神僧傳 3.38

3.38

Shi Fadu was a native of Huanglong. At the beginning of the Southern Qi, he traveled to Jinling. A scholar of retired life from Qi Commandery named Sengshao lived in seclusion on Mount She in Langye; revering Fadu's purity and genuineness, he treated him as a teacher and friend. When Sengshao died, he renounced the mountain where he lived to make Qixia Temple. Previously, a Daoist master had wished to take the temple grounds for an abbey, but those who resided there invariably died. Later, when it became a temple, there were still many terrors and commotions. From the time Fadu resided there, the multitude of demonic beings all fell quiet. After more than a year, the sound of men, horses, drums, and horns was suddenly heard. Soon a person was seen presenting a calling card to Fadu, which said "Jin Shang." Fadu bid him come forward. Jin Shang was very elegant in appearance, and his retinue was numerous. After paying respects, he said, "Your disciple has ruled this mountain as king for more than seven hundred years. The divine path has its Dharma treasures, but previous dwellers were perhaps not true and upright, so deaths and illnesses followed in succession; yet that was also their fate. The Dharma Master is one to whom virtue and the Way return. I respectfully renounce it to offer it to you, and I also wish to receive the five precepts to bind karmic affinities for the future forever." Fadu said, "The ways of humans and spirits are different; there is no need to bend to one another. Furthermore, you, patron, receive blood offerings in worldly sacrifices, which is strictly prohibited by the five precepts." Shang said, "If I may be among your disciples, I will immediately renounce killing." He then took his leave and departed. The next day, a person delivered ten thousand cash together with incense and candles, the list stating: "Offered by the disciple Jin Shang." On the fifteenth day of that month, Fadu held an assembly for him. Shang came again, joined the assembly in bowing, circumambulating, and receiving the precepts, and then left. Soon after, a spirit medium at the shrine on Mount She dreamed that the spirit told him, "I have already received the precepts from Dharma Master Fadu. Henceforth, in sacrifices and offerings at the shrine, do not kill animals." From then on, only vegetables and rice were offered in the shrine. Once, Fadu suffered from cold-food powder illness and lay on the ground; he saw Shang come from outside, rub his head and feet with his hand, and leave. A short while later he returned holding a lapis lazuli bowl containing something like water to offer to Fadu; its taste was sweet and cold, and Fadu's ailment immediately eased. Such were his signs of spiritual response.