法華傳記 3.42

3.42

Shi Zhizao. His secular surname was Zhang, and he was a native of Qinghe. When the Jin royal house was displaced, his family settled in Linhai. His grandfather, Yuanxiu, was a Vice Minister of the Granary Section under the Liang and served as Palace Administrator of Linhai. His father, Wenhuai, was a General of the Central Guard under the Chen. In the years when Zao received the Lotus Sūtra, his words were never spoken in vain, and his conduct brought no shame before others; his relatives, townsmen, and neighbors deeply revered and loved him. When he reached the age of seventeen, both of his parents passed away. No sooner had he put off his mourning garments than he was stricken with illness. After frequent years had passed, medicines proved ineffective. Thereupon, in the stillness of the night, leaning on a cane and dragging his sick body, he went out into the central courtyard, lay facing the moon, and with utmost sincerity focused exclusively on Moonlight Bodhisattva (Candraprabha), praying: "May your great compassion rescue me from this lingering malady." Fastening his mindfulness in this manner, months passed. In the middle of the night, he dreamed of a person of extraordinary form and color coming from the east, who said to Zao: "I have come especially now to heal your illness." He then placed his mouth against Zao's body, sequentially sucking and drawing out [the disease]. This occurred for three nights, and from this [Zao] gradually recovered. Deeply knowing that the Three Jewels were his refuge and rescue, he sought to leave secular life, and went to Master Huiping of Anjing Monastery to become his disciple. Hearing from afar that Zhiyi's conduct and practice were preeminent and that he was a fine guide for the world, he immediately sailed a boat upon the surging waters, heading straight for the peaks of Tiantai, to submit his heart and receive the Way. [Zhiyi] then sent him to practice the Lotus Repentance and recite the sūtra. In the early night of the fourteenth day, having finished the repentance, he returned to his meditation platform; just as he was about to sit in quiet contemplation, he saw a nine-headed dragon emerge from the earth and ascend into empty space. The next morning he consulted and reported this [to Zhiyi], who said, "This signifies that the sentient beings of the nine paths, upon hearing the Lotus Sūtra, will in future ages break through the ground of ignorance and enter into the emptiness of Dharma-nature." Furthermore, in the fourth year of Zhide of the Chen, Bozhi, the Prince of Yongyang, served as governor of Xiandu and invited Zhiyi to come to his administrative seat. Zao accompanied his master in accepting the invitation, traveling together to Mount Kuaiji. When the ninety-day retreat concluded, he took leave of the prince to dwell at the Baolin Mountain monastery and practice the Lotus Samādhi. On the first day during the early night, it seemed as if someone came and shook the door. Zao immediately asked, "Who are you, coming at night to shake the door?" In a drawn-out voice [the other] replied, "I have only come to look at the lamp." This occurred repeatedly several times, with questions and answers as before. In that monastery there was previously an elder, Dhyāna Master Huicheng, who heard it all at night and said to his disciples, "In that hall there has always been a great, evil ghost; hearing this voice now, it must surely be the ghost coming to take someone." As dawn approached, Master Cheng knocked on the door and called for Zao; before [Zao] had time to answer, [Cheng] circled the hall crying out, "How bitter, how bitter! The man is finished!" Zao immediately opened the door and asked his intent. [Cheng] replied, "You are still here? I thought the ghost had already harmed you last night, which is why I lamented thus." Master Cheng reported the matter to the prince, and the prince dispatched several tens of men armed with staves to guard him. Zao said to the guards, "Life depends on karma; how could it be assisted by guards? I hope, good sirs, that you will take your men back to the city and report this to the prince." On the second night after the guards departed, the ghost entered the hall, pounding on the walls and striking the pillars, all around from east to west. There were six lamps inside the hall; Zao extinguished five and kept one, circumambulating, practicing seated meditation, and reciting the sūtra, calm and fearless. Throughout the twenty-one days, matters were constantly like this. As the practice was about to conclude, he saw a boy dressed in blue-green clothing praising him: "Excellent, excellent!" Having spoken, he vanished. Although Zao encountered these two conditions, his mind knew neither sorrow nor joy. On another occasion, Zao went out to Kuaiji on business, traveling by way of Xiaoxing Village in Shan County to beg for food. The host mistakenly boiled poisonous mulberries to serve him. After Zao finished eating, he proceeded on his way. The host afterward ate the leftovers, and all [who did so] vomited and had diarrhea, suffering agony as if dying. A neighbor who saw this immediately took medicine and pursued Zao for ten li before catching up to him, only to see Zao walking briskly and unharmed. When [Zao] asked, "Why are you looking for me?" the neighbor explained the whole matter. Zao smiled and answered, "This poor monk has nothing wrong. You may throw away the medicine and turn back; there is no need to pursue me to test this. Perfumed by the power of the Way, poison cannot harm me." Later, when Zao returned to the mountain, he held a vegetarian feast for one thousand monks on behalf of Zhiyi, ordained forty-nine people, and donated two thousand bolts of goods, three thousand piculs of rice, as well as incense, ghee, and other items to the monastery. He also built earthen walls on all four sides of the monastery. Again, on behalf of Zhiyi, he held a vegetarian feast for one thousand monks, ordained one hundred people, and donated one thousand bolts of goods to the monastery, with one bolt of silk as an offering to each monk at the feast. In the seventh year [of Daye], he went again to Zhuo Commandery to inquire after [the emperor], who thanked him for coming from afar, bestowed five hundred bolts of goods for the monastery, and dispatched fifty men with staves to guard and escort him back to the mountain. In total, he had audiences with the Son of Heaven eight times, and all met with imperial favor and joy, receiving abundant provisions. In the twelfth year of Zhenguan, he passed away at the monastery, aged eighty-three.