神僧傳 8.28

8.28

Shi Daibing was a native of Tiantai, surnamed Chen. On the day of his birth, auspicious light filled the room, startling the neighbors. At the age of seven, he lost his father, grieving to the point of almost destroying his own life. He informed his mother of his wish to renounce household life; when his mother showed slight hesitation and reluctance, he immediately severed one of his fingers. His relatives earnestly persuaded his surviving parent, and he was finally sent to Guoqing Monastery. Having completed the full precepts, he vowed to wander and observe the regions. At first he stayed in the Eastern Capital, and subsequently in Heyang, where he relieved drought for the people. In accordance with the scriptures, he painted the eight dragon kings and established a place of practice; after offering invocations and prayers, he cast them into the river. The entire assembly witnessed the painted images bobbing up and down unsettled in the water. In an instant, clouds arose from small beginnings, thunder and rain burst forth, and over a thousand li, relief was proclaimed. From this time forward, those who took refuge in him were numerous. Prior to this, violent winds and hailstorms frequently occurred among the Three Fortresses, constantly damaging crops and battlements; people called it the harm of a poisonous dragon. Daibing recited secret mantras for them, and throughout subsequent years there was no such affliction at all. Together they erected a hall as a shrine for him during his lifetime. In the first year of Dali, he ascended the Taihang Mountains and wandered Mount Huo, venturing deep into the secluded recesses to build a thatched hut and dwell there. Someone stole his bowl and food; soon after, two tigers were seen blocking the path. Just then they encountered Daibing; the thief knocked his head on the ground and confessed his wrongdoing. Having comforted and admonished him, Daibing stroked the tigers' heads. In this way, he repeatedly subdued ferocious beasts. Among these places was a mountain spirit shrine, whose spiritual responses were widely rumored between Jin and Jiang. Daibing entered the shrine and exhorted the spirit to receive the refuges and precepts, and to put an end to the slaughter and boiling of livestock victims. The spirit's stone statue repeatedly nodded in assent and obeyed his instructions following his exhortations. Consequently, donors and faithful followed one another shoulder to shoulder and heel to toe. Someone placed poison in wine and bribed an impoverished woman to go and offer it. Daibing already knew this. The impoverished woman deceived him, saying: "My family's brew has turned out delicious; I pour and offer it to the Venerable to seek blessings, especially since the Buddha does not go against the wishes of sentient beings." Daibing said: "You too are a Buddha." Thereupon the poor woman grew terrified, turned the drinking vessel over, and told him the truth. Daibing held the cup and sipped it. In a moment, the fumes of the wine reached down to his shins and feet, and the ground cracked and burst apart violently beneath them, terrifying all who heard it. The practice of making offerings of wine began from this. When the people of Fen, Xi, and Xihe fell ill, he merely gave them pure water; upon drinking it, they were invariably cured. During the Zhenyuan era, he suddenly sat in the lotus posture and manifested extinction.