律相感通傳 1.58

1.58

He replied: “This is King Mu's monastery, named Lingshan. In the time of King Aśoka, he ordered the mountain spirit to make an image here. During the chaos at the end of the Western Jin, the Five Barbarians seized and held the lands. When Liu Yao made Chang'an his capital, he repeatedly dreamed of this mountain, seeing the Buddha sitting within a brick pagoda, who spoke to Yao, saying: ‘Drink less wine and do not indulge in sexual desires. Banish the corrupt and flattering, and promote the loyal and good.’ Yao could not follow this; later in Luoyang he fell from his horse while drunk on wine and was captured by Shi Le. Earlier, when Yao was awakened by the dream, he had people search the mountain, and they saw this image sitting in a small brick pagoda, matching his dream. He then demolished the small pagoda and built a larger one, nineteen tiers high, and also built monastery halls that were exceedingly magnificent. The monastery was named Fadeng, and three hundred monks were ordained to dwell there. After Yao perished and the Zhao fell, thirty-two people in the monastery cultivated and attained the third fruit. Behind the present pagoda, immortals and spirits further built a monastery to make offerings to the monks of the third fruit. The spirits went to Mount Taibai to gather lingzhi herbs to offer to the noble monks, who all attained lengthened lifespans. The monastery is still extant today, though ordinary mortals cannot see it; the bell sound heard is indeed the bell of that monastery. Although the original foundation of its pagoda came from Liu Yao, it is still the site where King Mu established a monastery, and is also an ancient monastery of Kāśyapa Tathāgata. During the Zhenguan era, on the mountain of Ciwuchuan north of Mount Yuhua, deer were constantly seen gathering, returning as soon as they were driven away. Someone found it extraordinary and dug ten feet deep at the spot where the deer gathered, obtaining a stone image about ten feet in height.”