法苑珠林 22.48

22.48

In the first year of the Yuanjia era of the Song dynasty, there were two daughters of Donggong Lun; the elder sister was ten years old and the younger sister was nine. Unrefined and ignorant in their village, they knew nothing of the sūtras and the Dharma. Suddenly, on the eighth day of the second month of that year, both went missing. They returned after three days, speaking vaguely of having seen the Buddha. On the fifteenth day of the ninth month, they went missing again for ten days. Upon their return, they spoke foreign languages and recited sūtras in Indic script; whenever they met monks from the Western Regions, they could converse and understand one another. On the fifteenth day of the first month of the following year, they disappeared once again. People working in the fields saw them riding the wind up into heaven. Their parents wept piteously and prayed to the spirits and ghosts; after a month, they finally returned. They had their heads shaved as nuns, were dressed in Dharma robes, and returned carrying their shorn hair. They themselves recounted that they had seen the Buddha and bhikṣuṇīs, who said, "Through your past karma, you are my disciples." Stroking their heads with his hand, their hair immediately fell away, and he bestowed Dharma names upon them: the elder was named Fayuan, and the younger was named Faci. Sending them back, he said, "You may build a vihāra, and you will be provided with sūtras and the Dharma." Once they reached home, they removed the spirit shrines, erected a vihāra, and worshiped and chanted morning and night. Frequently, a five-colored light appeared, sweeping across the mountain peaks and ridges. From then on, their demeanor and the tones of their voices were upright and in accordance with the Dharma; even the refined models of the capital could not surpass them. The regional inspectors Wei Lang, Kong Mo, and others all welcomed and revered them as extraordinary. (The above three verifications are taken from the Mingxiang ji.)