集神州三寶感通錄 3.36

3.36

Furthermore, during the Taihe reign era of Emperor Gaozu of the Wei dynasty, a palace eunuch in the capital Dai lamented that he was maimed by punishment, and submitted a memorial requesting permission to enter the mountains to cultivate the Way. An imperial decree granted it. Thereupon, taking the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, he read, recited, and performed rites of repentance day and night without ceasing. Before a single summer retreat was over, by the end of the sixth month whiskers and beard grew, and he acquired the physical marks of a man. When the circumstances were reported to the throne, the emperor was greatly astonished and honored him. Thereupon the whole state revered the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, and later came to venerate it constantly. All this appears in Hou Junsu's Records of Manifesting the Extraordinary.