法苑珠林 16.72

16.72

梁剡石城山有釋僧護。本會稽剡人也。少出家便剋意苦節。戒行嚴淨。後居剡石城山隱岳寺。寺北有青壁。直上數十餘丈。當中央有如佛焰光之形。上有叢樹曲幹垂蔭覆護每經行至壁所。輒見光明煥炳聞絃管歌讚之聲。於是擎鑪發誓。願博山鐫造十丈石佛。以敬擬彌勒千尺之容。使凡厥有緣同覩三會。以齊建武中。招結道俗初就彫剪。疏鑿逾年僅成面璞頃之護遘疾而亡。臨終誓曰。吾之所造本不期一生成辨。第二身中其願剋果。後有沙門僧淑。纂襲遺功。而資力莫由未獲成遂。至梁天監六年。有始豐令吳郡陸咸。罷邑還國。夜宿剡溪。值風雨晦冥咸皆危懼。假寐忽夢見三道人。來告云。若誠信堅正自然安隱。有建安殿下感患未瘳。若能治剡縣僧護所造石像得成就者。必獲平愈。冥理非虛宜相開發也。咸還都經年稍忘前夢。後出門乃見一僧云。聽講寄宿。自言去歲剡溪所囑。建安王事猶憶此不。咸當時懼然答云不憶。道人笑曰。宜更思之。仍即辭去。咸寤其非凡。乃倒屣諮訪。追及百步忽然不見。咸豁爾意解。具憶前夢。乃剡溪所見第三僧也。咸即馳啟建安王。王即以上聞。勅遣僧祐律師專任像事。王乃深信益加喜踊充遍。抽捨金貝誓取成畢。初僧祐未至。一日寺僧慧逞夢見黑衣大神。翼從甚壯。立于龕所商略分數。至明旦初祐律師至。其神應若此。初僧護所創鑿龕過淺。乃鏟入五丈。更施頂髻。及身相剋成鎣磨將畢。夜中忽當萬字處色赤而隆起。今像胸萬字處。猶不施金薄而赤色存焉。像以天監十二年春就功。至十五年春竟。坐軀高五丈。立形十丈。龕前架三層臺。又造門閣殿堂。并立眾基業以充供養。其四遠士庶並提挾香華萬里來集。供施往還軌迹填委。自像成之後。建安王所苦消瘳。王後改封。今之南平是也（右一驗出梁高僧傳）。

In the Liang dynasty at Shicheng Mountain in Shan, there was the monk Shi Senghu. He was originally a native of Shan in Kuaiji. Having left home while young, he firmly resolved on austere discipline, and his observance of the precepts was strict and pure. Later he resided at Yinyue Temple on Shicheng Mountain in Shan. North of the temple stood a blue-green cliff, rising straight up for several tens of fathoms. In the very middle was a shape resembling a Buddha's nimbus. Above it grew clustered trees whose crooked trunks cast shade, hanging down to shelter it. Whenever he walked in meditation up to the cliff, he would always see a radiant light and hear the sounds of stringed and wind instruments and songs of praise. Thereupon he lifted up an incense burner and made a vow, wishing to carve into the broad mountain a stone Buddha of one hundred feet, respectfully modeling it after the thousand-foot form of Maitreya, so that all who had a karmic connection might together witness the three assemblies. During the Jianwu era of the Qi dynasty, he gathered monastics and laypeople and first set about cutting and chiseling; after more than a year of quarrying, only the rough shape of the face was completed. Soon afterward, Senghu fell ill and died. On the verge of death he vowed, 'My endeavor was never expected to be accomplished within a single lifetime; in my second life, this vow shall surely bear fruit.' Later, the śramaṇa Sengshu continued the bequeathed work, but lacking the resources and manpower, he could not bring it to completion. In the sixth year of the Tianjian era of the Liang dynasty, Lu Xian of Wu commandery, the magistrate of Shifeng, left his post to return to the capital. Spending the night at Shan Stream, he encountered a dark tempest of wind and rain, and all were filled with dread. Dosing off, he suddenly dreamed of three Daoists who came to announce: 'If your faith and integrity are steadfast, you will naturally find peace and security. His Royal Highness of Jian'an is afflicted with an illness that has not healed; if he can restore and complete the stone image made by the monk Senghu of Shan county, he will certainly obtain a cure. The principles of the unseen world are not empty; this should be revealed to him.' When Xian returned to the capital, as a year went by, he gradually forgot his former dream. Later, going out the gate, he saw a monk who said he had come to listen to lectures and lodge there. The monk said of himself, 'Regarding what was entrusted to you last year at Shan Stream concerning the Prince of Jian'an, do you still remember it or not?' At the time Xian was startled and replied that he did not remember. The Daoist smiled and said, 'You ought to reflect on it further,' and then took his leave. Xian realized he was no ordinary man, so putting his shoes on backwards, he went out to seek him. Pursuing him for a hundred paces, the monk suddenly vanished. Xian's mind opened with understanding, and he fully remembered his former dream: this was the third monk he had seen at Shan Stream. Xian immediately galloped to report to the Prince of Jian'an, and the prince in turn submitted the matter to the throne. An imperial edict was issued dispatching Vinaya Master Sengyou to take sole charge of the image. The prince's deep faith led to ever-increasing, boundless joy; he generously donated gold and cowrie shells, vowing to see it completed. Before Sengyou had arrived, one day the temple monk Huicheng dreamed that he saw a great deity clad in black with a formidable retinue standing by the niche, deliberating on the dimensions. The next morning, Vinaya Master Sengyou arrived; such was the divine resonance. At first, the niche carved by Senghu had been too shallow, so they cut inward by fifty feet and newly added the uṣṇīṣa. Once the physical marks were successfully executed and the polishing was nearly finished, in the middle of the night the spot where the svastika belongs suddenly turned red and swelled outward. Even now, on the svastika of the image's chest, no gold leaf is applied, yet the red color remains. The work on the image began in the spring of the twelfth year of the Tianjian era and was completed in the spring of the fifteenth year. The seated body was fifty feet tall, and its standing form would be one hundred feet. Before the niche, a three-tiered terrace was erected, and gateway pavilions, halls, and residential buildings were built, together with the establishment of monastic endowments to supply the offerings. From the four distant directions, scholars and commoners carried incense and flowers, gathering from ten thousand leagues away; the ruts of their carriages coming and going with offerings were densely packed. From the time the image was completed, the afflictions of the Prince of Jian'an disappeared and were cured. The prince was later given a different fief, being the present Nanping. (This one miracle is taken from the Liang Biographies of Eminent Monks.)