集神州三寶感通錄 3.89

3.89

宋元嘉元年。東官侖二女。姊十歲。妹九歲。里越愚蒙未知經法。忽其年二月八日。並失所在。三月而歸。粗說見佛。至九月十五日又失。一旬還。作外國語誦經梵書。見西域僧。便相問解。明年正月十五日又失。田作人見從風上天。父母哀哭。求神鬼。經月乃返。剃頭為尼。被服法衣持髮而歸。自說見佛及比丘尼。曰。汝宿緣為我弟子。手摩其頭。頭髮便落。與其法名。大曰法緣。小曰法綵。遣還曰。可作精舍當興經法。既達家即除鬼座立精舍。旦夕禮誦。每五色光流汎峯嶺。自此容止音調詮正有法。上京風規不能過也。刺史韋朗孔默。皆迎敬異云云。

In the first year of the Yuanjia era of the Song, there were two daughters of the Lun family in Dongguan, the elder aged ten and the younger nine. Living in a remote rustic village, they were simple and uneducated, knowing nothing of the scriptures and Dharma. Suddenly, on the eighth day of the second month of that year, both disappeared. They returned after three months and spoke vaguely of having seen the Buddha. On the fifteenth day of the ninth month, they vanished again, returning after ten days, speaking foreign languages and reciting scriptures in Indic script. Whenever they saw monks from the Western Regions, they could converse and understand one another. On the fifteenth day of the first month of the following year, they vanished once more; field workers saw them ascend into the sky riding the wind. Their parents wept bitterly and prayed to ghosts and spirits. After a month they returned, having shaved their heads as nuns; dressed in Dharma robes and holding their severed hair, they came back. They recounted that they had seen the Buddha and bhikṣuṇīs, who told them, 'Through past karmic connections, you are my disciples.' Stroking their heads with his hand, their hair fell away at once. He gave them Dharma names: the elder was named Fayuan, and the younger Facai. Sending them back, he said, 'You may build a vihāra, and the scriptural Dharma shall flourish.' Upon reaching home, they removed the spirit altars and established a vihāra, chanting and bowing morning and evening. Five-colored lights frequently drifted across the peaks and ridges. From then on, their demeanor and vocal recitation were correct and proper according to the rules, unmatched even by the standards of the capital. The governors Wei Lang and Kong Mo both welcomed and revered them as extraordinary, and so forth.