宋高僧傳 28.10

28.10

釋智朗，姓黃氏，單州城武人也。母劉氏夢數桑門圓坐為劉說法，歷然在耳，遂妊朗焉！及生暨長，婉有僧之習氣，淳靖簡潔。苦辭親出家，往曹州扈通院，事行滿師，供給惟謹。洎乎剃染成大比丘，學《四分律》、《淨名經》，俱登閫閾。且曰：「出俗之者何滯方守株，不能脫羈解絆乎？於廣博知見無所堪能。」乃携缾鉢，南極衡陽，登嶽棲般若寺，行胎息術，而覽藏經事訖，入閩嶺，曾無伴侶，形影相弔。逢猛獸者數四，皆欲呀口垂噬，又躡步徐去矣。見洞山、雪峯二祖師決了禪訓。有請問者，隨答如飛，蓋了達無絓矣！後旋本院，信向如歸。而四事供僧，罔聞閒隙，四十餘齡，役己無倦。以晉末丁未歲十一月二十三日遷滅。于時白衣飲痛，緇流茹傷，獸失猛以哀噑，鳥停飛而宛轉。或曰：「愛河苦海誰拯溺邪？」春秋七十七，法臘五十三。火葬，收舍利，起塔于院。朗為釋子，衣物誓不經女人之手浣濯，不役徒弟。檀施之物像寶未省互用，蓋以初律後禪，陶冶神用之故也。大名府少尹李鉉為碑焉。

Shi Zhilang, whose secular surname was Huang, was a native of Chengwu in Shanzhou. His mother, Lady Liu, dreamed of several monks sitting in a circle expounding the Dharma for her, their voices ringing clearly in her ears; thereupon she became pregnant with Lang. When he was born and grew up, he naturally possessed the habits of a monk, remaining pure, tranquil, and simple. He earnestly took leave of his parents to enter the monastic life, went to Hutong Cloister in Caozhou, served Master Xingman, and provided for him with the utmost reverence. When he was tonsured and became a fully ordained monk, he studied the Four-Part Vinaya and the Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa-sūtra, mastering both domains. He then said: 'Why should one who has renounced the secular world be bogged down in one direction and guard a tree stump, unable to break free of halters and chains? One would be incapable of broad knowledge and vision.' He then took up his bottle and bowl, traveled south to Hengyang, ascended the peak, and lodged at Prajñā Temple. He practiced the art of embryonic respiration, and having completed his reading of the Tripiṭaka, he entered the mountains of Min with no companion, keeping company only with his own shadow. Several times he encountered ferocious beasts, all about to bare their fangs and swallow him, but they then walked away with slow steps. He met the two ancestral masters, Dongshan and Xuefeng, and thoroughly resolved the teachings of Chan. Whenever anyone inquired, his answers flew forth without hesitation, for his comprehension was unobstructed. Later he returned to his home cloister, where people turned to him with faith like returning home. He served the monks with the four provisions without ever resting; for more than forty years, he toiled without weariness. He passed away on the twenty-third day of the eleventh month in the dingwei year at the end of the Jin (947). At that time, laypeople swallowed their grief and monastics wept with sorrow; beasts lost their ferocity and wailed, and birds halted their flight and wheeled in distress. Some said: 'Who will rescue those drowning in the river of craving and the ocean of suffering?' His age was seventy-seven, and his dharma age was fifty-three. He was cremated, his śarīra were collected, and a stupa was erected at the cloister. As a disciple of the Buddha, Lang vowed that his clothes would never be washed by a woman's hands, and he never put his disciples to labor. The funds, images, and treasures given by donors were never interchanged, because he first practiced the Vinaya and then Chan, refining his spiritual function. Li Xuan, Junior Vice Governor of Daming Prefecture, composed the stele inscription for him.