宋高僧傳 23.4

23.4

Shi Sengzang was a native of Xihe. In his youth he rose above the mundane; his vitality was abundant, his spirit pure, and he faithfully practiced docility and goodness, scrupulously remaining in a humble position. When he was blessed with the precepts and goodness, he secretly guarded his sense faculties and sense objects. Whenever he saw a shrine of benevolence, he invariably paid homage to it; whenever he encountered a person of eminent virtue, he paid full courtesy. If he met monks or laypeople bowing to him, he would bend down low and run away, as if avoiding a magistrate. When attending to community duties, he acted like an unordained monastery laborer, humbling himself like a bondservant. If he saw another person's worn clothes, he would secretly wash them and attend to sewing and mending them. In the sweltering heat of summer, he would take off his clothes and go into the thick grass, allowing mosquitoes, gnats, midges, and leeches to bite him; though stung, bitten, and bleeding, he endured it with sweat pouring forth. Meanwhile, he constantly recited the name of Amitābha Buddha, to an extent that even a skillful reckoner could not calculate the tally. With resolute will and a focused mind, he never slackened in the slightest. When he foreknew that his karmic retribution was exhausted, he said to the attendants caring for his illness, "This mountain monk is most fortunate: heavenly beings have come in succession to welcome me." Zang further said, "When I closed my eyes, I heard that I went to the Pure Land, where all the supreme good persons were gathered, scattering flowers; only now have I returned here—it is precisely the time to relinquish my life." Joining his palms and reciting the Buddha's name, he peacefully passed away.