法苑珠林 33.76

33.76

Shi Huida of Pubu Temple on Mount Tiantai in the Sui was surnamed Wang, a native of Xiangyang. He left the household in his youth, making repairs and construction his calling. Whether climbing mountains or approaching waters, or traveling through settlements, whenever he found a place of scenic excellence, he would set his mind on building, establishing temples and monasteries for the monastic assembly to practice the Way. In the Renshou era, he built a seven-storied wooden stūpa at Baita Temple in Yangzhou. The timber and stone being sufficient, he entrusted it to others for construction, then crossed the river and traveled west to various commanderies like Poyang and Yuzhang to inspect meritorious deeds, wishing to share these karmic affinities of merit with sentient beings. Thus, wherever he reached villages and towns and saw monasteries, meditation halls, efficacious stūpas, or divine images—regardless of whether they were of metal, wood, clay, or stone—he would lead and transform people to complete their construction, and their number was more than one. In his later years, invited by the śramaṇa Huiyun, he went up Mount Lu to build Xilin Temple, with a two-storied hall of seven bays, its brackets stacked and its radiance fresh and lustrous. On the initial day of construction, he vowed to use yellow nanmu wood. Searching through the entire territory, not a single tree was found, and everyone wished to switch to other wood instead. Huida said, 'My sincere mind is here; how could we seek anything else? If there is an omen, pine will turn into nanmu; if there is no response, the hall will never be finished.' The assembly, fearing his words, went out in all directions to search, and within the territory at Mount Xiachao, by sympathetic resonance they found a valley full of yellow nanmu. However, it was located in an inaccessible, deep ravine with no route to bring it out. Huida walked along the cliff walls and suddenly saw a place shining with bright light; peeking inside, he saw a path could be opened, only a bit over five feet wide, abutting a sheer cliff. They then hauled and dragged the timber and stone to the head of the river. En route, rapids overturned them, and the bamboo rafts were all destroyed, but by the time they reached Mount Lu, not a single log was lost. The hall was thus completed, magnificent and surpassing former structures. Later, it suddenly tilted three feet toward the south, and the artisans could devise no method to straighten it. There was the Stone Gate Ravine facing south of the hall; suddenly a fierce wind blew from the north and restored it to straightness, which remains preserved to this day. Huida’s appearance and clothing were coarse and tattered, barely presentable; to onlookers he seemed quiet and restrained, as if unable to speak, yet when directing workers, they complied and tasks were promptly achieved. He was precisely the kind of person who remains undisturbed amid complexities. On the final day of the seventh month of the sixth year of Daye, his old ailment suddenly worsened, and he leaned and lay down for seven days. An extraordinary fragrance entered the room, swirling like clouds. The honored statues in the hall all sweated, flowing onto the floor. Seeing these auspicious signs, the assembly knew Huida was about to pass away. Officials inspected the evidence and reported it fully to the court. Huida's mind was as normal, and having entrusted his remaining affairs, he suddenly passed away at the age of eighty-seven.