume the appearance of an old gaffer (such as Hanshan and Shide). Covered with loathsome sores and ulcers, or afflicted with disgusting scabs and leprosy, they may run contrary to the common herd, or utter falsehoods among the lowest classes. They are all difficult to fathom—who could say they are easy to know? It is simply the principle of achieving conformity through reversal, and the intention of using expedient means to accord with the Way. Someone might ask: 'Does not the talk of supernatural resonance verge on the strange?' I reply: 'Strange it may be, but it lies outside human convention. If it were a strangeness bordering on human passions, it would be the work of those who run counter to the constant and turn their backs on the Way! This kind of strangeness cannot be measured by the mind, nor can it be reached at its boundary by what the mouth can pronounce. Let gods, immortals, and ghosts all be considered strange: immortals become strange through cultivation and refinement, while ghosts are strange by nature. The strange within the Buddha-Dharma is different from these. Why so? Moving through rebirths and kalpas, cultivated and attained by relying on the true Dharma, it naturally manifests the operation of the undefiled fruit-stage. Know that this strangeness is true strangeness: in human emotion it is called strange; among the holy sages it is called resonance. Because they are stimulated and thereupon resonate, this chapter is so titled. Therefore, the *Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa* says: "By the power of dhyāna, take the medicine of wisdom; having gained its power, one thereupon transforms sentient beings." Furthermore, placing a world within a single hair and condensing ocean water into the five flavors—therefore it is said: observing the objective realm in accordance with phenomena, only in stillness does one illuminate. Only then is it verified that dragons and elephants of the Buddhist gate appear once in an age, gathering in those who are shameless!'