法苑珠林 18.34

18.34

Dhyāna Master Tanyun of the Tang was a native of Dingzhou. He traveled to Xizhou at the age of seventy. In the turmoil at the end of the Sui dynasty, he hid in the Qianshan mountains north of Lishi, constantly reciting the Lotus Sūtra. He wished to copy the sūtra, but found no one of like mind; years passed in this manner. Suddenly a scholar arrived without explanation, saying he was capable of copying the scripture with all the required purification. Thereupon, early in the morning after eating, he bathed, donned clean robes, received the eight precepts, and entered a clean chamber. Holding sandalwood incense in his mouth, burning incense, and hanging banners, he copied it in quiet contemplation, coming out only at dusk. The next day he proceeded as before, never speaking of weariness. When the sūtra was finished copying, he was offered the proper donation; after walking with him out the door to see him off, in an instant he was gone. Even the mounting and scroll-making conformed entirely to the proper Dharma. Tanyun then received, held, and recited it with utmost sincerity, wrapping and tying it in seven layers; for each layer he untied, he washed his hands in scented water, never once neglecting this. Later he encountered barbarian bandits; placing the scripture inside a box, he set it atop a high crag. After a year, the bandits were quelled, but when he went to find it, he could not. Wandering in distress as he searched thoroughly, he finally retrieved it beneath the crag. The box and wrapping cloth were rotten and decayed, but upon parting the rot, he saw the scripture fresh and fine as before. (Vinaya Master Daoxuan of the Ximing Temple in the capital traveled to that prefecture in the eleventh year of Zhenguan, witnessed it with his own eyes, and recounted it.)