神僧傳 8.18

8.18

Shi Lingtan, surnamed Wu, was a native of Wenshui in Taiyuan. He was a grandnephew of Empress Dowager Zetian. His father, Xuan, served as Magistrate of Luoyang. When his mother, Lady Xiahou, was first pregnant with Lingtan, she dreamed of a divine monk presenting her with a precious mirror, lustrous both inside and out, who said: "I entrust this to you; protect it well." When he grew up, he studied under Dhyāna Master Shenhui. In the eighth year of Dali, he travelled and converted beings as far as Liangyuan. At that time, Prime Minister Lord Tian Shenggong made offerings in succession. Arriving at Liuhe in Weiyang, while he was sighing over the decline of the Great Dharma, he suddenly heard a voice in the sky say: "When the ground of mind opens, you shall directly see the Bodhisattva in the likeness of Mañjuśrī." It said: "I give you a verification mark." He was told to raise his crown, and a hand pressed upon it. Looking immediately afterward, there were red marks of four fingers; this imprint remained constantly visible. He also stayed at Jinshan in Runzhou. On the northern face of the mountain was a dragon's cave, which constantly spewed poisonous vapor like clouds. Those who approached it mostly fell ill or died. When Lingtan took up residence there, the poisonous clouds vanished without a trace. He also built a hermitage at Ding Mountain in Jiangyin. Suddenly he heard sounds of praise; looking, he saw two white turtles. Lingtan conferred the refuges and precepts upon them. He also saw two great white serpents, several tens of feet in length, and likewise conferred the precepts and repentance upon them. Following this, he went back to Lin Mountain in Wuxing to build an araṇya. Three men dressed in gold and purple approached with slow and upright steps, praising the place of practice. In the fifth year of Yuanhe, he stayed at Hualin Monastery. Within the monastery was the tomb of General Zhang Liao, and the monastery monks were often troubled and disordered by ghostly entities. When Lingtan resided there, all signs ceased in utter tranquility. Furthermore, the people of Yangzhou were frequently deluded by mountain sprites and tree monsters, all of which Lingtan restrained and warded off. In the tenth year, he suddenly saw two foreigners from the Western regions who claimed to have come from the kingdom of Qiuci (pronounced Qiuzi). They said there was no supreme teaching there and came from afar to invite the Venerable to propagate it. On the thirteenth day of the fifth month of the eleventh year, he informed the assembly that he was about to depart for the distant invitation. On the eighth day of the last month of autumn, he passed away at the age of one hundred and eight, with eighty-four years of monastic seniority.