往生西方淨土瑞應傳 1.9

1.9

Monk Sengya of the Northern Zhou dynasty lived at Duobao Temple in Yizhou. By nature he spoke little and did not engage in playful diversions. He spent entire days roaming the mountains and forests. When people asked why, he replied, "People are abominable; I am only contemplating this." To the west of the city, he burned the five fingers of his left hand. Monastics and laity by the millions thronged around him and wept. The Master said, "Only uphold the bodhisattva mind; do not weep for me." People asked if it hurt, and he replied, "Since the mind has no pain, how could the fingers hurt?" When the fire burned the palm of his hand, his bone marrow bubbled up. People asked the reason for this, and he replied, "Because sentient beings cannot practice forbearance, I now see that those who cannot bear it must bear it, and what cannot be burned must be burned." He also addressed the assembly, saying, "In the final kalpa, people are disrespectful, deceitful, and shallow; seeing a Buddha image, they regard it as mere dead wood, and hearing a sūtra, it is like the wind blowing past a horse's ear. Burning my hands and destroying my body, I wish to make them have faith in and revere the Buddha's Dharma." He said to his disciples, "After my parinirvāṇa, provide well for the sick, the ugly, and animals. Most of these kinds of beings are skillful manifestations of Buddhas and bodhisattvas. Unless one has a great mind of equality, how could one show universal reverence?" Later, someone saw heavenly flowers, and Sengya—wearing a patchwork robe and holding a khakkhara—ascending into the sky with six hundred monks and disappearing into the west.