法苑珠林 18.16

18.16

During the reign of Emperor Wuling of the Qi, a man looking over the eastern mountains dug and found yellowish-white earth. He also saw an object shaped like two lips, inside of which was a tongue of fresh, vivid red color. The matter was reported to the throne. The emperor questioned both clergy and laity. The śramaṇa Fashang said: "This was a keeper of the Lotus Sūtra; his six sense faculties do not decay. When one recites it a full thousand times, this is the manifest sign." Thereupon they gathered keepers of the Lotus Sūtra to surround it and recite the sūtra. Just as they began to raise their voices, these miraculous lips and tongue stirred at once. All who beheld it felt their hair stand on end. The matter was memorialized to the throne, and it was sealed in a stone casket. (The above six verifications are taken from the Liang Biographies of Eminent Monks and Miscellaneous Records).