弘贊法華傳 8.11

8.11

Śramaṇa Yisu—it is unknown who he was. At the founding of the Tang dynasty, he traveled to the household of Yang Lu in Meiquan Township, south of Liquan County in Upper Yong Prefecture, where he was continuously provided with offerings. Pure, frugal, and having few desires, he made the recitation of the Lotus Sūtra his sole practice, day and night without interruption, reaching several thousand recitations. At the beginning of the Zhenguan era, falling ill and nearing his end, he left instructions for his friend Huilang, saying: 'Lately, through reciting the sūtra, I have hoped for a spiritual miracle to give rise to faith and devotion in the ignorant worldly folk. After my death, do not expose my remains, but bury them for ten years; then you may dig them up. If the tongue root has rotted, you will know I had no true attainment in upholding the sūtra; if it still remains, inform the monastics and laypeople to build a stūpa to display the spiritual resonance.' Having spoken, he died, and was buried accordingly. In the eleventh year of the Zhenguan era (637), Lang and various acquaintances went to the tomb and excavated it: the flesh of his body had completely decayed, but his tongue alone was uncorrupted. The men and women of the entire county looked up to him with veneration, and the ranks of those who recited and upheld the sūtra doubled the usual number. They placed his tongue in a reliquary box and built a brick stūpa for it on the southern bank of Gan Valley, north of Yanglu Village. Those who knew of it held it in sacred reverence, their faith and devotion growing ever deeper.