往生集 2.86

2.86

宋周續之。雁門人。十二通五經五緯。號十經童子。養志間居。公卿交辟皆不就。事廬山遠法師預蓮社。文帝踐祚。召對辨析。帝大悅。或問身為處士。時踐王庭可乎。答曰。心馳魏闕者。以江湖為桎梧。情致兩亡者。市朝亦岩穴耳。時稱通隱先生。後居鍾山。專心念佛。愈老愈篤。一日向空云。佛來迎我。合掌而逝。

Zhou Xuzhi of the Song dynasty was a native of Yanmen. At age twelve he mastered the Five Classics and the Five Apocrypha, and was called the "Child of the Ten Classics." Cultivating his aspirations in seclusion, he declined all invitations from ministers and nobles. Serving Dharma Master Yuan of Mount Lu, he joined the Lotus Society. When Emperor Wen ascended the throne, he summoned him for audience and dialectical inquiry, and the Emperor was greatly pleased. Someone asked: "As a retired scholar, is it fitting to set foot in the royal court from time to time?" He replied: "He whose mind gallops toward the palace gates regards the rivers and lakes as shackles; he whose emotional attachments are both gone finds that even marketplaces and courts are just mountain caves." At the time he was called Master Tongyin. Later he lived on Mount Zhong, focusing his mind on buddhamanasikāra, growing firmer as he grew older. One day he addressed the sky, saying, "The Buddha has come to welcome me," pressed his palms together, and passed away.