金剛經纂要刊定記 5.211

5.211

如塔。經意云：經顯法身，依法則有報化，三身既存，塔廟斯在，是故此處勸應供養。準《纂靈記》說，隨朝益州新繁縣王者村有書生，姓苟，未詳其名，於彼村東空中四面書之。村人謂曰：「書者何也？」曰：「我書《金剛般若經》。」曰：「何用焉？」曰：「與諸天讀之。」時人見聞若存若亡。彼屬霖雨流水霶霈，唯此地方丈餘間，如堂閣下竟無沾濕，於是牧童每就避雨，時人雖在莫知所由。至武德初，有西僧至，神貌頗異，於此作禮。村人謂曰：「前無殿塔為何禮也？」曰：「君是鄉人耶？」曰：「然。」僧曰：「君大無識，此有《金剛般若經》，諸天置蓋其上，不絕供養，云何污踐使其然乎。」村人乃省苟生寫經之處。自此遂甃甓嚴欄護之不令污踐，苟至齋日每常供養，瞻禮者往往有聞天樂之聲，迄今其處雨不能濕。且空書無迹尚乃如斯，況紙素分明而不能爾。

"Like a stūpa": the meaning of the sūtra is that the sūtra reveals the dharmakāya; relying on the Dharma, there are the saṃbhogakāya and nirmāṇakāya. Since the three bodies are present, stūpas and shrines are right here, and for this reason it encourages making offerings to this place. According to the Record of Compiled Miracles (Zuanling ji), during the Sui dynasty in Wangzhe Village of Xinfan County in Yizhou, there was a scholar surnamed Gou whose personal name is not known. In the space to the east of that village, he wrote in the four directions of the sky. The villagers asked him, 'What are you writing?' He said, 'I am writing the Vajracchedikā Prajñā Sūtra.' They asked, 'What is the purpose of this?' He said, 'For the devas to read.' At that time, people's seeing and hearing of it were indistinct, as if present and as if not. During a torrential downpour when floodwaters surged, only this area of about one square zhang was completely dry, as if under a hall or pavilion. Thereupon the cowherds frequently went there to take shelter from the rain; although the local people were there, none knew the reason. At the beginning of the Wude era, a Western monk arrived, with a rather extraordinary spiritual countenance, and made prostrations there. The villagers asked him, 'There is no hall or stūpa in front, why do you prostrate?' He said, 'Are you locals?' They replied, 'Yes.' The monk said, 'You have so little understanding; the Vajracchedikā Prajñā Sūtra is here, the devas hold canopies over it and never cease making offerings. Why do you defile and trample it, causing it to be like this?' The villagers then remembered the place where scholar Gou had written the sūtra. From then on, they paved it with bricks and erected railings to protect it and keep it from being defiled and trampled. Whenever a vegetarian feast day came, they regularly made offerings there; those who gazed and prostrated often heard the sounds of celestial music, and up to the present day, rain cannot wet that place. Now, even writing in empty space without a trace is still like this, how much more so on plain paper with clear text?"