宋高僧傳 27.32

27.32

釋宗亮，姓馮氏，奉化人也。家傍月山而居，後稱月僧焉。亮開成中剃落納法，方事毘尼，循于四儀，且無遺行。而云我生不辰，屬會昌之難，便隱家山深巖洞穴。大中再造國寧寺，徵選清高者隸名，亮預住持。建州太守李頻為寺碑云：「於清心行不污者，得二十八人，以補其員。廣住持也，律僧宗亮，禪僧全祐而已。」國寧經藏，載加繕寫，躬求正本，選紙墨，鳩聚嚫施，建造三門藏院諸功德廊宇，皆亮之力焉。晚年專事禪寂，不出寺門。處士方干贈詩云：「秋水一泓常見底，㵎松千尺不生枝。空門學佛知多少，剃盡心華只有師。」終于本寺，春秋八十。亮恒與沙門貫霜、棲悟、不吟數十人，皆秉執清奇，好迭為文會，結林下之交。撰〈嶽林寺碑〉、詩集三百許首，讚頌並行于代。而於福、敬二田，銳心彌厚焉。亮為江東生羅隱追慕。樂安孫郃最加肯重，著《四明郡才名志》，序諸儒駿士外，獨云：「釋宗亮多為文士先達倣仰焉。」

Śramaṇa Zongliang, whose surname was Feng, was a native of Fenghua. His family dwelt near Mount Yue, and he was later called the "Moon Monk." During the Kaicheng era, Liang shaved his head and took the monastic vows. He then devoted himself to the vinaya, complying with the four deportments, and his conduct was without fault. He would say, "I was not born under an auspicious star, for I met with the disaster of the Huichang [persecution]"; he then hid in the deep crags and caverns of his home mountains. When Guoning Temple was re-established in the Dazhong era, pure and lofty individuals were selected to be registered, and Liang was among the abbots. Li Pin, the prefect of Jianzhou, wrote in a stele inscription for the temple: "Among those whose minds were pure and whose conduct was unstained, twenty-eight persons were obtained to fill the quota. As for broadly managing the monastery, there were only the vinaya monk Zongliang and the Chan monk Quanyou." The Guoning scripture collection was subsequently transcribed again; he personally sought authentic editions, selected paper and ink, gathered donations, and built the three gates, the repository cloister, and various meritorious corridors and halls—all through Liang's efforts. In his later years, he devoted himself exclusively to Chan contemplation and never stepped outside the temple gates. The retired scholar Fang Gan presented him with a poem, which said:

'A pool of autumn water always shows its bottom;
A mountain-torrent pine of a thousand feet sprouts no branches.
How many study the Buddha in the Emptiness Gate?
He who has completely shaved the flowers of the mind is only you, Master.'

He died at his temple at the age of eighty. Liang constantly met with the śramaṇas Guanshuang, Qiwu, Buying, and dozens of others, all of whom maintained pure and remarkable conduct, enjoyed gathering in turns for literary assemblies, and formed friendships among the groves. He composed the 'Stele of Yuelin Temple', and his collection of around three hundred poems along with praises and encomia circulated widely in his day. Toward both fields of merit and respect, his earnest mind grew ever more profound. Liang was greatly admired by Luo Yin, a scholar of Jiangdong. Sun He of Le'an esteemed him most deeply; when composing the *Record of Talents and Fame of Siming Commandery*, beyond introducing various Confucian scholars and noble men, he specifically wrote: "Śramaṇa Zongliang was widely emulated and looked up to by literary scholars and senior worthies."