法苑珠林 22.48

22.48

宋元嘉元年。東宮侖二女。姊十歲妹九歲。里越愚蒙未知經法。忽其年二月八日。並失所在。三日而歸。粗說見佛。至九月十五日又失一旬。還作外國語。誦經梵書。見西域僧便相開解。明年正月十五日又失。在田作人見從風上天。父母哀哭求神鬼。經月乃返。剃頭為尼被服法衣。持髮而歸。自說見佛及比丘尼。曰汝宿緣為我弟子。手摩頭髮便落。與其法名。大曰法緣。小曰法綵。遣還曰。可作精舍當與經法。既達家即除鬼坐立精舍。旦夕禮誦。每現五色光流汎峯嶺。自此容止音調詮正有法。上京風規不能過也。刺史韋朗孔默等。皆迎敬異云（右此三驗出冥祥記）。

In the first year of the Yuanjia era of the Song dynasty, there were two daughters of Donggong Lun; the elder sister was ten years old and the younger sister was nine. Unrefined and ignorant in their village, they knew nothing of the sūtras and the Dharma. Suddenly, on the eighth day of the second month of that year, both went missing. They returned after three days, speaking vaguely of having seen the Buddha. On the fifteenth day of the ninth month, they went missing again for ten days. Upon their return, they spoke foreign languages and recited sūtras in Indic script; whenever they met monks from the Western Regions, they could converse and understand one another. On the fifteenth day of the first month of the following year, they disappeared once again. People working in the fields saw them riding the wind up into heaven. Their parents wept piteously and prayed to the spirits and ghosts; after a month, they finally returned. They had their heads shaved as nuns, were dressed in Dharma robes, and returned carrying their shorn hair. They themselves recounted that they had seen the Buddha and bhikṣuṇīs, who said, "Through your past karma, you are my disciples." Stroking their heads with his hand, their hair immediately fell away, and he bestowed Dharma names upon them: the elder was named Fayuan, and the younger was named Faci. Sending them back, he said, "You may build a vihāra, and you will be provided with sūtras and the Dharma." Once they reached home, they removed the spirit shrines, erected a vihāra, and worshiped and chanted morning and night. Frequently, a five-colored light appeared, sweeping across the mountain peaks and ridges. From then on, their demeanor and the tones of their voices were upright and in accordance with the Dharma; even the refined models of the capital could not surpass them. The regional inspectors Wei Lang, Kong Mo, and others all welcomed and revered them as extraordinary. (The above three verifications are taken from the Mingxiang ji.)