弘贊法華傳 7.14

7.14

釋僧生。不知氏族。或云。衛州人。以開皇六年。至齊州界。其人。室無定所。但有伽藍之地。不問有僧無僧。仍於中住。乞食誦經。限滿千遍。然後一移。其年。至靈巖寶山道場。於蘭若中。住誦經。爾夜。山神將數十人來聽。生問曰。檀越何神。答云。弟子。是北山神。住此已來七百餘年。今聞法師誦經。故來聽之。屈師為誦。良久乃去。自後常爾。生於後出往相州。建造經藏。旬月而成。意欲於眼中燃燈供養。而不能得出眼精人。於是。營得一刀子長五六寸。并錢一貫。入山覓獵師。師云。不用師錢。但與弟子刀子。獵師即為出眼竟。身青瘀。然後乃穌。穌竟。語獵師云。可以火熟。此瘡。獵師以火熟之。然後還相州法藏寺。燃燈供養。誦經不息。若欲析請舍利。暫爾斂心。即降三五。或時。七日伏念。便盈百數。近遠道俗。深敬慕之。開皇七年卒矣。

Śramaṇa Sengsheng did not have a known family background; some say he was a native of Weizhou. In the sixth year of the Kaihuang reign era, he arrived in the territory of Qizhou. This man had no fixed dwelling; wherever there were saṅghārāmas, regardless of whether monks were present or not, he would stay there, begging for food and reciting the sūtra. Only after completing a quota of a thousand recitations would he move once. In that year, he arrived at the Baoshan bodhimanda on Mount Lingyan, dwelling in the araṇya to recite the sūtra. That night, the mountain deity brought several dozen people to listen. Sengsheng asked, "What deity is the dānapati?" The deity replied, "This disciple is the deity of the Northern Mountain. I have lived here for more than seven hundred years. Now, hearing the Dharma Master reciting the sūtra, I have come to listen. I humbly ask the Master to recite for me." After a long while, the deity departed. Thereafter it was always like this. Later, Sengsheng went out to Xiangzhou to construct a sūtra repository, completing it in a month. He wished to light lamps in his eyes as an offering, but could find no one who could extract eyeballs. Thereupon he procured a knife five to six inches long along with a string of one thousand cash, and went into the mountains to find a hunter. The master hunter said, "I do not need the Master's money; just give this disciple the knife." The hunter then extracted the eyes for him. His body turned livid with bruises, and only afterward did he revive. Having revived, he said to the hunter, "You may cauterize this wound with fire." The hunter cauterized it with fire, after which Sengsheng returned to Fazang Temple in Xiangzhou to light lamps in offering, reciting the sūtra without ceasing. If he wished to pray for śarīra, by composing his mind for a brief moment, three to five would descend; sometimes, when he meditated prostrate for seven days, they would number well over a hundred. Monks and laypeople from near and far deeply revered and admired him. He passed away in the seventh year of the Kaihuang reign era.