法苑珠林 22.46

22.46

The Song dynasty nun Shi Tanhui was a person from Chengdu in Shu Commandery. Her original surname was Qingyang, and her personal name was Yu. At the age of seven, she already enjoyed sitting in meditation. Whenever she sat, she entered a meditative state, but her mind did not yet understand it, and she also thought it was just a dream. She once slept together with her elder sister; in the middle of the night, she entered samādhi. Her sister found her in the corner behind a screen; her body was like wood and stone, and she had no breath. Her sister was greatly alarmed and astonished, and called out to inform the family. They took turns holding and supporting her, but she remained unaware until dawn. They rushed to consult shamans and soothsayers, who all said that she was possessed by ghosts and spirits. When she reached the age of eleven, a meditation master from a foreign country named Kālayaśas came to Shu. Hui went to consult him about what she had seen. The nun Yaśas, seeing that Hui possessed a capacity for meditation, wished to encourage and transform her, prompting her to renounce the household. At that time, Hui was about to be married, and a date had already been set. Before her Dharma-training could unfold, hearing this, her family secretly brought her back from the temple. When the family learned of it, they were about to force her into marriage, but Hui refused to go. She took a solemn vow, saying, "If my aspiration for the Way is not fulfilled and I am coerced, I shall cast myself into fire or feed myself to tigers to discard this defiled form. I pray that the Buddhas of the ten directions will witness my utmost sincerity!" The regional inspector, Zhen Fachong, held the true Dharma in deep reverence. Hearing of Hui's aspiration, he invited her for an audience, and also summoned his staff and monks of deep understanding to cross-examine her with difficult questions. Hui expounded the teachings without faltering, and all those seated sighed in admiration. Chong then permitted her to separate from her prospective husband's family and allowed her to enter the monastic order. In the nineteenth year of the Yuanjia era, Prince Kang of Linchuan invited her to Guangling Temple.