法苑珠林 19.65

19.65

The śramaṇa Liang Faxiang of the Jin was a native of Hedong. He constantly dwelt alone in the mountains, taking austere practice as his vocation. Birds and beasts gathered around him, as tame as domestic animals. At the shrine of Mount Tai, there was a large stone chest used to store valuables. Faxiang was once traveling through the mountains and lodged in that temple. He saw a man in black clothes and a martial cap who instructed Faxiang to open the chest, and as soon as he spoke, he vanished. The stone lid of that chest weighed over a thousand jun (thirty thousand catties); Faxiang tried to lift it, and it opened effortlessly. Thereupon, he took the valuables to give to the poor. Later, he crossed south of the Yangtze River and resided at Yuecheng Temple. Suddenly, he became wild and unrestrained, engaging in comedic theatrics and buffoonery, or at times going naked and defying court officials. Sima Tian, General Who Guards the North, detested his lack of restraint, invited him, and poisoned him. He drank down three full goblets in succession, yet his spirit remained serene and completely composed. He was eighty-nine years old and died at the end of the Yuanxing era.