神僧傳 9.31

9.31

僧延壽。字冲玄。總角誦法華經。五行俱下。六旬而畢。投四明翠巖禪師出家。衣無繒纊食無重味。復往參韶國師發明心要。甞謂曰。汝與元帥有緣。他日當大作佛事。惜吾不及見耳。初住天台智者巖。九旬習定。有鳥斥鷃巢於衣裓（苦得切）後於國清行法華懺。夜見神人持戟而入。師訶之曰。何得擅入。對曰。久積善業方到此中。夜半繞像見普賢前蓮花在手。遂上智者巖作二鬮。一曰一生禪定。二曰誦經萬善莊嚴淨土。乃冥心精禱得誦經萬善。乃至七度。於是一意專修淨業。振錫金華天柱峯誦經三載。禪觀中見觀音以甘露灌其口。遂獲辨才。初演法於雪竇。建隆元年忠懿王請住靈隱。二年遷永明。日課一百八事未甞暫廢。學者參問。指心為宗以悟為則。日暮往別峯行道念佛。旁人聞螺貝天樂之聲。忠懿王嘆曰。自古求西方者未有如此之專功也。乃為立西方香嚴殿以成其志。居永明十五年。弟子一千七百人。常與眾受菩薩戒。夜施鬼食晝放生命。皆悉回向莊嚴淨土。時人號為慈氏下生。開寶八年二月二十六日晨起焚香告眾加趺而化。

The monk Yanshou, courtesy name Chongxuan, recited the Lotus Sūtra when he was a boy with his hair in tufts, reading five lines at a glance, completing it in sixty days. He went to Chan Master Cuiyan of Siming to renounce household life. His robes had no silk or floss, and his food had no second flavor. Later he went to consult State Preceptor Shao, who illuminated the essentials of mind for him, and once said to him: "You have a karmic bond with the Commander-in-chief. Someday you will perform great Buddhist deeds. Sadly, I shall not live to see it." He first resided at Zhizhe Rock on Mount Tiantai. For ninety days he practiced meditation; a wren nested in the sleeve of his robe. Later, at Guoqing Monastery, he practiced the Lotus Repentance. At night he saw a divine being holding a halberd enter. The Master rebuked him: "How dare you enter unauthorized?" He replied: "Only because I have long accumulated good deeds have I reached this place." At midnight, while circumambulating the image, he saw a lotus flower in front of Samantabhadra come into his hand. Thereupon he went up to Zhizhe Rock and drew two lots: one was "A lifetime of Chan meditation," and the other was "Reciting scriptures, practicing all ten thousand goods, and adorning the Pure Land." Concentrating his mind in earnest prayer, he drew "Reciting scriptures and practicing all ten thousand goods," doing so up to seven times. Thereupon he wholeheartedly devoted himself to practicing the pure karma. Shaking his ringed staff, he went to Tianzhu Peak in Jinhua to recite scriptures for three years. In Chan contemplation, he saw Avalokiteśvara pouring sweet dew into his mouth, whereupon he attained eloquence. He first expounded the Dharma at Xuedou. In the first year of Jianlong, King Zhongyi invited him to reside at Lingyin. In the second year, he moved to Yongming. His daily regimen comprised one hundred and eight practices, never neglected for a moment. When students came to consult him, he pointed to the mind as the fundamental tenet and took awakening as the standard. At sunset he went to another peak to practice circumambulation and mindfulness of the Buddha. People nearby heard the sounds of conch shells and heavenly music. King Zhongyi sighed: "Since ancient times, among those who seek the Western paradise, there has never been one with such concentrated effort!" He therefore erected the Western Xiangyan Hall for him to fulfill his aspiration. Residing at Yongming for fifteen years, he had one thousand seven hundred disciples. He frequently administered the bodhisattva precepts to the assembly, gave food to ghosts by night, and released living beings by day, dedicating all of it to adorning the Pure Land. People of the time called him an incarnation of Maitreya. On the twenty-sixth day of the second month in the eighth year of Kaibao, he rose in the morning, burned incense, announced his departure to the assembly, sat cross-legged, and passed away.