宋高僧傳 5.21

5.21

釋禮宗，俗姓宋，會稽人也。道氣酋壯，志求玄微，願遂出塵，決除鞅絆。聞長壽寺和尚通達禪觀，往叩其關，學習之心，未甞少懈。師誨之曰：「汝之出塵，有大利益，可謂良玉度尺，雖有十仞之土，不能揜其光矣。」乃奮藻攄華，注《涅槃經》，懷鉛握槧，周于二載。挫銳解紛，怡然理順，遂成夾注八十卷焉。及鄭卿尚書典郡，聞其盛名，致疏往請，確然拒而不赴。景龍二年，有御史大夫馮思忽爾暴終，入一處，有二童子持簿，領馮庭對判官廳，按覆罪愆，令望彼巨樹枝柯，可覆數畝。判官身旁舊識者張思義，招手呼馮曰：「吾是汝舅，曾為洛陽倉吏，被長官越格誣殺，兼假貸太平寺中錢及油麪，于今未脫。汝所坐者，不合於天后宮中亂越，致此暴卒。可發願造《涅槃經》，鑄鐘。」登即關奏，判放却還人世。臨行，張語馮曰：「在閻浮一日造功德，得福無量，胡忍一生不修功德耶？此《涅槃經》者，禮宗大師注解，從天台傳授，每有善神守護。」時張差押馮往諸司考校輕重生處，囑之曰：「汝去洛城道光坊內十字街第三宅是吾家。家有池亭竹樹，為問妻兒安否。」馮起，尋經本未獲，而又死。經三日，立限歸寫經鑄鐘工畢。馮在世得四十八年終。宗亡，春秋九十七焉。

Shi Lizong, whose secular surname was Song, was a native of Kuaiji. His spirit for the Way was robust and vigorous, and his aspiration sought the profound and subtle; wishing to fulfill his goal of leaving the dust of the world, he resolutely cast off his worldly fetters. Hearing that the abbot of Changshou Temple was thoroughly versed in dhyāna contemplation, he went to knock at his gate; his resolve to learn never slackened in the slightest. The master instructed him, saying: 'Your leaving of the dust will bring great benefit. You may indeed be called a fine jade measuring a full foot; though there be ten fathoms of soil, it cannot conceal its radiance.' He thereupon exerted his literary talent, writing a commentary on the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra; holding lead and wood tablets, he worked for a full two years. Blunting the sharpness and unraveling the entanglements, his mind was joyful and the principles flowed smoothly; he thus completed an interlinear commentary in eighty rolls. When Vice Director Zheng took charge of the commandery, he heard of his great renown and sent a letter to invite him, but Lizong firmly refused and did not go. In the second year of the Jinglong era, the Censor-in-Chief Feng Si suddenly died. He entered a place where two youths holding registers led Feng to the hall of the magistrate to face an interrogation, reviewing his transgressions. They ordered him to look at the boughs of a giant tree that could cover several mu. Beside the magistrate, an old acquaintance named Zhang Siyi waved his hand and called to Feng, saying: 'I am your uncle. I was once a granary clerk in Luoyang; I was framed and put to death outside the law by a superior officer, and I had also borrowed money, oil, and flour from Taiping Temple, which even now I have not discharged. The offense for which you are held is that you inappropriately committed disorderly offenses in the Heavenly Empress's palace, which brought about this sudden death. You should make a vow to copy the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra and cast a bell.' Thereupon, the magistrate reported this and passed judgment to release him back to the human world. As he was about to depart, Zhang said to Feng: 'Cultivating merit for a single day in Jambudvīpa brings boundless blessings; how can you bear not to cultivate merit throughout your life? This Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra is the one annotated by Master Lizong, transmitted from Mount Tiantai; good spirits constantly protect it.' At that time, Zhang dispatched someone to escort Feng to the various offices to examine the weight of his deeds and his place of rebirth, instructing him: 'When you go to the third residence at the crossroads within Daoguang Ward in Luoyang, that is my home. The house has a pond, a pavilion, bamboo, and trees; please ask whether my wife and children are well.' When Feng revived, he searched for a copy of the sūtra but could not obtain one, and died again. After three days, he was given a deadline to return; he finished the copying of the sūtra and casting of the bell. Feng lived in the world to the age of forty-eight before he died. When Lizong died, his age was ninety-seven.