法苑珠林 18.34

18.34

唐釋曇韻禪師。定州人。游至隰州。行年七十。隋末喪亂隱于離石北千山。常誦法華經。欲寫其經無人同志。如此積年。忽有書生無何而至。云所欲潔淨寫經並能為之。於即清旦食訖。入浴著淨衣。受八戒入淨室。口含檀香燒香懸幡。寂然抄寫。至暮方出。明又如先。曾不告倦。及經寫了如法奉䞋。相送出門斯須不見。乃至裝潢一如正法。及至誠受持讀誦七重裹結。一重一度。香水洗手初無暫廢。後遭胡賊。乃箱盛其經置高巖上。經年賊靜。方尋不見。周章窮覓乃於巖下獲之。箱巾糜爛。撥朽見經如舊鮮好（京師西明寺道宣律師以貞觀十一年曾至彼州目覩說之也）。

Dhyāna Master Tanyun of the Tang was a native of Dingzhou. He traveled to Xizhou at the age of seventy. In the turmoil at the end of the Sui dynasty, he hid in the Qianshan mountains north of Lishi, constantly reciting the Lotus Sūtra. He wished to copy the sūtra, but found no one of like mind; years passed in this manner. Suddenly a scholar arrived without explanation, saying he was capable of copying the scripture with all the required purification. Thereupon, early in the morning after eating, he bathed, donned clean robes, received the eight precepts, and entered a clean chamber. Holding sandalwood incense in his mouth, burning incense, and hanging banners, he copied it in quiet contemplation, coming out only at dusk. The next day he proceeded as before, never speaking of weariness. When the sūtra was finished copying, he was offered the proper donation; after walking with him out the door to see him off, in an instant he was gone. Even the mounting and scroll-making conformed entirely to the proper Dharma. Tanyun then received, held, and recited it with utmost sincerity, wrapping and tying it in seven layers; for each layer he untied, he washed his hands in scented water, never once neglecting this. Later he encountered barbarian bandits; placing the scripture inside a box, he set it atop a high crag. After a year, the bandits were quelled, but when he went to find it, he could not. Wandering in distress as he searched thoroughly, he finally retrieved it beneath the crag. The box and wrapping cloth were rotten and decayed, but upon parting the rot, he saw the scripture fresh and fine as before. (Vinaya Master Daoxuan of the Ximing Temple in the capital traveled to that prefecture in the eleventh year of Zhenguan, witnessed it with his own eyes, and recounted it.)