冥報記 1.5

1.5

Śramaṇa Shi Sengche, a bhadanta of Jiangzhou, was meticulous and practiced from his youth. On the western slope of Mount Gushan, he built hall buildings and planted many groves, capturing much of the scenic beauty of a mountain dwelling. Sengche was once walking in the mountains and saw in an earthen cave a leper whose sores were foul and putrid, begging food from Sengche. Sengche took pity on him, called him out, and returned with him. Beside his hermitage, he dug an earthen cave for him, supplied him with food and clothing, and taught him to recite the Lotus Sūtra (Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra). This man was illiterate and by nature crude and dull; Sengche taught him phrase by phrase with immense effort, yet never grew weary. When this man had recited nearly half the sūtra, he dreamed that someone was instructing him. From then on he grew gradually more perceptive; by the time he mastered five or six fascicles, he noticed his sores gradually healing. By the time he had finished reciting the entire sūtra, his beard and eyebrows had grown back, his flesh filled out as normal, and he was able to cure diseases. I, Lin, once suffered from a swelling; Sengche sent this man, whose spells and incantations proved efficacious; he recounted this himself. Later, Fang Renyu, while serving as Regional Inspector of Qinzhou, memorialized to name the hermitage founded by Sengche 'Xianquan Monastery' (Sunken Spring Monastery). Initially, there was no water in this place, and Sengche always fetched water from far down the mountain to supply his needs. One morning, the ground suddenly sank, and from the depression a spring gushed forth; hence the monastery was named after the sunken spring. The monk made exhorting people to goodness his sole devotion, while cultivating meditation himself; those near and far revered him like a father. In the first month of the second year of the Yonghui era, he suddenly gave his final instructions to his disciples, saying that he was about to die. Thereupon he sat upright on a rope-woven seat, closed his eyes, and did not move. The weather was clear and bright, yet blossoms fell like snow, fragrant and unmelting. Over an area of about two square li, tree leaves all bore a white substance resembling light cosmetic powder for three days before returning to their normal color. Sengche had already passed away. It has now been three years, yet he sits alone as before, without foul odor or decay; it is only said that tears trickle from his eyes. (Sengche's disciple Shi Qin and others, as well as the people of the prefecture, all recounted this as such).