法苑珠林 17.10

17.10

秦徐義者。高陸人也。少奉法。為苻堅尚書。堅末兵革鋒起。賊獲義將加戮害。乃埋其兩足編髮於樹。夜中專念觀世音。有頃得眠。夢人謂之曰。今事亟矣。何暇眠乎。義便驚起見守防之士。並疲而寢。乃試自奮動。手髮既解足亦得脫。因而遁去。百餘步隱小叢草。便聞追者交馳火炬星陳。互繞此叢而竟無見者。天明賊散。歸投鄴寺遂得免云。

Xu Yi of the Qin was a native of Gaolu. He had revered the Dharma from his youth and served as Master of Writing under Fu Jian. At the end of Fu Jian's reign, the flames of war flared up, and rebels captured Yi and intended to execute him. They buried both his feet and braided his hair to a tree. During the night, he focused his thoughts entirely on Avalokiteśvara. After a short while, he fell asleep. In a dream, a man said to him: "Matters are critical now; what leisure have you to sleep?" Yi woke up startled and saw that all the guards were exhausted and asleep. He tried to exert himself: his hands and hair were freed, and his feet were also released. He thereupon fled. After walking a hundred paces or more, he hid in a small thicket of grass. He then heard the pursuers riding back and forth, their torches arrayed like stars, circling this thicket one after another, yet in the end none saw him. At dawn, the rebels dispersed, and he sought refuge in a monastery in Ye, thereby escaping.