法苑珠林 36.61

36.61

齊栖霞寺。在南徐州琅邪郡江垂北鄉頻佳里攝山之中。齊高士平原明僧紹。以宋太始中起造。嘗聞法鍾自響。山舍去村五六里。宋昇明中村民平旦。並見半山有幡蓋羅列。煙光五色映照虛空。男女瞻望皆言是實。競來觀視了無所見。時有法度法師。於山舍講無量壽經。中夜忽有金光照寺。於其光中如有臺館形像弘宣。寺中僧眾及淨人等。小不如法。及白衣賓客有穢濁入寺者。虎即出現吼噭巡房。響振山谷。至今猶爾。或有念誦小有疲懈。山神現形。又著烏衣身長一丈。手執繩索。僧眾驚懼。誦習不懈。

Qixia Temple of the Qi is located on Mount She in Pinjia Village, Jiangchui North Canton, Langye Commandery, Nanxuzhou. Ming Sengshao of Pingyuan, a noble scholar of the Qi, founded it during the Taishi era of the Song. He often heard the Dharma bell ring of its own accord. The mountain lodge was five or six li from the village. During the Shengming era of the Song, at dawn, the villagers all saw banners and canopies arranged along the mountainside, with smoke and light of five colours illuminating the empty sky. Men and women gazed in admiration, all saying it was real; yet when they vied to come and see, there was nothing to be seen. At that time, Master Fadu was lecturing on the Sukhāvatīvyūha-sūtra at the mountain lodge. In the middle of the night, a golden light suddenly shone upon the temple, within which terraces and towers appeared, loudly proclaiming [the Dharma]. If the monks or pure attendants in the temple acted slightly contrary to the Dharma, or if white-robed guests entered the temple with defilements, a tiger would immediately appear, roaring and patrolling the cells, its reverberations shaking the mountain valleys. To this day it is still so. Or if anyone grew slightly weary or remiss during chanting, the mountain deity would manifest his form: clad in black garments, a zhang in height, holding a rope in his hand. The assembly would be frightened and terrified, chanting and reciting without laxity.