宋高僧傳 9.28

9.28

釋道樹，姓聞氏，唐州人也。少以辯智，沈靜虛豁，耽嗜經籍，曾無少懈。其為人也，貞固足以幹事，隱括足以矯時。偶遇僧敦喻，遂誓出塵，自慨年近不惑，求法淹遲。禮本部明月山大光院惠文為授業，登即剃染。二年受具，乃觀方向道，天台、南岳，無所不遊。後迴東洛，遇秀宗裔，如芙蓉開，通達安靜。至壽州三峯，結茅而居。常有野人，服色朴素，言談異常，於言笑之外，化作佛形、仙形、菩薩、羅漢，或放神光，或呈聲響，如是涉一十年，學侶覩之，不測端緒，後皆寂爾。樹告眾曰：「野人作多色伎倆，眩惑於人。只消老僧不見不聞，伊伎倆有窮，吾不見不聞無盡。所謂『作偽心勞而日拙』，其自知之，卷羞懷拙而去，追無眹迹矣。」樹於寶曆初年示疾而終，報齡九十二。明年正月遷塔焉。

Shi Daoshu had the secular surname Wen and was a native of Tangzhou. In his youth, known for his eloquence and intelligence, he was calm, serene, empty, and open-minded, deeply devoted to the classical scriptures without the slightest laxity. In his character, his steadfastness was sufficient to manage affairs, and his self-restraint was sufficient to rectify the times. Happening to encounter a monk who earnestly exhorted him, he vowed to leave the dust of the world; lamenting that he was nearly forty and had delayed so long in seeking the Dharma, he paid homage to Huiwen of Daguang Courtyard on Mount Mingyue in his native prefecture as his teacher, and immediately shaved his head and donned monastic robes. In his second year, he received the full precepts; he then observed various traditions to seek the Dao, traveling everywhere through Tiantai and Nanyue. Later, returning to East Luoyang, he met the lineage of Master Shenxiu; like a lotus unfolding, his understanding became thorough and peaceful. Reaching Mount Sanfeng in Shouzhou, he built a thatched hut and lived there. A rustic man often appeared, wearing plain clothing and speaking strangely; beyond his talking and laughing, he would transform into the forms of Buddhas, immortals, bodhisattvas, and arhats, or emit divine light, or produce supernatural sounds. This went on for ten years; when fellow students saw it, they could not fathom its origins, but later all of it ceased. Shu told the assembly: "The rustic man performed many sorts of tricks to dazzle and confuse people. It merely took this old monk neither seeing nor hearing; his tricks had an end, but my neither seeing nor hearing has no end. As the saying goes, 'Practicing deceit exhausts the mind and grows clumsier day by day.' Knowing this himself, he rolled up his shame, hid his clumsiness, and left, leaving not a trace to pursue." In the early years of the Baoli era, Shu manifested illness and passed away at the age of ninety-two. In the first month of the following year, his stupa was relocated.