<Previous Section>
<Next Section>

卷四傳五梁閑居寺慧勝尼

慧勝。本姓唐。彭城人也。父僧智寓建康。勝幼願出家。以方正自立希於語言。言必能行身無輕躁。旬日不出戶牖。見之者莫不敬異。

以宋元嘉二十一年出家。時年十八。為淨秀尼弟子。住禪林寺。具戒以後講法華經。隨集善寺緒尼學五行禪。後從草堂寺思隱靈根寺法穎。備修觀行。奇相妙證獨得懷抱。人見而問之。皆答云。罪無輕重一時發露。懺悔懇惻以晝係夜。貴賤崇敬供施不斷。

年八十一。梁天監四年卒。葬于白板山也

4.5 (Tsai no.56) Hui-sheng

The nun Hui-sheng (Victorious Wisdom) (425-505) of Solitude Convent of Liang

Hui-sheng's secular surname was T'ang. Her family was originally from the city of P'eng-ch'eng [in northeast China], but her father, T'ang Seng-chih, took up residence in Chien-k'ang [the capital of the Liang dynasty].

When still a child Hui-sheng wanted to leave the household life to become a nun. She was upright in character and restrained in speech; her deeds matched her words. Lacking any tendency to frivolity, she would remain indoors for as long as ten days. All who saw her respected her extraordinary qualities.

In the twenty-first year of the yüan-chia reign period (444) of the Sung dynasty, when Hui-sheng was eighteen years old, she left the secular life and lived at Meditation Grove Convent as a disciple of the nun Ching-hsiu (no. 52). After her reception of the obligation to observe all the monastic precepts, she lectured on the Flower of the Law Scripture. Under the tutelage of the nun Hui-hsü (no. 48) of Collected Goodness Convent she studied the five ways of meditation.

Later, under Hui-yin of Grass Hall Monastery and Fa-ying of Spiritual Root Monastery, Hui-sheng cultivated the practice of contemplation in which she grasped to an exceptional degree the marvellous realization of the [Buddhist Way]. Whenever others perceived this and asked her about it, she always replied, "Sins, whether serious or slight, should be disclosed at once. Confess them diligently day and night."

Exalted and humble alike respected her, giving her offerings without cease.

In the fourth year of the t'ien-chien reign period (505) of Liang she died at the age of eighty-one and was interred on Bare Plank Mountain.

<Previous Section>
<Next Section>
IATHPublished by The Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities, © Copyright 2003 by Anne Kinney and the University of Virginia