弘贊法華傳 5.4

5.4

釋慧紹。不知氏族。小兒時。母哺魚肉。輒便吐棄。於是。即能蔬食。至八歲。出家為僧要弟子。精懃懍勵。苦行標節。後隨要。上臨川招提寺。迺密有燒身之意。常雇人斫薪。𧂐於東山石室。高數丈。中央開一龕。足容己身。乃還寺辭要。苦諫不從。即以元嘉二十八年。於東山設大眾八關。并告別知識。其日闔境奔波。車馬人眾。及齎持金寶者。不可稱數。至初夜行道。紹自行香。行香既竟。執燭燃薪。入中而坐。誦藥王本事品。眾既不見。紹悟其已去。禮拜未畢。悉至。薪𧂐已洞然。誦聲未息。火至額間。唱言一心。言已奄絕。大眾。咸見有一星其大如升。直下煙中。俄而上天。時見者咸謂。天宮迎紹。經三日。薪聚乃盡。紹臨終。謂同學曰。吾燒身處。當生梧桐。慎莫伐之。其後三日果生。正時年二十八。紹師僧要。亦清謹有懿德。年一百六十。終於寺。

Shi Huishao's clan and ancestry are unknown. As a young child, whenever his mother fed him fish or meat, he would vomit and spit it out; thereupon he was able to eat only vegetables. At the age of eight, he renounced worldly life to become a disciple of Sengyao, being diligent and rigorous, with ascetic practices as his exemplary conduct. Later, following Yao, he went up to Zhaoti Temple in Linchuan, where he secretly formed the intention to burn his body. He frequently hired people to cut firewood and stacked it in a stone chamber on the Eastern Mountain, several tens of feet high, opening a niche in the center just large enough to contain his body. He then returned to the temple to bid farewell to Yao, who bitterly admonished him, but he would not comply. Thereupon, in the twenty-eighth year of Yuanjia, he established the eightfold precepts for the great assembly on the Eastern Mountain and bade farewell to his acquaintances. On that day, the entire district bustled with people; carts, horses, crowds, and those bearing gold and treasures were beyond count. When it came to the first night watch to circumambulate and practice the Way, Shao personally offered incense. When the offering of incense was finished, he held a torch, ignited the firewood, entered inside, and sat down, reciting the Chapter on the Ancient Accounts of Bhaiṣajyarāja. When the assembly no longer saw Shao, they realised he had already gone; before their bows were finished, they all arrived. The pile of firewood was already blazing fiercely, but the sound of his recitation had not ceased. When the flames reached his forehead, he cried out, 'Single-mindedly!' Having spoken, he suddenly expired. The great assembly all saw a star as large as a sheng fall straight down into the smoke, and after a moment rise to heaven. Those who saw it at the time all said that the heavenly palace had welcomed Shao. After three days, the pyre was consumed. Facing death, Shao had said to his fellow students, 'At the place where I burn my body, a paulownia tree will grow; take care not to cut it down.' Three days later, it indeed grew. At that time he was exactly twenty-eight years of age. Shao's master Sengyao was also pure, prudent, and possessed of admirable virtue; he passed away at the monastery at the age of one hundred and sixty.