道宣律師感通錄 1.13

1.13

I asked again: "Regarding the sandalwood image of the former Daming Temple in Jingzhou, which is said to have been made by King Udayana and, according to tradition, copied from there and brought to Liang, whereas one now also exists in the capital: which is the original?" He replied: "The one at Daming is the original image. After Emperor Wu of Liang passed away, the image came to Jingzhu. In the third year of the Chengsheng era of Emperor Yuan, after the Zhou pacified the Liang, the inventories of treasures all entered the Northern Zhou. As for that sandalwood image, Dharma Master Sengzhen hid it in his room and gave many gifts of property and goods to bribe the envoys, so it was able to remain. In the ninth year of the Kaihuang era of the Sui, Emperor Wenzu sent the envoy Liu Guyan to inspect and organize the temple monks, and he also sought the image to stabilize the Jingchu region. Guyan, being a native of that region, complied with them and ordered another sandalwood carving to be made to take back and respectfully obey the imperial decree. The artisan at that time obtained a brāhmaṇa monk named Zhenda to make it; this is the image now at Xingshan Temple. It is also exceedingly miraculous. The original image remained in Jingzhou, but the monks covered it with lacquered cloth, so its marks and signs were inferior to the former ones. The genuine original was made as the Buddha's body when he was seven days old; by adding the cloth and lacquer, it matched his mature years, so it was completely different from the original. Daming was originally a dwelling place of the ancient Buddha, which was why the efficacious image was unwilling to be moved north. Recently, Dharma Master Miaoyi, having received the unseen praise of devas, was awakened and inspired to strip away the lacquered cloth, so that its full form was manifested once more, greatly stirring faithful minds. When one looks upon the spiritual likeness, it was carved from a single piece of sandalwood without any joins or patches; its halo and pedestal are uniquely extraordinary, and the carving of the fine details could by no means have been accomplished by human skill. The image at Xingshan departs from the original in every respect."