法苑珠林 61.12

61.12

宋京師有釋杯度者。不知俗姓名字是何。常乘木杯度水。因而為目。初見在冀州不修細行。神力卓越世莫能測其由來。嘗於北方寄宿一家。家有一金像度竊而將去。家主覺而追之。見度徐行。走馬逐而不及。至孟津河浮木杯於水。憑之度河。無假風棹。輕疾如飛。俄而度岸達于京師。見時可年四十許。帶索襤縷殆不蔽身。言語出沒喜怒不均。或嚴氷扣凍而洗浴。或著屐上山。或徒行入市。唯荷一蘆圌子。更無餘物。乍往延賢寺法意道人處。意以別房待之。後欲往瓜州。步行於江側就航人告度。不肯載之。復累足杯中顧眄吟詠。杯自然流。直度北岸。向廣陵遇村舍。有李家設八關齋。先不相識。乃直入齋堂而坐。置蘆圌於中庭。眾以其形陋無恭敬心。李見蘆圌當道。欲移置牆邊。數人舉不能動。度食竟提之而去。笑曰。四天王。李家于時有一竪子。窺其圌中見四小兒。並長數寸。面目端正衣裳鮮潔。於是追覓不知所在。後三日乃見在西界蒙籠樹下坐。李禮拜請還家月日供養。度不甚持齋。飲酒噉肉。至於辛鱠與俗不殊。百姓奉上。或受不受。沛國劉興伯為兗州刺史。使要之。負圌而來。興伯使人舉視十餘人不勝。伯自看唯見一敗納及一木杯。後還李家復得二十餘日。清旦忽云欲得一袈裟。中時令辨。李即經營。至中未成。度云暫出。至冥不反。合境聞有異香。疑之乃怪。處處覓度。乃見在北巖下鋪敗袈裟於地臥之而死。頭前脚後皆生蓮華。華極鮮香。一夕而萎。邑共殯葬之。後數日有人從北來云。見度負蘆圌行向彭城。乃共開棺唯見靴履。既至彭城。遇有白衣黃欣深信佛法。見度禮拜請還家。家至貧。但有麥飯而已。度甘之。怡然止得半年。忽語欣云。可覓蘆圌三十六枚。吾須用之。答云。此間正可有十枚。貧無以買。恐不盡辨。度曰。汝但撿覓宅中應有。欣即窮撿。果得三十六枚。列之廷中。雖有其數亦多破敗。比欣次第熟視皆已新完。度密封之。因語欣令開。乃見錢帛皆滿。可堪百萬許。識者謂是杯度分身他土所得䞋施。迴以施欣。欣受之皆為功德。經一年許度辭去。欣為辨糧食。明晨見糧食具存。不知度所在。經一月許復至京師。時潮溝有朱文殊者。少奉法。度多來其家。文殊謂度云。弟子脫捨身沒苦。願見救濟。脫在好處。願為法侶。度不答。文殊喜曰。佛法默然已為許矣。後乃游入吳郡。路見釣魚師。因就乞魚。魚師施一萎者。度手舒反覆還投水中。游活而去。又見網師更從乞魚。網師瞋罵不與。度乃拾取兩石子擲水中。俄而兩水牛鬪其網中。網既碎敗不復見牛。度亦隱行至松江。乃仰蓋於水中。乘而度岸。經涉會稽剡縣。登天台山數月而返。京師時有外國道人。名僧佉吒。寄都下長干寺住。有客僧僧寤者。與吒同房冥於窓隙中。見吒取寺剎捧之入雲然後將下。寤不敢言。但深加敬仰。時有一人。姓張名奴。不知何許人。不甚見食。而常自肥悅。冬夏常著單衣。佉吒在路行見張奴。欣然而笑。佉吒曰。吾東見蔡㹠。南訊馬生。北遇王年。今欲就杯度。乃與子相見耶。張奴乃題槐樹而歌曰。濛濛大象內。照曜實顯彰。何事迷昏。子縱惑自招殃。樂所少人往。苦道若翻囊。不有松柏志。何用擬風霜。閑預紫煙表。長歌出旻蒼。澄靈無色外。應見有緣鄉。歲曜毘漢后。辰麗輔殷王。伊余非二仙。晦迹之九方。亦見流俗子。觸眼致酸觴。毘謠觀有念。寧曰盡衿章。佉吒曰。前見先生。禪思幽岫一坐百齡。大慈熏心靖念枯骨。亦題頌曰。悠悠世士。或滋損益。使欲塵神。橫生悅澤。惟此哲人。淵覺先見。思形浮沫。矚影遄電。累質聲華。夢醜章弁。視色寤空。翫物傷變。捨紛絕有。斷習除戀。青條曲蔭。白茅以廌。依畦畷麻。隣崖飲羨。慧定計照。妙真日篡。慈悲有增。深想無勌。

In the Song capital was Shi Beidu (Cup Crosser); no one knew what his secular surname or personal name was. He often crossed water riding in a wooden cup, hence his epithet. He was first seen in Jizhou, not cultivating minor rules of conduct. His spiritual powers were pre-eminent, and the world could not fathom his origins. He once lodged at a house in the north; the family had a golden icon, and Beidu stole it and carried it away. The master of the house noticed and pursued him, seeing Beidu walking slowly, yet chasing him on a galloping horse he could not catch him. When he reached the Mengjin River, he floated his wooden cup on the water and relied on it to cross, needing neither wind nor oars, skimming swiftly as if flying. In a short while he crossed the bank and reached the capital. When seen at the time, he appeared to be about forty years old, wearing ropes and rags that barely covered his body. His speech came and went, and his joy and anger were erratic. Sometimes, amidst severe frost and ice, he would break through the freeze to bathe; sometimes he wore clogs to climb mountains; sometimes he walked barefoot into the market. He carried only a single reed basket and had nothing else. He occasionally went to the quarters of the monastic Fayi at Yanxian Temple, and Fayi accommodated him in a separate room. Later, wishing to go to Guazhou, he walked along the riverside and asked the boatmen for passage, but they refused to carry him. He again stepped into his cup with both feet, looked around, and chanted; the cup drifted naturally and crossed straight to the northern bank. Heading toward Guangling, he came upon a village dwelling where the Li family was holding an eightfold upasatha fast. Not knowing them previously, he went straight into the fasting hall and sat down, placing his reed basket in the courtyard. Because of his ragged appearance, the assembly had no reverent thoughts toward him. Seeing the reed basket blocking the path, Li wanted to move it against the wall, but several people lifting it could not budge it. After Beidu finished eating, he lifted it and left, laughing and saying, 'The Four Heavenly Kings!' At that time the Li family had a young servant who peeked into the basket and saw four little boys, all several inches tall, with upright features and fresh, clean garments. Thereupon they pursued and searched for him, but did not know where he was. Three days later, they saw him sitting beneath a dense tree in the western border. Li bowed and invited him back to his home to make offerings to him for months. Beidu did not keep the fast strictly; he drank wine and ate meat, even eating alliums and raw fish without differing from the secular. When commoners made offerings, he sometimes accepted and sometimes did not. Liu Xingbo of Peiguo, as inspector of Yanzhou, sent someone to invite him; he came carrying the basket. Xingbo had men try to lift it and look inside, but more than ten people could not lift it. When Xingbo looked himself, he saw only a tattered patched robe and a wooden cup. Later he returned to the Li family for another twenty-odd days. One clear morning, he suddenly said he wanted a kāṣāya and ordered it prepared by midday. Li immediately set about it, but by midday it was not yet finished. Beidu said he was going out for a short while, but did not return by nightfall. The entire region smelled a strange fragrance, and puzzled, they marvelled at it. Searching everywhere for Beidu, they found him beneath the northern cliff, where he had spread his tattered kāṣāya on the ground, lain down, and died. In front of his head and behind his feet, lotus flowers had grown; the flowers were exceedingly fresh and fragrant, but withered in a single night. The township gathered and buried him. A few days later, someone came from the north saying they had seen Beidu carrying his reed basket walking toward Pengcheng. They opened the coffin together, only to find boots and shoes. When he arrived in Pengcheng, he met a layman named Huang Xin who had deep faith in the Buddha's Dharma. Seeing Beidu, he bowed and invited him to his house. The family was destitute, having only barley gruel, but Beidu relished it. He stayed contentedly for half a year. Suddenly he said to Xin, 'You may search for thirty-six reed baskets; I have need of them.' Xin replied, 'Here there are only about ten; being poor, I cannot buy more, and I fear I cannot prepare them all.' Beidu said, 'Just go and search; your house should have them.' Xin thoroughly searched and indeed found thirty-six baskets. He arranged them in the courtyard; although they were of that number, many were broken and dilapidated. When Xin looked at them closely one by one, they had all become new and whole. Beidu sealed them up and told Xin to open them; he then saw they were completely filled with coins and silks, worth about a million. Those with discernment said these were the donations Beidu had received by manifesting his body in other lands, which he turned around and gave to Xin. Xin received them and used them entirely for merit. After about a year, Beidu took his leave. Xin prepared provisions for him, but the next morning saw the provisions were still intact, not knowing where Beidu had gone. After about a month, he arrived back in the capital. At that time, at Chaogou, there was Zhu Wenshu, who had revered the Dharma from youth; Beidu often came to his house. Wenshu said to Beidu, 'If your disciple should cast off this body and sink into suffering, I pray you will rescue me; if I am in a good place, I pray to be your Dharma companion.' Beidu did not reply. Wenshu rejoiced and said, 'In the Buddha's Dharma, silence is already consent.' Later he wandered into Wu commandery. On the road he saw a fisherman and went up to beg for a fish. The fisherman gave him a withered one; Beidu held it in his hand, turned it over, and threw it back into the water, where it swam away alive. He also saw a net-fisherman and again begged for a fish. The fisherman scolded him in anger and refused to give any. Beidu then picked up two pebbles and threw them into the water. Soon, two water buffaloes fought within his net; when the net was shredded and ruined, the buffaloes were seen no more. Beidu also hid his tracks and went to the Song River, where he turned an umbrella upside down in the water, rode it, and crossed to the bank. Passing through Shan County in Kuaiji, he climbed Mount Tiantai and returned after several months. In the capital at that time, there was a foreign monk named Saṃghaṭa, who was staying at Changgan Temple in the capital. There was a guest monk named Sengwu who shared a room with [Saṃgha]ṭa; through a chink in the window at night, he saw ṭa take the temple spire, hold it up into the clouds, and then bring it down. Wu dared not speak, but revered him even more deeply. At that time there was a man surnamed Zhang named Nu; no one knew where he was from. He was rarely seen eating, yet was always plump and cheerful, wearing only a single unlined garment in winter and summer alike. Walking on the road, [Saṃgha]ṭa saw Zhang Nu and smiled with delight. [Saṃgha]ṭa said, 'In the east I saw Cai Tun, in the south I visited Master Ma, in the north I met Wang Nian; now wishing to go to Beidu, I meet you!' Zhang Nu then inscribed a locust tree and sang: / 'Within the boundless Great Image, / Radiant illumination is truly manifest. / Why be confused and darkened, / Indulging delusion to invite your own ruin? / To the place of joy, few people go; / The path of suffering is like an overturned sack. / Without the resolve of pine and cypress, / How can one withstand the wind and frost? / At leisure taking part beyond the purple mists, / A long song ascends above the azure sky. / Clarifying the spirit beyond formlessness, / One shall appear in lands with karmic affinity. / The year-star aided the Han ruler; / The auspicious stars assisted the Yin king. / I am neither of these two immortals, / But hide my tracks across the nine realms. / I also see worldly people, / Touching my eyes and evoking sour cups [of sorrow]. / Viewing those with attachments through popular songs, / How can it be said to exhaust my feelings?' / [Saṃgha]ṭa said, 'Formerly I saw the master / Engaged in dhyāna contemplation in dark peaks, sitting for a hundred years at a stretch, / Great compassion perfuming his heart, peacefully contemplating dry bones.' / He also inscribed a verse of praise: / 'Fickle worldly people, / Sometimes increase, sometimes decrease; / Causing desire to soil their spirits, / Irrationally breeding lust and pleasure. / Only this wise man, / With profound awakening and foresight, / Contemplates form as floating foam, / Observes shadows as fleeting lightning. / Entangled by physical form, sound, and glory, / Dreaming of the ugly robes and caps of state; / Seeing form, he awakens to emptiness; / Playing with things, he grieves at transformation. / Renouncing confusion, cutting off existence, / Severing habits and eliminating attachments. / Curved shade of green branches, / White cogon grass used as a mat; / Following furrows to plant hemp, / Neighboring cliffs to drink the gushing springs. / Wisdom and samādhi reflect together; / The wondrous truth is daily attained. / Compassion ever increases; / Deep contemplation knows no weariness.'”}] ,