弘贊法華傳 7.16

7.16

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.