法苑珠林 36.61

36.61

Qixia Temple of the Qi is located on Mount She in Pinjia Village, Jiangchui North Canton, Langye Commandery, Nanxuzhou. Ming Sengshao of Pingyuan, a noble scholar of the Qi, founded it during the Taishi era of the Song. He often heard the Dharma bell ring of its own accord. The mountain lodge was five or six li from the village. During the Shengming era of the Song, at dawn, the villagers all saw banners and canopies arranged along the mountainside, with smoke and light of five colours illuminating the empty sky. Men and women gazed in admiration, all saying it was real; yet when they vied to come and see, there was nothing to be seen. At that time, Master Fadu was lecturing on the Sukhāvatīvyūha-sūtra at the mountain lodge. In the middle of the night, a golden light suddenly shone upon the temple, within which terraces and towers appeared, loudly proclaiming [the Dharma]. If the monks or pure attendants in the temple acted slightly contrary to the Dharma, or if white-robed guests entered the temple with defilements, a tiger would immediately appear, roaring and patrolling the cells, its reverberations shaking the mountain valleys. To this day it is still so. Or if anyone grew slightly weary or remiss during chanting, the mountain deity would manifest his form: clad in black garments, a zhang in height, holding a rope in his hand. The assembly would be frightened and terrified, chanting and reciting without laxity.