法苑珠林 39.34

39.34

西域志云。烏萇國西南有檀特山。山中有寺。大有眾僧。日日有驢運食。無控馭者。自來留食還去。莫知所在。西域志云。王玄策至大唐顯慶五年九月二十七日。菩提寺寺主名戒龍。為漢使王玄策等設大會。使人已下各贈華㲲十段并食器。次伸呈使獻物龍珠等。具錄大真珠八箱象牙佛塔一舍利寶塔一佛印四。至於十月一日。寺主及餘眾僧餞送使人。西行五里與使泣洟而別曰。會難別易。物理之然。況龍年老。此寺即諸佛成道處。為奏上於此存情。預修當來大覺之所言。意勤勤不能已已（若廣明西域塔寺靈迹嘉祥徵瑞具如上感通篇述）敬尋佛法東流年向六百。三寶傳記卷盈三千。其內名僧德重可觀。神通變化靈瑞感通。向有千人。自古君臣隱遁逸民。負才傲俗之流。並皆崇敬如賢如聖。備在傳記不可具述。故入大乘論云。尊者聖人賓頭盧羅睺羅等。有十六大阿羅漢。住世通法。又有九億無學聖人。亦在此洲未入涅槃。准此而詳。今諸山海所居眾僧。多聞磬聲。或尋遇寺。豈非聖人之所處乎。今更約諸門以分三時。一約住世。二約賢劫。三約釋迦一佛為候。初約住劫用辯通塞者。如西域所列往劫行事。如薩埵捨身流血尚在。達拏捨子杖捶遺血。布髮掩泥之所。捨身求偈之地。月光斬首。尸毘飼鷹。斯等遺跡並惟古劫。計數災蕩如何尚存。天竺名僧亦疑斯致。理如所問無宜獨留。而往事迹有僧釋云。此乃如來神力由菩薩志行。雖有三災不可除滅。後成世界依而集之。亦有人言。三災之化無往不除。乃至無一隙塵而得存焉。今云塔在豈不乖乎。諸德釋云。但非聖跡者。如無一隙得住。今云有者由聖力加備故得久住。欲使後代師之慕仰冀慕聖蹤依之得道。世界初成。昔古遺跡相似而現。並是佛之神力變化所為。故五不可思議中一。是佛神力也。所以往劫生事而列之。第二約同劫以明。相對有四。且如一鉢千佛共同。故傳云。釋迦受食四王奉鉢。滅後流行至毘舍離。若干百年又至乾陀衛。又至西月氏于填丘夷。次當達震旦返向師子國。還來天竺。上升兜率。彌勒見曰。釋迦佛鉢今來至此。七日供養還下龍宮。彌勒成佛四王還獻。二者龍宮佛影千佛同留。三者方石說法千佛同坐。即揵陀卑鉢樹下是也。四者石塔盛衰千佛同候。上傳之中多明四佛行坐之跡。准此未來抑亦可見。第三明釋迦一代通而不等。如天道寶階滅無遺緒。吒王大塔七化已三。道樹滅而更生。佛跡毀而還現。楊枝摧而重出。舍利試而逾靈。諸如此例故應不通後佛。至如雞足迦葉留化慈尊。山宮明辯持身待聖。沮渠滅定之侶。摩利應供之徒。事局未來。神化絕域。皆為明通開顯累俗慈導有情澄神諸有也。

The Records of the Western Regions states: "Southwest of Uḍḍiyāna is Mount Dantaloka. In the mountain there is a monastery with a great assembly of monks. Every day a donkey transports food there without anyone driving it; it comes on its own, leaves the food, and goes back, with no one knowing where it comes from." The Records of the Western Regions [also] states: "When Wang Xuance arrived on the twenty-seventh day of the ninth month in the fifth year of the Xianqing reign of the Great Tang [660 CE], the abbot of the Mahābodhi Monastery, named Śīlanāga, hosted a great assembly for the Tang envoy Wang Xuance and his suite. To each member from the envoy down he presented ten bolts of patterned fine cotton (dukkūla) and eating utensils. He then presented offerings for the envoy to present [to the Emperor], including dragon pearls, making a detailed inventory of eight chests of large pearls, one ivory Buddha stupa, one jewel stupa with relics, and four Buddha seals. On the first day of the tenth month, the abbot and the other monks saw the envoy off. Having walked five li to the west, they parted from the envoy with tears, saying: 'Meeting is difficult and parting is easy—such is the nature of things. Moreover, [Śīla]nāga is advanced in years. This monastery is the place where all Buddhas achieved the Way. May you submit a memorial above [to the Emperor] expressing concern for this place, and beforehand cultivate the site of the future Great Awakening!' His words were earnest, continuous, and could not cease." (For a detailed explanation of the miraculous sites, auspicious omens, and verified portents of the stupas and monasteries of the Western Regions, see the Section on Sympathetic Resonance above.) Respectfully examining the eastward flow of the Buddha's Dharma for nearly six hundred years, the records and chronicles of the Three Jewels exceed three thousand fascicles. Among them, the eminent monks of weighty virtue worthy of regard, who displayed spiritual transformations and sympathetic resonance with miraculous omens, number nearly a thousand persons. From antiquity, rulers, ministers, recluses, gentlemen of leisure, and those proud of their talents who disdained the mundane—all revered and respected them as sages and worthies, fully documented in the biographies and chronicles beyond complete narration. Thus the Ru dacheng lun (Introduction to the Mahāyāna) states: "The venerable holy ones Piṇḍola, Rāhula, and others comprise the sixteen great arhats who abide in the world to propagate the Dharma; furthermore, there are nine hundred million holy ones free of training (aśaikṣa) who are also on this continent and have not yet entered nirvāṇa." Deliberating on this basis, among the monks presently dwelling in various mountains and oceans, many hear the sound of stone chimes or chance upon monasteries—how could these not be the dwelling places of holy ones? Now, dividing them by various categories into three temporal frameworks: first, according to abiding in the world; second, according to the Bhadrakalpa; third, taking the single Buddha Śākyamuni as the gauge. First, using the kalpa of abiding to distinguish continuity and cessation: like the deeds of past kalpas recorded in the Western Regions, such as where [Mahā]sattva sacrificed his body and the shed blood still remains, where [Viśvan]tara gave away his children and the blood left from the beatings remains, the place where [Megha] spread his hair to cover the mud, the place where [the prince] gave up his body for a stanza, King Candraprabha cutting off his own head, and Śibi feeding the hawk. These vestiges all belong solely to ancient kalpas; calculating that they have undergone the destruction of the calamities, how could they still survive? Eminent monks of India also wondered at this, reasoning that, as asked, they should not uniquely remain. Regarding these past traces, some monks have explained: "This is due to the Tathāgata's divine power and the bodhisattva's aspirational practice; although there are the three calamities, these sites cannot be destroyed, and when subsequent worlds form, they reassemble accordingly." Others have also said: "The transformation of the three calamities leaves nothing undestroyed, even to the point that not a single speck of dust can remain. To say now that the stupas remain—is that not contradictory?" The venerable masters explain: "Only what is not a sacred trace cannot remain for even a speck of dust. What is said now to exist remains for a long time because it is sustained by the aid of sacred power. This is intended to cause later generations to look up to them as models, hoping that by admiring the sacred traces they may attain the Way by relying upon them. When a world first forms, the ancient vestiges of old appear resembling their former state; all are created through the transformations of the Buddha's divine power. Therefore, among the five incomprehensibles, one is the divine power of the Buddhas." This is why the events of past kalpas are set forth. Second, clarifying in terms of the same kalpa, there are four points of comparison. For example, a single bowl is shared in common by the thousand Buddhas. Thus tradition relates: when Śākyamuni received food, the Four Heavenly Kings offered bowls; after his extinction, it circulated to Vaiśālī; after several hundred years, it reached Gandhāra; then to the Western Yuezhi, Khotan, and Karasahr (Qiuci); next it is destined to reach China (Cīnasthāna), return to the Lion Kingdom (Siṃhala), come back to India, and ascend to Tuṣita. Maitreya will see it and say, 'The alms bowl of the Buddha Śākyamuni has now arrived here.' After seven days of offerings, it will descend again to the dragon palace; when Maitreya becomes a Buddha, the Four Heavenly Kings will offer it again. Second, the Buddha's shadow in the dragon palace is left behind in common by the thousand Buddhas. Third, the square stone for preaching the Dharma is sat upon in common by the thousand Buddhas, which is precisely beneath the Gandhapippala tree. Fourth, the stone stupas' flourishing and declining are gauged in common by the thousand Buddhas. In the records above, the traces of the walking and sitting of the four Buddhas are frequently clarified; on this basis, those of the future may likewise be foreseen. Third, clarifying that within the single lifetime of Śākyamuni there is continuity but not equality: for instance, the jeweled staircases of the heavenly path vanished without a trace; the great stupa of King Kaniṣka was transformed seven times and has already completed three; the Bodhi tree was destroyed yet grew again; the Buddha's footprints were damaged yet reappeared; the willow twig was broken yet grew back; the relics, when tested, showed even greater miracles. Examples like these should certainly not extend to subsequent Buddhas. As for Kāśyapa on Mount Kukkuṭapāda preserving his bodily form for the Merciful Honored One [Maitreya]; the clear discernment in the mountain palace preserving the body to await the sage; the company of Juqu in the samādhi of cessation; and the disciples of the worthy of offerings (arhats) in the Māliya [mountains]—such matters pertain strictly to the future, with divine transformations in remote realms, all in order to clearly reveal and guide mundane worldlings, compassionately lead sentient beings, and purify the minds across all states of existence.