集神州三寶感通錄 3.95

3.95

宋末沙門寶誌遊於揚都。初無異相。後頗涉疑。分形赴供。人乃加異。齊氏受禪多有猜疑。刑加錐鋸忤犯者眾。聞誌有異長囚鎖于圓戶。誌任之曾無憂恚。召獄吏曰。門外兩輿食何不取來。及看乃是文惠文宣所送。行始至獄。後於市中巷內見誌徒行。有司白帝。帝令看獄中有無。見誌著械如故。往市搜捉。隨見隨滅。隱顯不定。預記未然萬無一失。時又浪言。亦無表次梁祖建運。下詔出之。任其往返無所拘礙。形如耆老被髮擎杖。懸鏡剪刀無所定泊。多來延賢寺僧寶意處。意以聖禮處之。時亢旱。誌白帝曰。雲能得雨可講勝鬘。即令法雲法師講之。當夜膏雨充洽。帝後時從容問曰。帝位更運。誰守百年。弟子既能奪他。故知他亦能奪。不知是誰當續梁後。誌張喉開口以手指之。初不委也。侯景事故。方知先及不久曰。聖人將去如是臥於空野。

At the end of the Song, the monk Baozhi wandered through the capital of Yang[zhou]. At first he displayed no unusual signs, but later his deeds aroused considerable doubt. When his manifested bodies appeared at multiple places to attend offerings, people marveled at him even more. When the Qi dynasty received the abdication, suspicion was widespread, and severe punishments with awls and saws were inflicted on the many who offended. Hearing of Zhi's eccentricities, they kept him permanently imprisoned in irons in a circular cell. Zhi submitted to it without ever showing grief or anger. He called to the jailer, saying, 'Why don't you bring in the two carriages of food outside the gate?' When the jailer went to look, it was indeed sent by [Crown Prince] Wenhui and [Prince] Wenxuan, and the party had only just reached the prison. Later, Zhi was seen walking on foot in the markets and alleys. The officials reported this to the emperor, who ordered a check on whether he was in prison or not; they saw that Zhi was still wearing the shackles as before. When they went to search for and seize him in the market, he vanished as soon as he was seen, appearing and disappearing unpredictably. He foretold the future with unfailing accuracy. At times he also spoke wild words that lacked conventional order. When the founder of the Liang established his dynasty, he issued an edict releasing him, permitting him to come and go without any impediment. In appearance he looked like an aged elder, with disheveled hair, carrying a staff, hanging a mirror and scissors, with no settled dwelling. He frequently visited the monk Baoyi at Yanxian Temple, and Yi treated him with the rites due to a sage. Once, during a severe drought, Zhi said to the emperor, 'If clouds are to bring rain, the Śrīmālādevī-sūtra may be lectured upon.' The emperor at once ordered Dharma Master Fayun to lecture on it, and that very night soaking rain fell copiously. Later, the emperor leisurely asked him, 'When the imperial throne shifts again, who will safeguard it for a hundred years? Since this disciple was able to seize it from others, I know that others will also be able to seize it. I wonder who will succeed the Liang?' Zhi opened his throat wide, opened his mouth, and pointed to it with his finger; at first no one understood it. Only after the Hou Jing incident did they realize he had foretold it in advance. Not long after, he said, 'The sage is about to depart; thus he lies in the empty wilds.'