[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [法華傳記](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2068) › 3.44 # 法華傳記 3.44 法華傳記 3.44 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [3.44](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2068.3.44) 釋法喜。俗姓李襄陽人也。七歲出家。顥禪師為其保傅。顥道素溫贍有聞。同侶後住禪定。將終前夕所居房壁。自然外崩。顥曰。依報已乖。吾將即世。於是端坐閉目。如有所緣。奄然而卒。初不覺也。自喜恭格。奉侍積經載紀。而顥專修定業。略於言誨。便以觀量知人。審喜機度。事逾先習。不肅而成。鑽仰景行。惟德是輔。荊州青溪山寺四十餘僧。喜為沙彌親所供奉。晝則炊煮薪蒸。夜便誦習經典。山居無炬。燃柴取明。每夕自課。誦通一紙。如是累時。所緣通利。雖學諸經部類。而偏以法華為宗。常假食息中間兼誦一卷。餘則專以禪業繫念在前。纔有惛心。便又溫故。仁壽年內。文帝勅召。追入京師。住禪定寺。供禮隆異儉行為先。接撫同倫謙虛成德。爰有佛牙舍利。帝里所珍敬。檠以寶臺。處之上室瑰寶溢目。非德不弘。大眾以喜行解潛通幽微屢降。便以道場。相委任其監護。喜遂綱維供養。日夕承仰。又以顥師去世。意欲冥被靈爽。願誦千遍法華。因即不處舊房。但用巡遶寺塔。行坐二儀。誓窮本願。數滿八百。情厲晨霄。繫心不散。覺轉休健。同寺僧者。見白牛駕以寶車入喜房內。追而觀之了無蹤緒。方知幽通之感。有遂教門而早\[苟\*苟\]。自守營衛在初。諸有疾苦。無論客舊。皆周給贍問。親為將療。至於屎尿膿吐。皆就而味之。然則患疾之苦。世所同輕。而喜都無污賤。情倍欣懌。以為常業也（已上三緣續高僧傳第十九）。 > Shi Faxi, whose secular surname was Li, was a native of Xiangyang. He went forth from the household life at seven years of age, and Chan Master Hao served as his preceptor and mentor. Master Hao's path was plain, gentle, and abundant, and he was renowned. His companions later resided in Chan meditation. On the eve before his passing, the wall of the room where he resided collapsed outward of itself. Hao said: 'The dependent reward has already fallen away; I am about to depart this world.' Thereupon he sat upright, closed his eyes as though apprehending an object of focus, and passed away abruptly, without any prior feeling \[of sickness\]. Faxi was reverent and solemn by nature, and served him for many successive years. Hao devoted himself exclusively to meditation practice and was sparing in spoken admonitions; he would know people through contemplation and appraisal. Discerning Faxi's capacities and measure, \[Faxi's accomplishments\] in deeds surpassed his former training, and without sternness he attained perfection. He looked up with longing to eminent deeds and assisted only virtue. In the mountain temple of Qingxi in Jingzhou there were more than forty monks; Faxi, as a novice, served them personally with offerings. By day he cooked and gathered firewood, and by night he recited and practiced the scriptures. Living in the mountains without torches, he burned firewood to get light. Setting himself a daily task every evening, he recited until he mastered one sheet. In this way, over a long time, what he apprehended became fluent and unobstructed. Although he studied the various classifications of the scriptures, he specifically took the Lotus Sūtra as his principal focus. He often used the intervals of eating and resting to recite an extra scroll in addition; at other times he concentrated exclusively on meditation practice, tying his mindfulness before him. As soon as drowsiness arose in his mind, he would review what he had studied. During the Renshou reign-period, Emperor Wen issued an edict summoning him, bringing him to the capital, where he resided at Chanding Temple. The offerings and ceremonies accorded him were grand and exceptional, yet he made frugal conduct his priority; he nurtured his peers, and through humbleness accomplished virtue. In that place was a Buddha-tooth relic, treasured and revered in the imperial capital, supported on a jewelled platform and placed in the upper chamber; exquisite gems dazzled the eye. Without virtue it could not be magnified. Because Faxi's conduct and understanding secretly penetrated the subtle and unseen, often evoking downward responses, the assembly entrusted the sanctuary to him, charging him with its supervision and protection. Faxi then organized the offerings, looking up with reverence morning and night. Furthermore, because Master Hao had passed away, desiring to bestow unseen aid upon his spirit, he made a vow to recite the Lotus Sūtra one thousand times. He therefore did not stay in his old room, but simply circumambulated the temple stupas, engaging in the two postures of walking and sitting, vowing to fulfill his original aspiration completely. When his count reached eight hundred, his heart was ardent through dawn and night, his focused mind undispersed, and he felt increasingly hale and robust. A monk of the same temple saw a white ox drawing a jewelled carriage enter Faxi's room; following to look, there was no trace at all. Only then was it known that through the resonant response of unseen penetration, there were those who fulfilled the teachings and attained results early. From the beginning he guarded and cared \[for others\]; whenever anyone suffered from illness or pain, whether a stranger or an old companion, he would fully supply, support, and inquire after them, nursing and treating them in person. As for excrement, urine, pus, and vomit, he would approach and even taste them. Truly, although the suffering of illness is universally despised by the world, Faxi felt no defilement or baseness, and his joy was doubled, taking this as his constant practice. (The above three accounts are from the Further Biographies of Eminent Monks, fascicle nineteen.) > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 3.43](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2068.3.43) - [Next: 3.45](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2068.3.45) - [Up: 3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2068.3) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2068~en-mt.3.44) — English, machine translation ## Linked texts (1) - [續高僧傳](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060.19.30) — 道宣, Classical Chinese --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2068.3.44](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2068.3.44) · Pramāṇa