神僧傳 2.14

2.14

釋慧遠。本姓賈氏。雁門樓煩人也。弱而好書。年十三隨舅令狐氏遊學許洛。故少為諸生。博綜六經尤善莊老。性度弘偉風鑒朗拔。雖宿儒英達莫不服其深致。年二十一欲渡江東就范宣子共契。值石虎已死中原𡨥亂南路阻塞。志不獲從。時沙門釋道安立寺於太行恒山。弘讚像法聲甚著聞。遠遂往歸之。一面盡敬以為真吾師也。後聞安講般若經。豁然而悟。便與弟慧持投簪落䰂（音采）委命受業。既入乎道厲然不群。常欲總攝綱維以大法為己任。精思諷持以夜續晝。貧旅無資縕纊常闕。而昆弟恪恭終始不懈。有沙門曇翼。每給以燈燭之費。安公聞而喜曰。道士誠知人矣。年二十四便就講說。嘗有客聽講難實相義。往復移時彌增疑昧。遠乃引莊子義為連類。於惑者曉然。是後安公特聽慧遠不廢俗書。安有弟子法遇曇徵。皆風才照灼志業清敏。並推服焉。後隨安公南遊樊沔。偽秦建元九年。秦將符平。𡨥并襄陽。道安為朱序所拘不能得去。乃分遣徒眾各隨所之。皆被誨約。遠不蒙一言。遠乃跪曰。獨無訓勗懼非人例。安曰。如汝者豈復相憂。遠於是與弟子數十人。南適荊州住上明寺。後欲往羅浮山。及屆潯陽見廬峯清淨足以息心。始住龍泉精舍。此處去水本遠。遠乃以杖叩地曰。若此中可得栖立。當使朽壤抽泉。言畢清流涌出浚矣成溪。其後少時潯陽亢旱。遠詣池側讀海龍王經。忽有巨蛇從池上空。須臾大雨。遂以有年。因號精舍為龍泉寺焉。陶侃經鎮廣州。有漁人於海中見神光。每夕艶發經旬彌盛。怪以白侃侃往詳視。乃是阿育王像。即接歸以送武昌寒溪寺。寺主僧珍嘗往夏口。夜夢寺遭火。而此像屋獨有龍神圍繞。珍覺馳還寺。寺既焚盡。唯像屋存焉。侃後移鎮。以像有威靈遣使迎接。數十人輿之至水。及上船船又覆沒。使者懼而反之竟不能獲。及遠創寺既成祈心奉謂乃飄然自輕。往還無梗於是率眾行道。昏曉不絕。釋迦餘化於斯復興。自遠卜居廬阜三十餘年影不出山迹不入俗。每送客遊履常以虎溪為界。以晉義熙十二年八月初卒。春秋八十三。

Shi Huiyuan's original surname was Jia. He was a native of Loufan in Yanmen. From childhood he was fond of books. At the age of thirteen, he accompanied his maternal uncle of the Linghu clan to study in Xuchang and Luoyang, and thus in his youth became a classicist scholar, broadly mastering the Six Classics and being especially adept in Zhuangzi and Laozi. His natural disposition was grand and broad, and his discernment and bearing were clear and outstanding; even veteran scholars and prominent talents all submitted to his profound insight. At the age of twenty-one, wishing to cross east of the Yangtze to join with Fan Xuanzi in study, he met with the death of Shi Hu and the turmoil of bandits in the Central Plains; the southern routes were blocked, and his intention could not be realized. At that time, the śramaṇa Shi Dao'an had established a monastery at Mount Heng in the Taihang range, broadly propagating the semblance Dharma, and his fame was exceedingly prominent. Yuan thereupon went to take refuge with him; at their first meeting he paid utmost reverence, considering him truly to be his teacher. Later, hearing Dao'an lecture on the Prajñā-sūtra, he had an awakening and, together with his younger brother Huichi, cast aside his hairpin, shaved his head, and entrusted his life to receive instruction. Once he had entered the Way, he was austere and stood out from the crowd, always wishing to take charge of the overarching guidelines and making the Great Dharma his personal responsibility. Reflecting deeply and reciting with devotion, he continued through the night into the day. Traveling in poverty without provisions, he was constantly lacking in padded clothing; yet the brothers were respectful and diligent, unflagging from beginning to end. There was a śramaṇa named Tanyi who frequently provided him with the expense for lamps and candles. Master Dao'an, hearing of this, was pleased and said, 'The gentleman of the Way truly knows people.' At the age of twenty-four, he began to give lectures. A guest listening to a lecture once raised an objection concerning the meaning of true reality; they went back and forth for a long time, only increasing doubt and obscurity. Yuan then cited the meaning in the Zhuangzi to make an analogy, and the matter became clear to the perplexed listener. After this, Master Dao'an specially permitted Huiyuan not to abandon secular texts. Dao'an had disciples named Fayu and Tancheng, both of whom possessed brilliant talent and a pure, keen commitment to their pursuits; both admired and deferred to him. Later, he followed Master Dao'an on a journey south to Fan and Mian. In the ninth year of Jianyuan of the illegitimate Qin, the Qin general Fu Ping invaded and annexed Xiangyang. Dao'an was detained by Zhu Xu and could not leave; he therefore dispatched his disciples in various directions according to their destinations, giving instructions to all of them. Yuan alone did not receive a single word. Yuan then knelt and said, 'I alone have received no instruction or encouragement; I fear I am not counted among human beings.' Dao'an said, 'For someone like you, how could I worry?' Yuan thereupon went south to Jingzhou with several tens of disciples and stayed at Shangming Monastery. Later, wishing to go to Mount Luofu, when he reached Xunyang he saw that the peak of Mount Lu was pure and tranquil, sufficient to calm the mind, and first stayed at the Longquan Vihāra. This place was originally far from water, so Yuan struck the ground with his staff and said, 'If this place can be a dwelling, let a spring burst forth from the decaying earth.' When he finished speaking, a clear stream welled up and flowed deep to form a creek. A short time later, Xunyang suffered a severe drought; Yuan went to the side of the pool and read the Sāgara-nāgarāja-sūtra. Suddenly, a giant serpent flew up from the pool into the sky, and in a moment a great rain fell, resulting in an abundant harvest. The vihāra was therefore named Longquan Monastery. When Tao Kan was stationed in Guangzhou, a fisherman saw a divine light in the sea; every evening it shone brightly, growing ever more brilliant over ten days. Wondering at this, he reported it to Kan. Kan went to look closely and found it was an image of King Aśoka; he immediately brought it back and sent it to Hanxi Monastery in Wuchang. The abbot of the monastery, Sengzhen, once went to Xiakou and dreamed at night that the monastery caught fire, yet this image hall alone was surrounded by dragons and spirits. Awakening, Zhen rushed back to the monastery; the monastery had burned down completely, with only the image hall remaining. Later, when Kan moved his command, because the image possessed awe-inspiring spiritual power, he sent an emissary to receive it. Several tens of people carried it to the water, but as soon as it was placed on the boat, the boat capsized; the emissary was terrified, returned it, and in the end could not secure it. When Yuan founded his monastery and it was completed, he prayed with sincere devotion to welcome it, whereupon it became light and buoyant, traveling back and forth without hindrance. Thereupon, he led the assembly in practicing the Way, unceasing day and night. The remaining teaching of Śākyamuni was revived here. From the time Yuan chose to dwell on Mount Lu for more than thirty years, his shadow never left the mountain and his footsteps never entered worldly places. Whenever he saw guests off on their walk, he always took Tiger Creek as the boundary. In the beginning of the eighth month in the twelfth year of Yixi of the Jin dynasty, he died at the age of eighty-three.