法苑珠林 28.5

28.5

Now, as for the transformation wrought by divine ways: it is to suppress the boastful and strong, to break down the insolent and arrogant, to blunt fierce sharpness, and to unravel the dust and turmoil [of worldly entanglement]. As when the flying wheel harnesses the treasures, the faithful submit; when the towering stone reaches into the clouds, the strongmen retreat in hiding. One should know that supreme governance is free of intention, and firmness or gentleness depends upon transformation. Therefore, some conceal their light and obscure their shadows, stooping to match the deluded world; some manifest marvelous wonders, foretelling omens from afar; some die and are reborn; some enter meditative absorption and then vanish into emptiness. Their miraculous traces and uncanny mysteries cannot be fathomed. Now, that which is valued in principle is conformity with the Way; that which is valued in practice is rescuing beings. Therefore, the expedient contravenes the constant yet conforms to the Way, being utilized to achieve great undertakings. Yet what is recorded in the biographies cannot be investigated in every detail. Some arise from the response of the Dharmakāya; some are the loftiness and transcendence of Daoist immortals. Provided that even one fraction surpasses others, it is already sufficient to be lofty. But if they boastfully display occult arts and heterodox ways to throw the times into chaos, soaring high by relying on herbs and minerals, or achieving longevity by depending on fragrant mushrooms—rivaling the cock crowing in heaven, the dog barking in the clouds, the immortal snake and crane, or the thousand-year turtle and tortoise—and call this anomalous, they cannot be compared with sacred transformations. In the present compilation, we temporarily record a few divine anomalies of the śrāvakas. If one speaks of the sovereign holy virtues of all the Buddhas and bodhisattvas, they cannot be known through speech, nor measured by the mind; being fully arranged across the various chapters, they are not confined to this section alone.