道宣律師感通錄 1.8

1.8

又問。今涼州西番（音槃）和縣。山裂像出。何代造耶。答曰。迦葉佛時。有利賓菩薩。見此山人不信業報。以殺害為事。于時住處有數萬家。無重佛法者。菩薩救之。為立伽藍。大梵天王手造像身。初成以後。菩薩神力能令此像如真佛不異。遊步說法教化諸人。雖蒙此導猶不信受。于時菩薩示行怖畏。手擎大石可落。欲下壓之。菩薩伴怖。勸化諸人。便欻迴心信敬於佛。所有殺具變成蓮花。隨有街巷花如種植。瑞自此方攝化神力。菩薩又勸諸清信士。令造七寺。南北一百里。東西八十里。彌山亘谷。處處僧坊佛堂。經十三年方得成就。同時出家。有二萬人。在七寺住。經三百年。彼諸人等。現業力大。昔造惡業。當世輕受。不入地獄。前所害者。在惡趣中。又發惡願。彼害我者。及未成聖。我當害之。若不加害。惡業便盡。我無以報。共吐大火。焚燒寺舍及彼聚落。一時焚蕩縱盜得活。又以大水而漂殺之。無一孑遺。時彼山神。寺未破前。收取此像遠在空中。寺破以後。下內石室安置供養。年月既久石生室滅。至劉薩何禮山示其像者。前身元是利賓菩薩。身首別處更有別緣。

I also asked: "Now in Fanhe (pronounced *pan*) County, west of Liangzhou, the mountain split open and a statue emerged. In what dynasty was it made?"
He replied: "In the time of Kāśyapa Buddha, there was Bodhisattva Libin. Seeing that the people of this mountain did not believe in karmic retribution and took slaughter as their occupation—at that time there were tens of thousands of households in this place, none of whom revered the Buddha-Dharma—the Bodhisattva came to save them, establishing a saṅghārāma for them. The Great Brahmā Heavenly King fashioned the statue's body with his own hands. After it was first completed, the Bodhisattva's supernatural power was able to make this statue indistinguishable from a true Buddha, walking about, preaching the Dharma, and teaching the people. Although they were granted this guidance, they still did not accept it in faith.
Then the Bodhisattva manifested the act of terror: he held up a huge boulder in his hands as if it were about to drop, intending to crush them beneath it. The Bodhisattva accompanied their terror by exhorting and converting the people, who suddenly changed their minds and had faith and reverence toward the Buddha. All slaughtering implements turned into lotus flowers, and wherever there were streets and alleys, flowers appeared as if planted. Such miraculous signs stemmed from the spiritual power of transformation in this region.
The Bodhisattva also urged the upāsakas to build seven monasteries, spanning one hundred *li* from north to south and eighty *li* from east to west, filling mountains and crossing valleys, with monastic quarters and Buddha halls everywhere. Only after thirteen years was this accomplished. Twenty thousand people went forth from the household at the same time to dwell in the seven monasteries. When three hundred years had passed, those people possessed great strength from their present karma: the evil karma they had created in the past was experienced lightly in their present lifetime without them falling into hell. Those who had previously been harmed by them were in the evil destinies, and made an evil vow: 'Before those who harmed us attain sagehood, I shall harm them; if I do not inflict harm upon them, their evil karma will be exhausted, and I shall have no way to take retribution.' Together they spewed out great fire, burning down the monastic dwellings and their settlements, incinerating them all at once; even if they managed to escape by stealth and survive, great floodwaters washed them away and drowned them, leaving not a single person surviving.
At that time, before the monastery was destroyed, the mountain spirit took this statue and held it high in the air. After the monastery was destroyed, it brought it down into a stone chamber to place and make offerings to it. As months and years grew long, the stone grew and the chamber vanished. As for Liu Sahe's paying homage at the mountain and revealing its statue, his previous existence was originally Bodhisattva Libin. The body and head being in separate places was due to yet other circumstances."