法苑珠林 61.11

61.11

At Zhongxing Temple in the Song capital, there was the śramaṇa Baoyi, in Sanskrit Anāmati. His original surname was Kang, and he was a man of Kangju whose family had resided in India for generations. During the Xiaojian era of the Song dynasty, he came to reside in the capital. He was thoroughly versed in the sūtras and treatises, and was also called a Tripiṭaka [master]. He often rolled several hundred cowrie shells, instantly knowing good and ill fortune. He was proficient in divine dhāraṇīs; by smearing incense on his palm, he could also see past events. Emperor Shizu of the Song bestowed on him a bronze spittoon about two feet high, which was kept constantly in front of his bed. Suddenly someone stole it. Baoyi took a sitting mat, rolled it empty, and chanted a dhāraṇī over it several times. After three nights, the spittoon was back inside the mat; no one could fathom how it happened. Thereupon, monastics and laypeople from far and near all revered him and marvelled at him.