大明高僧傳 4.4

4.4

釋明龍淮南宿遷姚氏子也。俗諱東陽。甞補邑庠諸生。居常好修嗜內典。二十年不問家人產。雅從善知識遊隆慶改元。澹然為居士。而北探諸名勝巨剎訪有道耆德。寓清苑越三寒暑。登銀山法華寺從大光和尚祝髮進具。尋居羊山秀峯庵。名德日起。鶉衣一衲不裓不襦不履諸陵。中貴人多檀施弗之顧安七十二眾期千日。親為說法闡三教宗旨。時休寧汪司馬道昆奉。

Shi Minglong was a son of the Yao family of Suqian in Huainan. His secular taboo name was Dongyang. He had previously been appointed as a student of the county school. In daily life he loved cultivation and was fond of inner scriptures, not inquiring into his family's property for twenty years. He was refined in associating with good spiritual friends. In the first year of Longqing, he remained unattached as a lay devotee and explored the famous sights and great monasteries in the north to visit virtuous elders endowed with the Dao. He lodged in Qingyuan for three winters and summers. He ascended Fahua Temple on Mount Yin, where he shaved his hair and received the full ordination under Venerable Daguang. Soon after, he resided at Xiufeng Hermitage on Mount Yang; his renown and virtue daily rose. Wearing a single tattered patch-robe, he wore neither inner garments, nor padded jackets, nor shoes to the imperial tombs. Nobles and eunuchs offered many alms, but he paid no regard to them. He provided settlement for seventy-two followers for a period of one thousand days, personally expounding the Dharma for them to elucidate the essential purports of the Three Teachings. At that time, Vice Minister of War Wang Daokun of Xiuning, having received