集神州三寶感通錄 1.44

1.44

In the sixth year of the Yuanjia era of the Song dynasty, Jia Daozi was walking along the Jing River. In the bright morning, seeing a lotus just blooming, he casually took it and returned home. Hearing a sound from the flower, he investigated in surprise and found a śarīra, white as a genuine pearl, its flames illuminating the rafters and beams. Reverencing it, he held it aloft, placed it in a box, and hung it on the wall of his house. The household members often saw Buddha-monks coming from outside, undoing their robes and leaping up to sit on the table. A person lodging there, unaware, defiled and showed disrespect to it. He then dreamed of a person who told him, 'Here is the true body of Śākyamuni, and all the sages come to pay homage. Why do you act evilly? Upon death you will fall into hell, and when you emerge you will be a nun's bondservant; how could you not be terrified?' The person was deeply frightened, and not long after died of leprosy. From the floor of the room where the śarīra was, eight lotuses grew, withering only after sixty days. Over a year later, the śarīra was lost, and no one knew where it went.