三寶感應要略錄 2.128

2.128

Regarding this Wuliangyi jing, although its title is placed at the head of the Lotus Sūtra, its exposition had not yet been seen in the central realm of China. Those lecturing on the Lotus Sūtra harbored doubts whenever they approached the lecture seat; they never failed to break off their talks and sigh, wishing to behold this text. Suddenly there was Huibiao of Wudang Shan, who sought the Way with great diligence and toil, traveling and searching north and south, paying no heed to whether the path was smooth or perilous. In the third year of the Jianyuan era, once again seeking out the wondrous and searching for the secret, he went far south beyond the ridges. At Chaoting Monastery in Guangzhou, he met the Central Indian śramaṇa Dharmagathayaśas, whose hand could write the clerical script and whose mouth understood the speech of Qi. Wishing to transmit this sūtra, but not knowing to whom to entrust it, Huibiao came and immediately made an earnest request, his mind and body reaching the utmost sincerity. Passing through days and months, he managed to obtain a single copy. He then returned north of the mountains, entered Qi, and came to Wudang. Now, on the eighteenth day of the ninth month of the third year of the Yongming era, carrying it upon his head, he emerged from the mountain, offering it for propagation. Beholding the true scripture with joyous reverence and utter sincerity, singing and chanting, he knew not how his hands danced and his feet stamped; unable to express it fully, he was simply pious. At that time, there was a man who gave rise to disbelief, saying: 'Why must this sūtra be the prologue to the Lotus Sūtra?' He dreamed of a spirit more than a zhang tall, wearing golden armor, who pointed a sharp sword at him, saying: 'If you do not believe, your head and neck shall be cut off! This sūtra is precisely the prologue of the Lotus Sūtra. If it once passes through one's ear, one will never lose the bodhicitta. In a hundred million kalpas, it is encountered but once; how could you lose the twofold benefit?' He immediately awakened, repented, and apologized.