神僧傳 3.28

3.28

沙門寶公者。嵩山高棲士也。旦從林慮向白鹿山。因迷失道。日將隅中。忽聞鐘聲。尋響而進。巖岫重阻登陟而趨。乃見一寺。獨據深林三門正南赫奕輝煥。前至門所。看額云靈隱之寺。門外五六犬。其大如牛。白毛黑啄或踴或臥。迴眸盻寶。寶怖將返。須臾見胡僧外來。寶喚不應。亦不迴。顧直入門內犬亦隨。入良久寶見。人漸次入。門屋宇四周房門並。閉進至講堂唯見床榻高座儼然。寶入西南隅床上坐。久之忽聞東間有聲。仰視見開孔如井大比丘前後從孔飛下。遂至五六十人。依位坐訖自相借問。今日齋時何處食來。或言豫章成都長安隴右薊北嶺南五天竺等。無處不至。動即千萬餘里。末後一僧從空而下。諸人競問。來何太遲。答曰。今日相州城東彼岸寺鑒禪師講會。各各竪義。有一後生聰俊難問。詞音鋒起殊為可觀。不覺遂晚。寶本事鑒為和尚。既聞此語望得參話。因整衣而起白諸僧曰。鑒是寶和尚。諸僧直視寶。頃之已失靈隱寺所在。寶但獨坐於柞木之下。一無所見。唯覩巖谷。禽鳥翔集喧亂。及出山以問尚統法師。尚曰。此寺石趙時佛圖澄法師所造。年歲久遠賢聖居之。非凡所住。或沈或隱遷徙無定。今山行者猶聞鍾聲。

The śramaṇa Master Bao was a recluse of high virtue on Mount Song. One morning, he set out from Linlü toward Mount Bailu. Because he lost his way, when the sun was nearing midday, he suddenly heard the sound of a bell. Following the sound, he advanced. The crags and ridges were multiple obstacles, but he climbed and hurried on, and then saw a monastery. Standing alone deep in the forest, its three gates faced directly south, magnificent and resplendent. Approaching the gates, he looked at the plaque, which read 'Lingyin Monastery'. Outside the gates were five or six dogs as large as oxen, with white fur and black muzzles, some leaping, some lying down, turning their eyes to look at Bao. Bao was frightened and about to turn back. In a moment, he saw a foreign monk coming from outside. Bao called out to him, but he did not answer, nor did he look back, walking straight inside the gate, and the dogs followed him inside. After a long while, Bao saw people gradually entering. The buildings were surrounded on all four sides, and the doors of the rooms were all closed. Proceeding to the lecture hall, he saw only couches and a high seat, solemn and imposing. Bao entered the southwest corner and sat on a couch. After a long time, he suddenly heard a sound from the eastern chamber. Looking up, he saw an opening the size of a well, and great bhikṣus flew down from the opening one after another, reaching fifty or sixty men. Having taken their seats according to rank, they asked one another: 'Where did you eat today during the fasting meal?' Some said Yuzhang, Chengdu, Chang'an, Longyou, Jibei, Lingnan, or the Five Indias, and so forth; there was nowhere they had not gone, traveling over ten million li at a move. The last monk flew down from the sky. The others vied to ask: 'Why did you come so late?' He replied: 'Today at Bi'an Monastery east of the city of Xiang Prefecture, Dhyāna Master Jian held a lecture assembly. Each propounded their doctrines. There was a young man of bright intellect who raised difficult questions; his words and voice clashed like sharp blades, exceptionally worth seeing. Without realizing it, it became late.' Bao had originally served Jian as his upādhyāya. Having heard these words, he hoped to join the conversation. Thereupon, he adjusted his robes, stood up, and said to the monks: 'Jian is my upādhyāya.' The monks looked straight at Bao. In an instant, the location of Lingyin Monastery was lost. Bao was merely sitting alone beneath an oak tree; he saw nothing at all, beholding only crags and valleys, with birds soaring, gathering, and chirping in confusion. When he emerged from the mountain, he asked Dharma Master Shangtong. Shang said: 'This monastery was built during the Shi Zhao dynasty by Dharma Master Fotudeng. After a long period of years, sages and worthies dwell there; it is not a place for ordinary people. Sometimes it sinks, sometimes it hides, shifting without fixed location. Even now, travelers in the mountains still hear the sound of the bell.'