法苑珠林 24.63

24.63

Under the Northern Qi, there was śramaṇa Sengfan of Dajue Temple east of Ye. His surname was Li, and he was a native of Pingxiang. He was skilled in understanding various texts, being called a repository of knowledge in his time. Leaving home in his later years, he was intimately conversant with the sūtras and treatises. His words and deeds complemented each other, and auspicious signs frequently descended. Once, Du Bi, the regional inspector of Jiaozhou, invited Fan to give winter lectures at Xianyi Temple in Ye. When he reached the sixth ground of the *Avataṃsaka*, suddenly a wild goose flew down, entered the hall moving circumambulatory from the east of the stūpa, and crouched upon the ground facing the high seat to listen to the Dharma. When the lecture dispersed, it slowly went out, again circling to the west of the stūpa, and only then took flight and departed. Furthermore, during his summer lecture at this temple, sparrows came to crouch and listen to the southwest of his seat until the end of the ninety days. Once, while staying in Jizhou, an owl also flew in to listen, leaving only when the lecture ended. There was also a monk who harboured resentment and reviled him with insults, saying, 'You bowl-carrier, what do you know?' That very night, a spirit beat him nearly to death. Had his cultivation of the Way not silently tallied with the unseen, how could he have evoked such sympathetic resonance? On the second day of the third month in the sixth year of the Tianbao era, he passed away at Dajue Temple at the age of eighty.