歷代僧傳「感通夢」的書寫與特色

The Writing and Feature of the ＂Dream of Spiritual Resonance＂ in the Biographies of Monks through the Ages

僧傳作者除了撰述高僧最具代表的生平事蹟之外，也會運用信仰者因虔誠而感通的神異、夢徵等經驗或傳說，透露其走向修行之路的殊勝因緣。特別是傳主遇到瓶頸、困難、疑惑時，透過虔誠祈請進而感得諸佛菩薩、神人、僧侶於夢中透露訊息，提供解決之方或指點迷津，促使僧侶生命產生一種聖化效果。四大高僧傳記所載的感通夢，經常出現在重要人生的轉捩點，不少僧侶因感通夢的啟示，生命起了變化，或開啟修行悟道的關鍵契機，或增強弘法利生的信心願力，或作為虔誠修行的宣驗例證。從信仰的角度來看，這些高僧透過宗教實踐所建立的生命典範，可引發讀者見賢思齊的宗教情操，或提供後人仿效學習的修行之道。從文學的角度來看，僧傳作者如何運用感通夢的營造，刻畫傳主不凡的形象，凸顯修行的成就，為傳主生平增添神奇的色彩。本文以〈歷代僧傳「感通夢」的書寫與特色〉為題，耙梳梁．慧皎《高僧傳》、唐．道宣《續高僧傳》、宋．贊寧《宋高僧傳》到明．如惺《大明高僧傳》的感通夢為研究對象，探討高僧感夢的緣由，從夢象中獲得之啟示與態度，觀察僧傳作者如何運用「夢境」與「現實」的交涉，形塑高僧的典範特質，藉以凸顯高僧傳記中的感通夢徵所具有的宗教意涵與文學特色。

The compilers of the biographies of monks not only wrote about the crucial life experiences of these eminent monks, but also revealed wonderful affinities that brought them to Buddhist spiritual paths by writing about their experiences and legends on the spiritual resonance as well as the dream verification from their sincerity. In particular, when the practitioners encountered the obstacles and difficulties they were said to be able to meet Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, divine figures, as well as spiritual monks in their dreams from their sincerity. In the dreams, these miraculous figures would tell the practitioners some methods or resolutions for helping them. This brings a sort of efficacy for these eminent monks for being divine. The miraculous dreams in four collections of biographies of eminent monks often appeared in the turning points of these monks. A great number of monks were enlightened by these dreams and their lived were changed, which means that they realized the keys for cultivation and enlightenment. Their faith and vow power for saving sentient beings were enhanced. Sometimes the dreams became the verifications for their sincerity of practice. From a perspective of faith, these eminent monks were said to establish themselves as role models through their religious practice, which will invoke the religious sincerity of the readers who would repeat the experience of these eminent monks, as well as offer the cultivating path for followers of later generations. Literarily speaking, it is worth considering how the compilers of these biographies attempted to utilize the miraculous dreams for portraying the images of the monks as legendary figures by their cultivation achievements. This paper will examine four collections of biographies of eminent monks, for analyzing the origins of the dreams of monks, and the inspirations and attitudes of the monks toward these dreams. In addition, it will also examine how the compilers wrote about the interaction between the dream realm and the reality for portraying the role model image of eminent monks. It suggests that these dreams appearing in the biographies have their particular religious implications and literary features.