法華傳記 5.18

5.18

釋僧定。是曇榮同門。住法住寺。行方等懺悔。諷誦法華。晝夜未甞眠臥。戒行精高。夢感見諸聖眾。彌悔彌誦。貞觀七年七月十四日。於法住道場內。見大光明。五色間起。從上而下。中有七佛。相好非常。語僧定云。我是毘婆尸如來無所著至真等正覺。以汝罪銷故來為證。然非本師。不與授記。如是六佛。皆同此詞。又有大光明倍前。從上而下。中有九百九十四佛。語僧定皆同此詞。最後一佛云。我是汝本師釋迦牟尼也。為汝罪銷故來授記。汝身器清淨。於賢劫中。當作佛名為普明。汝行方等大乘。普賢道場。誦持法華不可思議也。若斯之應現感靈。難稱記矣（若依續僧傳。曇榮與僧定。同行方等悔法。見七佛釋迦。授二人記。更不云誦法華。然別記中。誦持法華。行方等大乘普賢悔法。記者所聞不同而已）。

The monk Sengding was a fellow disciple of Tanrong. Dwelling in Fazhu Temple, he practiced the Vaipulya confession and chanted and recited the Lotus Sūtra, never lying down to sleep day or night. His conduct in the precepts was pure and lofty. Through the resonance of his dreams he saw various noble assemblies, and the more he repented, the more he recited. On the fourteenth day of the seventh month in the seventh year of Zhenguan, inside the Fazhu sanctuary, he saw a great radiance in which five colors arose alternately, descending from above. Amidst it were seven Buddhas, with extraordinary marks and signs. They addressed Sengding, saying: "I am Vipaśyin Tathāgata, Arhat, Samyaksambuddha. Because your sins have been dissolved, I have come to bear witness; yet, not being your original teacher, I do not confer a prediction on you." The six [other] Buddhas all spoke these same words. Furthermore, there was a great radiance twice as bright as before, descending from above, amidst which were nine hundred and ninety-four Buddhas, who all addressed Sengding with these same words. The last Buddha said: "I am your original teacher, Śākyamuni. Because your sins have been dissolved, I have come to confer a prediction on you. The vessel of your body is pure; in the Bhadrakalpa you shall become a Buddha named Universal Light (Samantaprabhā). In practicing the Vaipulya Mahāyāna and the Samantabhadra sanctuary, your upholding and reciting of the Lotus Sūtra is inconceivable." Such manifestations and miraculous resonances as this are difficult to recount in full. (If one relies on the Xu gaoseng zhuan, Tanrong and Sengding practiced the Vaipulya repentance together, and saw the seven Buddhas and Śākyamuni confer predictions on both men, without mentioning the recitation of the Lotus Sūtra. However, in separate records, they upheld and recited the Lotus Sūtra and practiced the Vaipulya Mahāyāna Samantabhadra repentance; it is merely that what the chroniclers heard differed.)