[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) › 4.50 # 法華傳記 4.50 法華傳記 4.50 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [4.50](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2068.4.50) 釋法誠。姓樊氏雍州萬年人。童小出家。止藍田王效寺。事沙門僧和。和亦卿族所推。奉之比聖。甞有人欲害。夜往其房見門內。猛火騰焰昇悵。遂即退悔。性飲清泉。潔清故也。人或弄之。密以羊骨沈水。和素不知。飲便嘔吐。其冥感潛識。為若此矣。誠奉佩訓勗。誦法華經。以為恒任。又謁禪林寺相禪師。詢于定行。而德茂時宗學優。眾仰晚住雲華。綱理僧鎮隋文欽德。請遵戒範。乃陳表固辭。薄言抗禮。遂負笈長驅。歷遊名岳。追蹤勝友。咸承志道。因見超公。隱居幽靜。乃結心期。栖遲藍谷。處既局狡。纔止一床。旋轉經行。恐顛深壑。便剗迹開林披雲。附景茅茨。葺宇甕牖疎簷情事相依。欣然符合。今所謂悟真寺也。法華三昧。翹心奉行。澡沐中表。溫恭朝夕。夢感普賢。勸書大教誠曰。大教大乘也。諸佛智慧。所謂般若。又手寫法華。正當露地。因事他行。未營收舉屬。洪雨滂注溝㵎波飛走。往看之。而合案並乾。餘便流潦。甞却偃橫松。遂落懸溜。未至下㵎。不覺已登高岸。無損一毛。至貞觀十四年夏末。日忽感餘疾自知。即世願生兜率。索水浴訖。又索終輿。旁自撿挍。不許榮厚。恰至月末。明相將現。無故語曰。欲來但入。未假弦歌。顧侍人曰。吾聞諸行無常生滅不住九品往生。此言驗矣。今有童子相迎。久在門外。吾今去世。爾等佛有正戒。無得有虧。後致悔也。言已口出光明。照于楹內。又聞異香。苾芬而至。但見端坐儼思不覺。其神已逝。時年七十有八。然誠之誦習也。一夏法華科五百遍。餘日讀誦。兼而行之。猶獲兩遍。縱有人容。要須與語者。非經部度中不他言。略計十年之勤萬有餘遍。 > Shi Facheng, surnamed Fan, was a native of Wannian in Yongzhou. Leaving home in his childhood, he stayed at Wangxiao Monastery in Lantian and served the monk Senghe. He was also esteemed by the ministerial families, who venerated him like a sage. Once someone wanted to harm him; coming to his room at night, the intruder saw fierce flames rising up inside the door, and immediately retreated in repentance. By nature \[Senghe\] drank from pure springs, valuing cleanliness; someone playing a trick on him secretly sank a sheep bone in the water. He was completely unaware, yet upon drinking he immediately vomited: his subtle perception and latent knowledge were like this. Cheng respectfully received his instructions and recited the Lotus Sūtra as his constant task. He also visited Dhyāna Master Xiang of Chanlin Monastery to inquire into the practice of meditation; his virtue was flourishing among the schools of his time, his learning was superior, and the assembly revered him. Later he resided at Yunhua, managing and ordering the saṅgha. Emperor Wen of the Sui revered his virtue and requested to follow his model of precepts; Cheng submitted a memorial firmly declining, treating the invitation lightly. He then carried his book boxes on a long journey, visiting famous peaks and pursuing virtuous companions, all of whom accorded with his aspiration for the Way. Having met Master Chao dwelling in quiet seclusion, he made a pact with him to dwell in Lantian Valley. The place was cramped and narrow, only large enough for a single bed; when turning around in walking meditation, one feared tumbling into the deep gorge. Thereupon he leveled paths, cleared the forest, parted the clouds, caught the sunlight, thatched a roof with grass, and built a dwelling with jar-rim windows and sparse eaves; their feelings and tasks accorded with each other, harmoniously unified. This is what is now called Wuzhen Monastery. With eager resolve he practiced the Lotus Samādhi; he bathed inside and outside, and was gentle and reverent morning and evening. In a dream he was inspired by Samantabhadra, who encouraged him to write down the Great Teaching. Cheng said: 'The Great Teaching is the Mahāyāna, the wisdom of the Buddhas, which is called prajñā.' He also copied the Lotus Sūtra by hand. While doing so in the open air, he had to leave for some business and had not gathered it up when a torrential downpour burst forth, the gullies and torrents rushing in waves. He went to look: the entire desk was completely dry, while all around was flooded. Once, leaning back on a fallen pine, he fell down a cascading stream; before reaching the ravine below, without realizing it, he had already ascended the high bank without harm to a single hair. In the late summer of the fourteenth year of the Zhenguan era (640 CE), he suddenly felt a residual illness and knew his time had come, making a vow to be reborn in Tuṣita. He asked for water, bathed, and then asked for a bier, inspecting it himself from the side and not permitting any lavish display. Just at the end of the month, when the morning light was about to appear, he said without warning: 'If you wish to come, just enter; there is no need for stringed music and songs.' Looking at his attendants, he said: 'I have heard that all conditioned things are impermanent, arising and ceasing without staying, and that rebirth occurs in the nine grades. These words are now verified. Now there is a boy welcoming me, who has been outside the gate for a long time. I am now leaving the world; you have the Buddha's correct precepts—do not violate them and bring about later regrets.' Having spoken, light issued from his mouth, illuminating the room; an extraordinary fragrance arrived with rich scent. They saw him sitting upright in solemn reflection, unaware that his spirit had already departed. His age was seventy-eight. As for Cheng’s recitation, during one summer retreat he set a quota of five hundred recitations of the Lotus Sūtra; on other days he both read and recited, while also practicing, still achieving two recitations a day. Even if someone visited and he had to speak with them, he spoke of nothing other than what pertained to the sūtra. In an approximate calculation of ten years of effort, he recited it more than ten thousand times. > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 4.49](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2068.4.49) - [Next: 4.51](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2068.4.51) - [Up: 4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2068.4) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2068~en-mt.4.50) — English, machine translation ## Linked texts (1) - [續高僧傳](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060.28.27) — 道宣, Classical Chinese --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2068.4.50](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2068.4.50) · Pramāṇa