宋高僧傳 8.29

8.29

釋慧朗，新定遂安人也。年二十有二，於衢州北山遇南宗頓教之首，將請為師，乃逆相謂曰：「汝久積淨業，吾非汝師，可往天台，當逢哲匠。」至剡溪石城寺見一禪翁，莫知其來，鶴髮氷膚，目如流電，聲含鍾律，神合太虛。乃問朗曰：「子將何之？」答曰：「欲往天台，求佛大法。」因同行十數里，憩林樹下，而指訓之曰：「法常寂然，彼亦如也。何必適遠，當化有緣，宜歸本生，度無量眾。」言畢，求之無方，豁然本心悟佛知見，林棲谷飲，凡經數載，乃却歸故邑慧安寺。淨名白衣，服非法服；純陀工巧，心如佛心。驪珠尚潛，師子未吼，弱喪之終，涉川迷津。一日，秦望山林嶺振動，俄有大龜呈質，咸相謂言：「此何祥也？」尋有禪僧曰：「𧦬自會稽雲門而來，身長八尺四寸，高鼻大目，睛光射人，明《大品》、《思益》、《維摩》等經，兼博通諸論。」眾曰：「神僧也，大龜應乎此也。」朗祕菩薩行，請之為師。𧦬徵《維摩經》義，答曰：「如日照螢火，海沃牛跡耳。」𧦬公深器之曰：「真淨名也。」景龍中，鄉人吳川縣尉余少興、宗黨新昌縣令余仁等十數家咸共宗事，遞請降臨。一夕，忽覩神光從項而出，旁燭山川，盈十數里，含情之類罔不歸依。𧦬公加師資之禮，由茲反拜，請朗登座。乃先示法身遍同群有，次明遍化一切皆如。道俗欣然而各歎曰：「昔山之震動，龜之斆祥，非𧦬公之應，明矣。」至是四方學禪觀者臻萃。開元四年，本州牧李思絢於龍山之陽建伽藍，延以居之。方大設戒壇，廣邀律德，有光州岸公、會稽超公而為上首。既而發希有心，受具足戒，珠圓月滿，內外俱明，遍臨壇為戒師，旋請益為學士，眾情加重，道在益尊。七年，刺史韋利器深心歸向。八年，歙州長史許思恭請往治所。朗升法座，無何熊伏于前，聞鐘而來，眾散而去。時皆驚懼，虞其搏攫。原其有聽法之心耳，其馴猛獸也若此。十三年九月二十一日，告門人曰：「吾將去矣。吾三生此州，今一生矣。」言訖，儼然而寂，春秋六十四。稟遺命茶毘建塔。學者既多頴脫，則開元寺道飲、慧祐、道禪、龍興寺𧦬海、寧國寺進玉、越州寶林寺有沛、遠整、杭州竹林寺一行等，並傳朗之法，相繼若瓜瓞然。至大曆十二年，新定太守蕭定述碑，司馬劉長卿書，刺史李揆篆額，所謂俱是名公，盛誇全美者矣。

Shi Huilang was a native of Sui'an in Xinding. At the age of twenty-two, he met the leader of the Southern school's sudden teaching on the North Mountain of Quzhou. When he was about to ask him to be his master, the leader anticipated him, saying: 'You have long accumulated pure deeds. I am not your master; you may go to Tiantai, where you will meet a discerning master.' When he arrived at Shicheng Temple on Shan Stream, he saw an old dhyāna master whose origin was unknown, with crane-white hair and ice-clear skin, eyes flashing like lightning, a voice resonant with bell-like pitch, and a spirit joined with the great void. He asked Lang, 'Where are you going?' He replied, 'I wish to go to Tiantai to seek the great Dharma of the Buddha.' They then walked together for more than ten li and rested beneath a grove of trees. The old man pointed and instructed him, saying: 'The Dharma is constantly tranquil, and that other is also thus. Why must you journey far? You should transform those with whom you have karmic affinity; you ought to return to your place of birth and deliver measureless multitudes.' When he finished speaking, Lang sought him in vain, and his original mind was suddenly opened to awaken to the Buddha's knowledge and vision. Dwelling in the forest and drinking from valleys, he spent several years, and then returned to his native district's Hui'an Temple. Like Vimalakīrti in white robes, he wore clothes that were not Dharma robes; like Cunda the artisan, his mind was like the Buddha's mind. The black dragon's jewel was still hidden, and the lion had not yet roared; like one who was long lost in estrangement, he was crossing the river without finding the ferry. One day, the mountain forests and ridges of Mount Qinwang shook, and soon a giant turtle showed its form. Everyone said to one another, 'What portent is this?' Soon a dhyāna monk said, 'Yong has come from Yunmen in Kuaiji. He is eight chi and four cun tall, with a high nose and large eyes, his gaze penetrating people. He is illumined in the scriptures such as the Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā-prajñāpāramitā, Viśeṣacintā-brahma-paripṛcchā, and Vimalakīrti, and is broadly conversant with the treatises.' The multitude said, 'He is a divine monk; the giant turtle corresponded to him.' Lang concealed his bodhisattva practice and invited him to be his master. Yong examined him on the meaning of the Vimalakīrti-sūtra, and Lang replied, 'It is like the sun illuminating a firefly, or the ocean overflowing an ox's footprint.' Master Yong held him in deep esteem, saying, 'A true Vimalakīrti!' During the Jinglong era, the local fellow villager Yu Shaoxing, defender of Wuchuan County, and clan member Yu Ren, magistrate of Xinchang County, together with over ten households, revered and served him, taking turns inviting him to visit. One evening, a divine light was suddenly seen issuing from the nape of his neck, illuminating the surrounding mountains and rivers for more than ten li, and all sentient beings took refuge. Master Yong added the etiquette of master and disciple, thereby bowing in reverse, and requested Lang to ascend the seat. Lang first indicated that the Dharmakāya pervades all beings, and then clarified that universal transformation is entirely as such. Monastics and laypeople were delighted, and each sighed, saying, 'In the past, the mountain's shaking and the turtle's showing of an auspicious omen were not responses to Master Yong; this is clear now.' From then on, those from the four quarters who studied dhyāna contemplation gathered in crowds. In the fourth year of Kaiyuan, the prefect Li Sixuan built a monastery on the sunny side of Mount Long and invited him to dwell there. Just then, a grand ordination platform was erected, and vinaya virtues were widely invited, with Master An of Guangzhou and Master Chao of Kuaiji acting as leaders. Lang then gave rise to the rare mind and received the full upasampadā precepts; like a round pearl and full moon, he was bright within and without. Everywhere he went, he served as a precept master at the platform, and soon students came seeking instruction. The regard of the multitude increased, and where the Way was, it was all the more revered. In the seventh year, the prefect Wei Liqi took refuge with deep devotion. In the eighth year, the aide-de-camp of Shezhou, Xu Sigong, invited him to his seat of administration. When Lang ascended the Dharma seat, before long a bear crouched before him, coming at the sound of the bell and leaving when the assembly dispersed. People were terrified, fearing its pouncing claws, but in truth it had the intention to hear the Dharma; his taming of fierce beasts was like this. On the twenty-first day of the ninth month of the thirteenth year, he told his disciples, 'I am about to depart. I have lived three lifetimes in this prefecture; this is now the final one.' Having spoken, he entered quiescence with composure, at the age of sixty-four. Complying with his final instructions, they cremated him and erected a pagoda. As his students were numerous and preeminent, Daoyin, Huiyou, and Daochan of Kaiyuan Temple, Yonghai of Longxing Temple, Jinyu of Ningguo Temple, Youpei and Yuanzheng of Baolin Temple in Yuezhou, and Yixing of Zhulin Temple in Hangzhou all transmitted Lang's Dharma, succeeding one another like gourds on a vine. In the twelfth year of Dali, Xiao Ding, governor of Xinding, composed the stele inscription, Vice-Prefect Liu Changqing wrote it in calligraphy, and Prefect Li Kui wrote the seal title; as they were all renowned gentlemen, they lavishly praised his complete excellence.