宋高僧傳 24.32

24.32

釋元皎，靈武人也。有志操，與眾不群，以持明為己務。天寶末，玄宗幸蜀，肅皇於靈武訓兵，計剋復京師。為物議攸同，請帝即位，改元至德。及二年，返轅指扶風，帝素憑釋氏，擇清尚僧首途，若祓除然。北土西河所推，皎應其選，召入受勅旨，隨駕仗內赴京。尋勅令皎向前發，至于鳳翔，於開元寺置御藥師道場。更擇三七僧，六時行道，然燈歌唄，讚念持經，無敢言疲，精潔可量也。忽於法會內生一叢李樹，有四十九莖，具事奏聞，宣內使驗實。帝大驚喜曰：「此大瑞應。」四月十八日，檢校御藥師道場念誦僧元皎等表賀，答勅曰：「瑞李繁滋，國之興兆。生在伽藍之內，足知覺樹之榮。感此殊祥，與師同慶。」皎之持誦，功能通感，率多此類。加署內供奉焉。

Shi Yuanjiao was a man from Lingwu. He possessed resolute integrity, stood out from the crowd, and made the upholding of vidyā-mantras his primary devotion. At the end of the Tianbao era, when Emperor Xuanzong took refuge in Shu, Emperor Suzong drilled troops in Lingwu and planned the recovery of the capital. In accordance with unanimous public sentiment, he was requested to ascend the throne, changing the reign title to Zhide. In the second year, when the imperial carriages turned to head for Fufeng, the emperor, having long relied on the teaching of Śākya, selected an eminent monk of pure aspirations to lead the way as an act of purification. The northern territories and the region west of the Yellow River recommended Jiao; Jiao met the selection and was summoned to receive imperial orders, accompanying the sovereign's entourage to the capital. Soon an imperial decree ordered Jiao to set out ahead and proceed to Fengxiang to establish an Imperial Bhaiṣajyaguru Bodhimaṇḍa at Kaiyuan Temple. He further selected twenty-one monks to practice the Path during the six periods of the day, lighting lamps, chanting verses of praise, intoning, and reciting the sūtras; none dared speak of fatigue, and their purity was beyond measure. Suddenly, a cluster of plum trees sprouted within the Dharma assembly, bearing forty-nine stems. When this matter was fully reported to the throne, an imperial commissioner was dispatched to verify the facts. The emperor was greatly astonished and pleased, saying: "This is a great auspicious resonance." On the eighteenth day of the fourth month, Commissioner Yuanjiao and others, monks chanting at the Imperial Bhaiṣajyaguru Bodhimaṇḍa, submitted a memorial offering congratulations. The imperial response read: "The flourishing of the auspicious plums is an omen of the nation's prosperity. That they grew within the saṅghārāma is sufficient proof of the blooming of the Bodhi Tree. Responding to this extraordinary sign, We share this celebration with the master." Jiao’s incantations and recitations produced spiritual resonances and effects that were largely of this sort. He was additionally appointed Palace Chaplain.