宋高僧傳 27.21

27.21

釋惟則者，拔俗志高，栖神物表，凡施善務，舉則波隨。常言：「像，是生善之強緣，不得不多立。初之觀也，如對嚴君。次則其心不亂，中則觀門自成。末則如如焉，蕩蕩焉，三昧安得不現前乎？是以我曹勸化迷俗，得不以此是為先容歟？」由是若雕若塑，形像森然。恒事進修，天邑之間，偏加激勵。屬憲宗太皇太后郭氏元和中為母齊國大長公主追福，造奉慈精舍，搜擇名德，則乃預選入居。未久之間，聞四明鄮山有阿育王塔，東晉劉薩訶求現，往專禮焉。乃匠意將七寶為末，用膠範成摹寫脫，酷似。自甬東躬自負歸奉慈寺供養，京邑人皆傾瞻歸信焉。

Shi Weize rose above worldly customs with lofty resolve, resting his spirit beyond material things; whenever he undertook wholesome works, people followed him like waves. He often said, "Images are a potent condition for engendering goodness, and one must set up many of them. At the initial contemplation, it is like facing an austere lord. Next, one's mind is not distracted; midway, the contemplation gate forms naturally. Finally, it is like suchness itself, vast and boundless—how could samādhi fail to appear before one? Therefore, when our sort exhorts and transforms the deluded populace, how could we not use this as the primary guide?" Consequently, whether carved or sculpted, statues stood arrayed like a forest. He constantly engaged in cultivation and advancement, giving special encouragement throughout the imperial capital. During the Yuanhe era, when the Grand Empress Dowager Guo of Emperor Xianzong sought to dedicate blessings for her mother, the Senior Grand Princess of Qi, by building the Fengci Monastic Abode, she searched for and selected those of renowned virtue; Ze was among those selected to dwell there. Before long, he heard that on Mount Mao in Siming there was a King Aśoka stūpa, which Liu Sahe of the Eastern Jin had sought and brought to light, and he went specifically to pay homage to it. With craftsman's ingenuity, he ground the seven treasures into powder and used lacquer and moulds to cast a reproduction, making it an exact likeness. Carrying it on his own back from Yongdong, he returned to Fengci Temple to make offerings to it; the people of the capital all looked up to it and took refuge with faith.