弘贊法華傳 5.16

5.16

近并州城西。有一書生。年二十四五。誦法花經。誓燒身供養。乃集數束蒿柴。曝之令燥。人問其故。密而不述。後於中夜。放火自燒。及人往救。火盛已死。乃就加柴薪。盡其形癊。天樂異香。大發信心耳。

Recently, to the west of the city of Bingzhou, there was a scholar aged twenty-four or twenty-five. He recited the Lotus Sūtra and vowed to burn his body as an offering. He therefore gathered several bundles of wormwood and firewood and dried them in the sun. When people asked him the reason, he kept it secret and did not explain. Later, in the middle of the night, he set fire to burn himself. By the time people went to save him, the fire was raging and he was already dead. They thereupon added firewood and consumed his physical remains completely. Heavenly music and extraordinary fragrances caused everyone greatly to give rise to faithful hearts.