廣弘明集 17.49

17.49

Your subject Xiong and others state: Your subjects have heard that the Great Awakened One is completely endowed, his principle illuminating both emptiness and existence; the Utmost Sage is quiescent and unified, his principle devoid of arising and cessation. Therefore, though his physical form was divided like gathered mustard seeds, it was still preserved in golden jars; though his body was scattered like blown dust, jeweled stūpas were nevertheless erected. Since Śakra requested the ashes and King Aśoka erected stūpas, there has never been one who distributed relics to carry on and magnify this supreme undertaking. We prostratingly consider that Your Majesty accumulated causes through vast kalpas and long ago realized bodhi, descending in the traces of a sovereign of men to protect and uphold the world. In the past, the Way declined in the turning of fate, and benevolent shrines were abolished and destroyed. The lamp of compassion extinguished its shadow, and the sea of wisdom cut off its flow. Now that the imperial line has arisen, the Dharma drum is newly struck. Within the realm, all has become a pure land; among living creatures, all are covered by Brahma clouds. In the sixth month of last summer, an edict was issued to welcome monks and dispatch the relics, so that on the fifteenth day of the tenth month, stūpas were simultaneously erected in thirty prefectures. At the place mapped out for establishing the stūpa at Qiyan Temple in Pu Prefecture, the sound of bells and drums arose upon this mountain. While the relics were inside the lecture hall, that night a great radiant light emanated above the stūpa in front, flowing into the interior of the hall and filling the chamber with light. Just as they were about to place the relics into the bronze casket, there was again a light resembling an incense burner, rising through the air to the jeweled finial of the stūpa, where purple flames arose again, now scattering, now gathering, all turning into lotus flowers. There was another bright light above the stūpa shaped like a Buddha image, fully complete with a lotus pedestal, which lingered for a long time before gradually fading away. There was yet another bright light encircling the jeweled finial of the stūpa. Monks of Renshou Temple inside the city of Pu Prefecture looked from afar toward the mountain peak: the light was like multistoried pavilions; mountain peaks and ravines were clearly visible, and it illuminated the southeastern corner of the prefectural city, not extinguishing for a long while. That Qiyan Temple was founded by the Grand Ancestor, the Martial and Primal Emperor. Furthermore, at the site where the stūpa was established in Hua Prefecture, at that time there was heavy fog and a great snowfall, which suddenly cleared and became bright; right above the stūpa were five-colored harmikā rings. After the relics had been placed beneath, the fog arose once again. The Emperor and the Empress also obtained relics, whose flowing splendor and scattered colors now emerged, now sank. Were it not for utmost virtue and pure sincerity, whose Way aligns with the numinous sage, how could divine power and wondrous marks bring about such extraordinary things? Your subjects have chanced upon a flourishing era: we have already witnessed an age of great peace, and having encountered wholesome karma in our lives, we are just now escaping the realm of worldly toil. Unable to contain our leaping joy, we respectfully present this memorial to offer congratulations, submitting it for imperial hearing.