弘贊法華傳 3.8

3.8

Shi Zhiyan's secular surname was Zhu, and he was a man of Wujun. His grandfather Xian was an Extraneous Cavalier Attendant Gentleman of the Liang dynasty. His father Min was a Court Attendant of the Chen dynasty. His mother, Lady Zhang, when first pregnant, dreamed of ascending a tall stūpa and sitting on its wheel-spire. After his birth, he was different from other children. At the age of eight he went forth from the household life, serving Master Qu of Tongxuan Temple as his disciple. Thereafter, he gathered extensively from the myriad scriptures, outstripping his predecessors. In the third year of the Zhide reign of the Chen dynasty, the Renwang Vegetarian Feast was instituted, with a hundred masters on a hundred seats competing in outpourings of heavenly eloquence. Yan was then twenty-two years of age; with the natural endowment of a brilliant youth, he took part in the trust of widespread propagation, his quick-witted eloquence unhindered, winning the admiration and surrender of the multitude. When Emperor Yang of the Sui was prince of the fief, he also accorded him extraordinary reverence. When the Great Tang unified the realm, he returned to Mount Wuqiu Temple. Aside from lecturing and recitation, he constantly practiced the Lotus and Samantabhadra repentances. He also recited the Lotus Sūtra more than three thousand times, invisibly tallying with spiritual resonances, with miraculous omens occurring more than once: before the evening censer was kindled, fragrant smoke rose of itself; when the evening water basin was barely empty, it secretly filled and overflowed with water. In the tenth month of the eighth year of the Zhenguan reign, his spirit departed at the mountain temple. His age was seventy-one. In all, he lectured on the Lotus Sūtra more than thirty times.