法苑珠林 96.29

96.29

唐終南山豹林谷沙門釋會通。雍州萬年御宿川人。少欣儉素游泊林泉。苦節戒行是其本志。投終南豹林谷。潛隱綜業讀法華經。至藥王品便欣厭捨。私集柴木誓必行之。以貞觀末年。靜夜林中積薪為窟。誦至藥王。便令下火。風驚焰發煙火俱盛。卓爾跏坐聲誦如故。尋爾西南有大白光。流入火聚。身方偃仆。至曉身火俱滅。乃收其骨為起塔銘。又貞觀之初。荊州有比丘尼姊妹。同誦法華。深厭形器俱欲捨身。節約衣食欽崇苦行。服諸香油漸斷粒食。後頓絕米唯食香蜜。精力所被神志鮮爽。周告道俗。剋日燒身。以貞觀二年二月八日。於荊州大街置二高座。乃以蠟布纏身至頂。唯出面目。眾聚如山。歌贊雲會。誦法華經。至藥王燒處。其姊先以火拄妹頂訖。妹又以火拄姊頂。清夜兩炬一時同曜。焰下至眼聲相轉鳴。漸下鼻口方乃歇滅。恰至明晨。合坐洞舉。一時火化。骸骨摧朽。唯二舌俱存。合眾欣嗟。為起高塔。又近并州城西有一書生。年可二十四五。誦法華經。誓燒供養。乃集數束蒿乾籠積之。人問其故。密而不述。後於中夜放火自燒。及人往救火盛已死。又貞觀年中。西京弘福寺有僧名玄覽。趙州房子人。常樂禪誦禮悔為業。每語法屬曰。雖同常業而誓欲捨身。至貞觀十八年四月初。脫諸衣服總作一幞。付本寺僧。唯著一覆單衣。密去至京東渭陰洪陂坊側。旦臨渭水稱念禮訖。投身瀅中。眾人接出。覽告眾曰。吾誓捨身命久矣。意欲仰學大士難捨能捨。諸經正行。幸勿固遮。兩妨其業。眾悟意盛。故乃從之。又即入水。合掌稱佛。廣發願已。便投旋渦。於三日後其屍方出。村人接取為起塔銘。本寺怪其不歸。便開衣幞乃見遺文云。敬白十方三世諸佛。弟子玄覽。自出家來一十二夏。雖沾僧數大業未成。今欲修行檀波羅蜜行。如薩埵捨身尸毘割股。魚王肉山經文具載。請從前聖敢附後塵。衣物眾具任從佛教。臨終之日人多不委同學見書。方往尋究知死符同遺文不異（右此四驗出唐高僧傳）。

During the Tang dynasty, there was the śramaṇa Shi Huitong of Baolin Valley in the Zhongnan Mountains. He was a native of Yusu River in Wannian, Yongzhou. From youth he delighted in simplicity and frugality, wandering and dwelling amid forests and springs; bitter austerity and strict observance of the precepts were his fundamental aspirations. He went into Baolin Valley in Zhongnan, living in secluded cultivation and reading the Lotus Sūtra. When he reached the "Chapter on the Medicine King," he took delight in renouncing [the body]. He secretly gathered firewood and vowed to carry it out. In the late Zhenguan era, on a quiet night in the forest, he piled wood into a cave-like pyre. When he reached the Medicine King [chapter] in his recitation, he ordered the fire to be lit. The wind arose and flames burst forth, smoke and fire both raging fiercely; yet he sat upright cross-legged, chanting with his voice as before. Soon after, a great white light came from the southwest and flowed into the heap of fire, whereupon his body collapsed. By dawn, the body and fire were both extinguished. His bones were then gathered and a pagoda stupa and inscription erected for him. Furthermore, at the beginning of the Zhenguan era, in Jingzhou there were two bhikṣuṇī sisters who together recited the Lotus Sūtra. Deeply disgusted with the physical vessel, both wished to give up their bodies. They curtailed their clothing and food, admiring and venerating ascetic practices. Consuming various fragrant oils, they gradually ceased eating grain; later they entirely abstained from rice, consuming only incense and honey. Sustained by the force of their vigor, their spirit and resolve were clear and bright. They announced to both monastics and laity that they had set a date to burn their bodies. On the eighth day of the second month of the second year of the Zhenguan era, two high seats were erected on the main avenue of Jingzhou. They wrapped their bodies with waxed cloth all the way to their heads, exposing only their faces and eyes. The crowd gathered like a mountain, chanting praises like gathering clouds. They recited the Lotus Sūtra; when they reached the part where the Medicine King burns himself, the elder sister first applied fire to the younger sister's head, and the younger sister then applied fire to the elder sister's head. In the clear night, the two torches shone at once. As the flames descended to their eyes, the sounds of their voices resonated even louder. Only when the flames gradually descended to their noses and mouths did their voices finally cease. Exactly at dawn, both seated figures were completely consumed; they were simultaneously transformed by fire. Their bones collapsed and rotted away, yet both their tongues remained intact. The whole assembly rejoiced and marveled, and built a high pagoda for them. Furthermore, recently to the west of the city of Bingzhou, there was a scholar around twenty-four or twenty-five years old. He recited the Lotus Sūtra and vowed to burn himself as an offering. He gathered several bundles of dry wormwood and stacked them in a enclosure. When people asked his reason, he kept it secret and did not explain. Later, in the middle of the night, he set fire to burn himself. By the time people went to save him, the fire was raging and he was already dead. Furthermore, during the Zhenguan era, at Hongfu Temple in the Western Capital there was a monk named Xuanlan, a native of Fangzi in Zhaozhou. He always took joy in meditation, recitation, prostration, and repentance as his vocation. He would often say to his Dharma companions, "Though engaged in the same ordinary vocation, I have made a vow to give up my body." At the beginning of the fourth month in the eighteenth year of the Zhenguan era, he took off all his garments, wrapped them all into a single bundle, and handed them to a monk of his home temple, wearing only a single unlined robe. He secretly departed to the side of Hongpi Ward on the north bank of the Wei River, east of the capital. At dawn, facing the Wei River, having finished chanting, reciting, and bowing, he threw himself into the deep waters. The crowd pulled him out. Xuanlan told the crowd, "I have long vowed to give up my body and life. My intention is to emulate the Great Beings who can give up what is difficult to give up, which is the correct practice of the various sūtras. I beg you not to stubbornly hinder me, which would obstruct both of our endeavors." The crowd realized his resolve was overwhelming and thus relented. He then entered the water again, joined his palms, invoked the Buddha, made broad vows, and threw himself into a whirlpool. Only after three days did his corpse emerge. The villagers recovered it and erected a pagoda and inscription for him. His home temple had wondered at his failure to return, and when they opened his clothing bundle, they found a testamentary text which said: "Respectfully addressed to the Buddhas of the ten directions and the three periods of time: Your disciple Xuanlan, since going forth from household life, has passed twelve summer retreats. Though counted among the saṃgha, I have not yet achieved the great vocation. I now wish to practice the conduct of dāna-pāramitā, like Sattva sacrificing his body or Śibi cutting his flesh, or the King of Fish and the mountain of flesh fully recorded in the sūtras. I pray to follow the former sages and dare to join their footsteps. As for my clothes and personal requisites, let them be dealt with according to the Buddhist teachings." On the day of his death, most people did not know of it; only when his fellow students saw the letter did they go to investigate, and they found that the manner of his death matched the testamentary text without discrepancy. (These four accounts above are taken from the Tang Biographies of Eminent Monks.)