弘贊法華傳 8.9

8.9

Śramaṇa Huixian was a native of Baekje. He went forth from home when young, devoted and earnest in mind, making the recitation of the Lotus Sūtra his practice. When he prayed for blessings and made vows, most were fulfilled. Hearing lectures on the Three Treatises, he went to listen to and receive the teaching; once it touched his mind, his cultivation flourished all the more. At first he dwelt at Xiude Temple in the northern part of his homeland; whenever there was an assembly he would lecture, and when there was none he would recite in solitude. Hearing of his reputation from far and wide, people flocked to the mountain in noisy throngs. He then moved south to Dana Mountain, which was exceedingly deep and perilous, with layered crags steep and solid; even if someone wished to visit, the climb was arduous and dangerous. Xian sat quietly therein, pursuing his practice as before, and eventually passed away there. His fellow students placed his corpse in a rock cave. Tigers devoured his body and bones entirely, leaving only his cranium and tongue. After three full weeks, his tongue became even redder, softer and more supple than usual. Only after that did it turn purple and hard as stone. Monastics and laypeople marveled at it and revered it, sealing it inside a stone stūpa. He was then fifty-eight years old, in the first year of the Zhenguan era (627).