神僧傳 9.49

9.49

Master Kuang was the son of a garrison soldier at Haitan. From the age of seven or eight, he disliked fish and meat and had a sweet fondness for wild vegetables. Whenever he saw the household kitchen cooking or scalding creatures of fur and scale, he would scoop sand and ash in his hands and throw them into the stoves and cauldrons, eager that they not be eaten. He said of himself, "In the Sui dynasty, it was I who built the pagoda of Kaiyuan Monastery." He often spoke of things that had not yet occurred, and later they all matched his words. He then requested to renounce household life and thereupon donned the Dharma robes. At the crown of his head was a fragrance like the burning of eaglewood and sandalwood. At that time he was called the Holy Monk. Investigating Censor Huangfu Zheng invited him to enter the prefectural office. Thereupon [Huangfu] made about a hundred meat dumplings, of which only one was vegetarian. Plates and vessels were mingled together and all displayed before him, intending to test whether he was ordinary or holy. When Kuang approached the banquet, he went straight to pick up the vegetarian one and ate it. He brushed the rest aside with his hand and stood up. Huangfu's subordinates were all astonished and praised him. He said of himself that his lifespan was limited to thirteen years, when he would definitely return to extinction. When that time came, he indeed passed away.