弘贊法華傳 7.16

7.16

釋慧向。俗姓劉氏。彭城人。甚有道素。眾所知識。省事務。唯誦法華。來到江都縣。寄故亭村住。年一百二歲。初無疾病。而忽云。貧道當行。與檀越別。於是端坐而終。村人輿出林間。未敢埋殯。經一七日。其屍忽自仰臥。初申後屈已合掌。了不爛壞。轉久但乾辟而已。村人埋之於銅山之側。採樵人。時有聞誦經聲。不知的。在何處。揚州總管府司馬趙元恪。因公行次。從向墓傍過。見一莖蓮華。生於陸地。怪而訪之。村人云。是慧向師之塚。此僧生存。誦法華經。或當是其所致。乃堀而視之。唯白骨口中。其舌如舊。紅赤柔軟。都不變壞。從此舌根。生此蓮花。因遂聞奏。表其靈異。又起七層塼塔。塔今見在。

Śramaṇa Huixiang, whose secular surname was Liu, was a native of Pengcheng. He had great virtue in the Way and was well-known to the community. Reducing mundane affairs, he only recited the Lotus Sūtra. He came to Jiangdu County and stayed lodging in Guting Village. At the age of one hundred and two, he initially had no illness, but suddenly said, "This poor monk must depart and bid farewell to the dānapatis." Thereupon, sitting upright, he passed away. The villagers carried him out to the woods, not daring to bury him yet. After seven days, his corpse suddenly lay on its back of its own accord; first stretching out and then bending, it had already joined its palms, completely undecayed, and with the passage of time it merely dried up. The villagers buried him beside Tongshan. Woodcutters occasionally heard the sound of sūtra recitation, without knowing precisely where it was. Zhao Yuanke, Administrative Assistant in the Superior Area Command of Yangzhou, was passing by Huixiang's tomb on official business when he saw a single lotus flower growing upon dry ground. Surprised, he inquired about it, and the villagers said, "This is the tomb of Master Huixiang. During his life, this monk recited the Lotus Sūtra; perhaps this was brought about by that." They then excavated and examined it; inside the mouth of the white bones, his tongue remained as before, reddish and soft, not decayed at all. From this tongue-root grew this lotus flower. Consequently, they reported it to the throne to make known this wondrous sign, and also erected a seven-story brick stūpa; the stūpa is extant today.