神僧傳 4.21

4.21

釋僧林。吳人。深有德素行能動物。梁大同中上蜀。至潼州城西北百四十里有豆圖山。上有神祠。土民敬之。每往祭謁。林往居之。禪默累日。忽有大蟒。縈繩床前。舉頭如揖讓者。林為授三歸。受已便去。自爾安帖卒無災異。其山北涪水之陽素來無猿。自林棲托已來便有兩頭。依林而住。有初見者云度水來。及後林出山門。猿還泅渡。如此非一。年月淹久孚乳產生。乃有數十。有時送林至龍門口。竚望而返。後住赤水巖故寺中。屋宇並摧止有叢林。便即露坐。有虎蹲於林前低目視林。乃為說法。良久便去。爾後孤遊雄悍不避惡獸。常行仁濟感化極多。末卒于潼郡。

Shi Senglin was a native of Wu. Profoundly virtuous in nature, his pure conduct could move living beings. During the Datong reign era of the Liang, he went up to Shu. One hundred and forty li northwest of Tongzhou City, there was Mount Doutu, on which was a spirit shrine. The local people venerated it and always went there to sacrifice and pay respects. Lin went to live there, sitting silently in meditation for days on end. Suddenly, a large python coiled itself before his rope bed, raising its head as if bowing in deference. Lin conferred the three refuges upon it; having received them, it departed. From then on, all was peaceful and settled, and there were no calamities or anomalies. In the sunlit land north of that mountain by the Fu River, there had never been monkeys. Ever since Lin took shelter there, two monkeys came to rely on Lin and reside there. Some who first saw them said they came swimming across the water. Later, whenever Lin stepped out of the mountain gate, the monkeys again swam across; this happened many times. After a long passage of years and months, they bred and gave birth, numbering several tens. At times they escorted Lin to the Longmen crossing, gazing after him before returning. Later, he lived in an old monastery at Chishui Cliff. Its buildings were all ruined, with only thickets and woods remaining; he then sat in the open. A tiger crouched before the trees, looking down at Lin. He thereupon preached the Dharma to it; after a long while, it left. Thereafter, he traveled alone through rugged wilderness without avoiding fierce beasts, constantly practicing benevolence and rescue, bringing about immense conversion. At the end, he passed away in the commandery of Tong.