法苑珠林 19.67

19.67

The Song dynasty śramaṇa Shi Huiquan was a meditation master of Liangzhou. He instructed and taught five hundred disciples. There was one disciple whose temperament was rather coarse and violent, and Huiquan always looked down on him. Later, he suddenly said of himself that he had attained the third fruit of the path. Because he lacked proper conduct, Huiquan never believed or accepted this. Later Huiquan fell ill, and this disciple came at night to inquire after his health. At that time, the door was still shut as before. Huiquan was quite astonished and, wishing to test him further, told him to come again the next night. Thereupon he secretly blocked the windows and doors and added multiple bolts. In the middle of the night the disciple arrived, went straight to the front of the bed, and said to Huiquan: “Ācārya, you can now see that I am trustworthy.” He then said: “Ācārya, after passing from this world you will be born into a brāhmaṇa family.” Huiquan said: “I sit in meditation and amass karmic deeds; how could I be born there?” The disciple said: “Ācārya, your faith in the Way is not sincere, and moreover you have not severed non-Buddhist learning. Although you possess blessed deeds, you cannot achieve transcendence. If you hold a universal assembly and manage to offer food to a single sage, you will be able to accomplish the fruit of the Way.” Huiquan thereupon held an assembly. The disciple also said: “You may give a saṃghāṭī as dāna. If there is someone who needs it, do not distinguish between senior and junior.” When the assembly concluded and robes were being given, a śrāmaṇera approached Huiquan to beg for a robe. Huiquan assumed he was his disciple, and Huiquan said: “I intended to present this to a holy monk; how can I give it to you?” Recalling the previous words not to choose among people, he then gave it with joy. On another day he saw this śrāmaṇera and asked, saying: “Was the robe given to you previously too large to wear?” The śrāmaṇera said: “Not only did I not receive a robe, but I had other affairs; to my regret I did not participate in the assembly.” Huiquan only then realized that the earlier śrāmaṇera was a manifestation of a sage. After a long time, the disciple passed away. When he passed away, there were no other anomalies, except that there was frequently a white light around the four sides of his grave. In the twentieth year of the Yuanjia era, Huiquan was still alive and dwelling in Jiuquan. (The above six verifications are taken from Mingxiang ji.)