法華傳記 6.8

6.8

Shi Tonghui was of the Yu clan. In his youth he possessed diligent vigor and chaste discipline; he left household life to become a novice, ate vegetarian food, maintained ascetic discipline, and devoted himself to studying the vinaya deportment, further mastering the Vinaya Piṭaka. At the age of twenty he received the full precepts. At that time, a physiognomist said to Tong: "Master, you have great intelligence and wisdom, and lack any evil marks, but your lifespan is completely short; you cannot carry on the lineage." Hearing these words, Tong thereupon consulted various Venerables on what merit he should cultivate to extend his life. The Venerables of penetrating discernment deliberated together: "Among the teachings of the Buddha's lifetime, the Lotus is the greatest. If one upholds it, one will neither age nor die. If you can uphold, chant, and recite it according to the Dharma, you will surely attain a long life." Following their consensus, Tong set aside the books of precepts and vinaya and received the sūtra from his teacher. He immediately entered the deep mountains to uphold the Lotus Sūtra, chanting and reciting it with diligent vigor. After three years, he left the mountains and again met the previous physiognomist, who said: "What merit did you cultivate, Master, to have gained fifty years of lifespan and suddenly be like this?" Tong said: "Previously, my lifespan was physiognomized as short, so I entered the deep mountains and chanted and recited the Lotus Sūtra six thousand times. Could it be such superior benefits as this? I have no other merit." The physiognomist sighed and said: "The merit of the Great Vehicle can extend a short lifespan!" Because of this merit, he eventually became a Venerable, his age exceeding ninety. Later, it indeed matched the physiognomist's prediction.