宋高僧傳 26.8

26.8

釋光儀，姓李氏，本唐宗室也。父瑯瑘王與越王起兵欲復本朝，中興帝道，不克，天后族誅之，而無噍類。儀方在襁褓中，乳母負之而逃。後數年，則天竊聞瑯瑘有子在民間，購之逾急。乳母將至扶風界中，鬻女工以自給。儀年八歲，狀貌不群，神悟超拔。乳母疑遭貌取而敗，且極憂疑。乃造布襦，置錢於腰腹間，於桑林之下，告之令去。「勅搜不慢，吾慮俱死，無益於事。汝聰頴，必可自立。或一旦富貴，無忘老姥。」言訖對泣。儀慟不自勝，乳母從此而逝矣。儀茫然行至逆旅，與群兒戲。有郡守夫人往夫所住處，方息，俱此見儀群聚，且貌俊爽，因而憐之。召謂之曰：「郎君家何在，而獨行至此？」儀紿之曰：「莊隣於此，有時閑戲耳。」夫人食之，又給之錢，乃解衣而內其錢。日暮尋逕而去，擬投村墅。遇一老僧，呼曰：「爾小子，汝今一身，家已破滅，將奚所適？」儀驚愕佇立，老僧又曰：「出家閑曠，且無憂畏，小子欲之乎？」儀曰：「素所願也。」老僧因携其手至大樹陰，令禮十方佛，歸依常住佛法僧已，因削其䰂。又出袈裟以披服之，小大稱其體。其執持收掩，猶如幾夏比丘。老僧喜曰：「此習性使然，善持僧行。」遂指東北曰：「去此數里有伽藍，汝直詣彼，謁寺主云，我使汝為其弟子也。」言畢，老僧欻然亡矣，方知聖僧也。儀如言趨彼，寺主駭其言，因留之。經十年許，儀已洞明經律，善其禪觀。而屬中宗即位，唐室復興，勅求瑯瑘王後，儀方向寺僧言之。時眾大駭，因出詣扶風李使君——即儀之諸父也。見之悲喜，乃舍之於家，方以狀聞，固請不可。使君有女，年齒相侔，一見儀而心悅，願致情曲。儀恐懾而避焉。他日會，使君夫人出其女，靚粧麗服，從者越多，來而逼之。儀固拒百端，終不屑就，紿之曰：「身不潔，請沐浴待命。」女許諾，方令具湯沐，女出，因閉關。女還排戶，既不得入，自牖窺之，方持削髮刀，顧而言曰：「有于此根，故為慾逼，今若除此，何逼之為？」女懼止之，不可，遂斷其勢，投之于地。儀亦悶絕，戶既不開。俄而使君、夫人俱到，女實情具告，遂破戶視之。漸蘇，命醫工舁歸蠶室，以火燒地，苦酒沃之，坐之于上，以膏傅之。月餘瘡愈，使君奏儀是瑯瑘王子。有勅命驛置至京，引見慰問，優齎豐洽，詔襲父爵。儀懇讓，誓願為僧，確乎不拔。中宗勅令領徒，任置蘭若，自恣化方。儀性好終南山，因居法興寺。於諸谷口造庵寮蘭若，凡數十處，率由道聲馳遠，談說動人。或山行十里間，緇素侍者常數千百人，迎候瞻待，甚於權要卿相焉。儀恒居寂定，或言將來事，以決吉凶，必無差忒，人益歸之。開元二十三年六月二十三日，先囑累弟子：「當謹護身口，勿事諠譁。祖師意無別事，靜則真法現前。此外提唱，皆不獲已。」言極激切。因北首而臥，枕肱右脇，著席而亡——此大涅槃之表兆也。遺言令葬於少陵原南，乃鑿原成室而封之。柩之發也，異香芬馥，狀貌如生。祖車出城，白鶴數百鳴唳空中，綵雲依約，覆車數十里。道俗號咷，多持孝服。所葬之地，遂建天寶寺，弟子皆留而守之。

Shi Guangyi, surnamed Li, was originally a member of the Tang imperial house. His father, the Prince of Langye, raised troops with the Prince of Yue intending to restore the dynastic house and bring about a dynastic revival of the imperial Way. Failing in this, the Heavenly Empress had the clan exterminated, leaving no survivors. Guangyi was then an infant in swaddling clothes; his wet nurse carried him on her back and fled. Several years later, Zetian learned through covert channels that the Prince of Langye had a son among the common people, and the search for him grew increasingly urgent. The wet nurse was about to arrive within the borders of Fufeng, sustaining themselves by selling needlework. When Guangyi was eight years old, his appearance was extraordinary, and his spiritual understanding surpassed all others. The wet nurse feared he might be detected through his looks and come to ruin, and she was intensely worried and suspicious. Thereupon she made a cloth jacket, placed coins around his waist and abdomen, and under a mulberry grove, told him to depart: "The imperial search is not lax. I fear we will both die, which would be of no benefit. You are intelligent and will surely be able to stand on your own. If you should one day attain wealth and nobility, do not forget this old woman." When she had spoken, they wept facing each other. Guangyi was overcome with grief, and the wet nurse departed from then on. In a daze, Guangyi walked to an inn and played with a group of children. The wife of a commandery governor was traveling to her husband’s station; pausing to rest, she saw Guangyi gathered with the children, and noting his handsome and spirited appearance, took pity on him. Calling him over, she said, "Young master, where is your home, and why have you come here alone?" Guangyi deceived her, saying, "My family manor is adjacent to this place; I am merely playing at my leisure." The lady fed him and gave him money, and he unfastened his garment to tuck the money inside. At dusk, he followed a path away, intending to seek shelter at a village manor. He met an old monk, who called out, "You, little boy! You are all alone now, your family has been destroyed, and where will you go?" Guangyi stood startled in astonishment. The old monk added, "The life of a monastic is serene and vast, free from sorrow and fear; would you care for it, little boy?" Guangyi said, "It has long been my wish." The old monk then took his hand and led him beneath the shade of a great tree, bidding him pay homage to the Buddhas of the ten directions and take refuge in the ever-abiding Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha. He then shaved his hair. He also brought out a kāṣāya to clothe him with, and its size fit his body well. The way he held and adjusted the robes was like that of a monk of many summer retreats. The old monk rejoiced and said, "This is brought about by habitual practice; you will uphold the saṅgha's conduct well." He then pointed to the northeast and said, "A few li from here is a monastery. Go straight there, call upon the abbot, and say, 'I have sent you to be his disciple.'" When he had finished speaking, the old monk vanished in an instant, and Guangyi only then knew he was a holy monk. Following his words, Guangyi hurried there. The abbot was astonished by his words and consequently retained him. After ten years or so, Guangyi had thoroughly mastered the scriptures and vinaya and was skilled in his dhyāna contemplation. When Emperor Zhongzong ascended the throne and the Tang house was restored, an imperial decree sought the descendants of the Prince of Langye, and only then did Guangyi speak of it to the monks of the temple. The assembly was greatly astonished. He then went out to call upon Envoy Li of Fufeng—who was Guangyi’s paternal uncle. Seeing him with mixed sorrow and joy, the envoy lodged him in his home and was about to submit a memorial when Guangyi adamantly declined. The envoy had a daughter of comparable age who, upon seeing Guangyi, was delighted in heart and wished to express her affections. Guangyi was frightened and avoided her. On another day during a gathering, the envoy's wife brought out her daughter, adorned in fine makeup and beautiful clothes, with a large retinue of attendants, coming forward to press herself upon him. Guangyi adamantly refused in a hundred ways, utterly unwilling to comply, and deceived her, saying, "My body is impure; please allow me to bathe and await your command." The girl agreed and had bath water prepared; when she stepped out, he bolted the door. When the girl returned and pushed at the door, she could not enter; peeping through the window, she saw him holding a razor, looking back and saying, "It is because I have this organ that I am pressed by desire. Now if I remove it, what will there be to press?" Terrified, the girl tried to stop him, but could not; he then severed his genitals and cast them to the ground. Guangyi fell unconscious, and the door remained locked. Presently, the envoy and his wife both arrived; the girl told them the true circumstances, and they broke down the door to look upon him. As he gradually revived, they ordered physicians to carry him to a heated confinement room. They burned the ground with fire, soaked it with bitter wine, seated him upon it, and applied ointments. After more than a month, his wounds healed. The envoy submitted a memorial stating that Guangyi was the son of the Prince of Langye. An imperial decree ordered that post-horses convey him to the capital, where he was granted an audience, consoled, and given lavish gifts, along with an edict to inherit his father's noble title. Guangyi earnestly declined, vowing that he wished only to be a monk, remaining resolute and unyielding. Emperor Zhongzong issued an edict permitting him to lead disciples, establish hermitage-āraṇyas at will, and freely propagate the teachings wherever he went. Guangyi by nature was fond of Mount Zhongnan, so he resided at Faxing Temple. At various valley mouths, he built huts and hermitage-āraṇyas in several tens of places, all because his reputation for the Way spread far and his discourses moved people. At times, when he traveled ten li through the mountains, monastics and lay attendants regularly numbered in the thousands or hundreds, greeting and waiting upon him even more than upon powerful ministers or state chancellors. Guangyi constantly dwelt in tranquil absorption; when he spoke of future events to determine good or bad fortune, he was never mistaken, and people turned to him all the more. On the twenty-third day of the sixth month of the twenty-third year of the Kaiyuan era, he first gave his final injunction to his disciples: "You should guard your body and speech carefully and do not engage in clamour. The intention of the ancestral masters holds no other matter: when still, the true Dharma appears before you. Any preaching beyond this is done out of necessity." His words were extremely earnest and impassioned. He then lay down with his head to the north, resting his head on his arm and lying on his right side, and passed away against his mat—this was an omen of the Great Parinirvāṇa. In his final instructions, he ordered that he be buried south of Shaoling Plain, so they excavated the plain to form a burial chamber and sealed it. When the bier set out, a rare fragrance was intensely sweet, and his appearance was as if alive. As the funeral carriage departed the city, several hundred white cranes cried out in the sky, and variegated clouds gathered softly, hovering over the carriage for several tens of li. Monastics and layfolk wept aloud, many wearing mourning garments. At the place where he was buried, Tianbao Temple was subsequently built, and his disciples all remained to guard it.