冥報記 1.5

1.5

絳州大德沙門。釋僧徹。少而精練。於孤山西阿。造立堂宇。多樹林等。頗得山居形勝。僧徹嘗出行山間。土穴中。見一癩病人。瘡痍臭穢。從徹乞食。徹愍之。呼出與歸。於精舍旁。為造土穴。給衣食。教令誦法華經。此人不識文字。性又頑鄙。徹句句授之。殊費功力。然終不懈倦。此人誦經向半。便夢。有人教之。自後稍聰寤。至得五六卷。漸覺瘡愈。比誦一部畢。鬚眉平復。生肥體如常。而能為療疾。臨嘗患腫。僧徹遣此人。禁呪有驗。自說云然。後房仁裕為秦州刺史。表僧徹所立精舍。為陷泉寺。初此地無水。僧徹常遠汲山下。以自供。一朝忽有陷。陷處泉出。故因以名陷寺也。僧專以勸善為務。而自修禪業。遠近崇敬如父焉。永徽二年正月。忽屬累徒眾。自言將死。既而端坐繩床。閉目不動。其天氣晴朗。而花如雪。香而不消。方二里許。樹葉上皆有白色。如輕粉者三日。乃復常色。而僧徹已終。至今三歲。獨坐如故。亦不臭懷。唯目淚下云（徹弟子實秦等。及州人並說云爾也）。

Śramaṇa Shi Sengche, a bhadanta of Jiangzhou, was meticulous and practiced from his youth. On the western slope of Mount Gushan, he built hall buildings and planted many groves, capturing much of the scenic beauty of a mountain dwelling. Sengche was once walking in the mountains and saw in an earthen cave a leper whose sores were foul and putrid, begging food from Sengche. Sengche took pity on him, called him out, and returned with him. Beside his hermitage, he dug an earthen cave for him, supplied him with food and clothing, and taught him to recite the Lotus Sūtra (Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra). This man was illiterate and by nature crude and dull; Sengche taught him phrase by phrase with immense effort, yet never grew weary. When this man had recited nearly half the sūtra, he dreamed that someone was instructing him. From then on he grew gradually more perceptive; by the time he mastered five or six fascicles, he noticed his sores gradually healing. By the time he had finished reciting the entire sūtra, his beard and eyebrows had grown back, his flesh filled out as normal, and he was able to cure diseases. I, Lin, once suffered from a swelling; Sengche sent this man, whose spells and incantations proved efficacious; he recounted this himself. Later, Fang Renyu, while serving as Regional Inspector of Qinzhou, memorialized to name the hermitage founded by Sengche 'Xianquan Monastery' (Sunken Spring Monastery). Initially, there was no water in this place, and Sengche always fetched water from far down the mountain to supply his needs. One morning, the ground suddenly sank, and from the depression a spring gushed forth; hence the monastery was named after the sunken spring. The monk made exhorting people to goodness his sole devotion, while cultivating meditation himself; those near and far revered him like a father. In the first month of the second year of the Yonghui era, he suddenly gave his final instructions to his disciples, saying that he was about to die. Thereupon he sat upright on a rope-woven seat, closed his eyes, and did not move. The weather was clear and bright, yet blossoms fell like snow, fragrant and unmelting. Over an area of about two square li, tree leaves all bore a white substance resembling light cosmetic powder for three days before returning to their normal color. Sengche had already passed away. It has now been three years, yet he sits alone as before, without foul odor or decay; it is only said that tears trickle from his eyes. (Sengche's disciple Shi Qin and others, as well as the people of the prefecture, all recounted this as such).