三寶感應要略錄 3.13

3.13

Zhang Yuantong had a firm and steadfast faith. He vowed to make an image of Mañjuśrī three feet high. Placing it in his room, he made offerings to it. At the third watch of the night, two or three Indian monks holding censers in their hands came into the room, circumambulated the image three times, and suddenly disappeared. This aroused his faith all the more, and he offered fragrant flowers. The next day toward evening, the image emitted light until the fifth watch. Tong saw in a dream that the Buddhas of the ten directions gathered in the room and made offerings of wonderful flowers to the image, saying, 'This is our original teacher. Out of reverence for our teacher, we make offerings.' The Buddhas also took exquisite necklaces and offered them to Yuantong, [saying], 'Because you made an image of our teacher with faithful mind, we have come to make offerings.' In the dream, Tong addressed the Buddhas, saying, 'Wherever in the worlds of the ten directions one makes an image of Mañjuśrī or can paint one, do the Buddhas go to all those places?' A Buddha said, 'If such a thing happens in the worlds of the ten directions, we all make offerings there. Why is this? Our raising of the aspiration [for awakening] was all due to the power of Mañjuśrī’s teaching and conversion. If someone takes refuge in Mañjuśrī, that surpasses taking refuge in the Buddhas of the ten directions.' He then spoke a verse: