法苑珠林 17.6

17.6

The monk Shi Daojing of the Song dynasty was a native of Haozhi in Fufeng. His original surname was Ma. His learning and practice were pure and refined, and he achieved renown at a tender age. In the ninth month of the second year of Yuanjia, he held a Samantabhadra fast for someone in Luoyang. There were about forty persons, both monastic and lay. Seven days had passed, and it was just time for the midday meal when suddenly a man wearing trousers and a tunic rode up on horseback before the hall. He dismounted and bowed to the Buddha. Jing regarded him as an ordinary man and did not treat him with unusual ritual respect. The man mounted his horse, brandished his whip, and suddenly vanished from sight. Thereupon, a radiant red light was seen blazing across the sky, vanishing only after a long time. Three years later, in the twelfth month, he held another Samantabhadra fast at the home of a layperson. On the day it was about to conclude, two monks whose appearance and robes were ordinary came directly to bow to the Buddha. Those in the assembly thought they were common monks and did not show great reverence. Someone casually asked where they dwelt, and they replied, "We reside in the village ahead." At the time, among the lay assembly, there was a man named Zhang Dao, who sensed that they were extraordinary and bowed with utmost devotion. The monks walked out the gate for several tens of paces when suddenly a cloud of flying dust shot straight up toward heaven. Pursuing them with their eyes, they no longer knew where the monks were. In the seventh year, Jing came with a fellow student to travel to the capital. At that time, the Minister of Works He Shangzhi had just founded the Nanjian Vihāra, and Jing took up lodging there. In the middle of the night, he suddenly saw four men riding a new carriage, followed by four messengers, who arrived inside his room and called him to ride with them. Daojing was startled by their nocturnal arrival and, suspicious, did not speak. In the darkness, he unconsciously boarded the carriage. Presently, they arrived behind the commandery at Shen Bridge, where he saw an exalted noble wearing a headdress and a unlined gown of coarse cloth, seated on a couch. The staff and parasol resembled a jewelled canopy, and the retinue and guard numbered several hundred, all clad in yellow garments. Seeing Jing, he said in surprise: "The practitioner who walks the pratyutpanna-[samādhi] has reached far with a dedicated mind; I only wished to know his whereabouts. Why did you bring him here?" He immediately sent people to escort him back. When Jing arrived outside the vihāra gate, he lost sight of the escorts. The gate was locked as before. He knocked and called for a long time. The monks within the monastery were all startled and reported to one another, then opened the gate to let him in. They examined the room where he dwelt; the door was still bolted as before. (The above three testimonies are taken from the *Mingxiang ji*.)