華嚴經傳記 4.25

4.25

釋弘寶。不知其氏族。居淄州鄒平縣蔡丘之南。十八出家。住弘真寺小小患癭。後時轉劇。救療莫瘉。遂大如斗。於是首不能俛。視唯天外。驟雨飄風。流入鼻口。飲食滲漱。非意艱辛。豈直親隣輕鄙。亦乃自懷悲毒。年三十五。忽遇一僧。教讀華嚴。除其宿障。寶乃精心懇志。曉夜披尋。懺洗六時。方祈百遍。至四十餘遍。夜夢。有人手執利刀割癭將去。覺後數日癭上生瘡。瘡作膿頭。大如棗許。以手微按。出膿數合。日日如之。向經三月。自爾瘡癭漸消。卒就平服。則咸亨二年之首也。寶及門人弘軌法律等。悅浮生之再造。感聖力之冥通。悲慶交襟。罄捨衣鉢。敬寫此經一部。轉讀受持。日不暇給。數歲之間。方終本願。於是遠近願心。共弘茲典也。

Shi Hongbao's clan and ancestry are unknown. He resided south of Caiqiu in Zouping County of Zizhou. He left the household at eighteen and dwelt in Hongzhensi. He slightly suffered from a goiter, which later grew increasingly severe. No medical treatment could cure it, and it eventually became as large as a peck. Because of this, he could not lower his head, his gaze directed only toward the sky. Sudden rains and driving winds flowed into his nose and mouth; his drinking and eating leaked and sprayed, causing hardships beyond imagination. Not only did relatives and neighbors look down upon him, but he himself harbored sorrow and bitter grief. At the age of thirty-five, he suddenly met a monk who taught him to read the Avataṃsaka to eliminate his past obstructions. Hongbao then concentrated his mind with earnest determination, opening and perusing it day and night, repenting and purifying himself during the six periods, hoping to complete one hundred recitations. When he reached forty-odd recitations, he dreamed at night of someone holding a sharp knife who cut off the goiter and carried it away. Several days after waking, a sore arose on the goiter, forming a head of pus about the size of a date. When lightly pressed by hand, several he of pus came out, and it was like this every day. After nearly three months, the sore and goiter gradually vanished from then on, and he finally recovered completely; this was at the beginning of the second year of Xianheng. Hongbao and his disciples Honggui, Falü, and others, overjoyed at the rebirth of this floating life and moved by the secret efficacy of the sacred power, mingled sorrow and rejoicing in their hearts. They gave up all their robes and bowls and reverently copied a complete set of this sūtra, chanting, reading, receiving, and upholding it without a moment to spare. Within several years, they finally fulfilled their original vow. Thereupon, the vows and aspirations of those near and far joined together to propagate this scripture.