集神州三寶感通錄 3.42

3.42

The monk Yisu: his place of residence is unknown. He wandered through the mountains and plains of Liquan, making the recitation of the Lotus Sūtra his practice, having recited it several thousand times. During the Zhenguan reign era, when about to die due to illness, he told his friend Chan Master Huikuo: 'Lately, though I recite the sūtra, I hope in my mind for verification. If I am to be born in a good realm, my organ of the tongue will not decay. You may bury me and dig me up after ten years. If the tongue has decayed, know that my recitation was without merit; if the tongue is as before, erect a stūpa for me to generate faith and reverence in worldly people.' Having spoken, he died. In the eleventh year, they opened [the grave] according to his words. The flesh of his body was completely gone, and only his tongue was undecayed. The gentlemen and women of the entire county all looked up to him in reverence. Thereupon they placed the root of the tongue in a casket and erected a stūpa on the bank of the Gan Valley.