宋高僧傳 25.6

25.6

釋清虛，姓唐氏，梓州人也。立性剛決，桀黠難防，忽迴心長誦《金剛般若》。三業偕齊，無有懈怠。甞於山林持諷，有七鹿馴擾，若傾聽焉，聲息而去。又隣居失火，連甍灰燼，唯虛之屋，飈焰飛過，略無焦灼。長安二年，獨遊藍田悟真寺上方北院，舊無井泉——人力不及——，遠取於㵎，挈缾荷甕，運致極勞。時《華嚴》大師法藏聞虛持經靈驗，乃請祈泉。即入彌勒閣內焚香，經聲達旦者三。忽心中似見三玉女在閣西北山腹，以刀子剜地，隨便有水。虛熟記其處，遂趨起掘之，果獲甘泉，用之不竭。四年，從少林寺坐夏。山頂有一佛室，甚寬敞，人無敢到者，云鬼神居宅焉。甞有律師恃其戒行，夜往念律，見一巨人以矛刺之，狼狽下山，逡巡氣絕。又，持《火頭金剛呪》僧，時所宗重，眾謂之曰：「君呪力無雙，能宿彼否？」曰：「斯焉足懼？」於是齎香火入坐持呪。俄而神出，以手擥足，投之㵎下，七日不語，精神昏倒。虛聞之曰：「下趣鬼物敢爾？」即往彼如常誦經。夜聞堂東有聲甚厲，即念《十一面觀音呪》。又聞堂中似有兩牛鬪，佛像皆振。呪既亡效，還持本經一契，帖然相次，影響皆絕。自此居者無患，神遂移去。神龍二年，準詔入內祈雨。經二七日雪降，中宗以為未濟時望，令就寺更祈請。即於佛殿內精禱，并煉一指。纔及一宵，雨周千里，指復如舊。纔遇大水，寺屋皆墊溺，其院無苦，若無澇沒。凡諸異驗，皆如此也。

Śramaṇa Qingxu, whose surname was Tang, was a native of Zizhou. He had an unyielding and resolute disposition, being unruly, shrewd, and hard to control; but suddenly he turned his mind and constantly recited the Diamond Sūtra. His three actions were harmonious and uniform, free of any laxity. He once recited in a mountain forest, and seven deer grew tame and lingered as if listening attentively, departing only when the sound ceased. Furthermore, when his neighbor's house caught fire and adjoining roofs were reduced to ashes, only over Xu's house did the gusting flames fly past without scorching it in the least. In the second year of Chang'an, he traveled alone to the North Courtyard of the Upper Precinct of Wuzhen Temple in Lantian. Formerly it had no well or spring—it being beyond human power to dig one—and water had to be fetched from a distant ravine, carrying bottles and jars with great toil. At that time, the Avataṃsaka Master Fazang heard of the miraculous efficacy of Xu's sūtra recitation and invited him to pray for a spring. Xu immediately entered the Maitreya Pavilion and burned incense, with his sūtra chanting lasting until dawn for three nights. Suddenly in his mind he seemed to see three jade maidens on the mountain slope northwest of the pavilion carving into the ground with knives, whereupon water immediately gushed forth. Xu memorised the spot well, then hurried up and dug there; sure enough, he obtained a sweet spring whose supply was inexhaustible. In the fourth year, he observed the summer retreat at Shaolin Temple. On the mountain summit was a Buddha hall that was very spacious, but no one dared go there, as it was said to be the dwelling of ghosts and spirits. A vinaya master who once relied on his precept conduct went there at night to recite the Vinaya; he saw a giant stab at him with a spear, and he scrambled down the mountain, dying shortly after. Furthermore, there was a monk who upheld the Fire-head Vajra Dhāraṇī and was revered at the time; the assembly said to him: "Your dhāraṇī power is matchless; can you spend the night there?" He replied: "Why should that be feared?" Thereupon he took incense and fire, entered, sat down, and recited the dhāraṇī. Shortly thereafter, the spirit appeared, grabbed him by the feet, and hurled him down into the ravine; for seven days he could not speak, his spirit dazed and unconscious. Hearing this, Xu said: "How dare a ghost of the lower destinies act so?" He immediately went there and recited the sūtra as usual. At night, he heard a very fierce sound east of the hall, and at once recited the Eleven-Faced Avalokiteśvara Dhāraṇī. He then heard what sounded like two oxen fighting in the hall, causing the Buddha statues to shake. As the dhāraṇī had no effect, he returned to upholding a section of his primary sūtra; all grew calm and still in turn, and every sound and shadow vanished. From then on, dwellers had no troubles, and the spirits moved away. In the second year of Shenlong, he entered the palace in accordance with an imperial decree to pray for rain. After two seven-day periods, snow fell, but Emperor Zhongzong deemed it not yet sufficient to satisfy the people's hopes and ordered him to pray further at the temple. He then prayed earnestly in the Buddha hall and burned one of his fingers. Within a single night, rain fell across a thousand li, and his finger was restored as before. Once when a great flood occurred and the temple buildings were all submerged, his courtyard suffered no distress, as if there were no deluge at all. All of his various extraordinary verifications were like this.