華嚴經傳記 4.25

4.25

Shi Hongbao's clan and ancestry are unknown. He resided south of Caiqiu in Zouping County of Zizhou. He left the household at eighteen and dwelt in Hongzhensi. He slightly suffered from a goiter, which later grew increasingly severe. No medical treatment could cure it, and it eventually became as large as a peck. Because of this, he could not lower his head, his gaze directed only toward the sky. Sudden rains and driving winds flowed into his nose and mouth; his drinking and eating leaked and sprayed, causing hardships beyond imagination. Not only did relatives and neighbors look down upon him, but he himself harbored sorrow and bitter grief. At the age of thirty-five, he suddenly met a monk who taught him to read the Avataṃsaka to eliminate his past obstructions. Hongbao then concentrated his mind with earnest determination, opening and perusing it day and night, repenting and purifying himself during the six periods, hoping to complete one hundred recitations. When he reached forty-odd recitations, he dreamed at night of someone holding a sharp knife who cut off the goiter and carried it away. Several days after waking, a sore arose on the goiter, forming a head of pus about the size of a date. When lightly pressed by hand, several he of pus came out, and it was like this every day. After nearly three months, the sore and goiter gradually vanished from then on, and he finally recovered completely; this was at the beginning of the second year of Xianheng. Hongbao and his disciples Honggui, Falü, and others, overjoyed at the rebirth of this floating life and moved by the secret efficacy of the sacred power, mingled sorrow and rejoicing in their hearts. They gave up all their robes and bowls and reverently copied a complete set of this sūtra, chanting, reading, receiving, and upholding it without a moment to spare. Within several years, they finally fulfilled their original vow. Thereupon, the vows and aspirations of those near and far joined together to propagate this scripture.