法苑珠林 16.72

16.72

In the Liang dynasty at Shicheng Mountain in Shan, there was the monk Shi Senghu. He was originally a native of Shan in Kuaiji. Having left home while young, he firmly resolved on austere discipline, and his observance of the precepts was strict and pure. Later he resided at Yinyue Temple on Shicheng Mountain in Shan. North of the temple stood a blue-green cliff, rising straight up for several tens of fathoms. In the very middle was a shape resembling a Buddha's nimbus. Above it grew clustered trees whose crooked trunks cast shade, hanging down to shelter it. Whenever he walked in meditation up to the cliff, he would always see a radiant light and hear the sounds of stringed and wind instruments and songs of praise. Thereupon he lifted up an incense burner and made a vow, wishing to carve into the broad mountain a stone Buddha of one hundred feet, respectfully modeling it after the thousand-foot form of Maitreya, so that all who had a karmic connection might together witness the three assemblies. During the Jianwu era of the Qi dynasty, he gathered monastics and laypeople and first set about cutting and chiseling; after more than a year of quarrying, only the rough shape of the face was completed. Soon afterward, Senghu fell ill and died. On the verge of death he vowed, 'My endeavor was never expected to be accomplished within a single lifetime; in my second life, this vow shall surely bear fruit.' Later, the śramaṇa Sengshu continued the bequeathed work, but lacking the resources and manpower, he could not bring it to completion. In the sixth year of the Tianjian era of the Liang dynasty, Lu Xian of Wu commandery, the magistrate of Shifeng, left his post to return to the capital. Spending the night at Shan Stream, he encountered a dark tempest of wind and rain, and all were filled with dread. Dosing off, he suddenly dreamed of three Daoists who came to announce: 'If your faith and integrity are steadfast, you will naturally find peace and security. His Royal Highness of Jian'an is afflicted with an illness that has not healed; if he can restore and complete the stone image made by the monk Senghu of Shan county, he will certainly obtain a cure. The principles of the unseen world are not empty; this should be revealed to him.' When Xian returned to the capital, as a year went by, he gradually forgot his former dream. Later, going out the gate, he saw a monk who said he had come to listen to lectures and lodge there. The monk said of himself, 'Regarding what was entrusted to you last year at Shan Stream concerning the Prince of Jian'an, do you still remember it or not?' At the time Xian was startled and replied that he did not remember. The Daoist smiled and said, 'You ought to reflect on it further,' and then took his leave. Xian realized he was no ordinary man, so putting his shoes on backwards, he went out to seek him. Pursuing him for a hundred paces, the monk suddenly vanished. Xian's mind opened with understanding, and he fully remembered his former dream: this was the third monk he had seen at Shan Stream. Xian immediately galloped to report to the Prince of Jian'an, and the prince in turn submitted the matter to the throne. An imperial edict was issued dispatching Vinaya Master Sengyou to take sole charge of the image. The prince's deep faith led to ever-increasing, boundless joy; he generously donated gold and cowrie shells, vowing to see it completed. Before Sengyou had arrived, one day the temple monk Huicheng dreamed that he saw a great deity clad in black with a formidable retinue standing by the niche, deliberating on the dimensions. The next morning, Vinaya Master Sengyou arrived; such was the divine resonance. At first, the niche carved by Senghu had been too shallow, so they cut inward by fifty feet and newly added the uṣṇīṣa. Once the physical marks were successfully executed and the polishing was nearly finished, in the middle of the night the spot where the svastika belongs suddenly turned red and swelled outward. Even now, on the svastika of the image's chest, no gold leaf is applied, yet the red color remains. The work on the image began in the spring of the twelfth year of the Tianjian era and was completed in the spring of the fifteenth year. The seated body was fifty feet tall, and its standing form would be one hundred feet. Before the niche, a three-tiered terrace was erected, and gateway pavilions, halls, and residential buildings were built, together with the establishment of monastic endowments to supply the offerings. From the four distant directions, scholars and commoners carried incense and flowers, gathering from ten thousand leagues away; the ruts of their carriages coming and going with offerings were densely packed. From the time the image was completed, the afflictions of the Prince of Jian'an disappeared and were cured. The prince was later given a different fief, being the present Nanping. (This one miracle is taken from the Liang Biographies of Eminent Monks.)