集神州三寶感通錄 2.42

2.42

三十八隋京師日嚴寺石影像者。其像八楞紫石英色。高八寸徑五寸。內外映徹。昔梁武太清年中。有西域僧將來。會侯景作亂。遂安江州廬山西林寺像頂上。隋開皇十年煬帝鎮於揚越。廣搜英異。江表文記悉總收集。乃於雜記中得影像傳。即令舍人王延壽往寺推覓。得之自任晉蕃已來每有行往。常以烏漆函盛之。令人馬上捧而前行。後登儲貳。乃送曲池日嚴寺。有令當寺看記封鎖。勿令外人見之。寺即帝之所造也。大業之末。天下沸騰。京邑僧眾常來瞻覩。余住此寺亦未之信。重以見石中金光晃晃疑似佛像耳。仍見名行諸僧互說不同。咸言了了分明。面目相狀未曾有昧。余慨無所見。又潔齋別懺七日後依前觀之。見有銀塔。後又觀之。見有銀佛。而道俗同覩往往不同。或見佛塔菩薩。或見眾僧列坐。或見帳蓋幡幢。或見山林八部。或見三塗苦相。或見七代存亡。一覩之間或定或變。雖惡善交現而善相繁焉。故來祈者咸前發願。往作何形來生何處。依言為現。信為幽塗之業鏡者也。貞觀六年七月內下勅。追入內宮供養云。

38. The stone shadow-image at Riyan Temple in the capital under the Sui. The image is octagonal, the colour of amethyst, eight inches high, and five inches in diameter, translucent and clear inside and out. Formerly, during the Taiqing reign-period of Emperor Wu of the Liang, an Indian monk brought it. Meeting with the rebellion of Hou Jing, he thereupon placed it atop the ushnisha of an image at Xilin Temple on Mount Lu in Jiangzhou. In the tenth year of the Kaihuang reign of the Sui, Emperor Yang [when still Prince of Jin] was garrisoned in Yangyue; searching extensively for brilliant and extraordinary things, he collected all the literary records of the region south of the Yangtze. Thereupon, finding the record of the shadow-image among miscellaneous notes, he immediately ordered Gentleman of the Palace Wang Yanshou to go to the temple to search for it. Having obtained it, from the time he took up his post in the principality of Jin onwards, whenever he travelled he would always contain it in a black-lacquered box and have someone hold it reverently on horseback riding before him. Later, when he was elevated to Crown Prince, he sent it to Riyan Temple at Quchi. An order was given that the temple must keep watch over the record, seal and lock it away, and not allow outsiders to see it. The temple was indeed built by the emperor. Toward the end of the Daye reign, the realm fell into turmoil. The monastic assembly of the capital often came to gaze upon it. I, while living at this temple, did not yet believe in it either, as I had only seen golden light flickering in the stone that merely looked somewhat like a Buddha image. Yet I saw distinguished monks of reputable conduct giving varied and differing accounts: they all said it was distinct and clear, and its facial features and physical marks were never obscure. Lamenting that I could see nothing, after seven days of purifying myself through fasting and special repentance, I observed it as before. I saw a silver stūpa. Later, when I observed it again, I saw a silver Buddha. And what clergy and laity saw together was often different: some saw Buddha stūpas and bodhisattvas; some saw the monastic assembly seated in rows; some saw curtains, canopies, banners, and streamers; some saw mountain forests and the eight classes of beings; some saw the painful conditions of the three wretched realms; and some saw the living and deceased across seven generations. In a single viewing, it was either stable or changing; although the bad and the good appeared interchangeably, good marks predominated. Therefore, those who came to pray all made vows beforehand, [saying,] 'What form did I take in the past? In what place will I be reborn?' It manifested according to their words. Truly it is a karmic mirror of the unseen realms! In the seventh month of the sixth year of the Zhenguan reign, an imperial decree was issued, summoning it into the inner palace for offerings.