集神州三寶感通錄 3.35

3.35

Furthermore, in Yongzhou there was a monk who also recited the Lotus Sūtra and lived in seclusion on Mount Bailu, prompting a boy to appear and provide for him through sympathetic resonance. When he died, his corpse was placed beneath a cliff; the rest of the bones dried up, yet only his tongue remained as before. During the time of King Wuling of Qi, people inspecting the mountains east of Bingzhou dug into the earth and saw yellow and white substances; they also saw an object shaped like two lips, within which was a tongue of fresh vermilion red. They reported the matter to the throne. The emperor questioned monastics and laypeople, and the śramaṇa Fashang said: 'This is the incorruptibility of the six sense organs of one who upholds the Lotus Sūtra. Reciting it a full thousand times—is this not its verification?' Thereupon they gathered upholders of the Lotus Sūtra to encircle it and recite the sūtra. As soon as they began to raise their voices, these numinous lips and tongue moved and fluttered at once. All who saw it had their hair stand on end. The matter was reported to the throne, and it was sealed in a stone casket.