佛祖統紀 42.50

42.50

八年正月。永州湘山全真禪師端坐示寂。師郴人。遊方至湘山創梵宇曰淨土。四方禪眾雲集受教。會昌初忽謂其徒曰。僧當厄難宜易衣冠。一夕髭髮俱長。披紫霞衣曰無量壽衣。頂青空冠曰真空法冠。既而武宗果去浮圖。宣宗復佛法。師不復去衣冠。世稱無量壽佛化現至此。

In the first month of the eighth year, Chan Master Quanzhen of Mount Xiang in Yongzhou manifested nirvana sitting upright. The Master was a man of Chen. Wandering abroad, he arrived at Mount Xiang and founded a Buddhist temple called Jingtu. Chan assemblies from the four quarters gathered like clouds to receive his teaching. At the beginning of the Huichang era, he suddenly said to his disciples: 'Monks will face calamity; you should change your robes and caps.' Overnight, his beard and hair both grew long. Donning purple mist robes, he called them 'Robes of Immeasurable Life'; wearing a blue sky cap, he called it 'Dharma Cap of True Emptiness.' Soon after, Emperor Wuzong indeed eradicated the Buddhists. When Emperor Xuanzong restored the Buddha-Dharma, the Master never again removed his [secular] robes and caps. The world called this a manifestation of the Buddha of Immeasurable Life.