神僧傳 4.23

4.23

Shi Huiyue, styled Desu, had the secular surname Lou. He was a native of Wushang in Dongyang. His ancestors for generations had been an official family in the southeast. A diviner of their ancestral graveyard once said, "In later generations there will be one who attains the Way through ascetic practice and becomes a preceptor to emperors." His mother, née Liu, dreamt of a tall man holding a golden statue and bidding her swallow it; she also saw purple light encircling her body. Thereupon she became pregnant, and at once felt her spirits clear and energetic, and her understanding of principles bright and penetrating. On the day he was born, light and fragrance filled the room, and his body was as white as snow. His secular folks on this account named him Lingcan. In his childhood, he would gather sand to make stupas and pile stones into high seats. At age seven, he asked to enter schooling; he recited the *Classic of Filial Piety* and the *Analects*, and even upon opening the texts of histories and biographies, he perceived their underlying meaning. South of the house was an orchard which neighbouring children vied to harvest, often causing distress; he would give up what he had obtained and return empty-handed. In his home region, sericulture was the primary livelihood, at which he always felt sorrow and pity; because of this, he would not wear silk fabrics or floss. His youngest paternal uncle was fond of hunting; Huiyue tried to reform him, but in the end he did not change. Huiyue often sighed, "Flying and running creatures are far removed from mankind, yet they love life and dread death—how is their feeling any different?" He then abstained from meat and fish. His uncle subsequently moved away to another village, slaughtering as he pleased. The uncle then dreamt of a red-robed messenger clutching a spear and halberd, who said to him, "You kill living beings all day long, and even when a bodhisattva instructs and reforms you, you cannot stop. I will arrest you to face death!" He awoke in fright, drenched in sweat. In the morning, he immediately destroyed all his hunting gear and deeply reformed his former wrongs. When Yue again went to the place where hunting usually occurred, he saw several tens of deer leaping and resting, following his boat as if expressing shame and gratitude. His dwelling was secluded and remote, and he had never seen a monastery. Suddenly he met a monk, whom he asked about the ultimate teaching. The monk raised his hand, pointed east, and said, "In Shanzhong, Buddhist affairs flourish greatly." Thereupon the monk disappeared, and only then did Yue realize he was a divine person. At age twelve, he first travelled to Shan, paying reverence throughout to stupas and temples, roaming freely through the mountains and rivers, meeting afar with his original inclination, and thoroughly examining the scriptures. In the fourth year of the Taishi era of the Song dynasty, at Dongshan Temple in Shangyu, he took leave of his parents and had his hair shaved off; he was then seventeen years old. He served the śramaṇa Huijing of Nanlin Temple, following Jing to dwell at Fanju Temple in Shan, waiting upon him attentively and nurturing him for over twelve years. When Jing died, he mourned him with all his heart. After the ritual mourning clothes were laid aside, he abstained from grains, nested in the crags, and fed on pine needles and atractylodes; banishing illness and lengthening his years, he derived profound benefit from it. In the Qi dynasty, Grand Tutor Duke Wenjian, Chu Yuan, once invited him to lecture on the *Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa* and *Śrīmālādevī-siṃhanāda*. When Yuan fell ill and was sleeping during the day, he saw a Tianzhu monk say, "A bodhisattva is about to arrive; shortly there will be a man of the Way who comes, and it is he." In a short while, Yue arrived, and Yuan's illness suddenly cleared; he immediately requested to receive the five precepts. In the Qi, Supervising Secretary Lou Youyu, who possessed learning from his youth, was Yue’s clan grandfather. Whenever he saw Yue, he would rise to pay homage. Someone asked, "This is merely a junior member of your clan; why are you so respectful?" Yu said, "When a bodhisattva appears in the world, he will become a teacher to all under heaven; how could it be that only this old man pays homage?" The people of the time did not comprehend this import; only Wang Wenxian profoundly agreed with it. Later Yue returned to the capital and again lived at Caotang Monastery. During the Longchang era, Junior Preceptor Shen Yue, holding an external post, took Yue along with him. While in the commandery, Yue took pleasure only in tranquil seclusion, delighting in meditation and recitation; strange fragrances entered his chamber, and fierce beasts grew tame upon his steps. He often entered Mount Jinhua to collect herbs, or halted at the Red Pine Ravine. A Daoist priest, Ding Dejing, died suddenly in his lodge; rumour said he was killed by a mountain spirit. Thereupon a Grand Parish Master was invited to live there, yet strange apparitions still swarmed. The magistrate of Changshan, Xu Bochao, initiated a motion to invite Yue to relocate there. Before even ten days had passed, the supernatural wraiths subsided. Later, while lying down in the daytime, he saw two women dressed in green emerge from the ravine's water, who bowed and repented, saying, "Our past karmic hindrances were profound and heavy, and we fell into being these water spirits, vexed day and night." He at once conferred the refuges and precepts upon them. From that time on, disasters and anomalies ceased forever. On the eighth day of the fourth month in the eighteenth year of the Tianjian era (a yihai year), the Emperor aroused the mind of the great vow and received the bodhisattva precepts. He then visited Dengjue Hall. From the Crown Prince on down, extending to monastics and layfolk, gentlemen and commoners, all hoped for liberation. The disciples whose names were recorded numbered altogether forty-eight thousand people. Once, when he conferred the precepts, a magpie ascended step by step up the stairs, appearing as though it were receiving them; only after the exposition of the precepts was completed did it soar away. Furthermore, once when he was setting forth the precepts, two peacocks could not be driven away. By imperial order, they were permitted to ascend. They strode slowly to the altar, bowing their heads to listen to the Dharma. The Emperor said, "These birds certainly wish to attain parinirvāṇa and separately receive another fruit; out of pity for their utmost sincerity, let the Dharma be expounded for them further." Shortly after, both birds passed away together. Later, when he was dwelling quietly in a vacant chamber, suddenly a rustic old woman brought several volumes of books, placed them upon the sutra desk, and departed without a word; she also brought an unusual tree and planted it in the courtyard herself, saying it was a "Green Courtyard Tree". Yue said, "If these books are good, there is no need to read them; if they are evil, neither is it worth the trouble to look at them." After seven days, he again saw an old man ask for the books and withdraw. The leaves of this tree were green and its flowers red; branching luxuriantly, it still survives. He also moved an unusual bird, its body red and its tail long, shaped like a kingfisher; they nested together and flew in and out among the trees. In the fourth year of the Datong era, he dreamt of his old residence with white walls and vermilion gates, splendid and magnificent. Thereupon he made a vow to build a monastery; an imperial decree named it Bensheng. An imperial order also changed his dwelling place, Zhushan Hamlet, to Zhizhe Hamlet. In the eighth month of the first year of the Datong era, he instructed people to cut the tree branches outside the gate, saying, "The imperial carriage is about to arrive; do not let them block the way." People did not fathom this. On the sixth day of the ninth month, he manifested illness, lying with his head to the north and on his right side. His consciousness was tranquil and joyful, with no pain or distress at all. He said to his disciples, "I dreamt that the fourfold assembly, with banners and flowers arrayed in the air, welcomed me and went soaring through the clouds. My karmic reward is about to end." On the sixteenth day, an imperial decree sent Executive Xu Yan to inquire after his illness. He replied, "Tonight I shall depart." At the second call of the fifth watch, a strange fragrance filled the room, and those around him fell solemn. He then said, "Where there is life, there must be death; this is the constant law of nature. Diligently cultivate mindfulness and wisdom, and do not arouse disordered thoughts." Having finished speaking, he joined his palms and entered nirvāṇa. His worldly age was eighty-four, and his monastic age was sixty-three summers. When he first lay ill, he saw an old man enter holding a khakkhara staff. On the day of his passing, the monks all divined a site on the eastern cliff of the monastery, but the Emperor relocated his burial to Dulong. Might the old man seen previously have been Master Baozhi coming to welcome him? Furthermore, on the night of his death, the green ox he used to ride suddenly bellowed and wept copiously. On the day of the funeral, an imperial envoy led the ox to follow in the procession; from the time it left the temple until it reached the mountain, its bellowing and tears did not cease. Also, when construction of the stupa began, a pair of white cranes circled the tomb, crying with tears in voices exceedingly sorrowful. Three days after the funeral, they suddenly departed forever.