法華傳記 3.16

3.16

釋慧明。不知何許人。亦失俗姓。風範甚閑聰慧多聞。頴悟佛乘。以為歸趣講法華。天機獨斷。相㳂說釋。一時入深山。坐石室講經。數群獼猴未到聽法。異鳥象虎臥石室前。聞法噉果經三月。後夜石室上有光明。漸近窟前。是則天人。自稱。吾是獼猴群中老蔽。而盲者是也。依聞公講。命終生忉利天。吾本身死。在室東南七十餘步外。天上受樂無間絕。思師恩故聽講。故降臨此砌。願樂聞故聞講說妙法。明曰。將如何講說。天曰。吾怱怱欲還天上。師以一部典。分八而講。明曰。所持七卷。將分七座。何必八講。天曰。法華是八年說。若八年講實久。樂開八座。擬八歲說。略可佛旨。明伏膺裁七卷經成八軸。為天開講八座。既訖歡喜。以八枚真珠。奉施慧明而說偈言。

Shi Huiming was of unknown origin, and his secular surname is also lost. His demeanor was serene, and he was intelligent and learned, intuitively understanding the Buddha Vehicle and taking it as his refuge. When lecturing on the Lotus Sūtra, he made independent judgements with innate natural insight, expounding and explaining it continuously. Once, he entered deep mountains and sat in a stone chamber to expound the sūtra. Several troops of macaques had arrived before to listen to the Dharma, and strange birds, elephants, and tigers lay before the stone chamber, listening to the Dharma and eating fruit for three months. Later, at night, a light appeared above the stone chamber, gradually drawing near to the cave. This was a deva, who said: "I was the old, blind macaque in the troop. Through hearing you lecture, at death I was reborn in Trāyastriṃśa Heaven. My original corpse lies over seventy paces southeast of the chamber. In heaven I enjoy bliss without interruption; but remembering the Master's kindness, I came to listen to the lectures, descending to this stone step. Because I delight in hearing, I have come to listen to the Saddharma being expounded." Ming said: "How shall I expound it?" The deva said: "I must return to heaven in haste; please divide the single text into eight parts to lecture." Ming said: "The scripture I hold has seven fascicles, which I would divide into seven sessions; why must there be eight lectures?" The deva said: "The Lotus was expounded over eight years. To lecture for eight years would be too long, but I would delight in opening eight sessions to model the eight years of preaching, which roughly accords with the Buddha's intention." Convinced, Ming divided the seven-fascicle sūtra into eight scrolls and opened eight sessions of lectures for the deva. When finished, overjoyed, the deva offered eight genuine pearls to Huiming and spoke a verse, saying: