宋高僧傳 23.50

23.50

釋紹巖，俗姓劉，雍州人也。母張氏始娠，夢寤甚奇。及生也，神姿瓌偉；至長也，器度宏深。七歲苦求出家於高安禪師，十八進具於懷暉律師，凡百經書，覽同溫習。自是遊諸方聖跡，洎入吳會，棲息天台、四明山，與德韶禪師共決疑滯於臨川益公。遂於錢塘湖水心寺挂錫，恒諷持《法華經》無晝夜，俄感陸地庭間生蓮華，舉城人瞻矚。巖亟命搴而蹂之。以建隆二年辛酉，經願云滿，誓同藥王焚身以供養。時漢南國王錢氏篤重歸心，苦留乃止。尋潛遁，投身曹娥江，用飼魚腹。會有漁者拯之，云「有神人扶足，求溺弗可，衣敷水面，而驚濤迅激，巖如坐寶臺。」然水火二緣俱為未濟，恒怏惋其懷。乃於越法華山安置。續召於杭塔寺，造上方淨院以居之。開寶四年七月有疾，不求藥石，作偈累篇示門徒，曰：「吾誦經二萬部，決以安養為期。」跏趺坐亡，享齡七十三，法臘五十五。喪事官供，茶毘于龍井山，獲舍利無算。遺骨若玉瑩然。遂收合作石函，寘于影堂。大寧軍節度使贈太師孫承祐為碑紀述焉。

Shi Shaoyan, whose secular surname was Liu, was a native of Yongzhou. When his mother, Lady Zhang, first conceived, her dream upon waking was extraordinary. When he was born, his spiritual demeanor was magnificent; when he grew up, his capacity and tolerance were broad and profound. At seven years old, he earnestly begged to leave home under Chan Master Gao'an, and at eighteen he received full ordination under Vinaya Master Huihui; he browsed through hundreds of scriptures and books as if revising familiar texts. From then on, he traveled to sacred sites in all directions, and reaching the Wu-Yue region, he resided on Mount Tiantai and Mount Siming, resolving doubts and obstacles together with Chan Master Deshao under the Venerable Yi of Linchuan. He then hung his staff at Shuixin Temple at the Qiantang Lake, constantly reciting and upholding the Lotus Sūtra day and night. Suddenly, he induced lotus flowers to grow on the dry ground of the courtyard, attracting the gaze of the entire city. Yan hastily ordered them plucked and trampled. In the xinyou year, the second year of Jianlong, declaring that his vow regarding the sūtra was complete, he made a vow to burn his body as an offering, like the Medicine King Bodhisattva. At that time, King Qian of the Southern Han [region] held him in deep veneration, and only after urgent entreaties did Yan halt. Soon afterward he secretly slipped away and cast himself into the Cao'e River to feed the bellies of fish. It happened that a fisherman rescued him, saying, "A divine being supported his feet, so that he could not drown; his robes spread across the water's surface, and though the surging waves were swift and violent, Yan was as if seated on a jeweled platform." Yet because neither the conditions of fire nor water had been fulfilled, he always harbored sorrow and regret. He was then accommodated at Mount Fahua in Yue. Later he was summoned to the Baota Temple in Hangzhou, where an upper pure cloister was built for him to dwell. In the seventh month of the fourth year of Kaibao he fell ill, but did not seek medicines, composing several stanzas of verses to show his disciples, saying, "I have recited twenty thousand fascicles of the sūtra, and resolutely set Sukhāvatī as my destination." He passed away sitting cross-legged, enjoying an age of seventy-three and a dharma age of fifty-five. The funeral expenses were provided by the authorities; he was cremated on Mount Longjing, yielding countless śarīra. His relic bones were as translucent as jade. They were gathered together in a stone casket and placed in his portrait hall. Military Commissioner Sun Chengyou of the Daning Army, who was posthumously awarded the title Grand Preceptor, composed a stele inscription recording his deeds.