集神州三寶感通錄 1.16

1.16

An imperial decree granted permission. Thereupon a stūpa was constructed above, where the revered and dignified features were displayed. Elders have passed down the saying: "This stūpa is opened once every thirty years to be shown to the people so that they may give rise to goodness." When Zhang Liang heard this, he petitioned during the Zhenguan reign era to have it opened and unsealed, bringing out the śarīra to show to the people. Fearing that gathering a crowd would prevent them from daring to open the stūpa, an imperial decree granted full permission. Following this, they opened and excavated down more than ten feet and obtained two ancient stele inscriptions, both erected during the Zhou and Wei dynasties. Their texts were not worth reading, and thus are not recorded here. Their luminous forms radiated and shone, just like all the śarīra. Once the śarīra were brought out, they were shown openly to both monastics and laity; countless thousands of people viewed them together at the same time. There was a blind man whose eyes had been dark for many years; straining his eyes to look straight at it, his sight suddenly became clear and pure. Inside and outside the capital, crowds surged and hurried there together, gathering at the stūpa site by thousands each day. The śarīra rose high so that the multitudes saw it together. What was seen on the square bone differed among the viewers: some saw white light shining through like jade, some saw a green colour, and some could not see it at all, asking the crowd: "Where is the śarīra?" At that time, there was a man who, because he could not see it, felt deeply distressed and grieved, beating his breast and weeping. The crowd took pity on him and consoled him, asking: "This is from past deeds; strive to repent! What is the use of beating your breast?" When this man saw others burning their fingers to make offerings, he immediately wrapped his thumb in hemp and set fire to it, circumambulating the stūpa while running. As the fire blazed and his mind grew desperate, he came to the site of the śarīra; suddenly he was able to see it, and he leaped about and bounded for joy, oblivious to the pain in his finger. When the fire died out and his mind calmed, he could no longer see it again. In the ninth month of the fourth year of the Xianqing reign era, the monastics of the inner mountain Zhicong and Hongjing were summoned into the palace, and the conversation turned to the matter of the King Aśoka stūpa, which had stood for so long that it required broad protection. His Majesty said: "Is this not the King Aśoka of the boy offering earth? If there is one nearby, then it is one of the eighty-four thousand stūpas." Zhicong said: "Its reality is not yet clear. Elders have passed down the saying that its name is King Aśoka Temple, and such words ought not to be false. Furthermore, tradition says that it comes out once every thirty years; previously, in the early Zhenguan era, it had already appeared, bringing great sympathetic responses. Now the period is already complete, and we request to bring it out again." His Majesty said: "To be able to obtain the śarīra is truly a wholesome cause. You may first proceed to the stūpa site and practice the path for seven days; only when there is an auspicious sign in response to your prayers may it be opened." He immediately bestowed five thousand cash and fifty bolts of silk to cover the offerings. Zhicong set out from the capital at dawn on the fifth day of the tenth month with the attendant eunuch Wang Changxin and others, arriving only as night approached on the sixth day. Zhicong then entered the interior of the stūpa with concentrated dedication and earnest effort. After practicing the path for a long time, no light appeared. At the third watch on the tenth day, he placed charcoal on his arm and burned incense thereon, solemn and focused without any stray thoughts. Suddenly, he heard the sound of splitting under the image inside the stūpa. Tracing the sound to look, he saw an auspicious light overflowing and surging upward like mist. The feet of the three images inside the stūpa each emitted light—red, white, and green—which twined and rose upward, reaching the beams and brackets to form a canopy. Zhicong was overjoyed and was about to call the monks, when he saw the interior of the stūpa crowded with monastics standing with palms joined. He thought they were from the same monastery, but after a short while, the canopy of light gradually subsided and slowly descended; within three feet of the ground, the assembly of monks was no longer visible. Only then did he realize they were holy beings who had hidden themselves. He then summoned the imperial emissary to witness the auspicious signs together. Once they arrived at the stūpa site, the remaining light skimmed the ground and spread radiant brilliance all around, dazzling and abundant; hundreds of thousands of forms of light seemed to revolve, fading away completely only after a long while. At dawn, when they looked, they obtained one śarīra, considerably larger than a grain, its light fresh and pure. Searching more closely, they obtained another seven pieces. They placed them all in a basin of water; one piece rotated alone, circling the other śarīra, each emitting brilliant light that dazzled people's eyes. Zhicong and the others submitted a detailed report of the auspicious signs they had received. By imperial decree, the Attendant Wang Junde and others were sent with three thousand bolts of silk, ordering them to fashion a life-size King Aśoka image of Our likeness; the remainder was to be used to repair the old stūpa. Furthermore, since the image was in the stūpa, the Buddha's śarīra was to be brought out immediately to open the way for blessing and wisdom. Because the old timber was largely decayed, the monks replaced it entirely with cypress and laid dressed stone as the foundation; its ornamentation and magnificence were exceptionally splendid. Furthermore, an imperial decree appointed the monks Zhicong and Hongjing to the Honglu Temple and granted them residence at Huichang Temple. On the first day the stūpa was opened, more than twenty people chiseled downward together. When the śarīra was obtained, all the people saw it except for one man who could not see it. Distressed, that man tore out his hair, pleading earnestly with bitter wailing and loud cries, the sound terrifying humans and animals; reproaching himself in vain, in the end he still could not see it. Thereupon they placed the śarīra on his palm; although he felt its weight, he could not see it, just as before. Because of this, among all those who came to pay reverence, anyone who feared they might not see the bone did not dare look at its luminous sign. Some days before the imperial emissaries arrived, people of the Yunlong Ward east of the temple looked toward the temple stūpa and saw a reddish light shining all around near and far; some saw it like a rainbow shooting straight up to heaven; some saw light illuminating the temple town, crimson as if it were day. All this was reported in detail. The temple monks marveled and said: "The śarīra will soon be opened; this auspicious sign is no different from that of the Zhenguan era." The shape of the śarīra was like the first joint of the little finger, one inch and two tenths in length; its inner cavity was square, as were its outer ridges; flat below and round above, luminous and clean both inside and out. I inserted my little finger into the cavity and it fit snugly, whereupon I was able to carry it aloft to display it to the great assembly. As for the transformations of its luminous signs, they could not be measured by any regular standard. At that time, inside and outside the capital, monastics and laity stretched continuously across two hundred li, coming and going to congratulate each other, all praising the Buddha's virtue as the glory of an entire era. The monk Huiman of the great Cien Temple in the capital was practicing the path at the stūpa when he suddenly saw a pair of bright eyes beneath the caisson ceiling, exceptionally large; he summoned monastics and laity to look together, and it was the same for them as well. All lost their composure in fright and dared not look closely again. In the third month of spring in the fifth year of the Xianqing reign era, an imperial