三寶感應要略錄 1.31

1.31

相傳。昔天竺鷄頭摩寺五通菩薩。往安樂世界。請阿彌陀佛娑婆眾生。欲生淨土。無佛形像。願力莫由。請垂降許。佛言。汝且前去。尋當現彼。及菩薩還。其像已至。一佛五十菩薩。各坐蓮華。在樹葉上。菩薩取葉所在。圖寫流布遠近矣。

According to tradition, in the past in India, a Bodhisattva of Fivefold Supernormal Powers at Kukkuṭapāda Monastery went to the World of Peace and Bliss to make a request of Amitābha Buddha: 'Sentient beings of the Sahā world wish to be born in the Pure Land, but having no physical image of the Buddha, their power of vows has no basis. We pray you deign to grant your appearance.' The Buddha said: 'You go ahead; I will soon appear there.' When the Bodhisattva returned, the image had already arrived: one Buddha and fifty bodhisattvas, each seated on a lotus flower atop tree leaves. The Bodhisattva took the leaves wherever he went, painted copies of them, and circulated them far and near.