釋門自鏡錄 1.24

1.24

It is not known where Yantong came from. Although he mingled among the clergy, his inclinations were largely foolish and base; relying upon meritorious deeds, he sought to enrich himself. He once cast a large bronze image, but the halo, pedestal, and attendant figures were all omitted. The donated funds he received were routinely pocketed for himself, and he called the image the "revenue-yielding slave." Later, after a long time had passed without receiving a single scrap, Tong took up a staff and said to the image, "Slave, why do you not yield revenue?" He was about to beat it, but before he could raise his hand, he suddenly saw a man twenty feet tall, clad in armor, glaring with angry eyes and coming straight forward, saying, "Worthless wretch! How can you bear to treat a Buddha image like this?" He then seized him by the neck, lifting him several feet off the ground, and whipped him with an iron staff, blood flowing all over his body from head to foot. Tong screamed and pleaded for mercy, his voice heard far and near; among monastics and lay onlookers, none failed to be chilled to the heart. After ten days, beneath the staff wounds, leprous sores further erupted, as large as peaches and apricots, oozing and discharging pus; his entire body turned crimson, as though on fire. Several paces away, the feverish heat radiated outward. Tong could only wail day and night, tossing and turning in pus and blood. After more than a hundred days, the ground in his room sank several feet, and thereupon he died.