集神州三寶感通錄 1.43

1.43

晉義興元年。有林邑人。甞有一舍利。每齋日放光。沙門慧邃。隨廣州刺史刀逵在南。敬其光相欲請之。未及發言。而舍利自分為二。逵聞心悅。又請留敬。而又分為三。逵欲模長干像。寺主固執不許。夜夢人長數丈告曰。像貴宣導。何故悋耶。明報聽摸。既成。逵以舍利著像髻中。西來諸像放光者。多懷舍利故也。

In the first year of the Yixing era of the Jin dynasty, there was a man from Linyi who once had a śarīra that emitted light on every fasting day. The monk Huisui followed Dao Kui, the Regional Inspector of Guangzhou, to the south. Reverencing its luminous appearance, he wished to request it. Before he could speak, the śarīra spontaneously divided into two. When Kui heard of this, he was delighted in his heart and further requested to keep one for veneration, whereupon it divided again into three. Kui wished to copy the Changgan image, but the monastery abbot obstinately refused. At night, he dreamed of a person several zhang tall who told him, 'The image is valued for propagation; why be stingy with it?' The next morning, the abbot granted permission to copy it. When it was finished, Kui placed the śarīra inside the topknot of the image. The reason why many images brought from the west emit light is largely because they contain śarīra.