神僧傳 6.22

6.22

Śramaṇa Tongda was a native of Yongzhou. He renounced household life at the age of thirty, and had no fixed abode. He constantly drank water and ate wild greens, roaming about following his whims. Or he would pluck and break mugwort and bean leaves, eating them whether raw or dead. When it came to peaches, apricots, melons, and fruits, he would inevitably swallow them raw, skins and pits included. When people asked the reason, he said: "Gifts given in faith are hard to discard." From the Zhenguan era onward, he gradually revealed divine anomalies. When he went to people's homes, if he rejoiced and laughed, it was auspicious; if he was gloomy and distressed, it was inauspicious. Sometimes he demanded wealth, and sometimes he demanded labor; whatever amount he ordered, it had to be delivered accordingly. If someone disobeyed his words, the later loss would exceed the former. There was a man riding a donkey who went through monasteries sightseeing; Da went up to him to beg, but the man was stingy and did not give, whereupon his mount died shortly after. The noble and the base in the capital all revered and served him; misfortune and good fortune depended on his single word. In expounding and guiding, he preserved only freedom from attachment. The wealth and profit he obtained were all used to build monasteries. When General-in-Chief Xue Wanjun first heard of his extraordinary conduct, he welcomed him into his residence to make offerings, and for more than a hundred days [Tongda] did not deviate from the correct norm. Suddenly, one night, he demanded food and wished to eat. At first they did not give it to him, but he begged incessantly; when they tested him by giving it, he ate it. From then on, he gradually altered his former ways and exclusively displayed transformative manifestations, his conduct being mostly eccentric. When he wanted to go inside [the women's quarters] to lodge, the general's brothers were furious and beat him nearly to death. He looked up and said to them: "You have already beaten me, and the flesh of my body is ruined. My blood is polluted and impure; you may prepare boiling water to wash it." When it was boiling vigorously, he undressed and entered the cauldron as if it were cold water. Those around him were terrified, yet he still demanded that more fire be added. The entire household was astonished, venerated him, and allowed him to lodge wherever he wished. He had once owed someone more than a hundred strings of cash; later, having acquired it, there was no one to deliver it. He then took the money to the monastery gate and waited for a passerby, ordering them to repay the debt in the West Market according to whatever amount was owed to Da. Everyone tried to stop him, but Da could not be prevented from handing it over. When they went to check on the repayment, not a single coin was missing. At a time when grain was expensive, he wished to host a great vegetarian feast, so he ordered the monastery administrators to send out numerous invitations. When the next morning arrived, several thousand came, but the provisions were entirely absent, with no one knowing what was planned. The great assembly blamed him, but Da said: "Others promised to deliver the offerings; it is certainly not a lie." When the time for the feast drew near and the monastic assembly was about to disperse, they suddenly saw cooked foods and delicious delicacies arriving in continuous carts and carriages filling the road. They immediately used them for the offering; there was a huge surplus, which was all supplied to the monastic storehouse, and no one knew where it came from. As soon as the meal ended, the people and carts vanished. Later, no one knew how he ended.