釋門自鏡錄 2.17

2.17

Zhu Danyou, also called Fayou, was a native of Dunhuang. In his youth he dwelt in ascetic practices and trained in dhyāna meditation; his wondrous signs and marvelous awakenings are too numerous to detail here. He resided at Mount Chicheng, whose crags connect with Tiantai. Tiantai's sheer precipices tower loftily, and ancient elders hand down the lore that a vihāra stands above where those who have attained the Way dwell. Yet there is a stone bridge spanning a ravine, and crosswise stones block people; moreover, the moss is green and slippery, so that since antiquity none has ever reached it. Danyou walked to the place of the stone bridge and heard a voice in the air say: 'We know your sincere devotion, but you may not cross now; ten years hence you should come of yourself.' Danyou was despondent in his heart. In the evening he stayed overnight in their midst and heard the sounds of circumambulation and chanting of 'sādhu.' When he wished to advance later, he saw a person whose hair and eyebrows were pure white, who asked where Danyou was going. Danyou answered fully with his intention. The man said: 'You dwell in saṃsāra; how can a body of sin proceed? Because I am the mountain god, I inform you.' Danyou thereupon retreated and stopped for a short while, keeping clean and fasting for consecutive days. Thereupon he went again and saw that the crosswise stones had opened wide. Crossing a little past the bridge, he beheld the vihāra and holy monks, precisely as had been told. Thereupon he burned incense and took the midday meal. When the meal was finished, a holy monk told him: 'You have the odor of scallions and leeks; you should not stay here. You should come ten years hence.' Danyou said: 'Since birth, I have never known pungent filth; how much less could my mouth have eaten it for it to be spoken of as odor?' The holy monk said: 'When you were in the womb, your mother passed through land where scallions and leeks grew.' Danyou felt ashamed and withdrew. Looking back at the crosswise stones, they had joined together as before. Later he died on the mountain, his entire body being green.