弘贊法華傳 6.15

6.15

釋弘明。本姓嬴。會稽山陰人也。少出家。貞苦有戒節。止山陰雲門寺。誦法華經習禪定。精勤禮懺。六時不輟。每旦即水瓶自滿。實諸天童子。以為給使也。明。甞於雲門坐禪。虎來入明堂內。伏于床前。見明端然不動。久之乃去。又時。見一小兒。來聽明誦經。明曰。汝是何人。答云。昔時此寺沙彌。盜帳下食。今墮圊中。聞上人道業。故來聽誦。願助方便使免斯累也。明即說法勸化。領解方隱。後於永興石姥巖入定。又有山精來惱明。明捉得。以繩繫之。鬼遜謝求脫云。不敢復來。乃解放。於是絕迹。元嘉中。郡守平昌孟顗。重其貞素。惡明出新安。止道樹精舍。後濟陽江齊之。於永興邑。立昭玄寺。復請明往住。大明末。陶里董氏。又為明。於村立柏林寺。要明還止。訓勗禪戒。門人成列。以齊永明四年。卒於柏林寺。春秋八十有四。

Shi Hongming, originally surnamed Ying, was a native of Shanyin in Kuaiji. He left household life in his youth, and was chaste, austere, and disciplined in his precepts. He stayed at Yunmen Monastery in Shanyin, reciting the Lotus Sūtra, practicing dhyāna meditation, and diligently offering worship and repentance without interruption throughout the six periods of the day and night. Every morning his water jar filled itself; in truth, heavenly youths served as his attendants. Ming once sat in meditation at Yunmen when a tiger entered his hall and crouched before his platform. Seeing that Ming remained upright and motionless, it left after a long while. At another time, he saw a young boy come to listen to Ming reciting the sūtra. Ming asked, "Who are you?" He replied, "Formerly I was a śrāmaṇera in this monastery. I stole food from beneath the curtains and have now fallen into the latrine. Hearing of your religious cultivation, Venerable One, I came to listen to your recitation, hoping for your assistance with an expedient means to release me from this retribution." Ming immediately preached the Dharma to instruct and transform him; once the boy understood, he vanished. Later, while entering absorption at Shimoyan in Yongxing, a mountain spirit came to trouble Ming. Ming caught it and bound it with a rope. The ghost apologized humbly, begging for release and saying, "I will not dare to come again!" He then untied and released it, whereupon its traces ceased. During the Yuanjia era, the commandery governor Meng Yi of Pingchang, admiring his chastity and plainness, was displeased that Ming had left for Xin'an and stayed at Daoshu Hermitage. Later, Jiang Qizhi of Jiyang founded Zhaoxuan Monastery in Yongxing District and invited Ming to reside there. At the end of the Daming era, the Dong clan of Taoli built Bailin Monastery in their village for Ming, urging him to return and stay there. He instructed and encouraged them in dhyāna and precepts, and disciples lined up in rows. In the fourth year of the Yongming era of the Qi, he died at Bailin Monastery at the age of eighty-four.