宋高僧傳 23.42

23.42

釋慧明，俗姓蔣，錢塘人也。研覈三學，漸入精微。後登閩越，殆至臨川，禮文益禪師，深符正理，悟先所宗不免生滅情見。後迴浙，隱天台白沙，立草寮，有雪峯、長慶之風，到者皆崩角摧鋒，謂明為魔說。漢乾祐中自山出，時翠巖參公率諸禪伯於僧主思憲院，定其臧否。明之口給，無能挫衂。尋漢南國王錢氏造大報恩寺，請以住持，假號圓通普照禪師。然行玄沙正眼，非明曷能致此？顯德中卒，時酷暑，俾欲葬之。有弟子永安曰：「知師唯我也。」請焚之，得舍利五色，一皆圓淨。初明煉指為燈，於天台供養。後相繼燒三指，而勤持課，脇疎袵席，時說法焉。性且剛直，言多忤物，是其所短也。

Śramaṇa Huiming, secular surname Jiang, was a native of Qiantang. He investigated the three trainings and gradually penetrated their subtleties. Later he traveled to Min and Yue, and having almost reached Linchuan, he paid homage to Chan Master Wenyi; deeply according with the correct principle, he realized that what he had previously esteemed was not free from views born of feelings of arising and ceasing. Later he returned to Zhejiang and lived in seclusion at Baisha in Tiantai, erecting a thatched hut; he had the style of Xuefeng and Changqing, so that all who arrived had their horns broken and their edges blunted, saying that Ming spoke demonic doctrines. During the Qianyou era of the Han, he came out from the mountains; at that time, Venerable Can of Cuiyan led various senior Chan masters to the cloister of the Saṅgha Leader Sixian to assess his strengths and weaknesses. Ming's eloquence was so fluent that none could defeat him. Soon King Qian of the Southern Han built the Great Bao'en Temple and invited him to be its abbot, conferring on him the provisional title of Chan Master Yuantong Puzhao. Yet in practicing the correct eye of Xuansha, who but Ming could have attained this? He passed away during the Xiande era. At that time it was bitterly hot, and people wished to bury him. His disciple Yong'an said: 'I alone truly understand my master.' He requested that he be cremated, and five-colored śarīras were obtained, every one round and pure. Earlier, Ming had burned a finger as a lamp to make offerings at Tiantai. Later he successively burned three fingers, yet he diligently maintained his recitations, never letting his flanks touch the mat, and occasionally preached the Dharma. He was of a firm and upright disposition, and his words often offended people—this was his shortcoming.