法苑珠林 31.25

31.25

梁京師有釋保誌。本姓朱。金城人。少出家止京師道林寺。師事沙門僧儉為和尚。修習禪業。至宋太始初。忽如僻異居止無定。飲食無時。髮長數寸。常跣行街巷執一錫杖。杖頭掛剪刀及鏡。或掛一兩匹帛。齊建元中稍見異迹。數日不食亦無飢容。與人言語始若難曉。後皆效驗。時或賦詩。言如讖記。京土士庶皆共事之。齊武帝謂其惑眾。收往建康獄。既旦人見共入市廛。還撿獄中誌猶在焉。誌語獄吏。門外有兩輿食來。金鉢盛飯。汝可取之。既而齊文慧太子竟陵王子良。並送食餉誌。果如其言。建康令呂文顯以事聞武帝。帝即迎入居之後堂。一時屏除內宴。誌亦隨眾出。既而景陽山上猶有一誌與七僧俱。帝怒遣推撿失所。閣吏啟云。誌久出在省。方以墨塗其身。時僧正法獻欲以一衣遺誌。遣使於龍光罽賓二寺求之。並云。昨宿旦去。又至其常所。造廣候伯家尋之。伯云。誌昨在此行道。旦眠未寤。使還以告獻。方知其分身三處宿焉。誌甞盛冬袒行。沙門寶亮。欲以納衣遺之。未及發言。誌忽來引納而去。又時就人求生魚膾。人為辦竟。𮍡飽乃吐。還視盆中魚游活如故。誌後假武帝神力見高帝於地下。常受錐刀之苦。帝自是永廢錐刀。齊衛尉胡諧病請誌。誌注疏云胡屈。明日竟不往。是日諧亡。載屍還宅。誌云。胡屈者明日屍出也。齊太尉司馬殷齊之。隨陳顯達鎮江州辭誌。誌畫紙作一樹。樹上有烏。語云。急時可登此。後顯達逆節。留齊之鎮州。及敗齊之叛入廬山。追騎將及。齊之見林中有一樹。樹上有烏。如誌所畫。寤而登之。烏竟不飛。追者見烏。謂無人而返。卒以見免。齊屯騎桑偃將欲謀反。往詣誌。誌遙見而走大呼云。圍臺城欲返逆。斫頭破腹。後末旬事發。偃叛往朱方為人所得。果斫頭破腹。梁鄱陽忠烈王常屈誌來第會。忽令覓荊子甚急。既得安之門上。莫測所以。少時王便出為荊州刺史。其預鑒之明。此類非一。誌多去來興皇淨名兩寺。及今上龍興甚見崇禮。先是齊時多禁誌出入。今上即位下詔曰。誌公迹拘塵垢神游冥寂。水火不能燋濡。蛇虎不能侵懼。語其佛理則聲聞以上。談其隱淪則遁仙高士。豈得以俗士常情空相拘制。何其鄙陿一至於此。自今行來隨意出入勿得復禁。誌自是多出入禁內。天監五年冬旱。牢祭備至而未降雨。誌忽上啟云。誌病不差。就官乞治。若不啟白官應得鞭杖。願於華光殿講勝鬘經請雨。上即使沙門法雲講勝鬘。講竟夜便大雪。誌又云。須一盆水加刀其上。俄而雨大降高下皆足。上常問誌云。弟子煩惑未除。何以治之。答云。十二識者。以為十二因緣治惑藥也。又問十二之旨。答云。在書字時節刻漏中。識者以為書之在十二時中。又問。弟子何時得靜心修習。答云。安樂禁。識者以為禁者止也。至安樂時乃止耳。後法雲於華林講法華。至假使黑風。誌忽問風之有無。答云。世諦故有。第一義則無也。誌往復三四番。便笑云。若體是假有此亦不可解難可解。其辭旨隱沒。類皆如此。陳征虜者舉家事誌甚篤。誌嘗為其現真形。光相如菩薩像焉。誌知名顯奇四十餘載。士女恭事者數不可稱。至天監十三年冬。於臺後堂謂人曰。菩薩將去。未及旬日無疾而終。屍體香軟形貌怡悅。臨亡然一燭以付後閣門舍人吳慶。慶即啟聞。上歎曰。大師不復留矣。燭者將以後事屬我乎。因厚加殯送。葬于鍾山獨龍之阜。仍於墓所立開善精舍。勅陸倕製銘辭於塚內。王筠勒碑文於寺門。傳其遺像處處存焉。初誌顯迹之始。年可五六十許。而終亦不老。人咸莫測其年。有徐捷道者。居于京師。九日臺北自言。是誌外舅弟。小誌四年。計誌亡時。應年九十七矣（右此一驗出梁高僧傳）。

In the capital of the Liang, there was the monk Baozhi. His original surname was Zhu, and he was a native of Jincheng. In his youth, he left home and dwelt at Daolin Temple in the capital, taking the śramaṇa Sengjian as his upādhyāya and cultivating the practice of dhyāna. Around the beginning of the Taishi era of the Song, he suddenly became eccentric and abnormal: his dwelling had no fixed place, his eating and drinking no regular times, and his hair grew several inches long. He would constantly walk barefoot through the streets and alleys, holding a monk’s staff hung with scissors and a mirror at the top, or sometimes with one or two bolts of silk. During the Jianyuan era of the Qi, extraordinary signs gradually began to appear. He would go for several days without eating yet show no sign of hunger. When he spoke with people, it seemed difficult to understand at first, but later everything came true. At times he composed verses whose words were like prophetic signs. Both gentry and commoners throughout the capital revered and served him. Emperor Wu of the Qi considered him to be misleading the masses, arrested him, and put him in the Jiankang prison. At dawn, however, people saw him walking into the marketplace, but when they went back to inspect the prison, Zhi was still inside. Zhi said to the jailer, “Outside the gate are two carrying-litters of food coming, with rice contained in gold bowls; you may take them.” Shortly thereafter, Crown Prince Wenhui of the Qi and Xiao Ziliang, Prince of Jingling, both sent gifts of food to Zhi, exactly as he had said. The Magistrate of Jiankang, Lü Wenxian, reported the matter to Emperor Wu, who thereupon welcomed him in and lodged him in the rear hall. Once, during a private banquet inside the palace from which attendants were excluded, Zhi also followed the crowd out; yet soon afterwards, on Mount Jingyang, there was still a Zhi along with seven monks. The emperor was enraged and sent people to investigate, but they lost track of him. A gate official reported, saying, “Zhi left long ago and is in the ministry, where he is just now smearing his body with ink.” At that time, the Controller of the Saṃgha, Faxian, wished to give a robe to Zhi, and sent an envoy to seek him at Longguang and Jibin temples; both said, “He stayed overnight yesterday and left this morning.” The envoy then went to the residence of the Earl of Guanghou, a place he frequented, to look for him. The earl said, “Zhi was here yesterday practicing the Path; this morning he is still sleeping and has not awoken.” The envoy returned and informed Faxian, and only then was it known that he had divided his body to lodge in three places overnight. Zhi once went walking bare-chested in the depths of winter. The śramaṇa Baoliang wished to present him with a patchwork robe, but before he could utter a word, Zhi suddenly came, pulled on the patchwork robe, and left. Also, he once went to someone begging for raw fish sashimi. After the person prepared it for him, he ate his fill and then vomited it up; when they looked back into the basin, the fish were swimming alive as before. Later, using Emperor Wu’s spiritual power, Zhi saw Emperor Gao in the subterranean realms constantly suffering the torment of awls and knives; from then on, the emperor abolished awls and knives forever. When the Qi Commandant of the Palace Guard, Hu Xie, fell ill, he invited Zhi. Zhi wrote on the letter of invitation, “Hu's bend [Hu qu].” The next day he did not go after all. On that day Xie died, and his corpse was carried back to his residence. Zhi said, “'Hu's bend' meant that tomorrow the corpse would go out.” The Qi Grand Commander's Marshal, Yin Qizhi, bid farewell to Zhi when accompanying Chen Xianda to garrison Jiangzhou. Zhi drew on a paper a tree with a crow on it, saying to him, “In an emergency, you may climb this.” Later, when Xianda rebelled, he left Qizhi behind to garrison the province. When Xianda was defeated, Qizhi fled in rebellion into Mount Lu. When the pursuing cavalry were about to catch up with him, Qizhi saw in the woods a tree with a crow on it, just like what Zhi had drawn. He realised [the omen] and climbed it; the crow did not fly away after all. Seeing the crow, the pursuers thought no one was there and turned back. In the end, he escaped. Sang Yan, a cavalry officer of the Qi, was about to plot a rebellion and went to visit Zhi. Seeing him from afar, Zhi ran and shouted loudly, “You besiege the palace city wanting to rebel! Your head will be chopped off and your belly split open!” Within ten days, the affair was exposed; Yan fled to Zhufang and was captured by someone, and indeed his head was chopped off and his belly split open. King Zhonglie of Poyang of the Liang often invited Zhi to his mansion for gatherings. Suddenly, [Zhi] ordered that vitex branches be sought with great urgency. Once obtained, they were placed on top of the gate, no one knowing why. Shortly afterwards, the King was appointed to go out as the Inspector of Jingzhou. Instances of his clear foreknowledge were numerous of this kind. Zhi often went back and forth between Xinghuang and Jingming temples. When the present emperor ascended the throne, he was treated with great reverence. Before this, under the Qi, Zhi's movements were often restricted. When the present emperor assumed the throne, he issued an edict saying: “Master Zhi’s traces are tied to the dust and defilement, while his spirit wanders in the dark and tranquil. Water and fire cannot burn or wet him; serpents and tigers cannot harm or frighten him. Speaking of his Buddhist principles, they are beyond the śrāvakas; talking of his recluse nature, he is an aloof transcendent and a gentleman of high virtue. How could he be constrained in vain by the ordinary sentiments of worldly men? How could people have been so petty and narrow to such an extreme? From now on, let him come and go, enter and leave at will, and do not restrain him any longer.” From then on, Zhi frequently entered and left the inner palace. In the winter of the fifth year of Tianjian, there was a drought. Sacrificial beasts and offerings were prepared completely, yet no rain fell. Zhi suddenly presented a memorial, saying: “Zhi’s illness will not heal, and he begs the authorities for a cure. If he does not report, the authorities should administer the whip and rod. I wish that the Śrīmālā-sūtra be expounded in the Huaguang Hall to pray for rain.” The emperor immediately ordered the śramaṇa Fayun to expound the Śrīmālā-sūtra; as soon as the lecture was finished, heavy snow fell that night. Zhi also said, “A basin of water is needed, with a knife placed on top.” Shortly thereafter, rain poured down heavily, sufficient for both highlands and lowlands. The emperor once asked Zhi, saying: “This disciple has not yet eliminated vexations and delusions; by what means can they be cured?” He replied, “Twelve.” Those with understanding took it to mean that the twelve links of dependent origination are the medicine to cure delusion. He asked again about the import of “twelve.” He replied, “It is in the writing of characters, the seasons, and the water clocks.” Those with understanding took it to mean that writing lies within the twelve hours of the day. He asked again, “When will this disciple attain a quiet mind to cultivate practice?” He replied, “The restraint of peace and bliss [anle jin].” Those with understanding took “restraint” to mean cessation; only when reaching peace and bliss will it cease. Later, when Fayun was expounding the Lotus Sūtra in Hualin Park, he reached the passage on “supposing a black wind.” Zhi suddenly asked whether the wind existed or not. [Fayun] replied, “In terms of conventional truth, it exists; in terms of ultimate truth, it does not.” Zhi went back and forth with him three or four times, then laughed and said, “If its substance is conditionally existent, this is also impossible to explain, and hard to explain.” The hidden meaning of his words was generally like this. The family of General Chen Zhenglu served Zhi very devotedly. Zhi once manifested his true form for them, with radiant marks like a statue of a bodhisattva. Zhi was well known and displayed wonders for more than forty years; the gentlemen and ladies who respectfully served him were beyond count. In the winter of the thirteenth year of Tianjian, he said to someone in the rear hall of the palace: “The bodhisattva is about to depart.” Before ten days had passed, he died without illness. His corpse was fragrant and soft, and his countenance joyful. Just before his death, he lit a candle and handed it to Wu Qing, an attendant at the rear palace gate. Qing immediately reported this. The emperor sighed and said, “The Great Master will stay no longer! Does the candle mean he entrusts the later affairs to me?” Thereupon he arranged a lavish funeral and buried him at Dulong Mound on Mount Zhong. Furthermore, he established the Kaishan Hermitage at the tomb site, decreed that Lu Chui compose an inscription for inside the tomb, and that Wang Yun engrave an inscription on a stele at the temple gate. Transmitted portraits of him remain everywhere. When Zhi first revealed his signs, he was about fifty or sixty years old, yet he did not age until the end; no one could fathom his age. There was Xu Jiedao, who lived north of the Jiuritai in the capital, who stated that he was Zhi’s maternal cousin, four years younger than Zhi. Calculating to the time of Zhi’s death, he must have been ninety-seven years old. (This one verification comes from the Liang Gaoseng Zhuan.)