三寶感應要略錄 1.31

1.31

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.