法苑珠林 15.24

15.24

The śramaṇa Shi Sengliang of Changsha Temple in Jiangling of the Song dynasty was of resolute disposition and integrity, his moral virtue steadfast and pure. He constantly made vows for the Western [Pure Land] to make a sixteen-foot image of Amitāyus. The labor and expenditure being immense, it could not be accomplished for many years. Hearing that the mountain shrine at Guxi in Xiangzhou abounded in bronze vessels, he wished to convert and guide the spirits so as to take them and complete the work. He then visited the regional inspector Zhang Shao, informed him of the situation, and requested several boats and a hundred brave men. Zhang said: 'This shrine is spiritually efficacious; anyone who violates it immediately dies. Furthermore, the Man tribesmen guard it; I fear this will be difficult to accomplish.' Sengliang said: 'The merit will be shared with you; if death comes, I will personally bear it.' Zhang then provided the men and boats. Before they arrived, the night before, the deity had already known beforehand: winds shook, clouds darkened, and birds and beasts shrieked. Shortly after Sengliang arrived, the fog dispersed and the sun shone bright. More than twenty paces before reaching the shrine hall, there were two bronze cauldrons holding several hundred hu each. He saw a great snake more than a hundred feet long leap out from the cauldron and stretch its body across the path, blocking it. The hundred followers all retreated and scattered. Sengliang then straightened his robes, advanced, shook his khakkhara staff, and addressed the snake, saying: 'Due to sinful karma from your past lives, you have received the body of a python. If you do not hear the Three Jewels, by what means will you deliver yourself? I am making a sixteen-foot image of Amitāyus; hearing that this place abounds in bronze, I have come from afar. Fortunately, you might open the path and let me proceed.' The snake then raised its head, looked at Sengliang, drew back its body, and departed. Sengliang personally led his followers to cart away the bronze vessels. Only beside the bed was a spittoon that could hold four sheng, in which there was a gecko over two feet long leaping in and out; they left it and did not take it. The shrine's vessels were heavy and large; they did not collect even one in ten, returning with boats full of only the smaller ones. None of the people guarding the shrine dared to resist. Sengliang returned to the capital to cast the image, completing the work in the ninth year of the Yuanjia era of the Song. Its divine appearance was dignified and majestic, its imposing brilliance radiant. The miraculous omens of the image's creation spread in fame to the capital. Emperor Wen of the Song welcomed it back to the capital; because the radiant flame-halo was not yet complete, he decreed the creation of a round halo of gold leaf. He intended to place it in Anle Temple, but everyone considered that the pagoda of Pengcheng shared its title with the Emperor's original fief and stood prominently at the city gate; thus the image was sent to be placed there. By the beginning of Emperor Ming's reign, his former residence was converted into a temple, and the image was invited to be moved there; it was formerly in the great hall of Xiangong Temple. (This single verification is from the Liang Biographies of Eminent Monks.)