華嚴經傳記 4.12

4.12

樊玄智。涇州人也。童小異俗。願言修道。年十六捨家於京師城南。投神僧杜順禪師。習諸勝行。順即令讀誦華嚴為業。勸依此經修普賢行。又服膺至相寺整法師。入終南山。溫習斯典。遂得一部周畢。後每誦經。口中頻頻獲舍利。前後相仍凡數百餘粒。隨身供養。分施諸人。名山勝地。無遠必造。後因遊止坊州赤沙鄉。村北谷有山焉。去村三里。於中有石窟。學道者所居。智止其中。二十餘載。晝誦華嚴。夜修禪觀。優遊乖歲。以此為恒。誦經之際。每有雜類鳥獸。咸萃林中。寂然無聲。以聽音德。豺虎猛獸。時亦馴伏。甞為惡人劫集。推墜巖下。雖懸岸百仞。宛然無損。至永淳元年。人見龕內有光。怪往觀之。乃見居士久從遷化。眾共出之。光乃隨滅。焚屍起塔。時年七十餘。

Fan Xuanzhi was a native of Jingzhou. Even as a young child he was different from ordinary folk, expressing the wish to cultivate the Way. At the age of sixteen he left his family and went south of the capital city, where he took refuge with the divine monk, Chan Master Dushun, and practiced various superior deeds. Dushun immediately had him take the reading and reciting of the Avataṃsaka Sūtra as his practice, exhorting him to cultivate the deeds of Samantabhadra in reliance on this scripture. He also served Dharma Master Zheng at Zhixiangsi, entering Mount Zhongnan to review and practice this scripture, and thus completed the entire work. Later, whenever he recited the scripture, relics repeatedly came out of his mouth, amounting in total to several hundred grains over time. He carried them on his person to make offerings to them, and distributed them to various people. Famous mountains and scenic places—no matter how far—he was sure to visit. Later, while traveling, he stayed at Chisha Village in Fangzhou. In the valley north of the village there was a mountain, three li away from the village, within which was a stone grotto where practitioners of the Way resided. Zhi stayed in it for over twenty years, reciting the Avataṃsaka Sūtra by day and cultivating Chan contemplation by night, living at ease across the years and making this his constant practice. Whenever he recited the scripture, various species of birds and beasts would all gather in the forest, remaining hushed and silent to listen to the virtuous sound. Jackals, tigers, and fierce beasts would also become tame from time to time. He was once seized by a gang of wicked men and pushed down a cliff; though the precipice was a hundred fathoms high, he was completely unharmed. In the first year of the Yongchun reign era, people saw light inside the niche and, marveling at it, went to look; they saw that the layman had long since passed away. When the assembly together brought him out, the light thereupon vanished. They cremated his corpse and erected a stupa. At the time he was over seventy years of age.