華嚴經傳記 3.7

3.7

釋道英。姓陳氏。蒲州猗氏人也。年十八。二親重之。便為取婦。五年同床。誓不相觸。後遂巡至并洲炬法師下聽華嚴等經。開皇十年。方預緇服。遂入大行山柏梯寺。修行止觀。忽然大解。後在京住勝光寺。從曇遷禪師聽攝論。遷特賞異之。聽講之暇。常供僧役。因事呈理。既以調心。常云。余冥目坐禪。如有所詣。及開目後。還復常識。故於事務。遊觀役心。使空有無滯耳。然其常坐。開目如線。動逾信宿。初無頓𥇒。後入禪定。稍呈異迹。甞與人爭地。忽現僵尸。氣絕色變。俄欲膖脹。彼歸心啟悔。乃言笑如常又入池六宿。臥雪三夕。唯云火炙土坌。誠難測也。一日講起信論。至真如門。奄然不語。怪往觀之。氣絕身冷。眾知滅想。即而任之。經于累宿。方從定起。又曾亢旱。遂講華嚴。以祈甘澤。有二老翁。稍異常人。各二童侍恒來在聽。英每異之。後因訊問由緒。答曰。弟子是海神。愛此經故來聽。英曰。今既為檀越講經。請下微雨。神勅二童。二童便從窓出。須臾滂沛。遠近咸賴焉。二翁拜謝。倏忽而退。及將終索水。剃洗還坐。被以大衣。告門人曰。無常至也。但不可自欺。即令講此經賢首偈。至于屬纊。令侍人稱佛。奄然神逝。貞觀十年九月也。春秋八十。初將終感群鳥數萬。悲鳴房宇。青衣二童。執華而入。紫氣如光。從英身出。騰焰數丈。及明霧結。周二十里。人物失光。三日方歇。蒲晉山川修行之侶。聞哀屯赴。如喪重親。又感僧牛吼鳴流淚不息。斷絕水草經七日。將欲藏殮。則下一钁。地忽大震。周十五里。皆大驚怖。又感白虹兩道遠屬龕旋。白鳥二頭翔鳴。隨送至于龕所。詳英道開物悟。慧解入神。故得靈相𣱦氳。存亡總萃。不負身世。誠斯人乎。

Śramaṇa Daoying, whose secular surname was Chen, was a native of Yishi in Puzhou. When he was eighteen years old, his parents valued him and took a wife for him. For five years they shared the bed, but he vowed never to touch her. Later, he traveled to Bingzhou and studied under Dharma Master Ju, listening to the Avataṃsaka Sūtra and other scriptures. In the tenth year of Kaihuang, he was finally admitted to the monastic robes. He then entered Baiti Temple on Mount Taihang to practice calming and insight (śamatha-vipaśyanā), and suddenly attained great comprehension. Later, he resided at Shengguang Temple in the capital and studied the Mahāyānasaṃgraha under Meditation Master Tanqian, who held him in exceptional esteem. In the leisure hours after hearing lectures, he always tended to monastic chores. By presenting the principle through practical tasks, he disciplined his mind, often saying, "When I sit in meditation with eyes closed, it is as though I have attained something; yet when I open my eyes, I return to mundane consciousness. Therefore, regarding affairs and tasks, by wandering in contemplation and exerting the mind, I cause both emptiness and existence to remain unhindered." When he usually sat in meditation, he opened his eyes only like a thread, remaining unmoved for more than two nights, never once dozing off. Later, when he entered meditative absorption (dhyāna-samādhi), he gradually displayed miraculous signs. Once, when someone disputed over land with him, he suddenly manifested as a stiff corpse: his breath ceased, his complexion changed, and soon his body began to swell. When the other person turned his heart in repentance, [Daoying] spoke and laughed as normal. He also entered a pool for six nights and lay in the snow for three evenings, merely saying that it was as hot as roasting fire or dusty dirt; his [inner state] was truly difficult to fathom. One day, while lecturing on the Awakening of Faith, when he reached the Gate of Suchness, he abruptly fell silent. Wondering at this, people went to see him: his breath was cut off and his body cold. The assembly realized he was in the cessation of conception, so they left him alone. Only after several nights did he arise from samādhi. Once there was a severe drought, so he lectured on the Avataṃsaka Sūtra to pray for sweet rain. Two old men, somewhat different from ordinary people, each with two attending boys, constantly came to listen. Daoying found them unusual. Later, when he inquired into their origin, they answered, "We are sea spirits. Because we love this sūtra, we came to listen." Daoying said, "Since I am now lecturing on the sūtra for the donors, please send down a gentle rain." The spirit instructed the two boys, who then went out through the window. In a moment, rain poured down copiously, and people far and near all depended upon it. The two old men bowed in gratitude and vanished in an instant. When his end drew near, he asked for water, shaved and washed, sat back down, put on his robe, and told his disciples, "Impermanence has arrived. Just do not deceive yourselves." He then ordered them to lecture on the "Verses of Xianshou" from this sūtra. When his final breath was about to fade, he told the attendants to recite the Buddha's name, and he suddenly passed away in spirit. It was the ninth month of the tenth year of Zhenguan; his age was eighty. Just before his passing, tens of thousands of birds were moved to utter mournful cries around his room. Two boys dressed in blue held flowers and entered, and a purple vapor like radiant light emerged from Daoying's body, its flames rising several tens of feet. When morning came, mist gathered for twenty li around, and people and things lost their luster; it ceased only after three days. Companions in practice from the mountains and rivers of Pu and Jin gathered in grief as if they had lost a dear parent. Furthermore, the monastery's ox was moved to bellow and shed tears unceasingly, refusing water and grass for seven days. When they were about to bury him, at the first strike of the hoe, the earth suddenly shook violently for fifteen li around, filling everyone with great awe. There were also two white rainbows reaching from afar to encircle the niche, and two white birds soared and called out, following and escorting [him] to the place of the niche. Carefully considering how Daoying's path opened beings to awakening and his intuitive wisdom penetrated the divine, he obtained auspicious signs in rich abundance, gathering them in life and death alike. To have lived without failing his body or the world—was he truly not such a person?