釋氏稽古略 2.27

2.27

The Monk Fotudeng
He was a man of India. In the fourth year of Yongjia under Emperor Huai of the Western Jin, he reached Luoyang. He said of himself that he was over a hundred years old. He nourished himself by consuming qi, going without food for days on end. He was skilled in chanting dhāraṇīs and commanding ghosts and spirits. In his side there was a hole stopped with cotton; at night he would pull out the cotton, and light would shine forth to illuminate him. Whenever he came to a stream, he would pull out his intestines and stomach from the hole, wash them clean, and return them into his abdomen. Meeting with the turmoil and rebellion in Luoyang, he lay hidden in the wild countryside. At that time, Shi Le was garrisoned at Gebei and engaged in much slaughter. Deng took his tin staff and went to see Le. Le ordered that he be tested with his arts of the Way. Deng took a bowl full of water and incanted over it; in an instant, a blue lotus flower grew in the bowl. Le revered him as divine and invited him into his army. In the third year of Xianhe under Emperor Cheng of the Eastern Jin, Liu Yao besieged Luoyang. Le went in person to relieve it and consulted Deng. Deng said: "Though there is no wind at the Buddhist pagoda, a single bell tolls on its own, saying: 'Xiuzhiti ligang pugugu tudang.' This is Jie language: 'When the army goes out, it will capture Liu Yao.'" Le went to battle and indeed captured Yao, transporting him to Xiangguo. In the fifth year of Xianhe, Le assumed the title Heavenly King of Great Zhao, exercising imperial affairs. He served Deng with ever deeper devotion and reverence, calling him the Great Monk. When Le's beloved son Bin died of illness and was about to be encoffined, Le sighed: "I have heard that when the Crown Prince of Guo died, Bian Que was able to revive him. Can such an effect be achieved today?" He then ordered that Deng be informed. Deng took a willow branch, dipped it in water, and sprinkled it; taking Bin's hand, he said: "You may rise!" Bin revived and thereupon arose. From then on, many of Le's sons were raised in Deng's monastery. In the seventh month of the eighth year of Xianhe of the Jin, Le died. His younger brother Hu, courtesy name Jilong, inherited the throne and moved the capital to Ye (now Zhangde Route, in the territory of Ji Prefecture). He served Deng with even greater devotion. By the fourth year of Yonghe of the Jin, Deng was about to pass away. He went to take leave of Jilong, who was startled and said: "Is the Great Monk suddenly abandoning me because our state is in danger?" Deng said: "Entering into life and departing into death is the constant law of the Way. Length and brevity of life are determined by destiny and cannot be increased or diminished. But what is noble in the Way is that one's conduct be complete, and what is noble in virtue is that one never slackens. If one's Way and virtue are without blemish, though dead, one is as if alive; if they are absent, what benefit would there be even in a thousand years? Yet what is regrettable is that, although the state sets its heart on the Buddha's principle and should receive blessings and fortune by building monasteries and ordaining monks, its administration is fierce and cruel, its rewards and punishments are erratic and excessive, distinctly violating the sacred scriptures, thereby causing the state's mandate not to endure." Jilong wept aloud and choked with sobs. On the eighth day of the twelfth month, Deng passed away sitting in peace. His lifespan was one hundred and seventy years, having lived in the Way for one hundred and nine years. He ordained more than seven thousand disciples, including Dharma Master Dao'an and others. From the time the Great Teaching came eastward, it flourished most brilliantly with Deng (Biographies of Monks).