弘贊法華傳 7.14

7.14

Śramaṇa Sengsheng did not have a known family background; some say he was a native of Weizhou. In the sixth year of the Kaihuang reign era, he arrived in the territory of Qizhou. This man had no fixed dwelling; wherever there were saṅghārāmas, regardless of whether monks were present or not, he would stay there, begging for food and reciting the sūtra. Only after completing a quota of a thousand recitations would he move once. In that year, he arrived at the Baoshan bodhimanda on Mount Lingyan, dwelling in the araṇya to recite the sūtra. That night, the mountain deity brought several dozen people to listen. Sengsheng asked, "What deity is the dānapati?" The deity replied, "This disciple is the deity of the Northern Mountain. I have lived here for more than seven hundred years. Now, hearing the Dharma Master reciting the sūtra, I have come to listen. I humbly ask the Master to recite for me." After a long while, the deity departed. Thereafter it was always like this. Later, Sengsheng went out to Xiangzhou to construct a sūtra repository, completing it in a month. He wished to light lamps in his eyes as an offering, but could find no one who could extract eyeballs. Thereupon he procured a knife five to six inches long along with a string of one thousand cash, and went into the mountains to find a hunter. The master hunter said, "I do not need the Master's money; just give this disciple the knife." The hunter then extracted the eyes for him. His body turned livid with bruises, and only afterward did he revive. Having revived, he said to the hunter, "You may cauterize this wound with fire." The hunter cauterized it with fire, after which Sengsheng returned to Fazang Temple in Xiangzhou to light lamps in offering, reciting the sūtra without ceasing. If he wished to pray for śarīra, by composing his mind for a brief moment, three to five would descend; sometimes, when he meditated prostrate for seven days, they would number well over a hundred. Monks and laypeople from near and far deeply revered and admired him. He passed away in the seventh year of the Kaihuang reign era.