宋高僧傳 30.6

30.6

Śramaṇa Guangxiu, whose secular surname was Liu, was a native of Xiakun in Dongyang. With a pure character and upright clarity, he early entered the gate of Master Sui, thoroughly examining the traces of the teachings, and students gathered around him like clouds. Daily he recited the Lotus Sūtra, the Vimalakīrti, the Suvarṇaprabhāsa, the Fanwang, and the Sifen jieben. During the six periods of the day, he practiced the Way without rest, becoming even more devoted as the years passed. Every year he practiced the repentance ritual for seven weeks, which was the fourth samādhi of following one's own intent. In the third year of the Kaicheng era, the monk Enzai from Japan came in person to request the Dharma. Wei Heng, the governor of Taizhou, invited him to lecture on Śamatha-vipaśyanā in the commandery hall. On the sixteenth day of the second month of the guihai year, the third year of the Huichang era, he passed away at his home temple of Shanlin, with a worldly age of seventy-three and a dharma age of fifty-two. His spirit was moved to the Jindi Bodhimanda, and the Dharma was entrusted to his disciple Wuwai. In the seventh year of the Xiantong era, his disciple Liangwen opened the grave and cremated him, washing and collecting more than a thousand grains of śarīra, which were sealed and stored within duplicate stupas. There was also Śramaṇa Gaoxian of Kaiyuan Temple in Huzhou, originally a native of Wucheng. In his youth he was outstanding, revealing extraordinary talent in his conduct. After receiving the Dharma, he showed resolute determination toward his neighbors, wearing down his body through arduous study, never being the least bit indolent. Later he entered Chang'an, where at temples such as Jianfu and Ximing he devoted himself to studying the scriptures and the vinaya, excelling in lecture and recitation. When Emperor Xuanzong revived the Buddhist Dharma, he summoned him to face the imperial presence and write cursive script as a master; he was thereupon granted a purple robe and was further invited to attend the purificatory repentance ordination platform, holding the title of 'Great Virtue of the Ten Prospects.' By nature, he had lofty integrity and steadfast principles, towering and difficult to bend. In his old age, thinking of returning to his hometown, he passed away at his home temple. His disciple Jianzong was imperially appointed as the Supreme Great Master, and also acquired Gaoxian's calligraphic technique. Gaoxian often liked to write in regular and cursive scripts on white ramie cloth from the Zha River, offering it to others as a model for their study.