法苑珠林 84.41

84.41

宋偽魏平城有釋玄高。姓魏。本名靈育。憑翊萬年人也。母冠氏本信外道。始適魏氏。首孕一女。即高之長姊。生便信佛。乃為母祈願。願門無異見得奉大法。母以偽秦弘始三年。夢見胡僧散華滿室。覺便寤胎。至四年二月八日生男。家內忽有異香。及光明照壁。迄旦乃息。母以兒生瑞兆。因名靈育。時人重之。復稱世高。年十二辭親入山。久之未許。異日有一書生寓高家宿。云欲入中常山隱。父母即以高憑之。是夕咸見村人共相祖送。明旦村人並來候高。父母云。昨已相送。今復覓耶。村人云。都不知行。豈容已送。父母方寤昨之迎送乃神人也。高既背俗乖世。改名玄高。聰慜生知學不加思。至年十五已為山僧說法。受戒已後專精禪律。聞關中有浮陀跋禪師在石羊寺弘法。高往師之。旬日之中妙通禪法。跋陀歎曰。善哉佛子。乃能深寤如此。於是卑顏推遜不受師禮。高乃杖策西秦隱居麥𧂐崖。學徒百人。崇其義訓。稟其禪道。時有長安沙門釋曇弘。秦地高足。隱在此山與高相會。以同業友。是時乞伏熾槃跨有隴西。西接涼土。常有學徒三百餘人。有玄紹者。秦州隴西人。學究諸禪。神力自在。手指出水供高洗漱。其水香淨倍異於常。每得非世華香以獻三寶。靈異如紹者又十一人。紹後入堂術山蟬蛻而逝。後共曇弘乃向河南。國王及臣民近道候迎。內外敬奉崇為國師。河南化畢進遊涼土。沮渠蒙遜深相敬事。集會英賓發高勝解。時西海有樊僧印。亦從高受學。志狹量褊得少為足。便謂已得羅漢頓盡禪門。高乃密以神力。令印於定中備見十方無極世界諸佛所說法門不同。印於一夏尋其所見永不能盡。方知定水無底。大生愧懼。時魏虜託跋燾僭據平城。軍侵涼境。燾舅陽平王抂請高同還偽都。既達平城大流法化。偽太子託跋晃事高為師。晃一時被讒為父所疑。乃告高曰。空羅枉苦何由得脫。高令作金光明齋七日懇懺。燾乃夢見其祖及父皆執劍烈威問。汝何故信讒言枉疑太子。燾驚寤。大集群臣說神告以所夢。諸臣咸言。太子無過。實如皇靈降誥。燾於太子無復疑焉。蓋高誠感之力也。時崔皓冠天師並先得寵於燾。恐晃篡弑之日奪其威柄。乃譖云。太子前事實有謀心。但結高公道術。故令先帝降夢如此物論事迹稍形。若不誅除必為巨害。燾遂納之。勃然大怒。即勅收高。高先嘗密語弟子云。佛法應衰。吾與崇公當其禍首。于時聞者莫不慨然。時有涼州沙門釋慧崇。是偽魏尚書韓萬德之門師。德既次於高。亦被疑阻。至偽太平五年九月。高與崇公俱被幽縶。其月十五日就禍卒於平城之東隅。春秋四十有三。是歲宋元嘉二十一年也。當爾之夕門人莫知。是夜三更忽見光繞高先所住處塔三匝還入禪窟中。因聞光中有聲云。吾已逝矣。諸弟子方知已化。哀號痛絕。既而迎屍於城南曠野。沐浴遷殯。兼營理崇公。別在異處。一都道俗無不嗟駭。弟子玄暢時在雲中。去魏都六百里。旦忽見一人告之以變。仍給六百里馬。於是揚鞭而返。晚間至都。見師已亡。悲慟斷絕。因與同學共泣曰。法今既滅頗復興。不如脫更興。請和上起坐。和上德匪常人。必當照之矣。言畢高兩眼稍開光色還悅。體通汗香。須臾起坐謂弟子曰。大法應化隨緣盛衰。盛衰在迹理恒湛然。但念汝等不久復應如我耳。唯有玄暢當得南度。汝等死後法當更興。善自修心無令中悔。言已便臥即絕也。明旦遷柩欲闍維之。國制不許。於是營頓即窆。道俗悲哀號泣望斷。有沙門法達。為偽國僧正。欽高日久未獲受業。忽聞徂化因而哭曰。聖人去世。當復何依。累日不食。常呼高上聖人自在。何能不一現。應聲見高飛空而至。達頂禮求哀。願見救護。高曰。君業重難救。當可如何。自今以後依方等苦悔。當得輕受。達曰。脫得苦報願見矜救。高曰。不忘一切寧獨在君。達又曰。法師與崇公並生何處。高曰。吾願生惡世救護眾生。即己還生閻浮。崇公常祈安養。已果心矣。達又問。不審法師已階何地。高曰。我諸弟子自有知者。言訖奄然不見。達密訪高諸弟子。咸云。是得忍菩薩。至偽太平七年。託跋燾果毀滅佛法。悉如高言。

In the Song dynasty, in Pingcheng under the illegitimate Wei, there was Shi Xuangao. His surname was Wei, and his original name was Lingyu. He was a native of Wannian in Pingyi. His mother, Lady Guan, originally believed in non-Buddhist paths. When she first married into the Wei family, she first conceived a daughter, who was Gao's elder sister. From birth, she had faith in the Buddha, and so she prayed for her mother, wishing that their household would have no divergent views and be able to serve the Great Dharma. In the third year of the Hongshi era of the illegitimate Qin, the mother dreamed of a foreign monk scattering flowers that filled the room. Upon waking, she became aware of her pregnancy. On the eighth day of the second month of the fourth year, she gave birth to a son. Inside the house there was suddenly a wondrous fragrance and bright light illuminating the walls, which ceased only at dawn. Because of the auspicious omens at her son's birth, the mother named him Lingyu. People of the time respected him and also called him Shigao. At the age of twelve, he took leave of his parents to enter the mountains, but for a long time they did not consent. On another day, a scholar lodged at Gao's house and said he wished to retreat into Mount Zhongchang. His parents then entrusted Gao to him. That evening, all saw the villagers seeing him off together. The next morning, the villagers all came to inquire after Gao. His parents said, "Yesterday you already saw him off; are you looking for him again today?" The villagers said, "We knew nothing of his departure; how could we have seen him off?" The parents then realised that those who had welcomed and seen him off yesterday were divine beings. Having turned his back on worldly life, Gao changed his name to Xuangao. Naturally intelligent and possessing innate knowledge, his learning required no laborious thought. By the age of fifteen, he was already preaching the Dharma for mountain monks. After receiving full ordination, he devoted himself solely to dhyāna and vinaya. Hearing that Dhyāna Master Buddhabhadra was propagating the Dharma at Shiyang Temple in the Guanzhong region, Gao went to study under him. Within ten days, he profoundly mastered the methods of dhyāna. Buddhabhadra sighed in admiration: "Excellent, Son of the Buddha! That you can attain such deep awakening!" Thereupon, with humble countenance and deference, he would not accept the etiquette due to a master. Gao then set off with his staff for Western Qin and lived in seclusion at the Maiji Cliff. He had a hundred disciples, who revered his instructions on meaning and received his path of dhyāna. At that time, there was a śramaṇa from Chang'an named Shi Tanhong, a senior disciple of the Qin region, who lived in seclusion on this mountain and met Gao; they became companions in the same practice. At this time, Qifu Chipan held sway over Longxi, bordering the Liang region to the west. [Gao] constantly had more than three hundred disciples. There was one Xuanshao, a native of Longxi in Qinzhou, who had thoroughly mastered all dhyānas and possessed unhindered supernatural powers. Water flowed from his fingers for Gao to wash his face and rinse his mouth; the water was twice as fragrant and pure as ordinary water. He frequently obtained unworldly flowers and incense to offer to the Three Jewels. There were eleven others who were as miraculously gifted as Shao. Shao later entered Mount Tangshu and passed away like a cicada shedding its shell. Later, together with Tanhong, Gao went to Henan. The king and his ministers and people waited on the nearby road to welcome him, respectfully venerating him both within and without the court as National Preceptor. Having completed his conversion of Henan, he travelled on to the Liang region. Juqu Mengxun revered and served him deeply, gathering distinguished guests to elicit Gao's superior understanding. At that time, in Xihai there was Fan Sengyin, who also received instruction from Gao. Narrow in aspiration and small in capacity, he was content with little gain, and claimed that he had already attained arhatship and suddenly exhausted all doors of dhyāna. Gao then secretly used supernatural power to cause Yin, while in samādhi, to fully see the different Dharma doors preached by all the Buddhas of the limitless worlds in the ten directions. Throughout one summer, Yin investigated what he had seen and could never exhaust it; only then did he realise that the waters of samādhi are bottomless, and he was greatly filled with shame and fear. At that time, the Wei captive Tuoba Tao illegitimately occupied Pingcheng and sent troops to invade the Liang borders. Tao's maternal uncle, the Prince of Yangping, insistently requested Gao to return with him to the illegitimate capital. Having reached Pingcheng, he widely spread the transformation of the Dharma. The illegitimate Crown Prince Tuoba Huang served Gao as his master. At one point, Huang was slandered and suspected by his father. He told Gao, "Falsely caught in unjust suffering, by what means can I be liberated?" Gao had him perform the Golden Light fast and penitence for seven days with earnest repentance. Tao then dreamed of his grandfather and father, both holding swords with fierce majesty, asking, "Why do you believe slanderous words and unjustly suspect the Crown Prince?" Tao awoke in shock, assembled his ministers, and recounted the divine announcement given in his dream. The ministers all said, "The Crown Prince has committed no fault; it is truly as the imperial ancestral spirits have proclaimed." Tao had no further suspicion of the Crown Prince. This was indeed the power of Gao's sincere resonance. At that time, Cui Hao and Celestial Master Kou [Qianzhi] had both previously gained Tao's favour. Fearing that on the day Huang seized power through usurpation or regicide he would strip them of their authority, they slandered him, saying: "The Crown Prince truly had treacherous intentions in the earlier affair; he merely allied with Master Gao's esoteric arts to cause the late emperors to appear in your dream like this. Public opinion and traces of the deed are gradually taking shape; if he is not executed, it will surely lead to great calamity." Tao accepted this, flew into a rage, and immediately ordered Gao arrested. Gao had previously told his disciples in secret: "The Buddhadharma is destined to decline. Master Chong and I shall be the primary victims of this disaster." At that time, none of those who heard it were not moved with grief. There was then a śramaṇa from Liangzhou named Shi Huichong, who was the personal teacher of the illegitimate Wei's Minister Han Wande. Since his virtue was second only to Gao's, he was also suspected and obstructed. In the ninth month of the fifth year of the illegitimate Taiping era, Gao and Master Chong were both imprisoned. On the fifteenth day of that month, he met disaster and died in the eastern corner of Pingcheng at the age of forty-three. This was the twenty-first year of the Yuanjia era of the Song. On that night, his disciples knew nothing of it. At the third watch of the night, light was suddenly seen circling the pagoda of Gao's former dwelling three times, and then entering his dhyāna cave. Then from within the light a voice was heard saying, "I have already passed away." Only then did the disciples know he had transformed, and they wailed with grief, overwhelmed with sorrow. Afterwards, they retrieved his body from the open wilderness south of the city, bathed it, and conducted the funeral, while also managing Master Chong's [funeral] separately in another place. Throughout the capital, monastics and laypeople alike sighed in shock. His disciple Xuanchang was at that time in Yunzhong, six hundred li from the Wei capital. At dawn, a man suddenly appeared and told him of the disaster, providing him with a horse capable of travelling six hundred li. Thereupon, whipping the horse, he returned. Arriving at the capital in the evening, he saw that his master had already passed away and was heartbroken with grief. Weeping together with his fellow students, he said: "Now that the Dharma has perished, will it ever rise again? If it is to rise again, we beg our Preceptor to sit up. Our Preceptor's virtue is not that of an ordinary person; he will surely illuminate this!" When he finished speaking, Gao's eyes opened slightly, his radiant colour returned to joy, and his whole body was fragrant with perspiration. In a moment he sat up and told his disciples: "The great Dharma responds and transforms, flourishing and declining according to conditions. Flourishing and declining pertain to phenomenal traces, whereas the Principle is ever tranquil. I only sorrow that you will soon be like me. Only Xuanchang will be able to cross south. After you die, the Dharma will rise again. Cultivate your minds well, and do not let yourselves feel regret midway." Having spoken, he lay down and immediately expired. The next morning, when they moved the coffin wishing to cremate it, the state regulations forbade it. They thereupon set up a temporary site and buried him. Monastics and laypeople wept in deep sorrow, their grief unbounded. There was a śramaṇa named Fada, who was the Controller of Monks of the illegitimate state. He had long admired Gao but had not yet received his instruction. Suddenly hearing of his demise, he wept and said: "The sage has departed from this world; whom can we now rely on?" He did not eat for several days, constantly crying out: "The sage Gao is sovereign; how could he not manifest even once?" In response to his voice, he saw Gao flying through the air. Fada prostrated and begged for pity, wishing to be saved. Gao said: "Your karmic hindrance is heavy and difficult to save; what can be done? From now on, repent with hardship according to the Vaipulya teachings, and you will receive a lighter retribution." Fada said: "If I suffer painful retribution, may you pity and save me." Gao said: "I do not forget all beings, how could it be you alone?" Fada also asked: "Where were you and Master Chong reborn?" Gao said: "I vowed to be reborn in an evil world to save and protect sentient beings, so I have already returned to Jambudvīpa. Master Chong constantly prayed for Sukhāvatī, and his wish has already been fulfilled." Fada asked again: "I do not know what stage the Dharma Master has reached?" Gao said: "Among my disciples, there are those who know." When he finished speaking, he suddenly disappeared. Fada secretly inquired of Gao's disciples, who all said: "He is a bodhisattva who has attained the forbearance (kṣānti)." In the seventh year of the illegitimate Taiping era, Tuoba Tao indeed destroyed the Buddhadharma, exactly as Gao had said.