法苑珠林 38.53

38.53

帝曰。能得舍利深是善因。可前至塔所七日行道。祈請有瑞乃可開發。即給錢五千貫絹五千匹以充供養。琮與給使王長信等。十月五日從京旦發。六日逼夜方到。琮即入塔內專精苦到行道。久之未驗。至十日三更乃臂上安炭火燒香。懍勵專注曾無異想。忽聞塔內像下振裂之聲。尋聲往觀。乃見瑞光流溢霏霏上涌塔內。三像足下各放光明。赤白綠色旋繞而上。至於桁桷合成帳蓋。琮大喜踊躍欲召僧看。乃覩塔內側塞。僧徒合掌而立。謂是同寺。須臾既久光蓋漸歇冉冉而下。去地三尺不見眾僧。方知聖隱。

The Emperor said: 'Being able to obtain the śarīra is truly a good cause. You may proceed to the stupa site and practice the Path for seven days; only when there is an auspicious omen upon prayer may it be opened.' He then granted five thousand strings of cash and five thousand bolts of silk to cover the offerings. Cong, together with the attendant eunuch Wang Changxin and others, set out from the capital at dawn on the fifth day of the tenth month and arrived only toward nightfall on the sixth. Cong then entered the stupa to practice the Path with utmost single-mindedness and painful dedication. For a long time there was no response. At the third watch on the tenth day, he placed burning charcoal on his arm to burn incense; sternly striving and fully focused, he had no other thoughts. Suddenly he heard a cracking sound beneath the images inside the stupa. Following the sound to look, he saw an auspicious light overflowing, billowing and surging upward inside the stupa. From the feet of the three images, light emanated respectively, red, white, and green, spiraling upward until it formed a canopy over the beams and rafters. Cong leaped for joy and wished to call the monks to see; he then beheld the stupa packed tightly, with monks standing with palms joined, and thought they were of the same monastery. After a long while, the light canopy gradually abated, slowly descending; when it was three feet above the ground, the assembly of monks was nowhere to be seen, and only then did he realize it was the holy ones who had vanished.