法苑珠林 22.46

22.46

宋尼釋曇輝。蜀郡成都人也。本姓青陽。名曰玉。年七歲便樂坐禪。每坐輒得境界意未自了。亦謂是夢耳。曾與姊共寢。夜中入定。姊於屏風角得之。身如木石亦無氣息。姊大驚怪喚告家人。互共抱扶。至曉不覺。奔問巫覡。皆言。鬼神所憑至年十一有外國禪師畺良耶舍者。來入蜀。輝請諮所見。耶舍尼以輝禪既有分。欲勸化令出家。時輝將嫁已有定日。法育未展聞說其家。潛迎還寺。家既知將逼嫁之。輝遂不肯行。深立言誓。若我道心不果遂被限逼者。便當投火飼虎棄除穢形。願十方諸佛證見至心。刺史甄法崇信尚正法。聞輝志業迎與相見。并召綱佐及有懷沙門互加難問。輝敷演無屈。坐者歎之。崇乃許離夫家聽其入道。元嘉十九年。臨川康王延致廣陵寺。

The Song dynasty nun Shi Tanhui was a person from Chengdu in Shu Commandery. Her original surname was Qingyang, and her personal name was Yu. At the age of seven, she already enjoyed sitting in meditation. Whenever she sat, she entered a meditative state, but her mind did not yet understand it, and she also thought it was just a dream. She once slept together with her elder sister; in the middle of the night, she entered samādhi. Her sister found her in the corner behind a screen; her body was like wood and stone, and she had no breath. Her sister was greatly alarmed and astonished, and called out to inform the family. They took turns holding and supporting her, but she remained unaware until dawn. They rushed to consult shamans and soothsayers, who all said that she was possessed by ghosts and spirits. When she reached the age of eleven, a meditation master from a foreign country named Kālayaśas came to Shu. Hui went to consult him about what she had seen. The nun Yaśas, seeing that Hui possessed a capacity for meditation, wished to encourage and transform her, prompting her to renounce the household. At that time, Hui was about to be married, and a date had already been set. Before her Dharma-training could unfold, hearing this, her family secretly brought her back from the temple. When the family learned of it, they were about to force her into marriage, but Hui refused to go. She took a solemn vow, saying, "If my aspiration for the Way is not fulfilled and I am coerced, I shall cast myself into fire or feed myself to tigers to discard this defiled form. I pray that the Buddhas of the ten directions will witness my utmost sincerity!" The regional inspector, Zhen Fachong, held the true Dharma in deep reverence. Hearing of Hui's aspiration, he invited her for an audience, and also summoned his staff and monks of deep understanding to cross-examine her with difficult questions. Hui expounded the teachings without faltering, and all those seated sighed in admiration. Chong then permitted her to separate from her prospective husband's family and allowed her to enter the monastic order. In the nineteenth year of the Yuanjia era, Prince Kang of Linchuan invited her to Guangling Temple.