續高僧傳 26.58

26.58

Śramaṇa Senggai was a native of Hengzhou. He once travelled to Taiyuan, where he listened exclusively to the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra. Later he went to Luoyang, where he resumed his previous occupation. Gai heard that the sūtra teaches mindfulness and wisdom, taking the gathering of thoughts as paramount; he thereupon abandoned the pursuit of listening and focused on the practice of samādhi. After cultivating his thoughts for a long time, the faults of his mind became increasingly apparent to him, so he completed this training. Later he entered the capital, inquiring everywhere after companions in dhyāna. He resided at Daxingshan Monastery, lowering his screen and holding back his feet, not engaging in worldly talk; narrow-minded and heterodox teachings never even touched his lips. His speech was pure and lofty, and few did not esteem him.

In the second year of Renshou, he received an imperial decree to escort relics to Cangzhou. In the fourth year, another imperial decree ordered him to escort [relics] to Faxiang Monastery in Zhezhou. When he first made the stone casket, it was originally of a plain blue-green colour. Once it was polished and prepared, it transformed into radiant brocade, its patterns and colours spreading forth. Furthermore, the form of a monk was seen, but only half his body; when they went to look at dawn, the monk had transformed into a Buddha, his radiant flames and divine appearance all clearly visible. Three characters also appeared, reading: "Son of the King of Men." Before the Buddha, the form of a rooster also appeared, its comb and tail fully rounded; or there appeared many forms of immortal phoenixes and heavenly beings. Most of the people of Nanxiang County made their living by butchering and hunting; because of these auspicious omens, they brought forth the [bodhi] mind, received the precepts, and severed [their occupations] forever. Later, on another day, a woodcutter saw an oak tree to the south of Faxiang Monastery that had produced an extraordinary fruit, only about a hundred pieces. Its colour was bright red, like a lotus about to blossom. He picked two pieces and brought them as offerings to the pagoda. Officials and commoners, clerics and laypeople—more than a thousand people—went together to pick them; their taste was like grapes. They presented a memorial along with the fruit, and the Emperor marveled at the auspicious omen.

Gai later resided at Chanding Monastery. At the beginning of the Tang, he passed away at an age of over ninety.