佛祖統紀 36.78

36.78

In the thirteenth year, earlier, the monk Fazhi of Mount Yuhang constantly recited the Lotus Sūtra. A pheasant flew down and perched at the corner of his seat, appearing to listen and receive it. After seven years the pheasant died, and Zhi buried it. In a dream that night a boy bowed and said, 'Because I listened to the sūtra, I have escaped from the feathered kind, and am now born into the Wang family in front of the mountain.' The next morning Zhi sent someone to inquire about it, and it was just as he had said. One day the Wang family held a vegetarian feast; just as Zhi reached the gate, the boy said, 'My preceptor has come!' Zhi stroked him and said, 'This is my pheasant boy.' Undoing his clothes to look beneath his armpit, there were indeed three pheasant down-feathers. At seven years old he was made to enter the mountains and leave home; at sixteen his head was shaved. Because he had down beneath his armpits, he was named Tanyi. At first he went to Mount Lu to rely on Dharma Master Yuan, and later went to Guanzhong to see Kumārajīva. Afterward he traveled east to Kuaiji and entered Mount Qinwang, reciting the Lotus Sūtra for more than twelve years. A woman dressed in colorful clothes, carrying a bamboo basket containing a white pig and two stalks of garlic, came before the Master and said, 'I entered the mountains to pick vetch, but the sun is already setting. With jackals and wolves blocking the way, there is no way for me to survive returning home. I make bold to entrust myself to you for a night’s lodging.' The Master firmly refused her, but the woman wept and cried out ceaselessly. He then allowed her to stay on a straw bed. In the middle of the night she wailed with stomach pain and told the Master to massage her. The Master then wrapped his tin staff in cloth and massaged her from a distance. The next morning, the woman used her colorful clothes to transform into auspicious clouds, the pig turned into a white elephant, and the garlic transformed into a pair of lotuses, rising into the void. She said to the Master, 'I am Samantabhadra Bodhisattva. Because you will soon join my retinue, I came specially to test you. Seeing your mind, it is like the moon in the water, impossible to defile.' Soon afterward, flowers rained from the sky and the earth completely trembled; none among the local villagers who saw and heard this failed to praise him. That day, the Grand Protector Meng Yi, just as he rose in the morning to attend to business, suddenly saw auspicious clouds to the south with rays of light shooting onto his courtyard, subtly accompanied by the sounds of metal, stone, strings, and bamboo pipes. Inquiring, he learned of Samantabhadra’s manifestation. He then reported the Master’s noble conduct to the imperial court. An imperial edict ordered the construction of Fahua Monastery (now Tianyi Monastery). After the Master passed away, his lacquered true body was kept in the mountain. (When Emperor Wuzong of the Tang abolished the Dharma, the statue was hidden inside a tree south of the monastery. King Wusu of Wuyue posthumously titled him Great Master Feiyun.)
Also, the monk Fazhuang was a disciple of Dharma Master Yuan; reciting the Lotus Sūtra was his regular practice. Neighbors at night saw the appearance of armed guards escorting his room; both clergy and laity who heard about this respected him.
Also, the monk Tansui stayed at Baima Monastery in Heyin; he daily recited the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra and was also thoroughly versed in lecturing on it. At night he dreamed of a man knocking on the door, inviting the Dharma Master to lecture on the sūtra for ninety days. Sui did not consent, but when he firmly begged, he went. Suddenly he saw himself in the shrine of the White Horse Embankment spirit; one of his disciples was also present. From then on he went secretly every day. One morning, monks from the monastery passing below the shrine heard the sound of lecturing and saw two high seats arranged opposite each other, filled with a wonderful fragrance. When the summer retreat ended, the spirit offered a white horse, five white sheep, and fifty bolts of silk to serve as lecture fees. The Master immediately recited the dhāraṇī-aspiration and accepted them.