法苑珠林 63.100

63.100

Under the Song dynasty, the śramaṇa Sengyu was a native of Yuhang in Wuxing. His original surname was Zhou. At the age of capping he left home, and was reputed to possess divine perception; he painstakingly cultivated ascetic practices without ever wavering. In the fifteenth year of the Yuanjia reign era, he travelled to rest at Mount Lu. His companions included Tanwen and Huiguang, all of whom cultivated pure and unblemished conduct, and together they esteemed secluded dwelling. Thereupon they jointly erected a structure on the south side of the mountain, which is today the Zhaoyin Hermitage. Yu constantly held that defilements bind one to drown in the three destinies because of forms. When passions are about to be exhausted, forms too should be ended; why should the path of the Medicine King be considered distant? Thereupon he repeatedly made vows, at last committing to burn his body. At the age of forty-four, on the third day of the sixth month in the second year of the Xiaojian reign era, as he was about to fulfil his original aspiration, monastics and laypeople rushed to watch, their carriages and horses packing the roads. Yu led the congregation in walking the path, instructing and conferring the canonical precepts. That morning, dense clouds threatened rain. Yu then sighed and made a vow, saying: 'If my aspiration is to be brightly fulfilled, the sky should become clear and fair. If my sincere pledge finds no response, it is best that torrential rain pour down, so that these four assemblies may know that the divine response is not deluded.' As soon as he finished speaking, the clouds and light instantly cleared. When the burning flames engulfed him, he joined his palms in upright focus. A purple vapour soared into the sky, distinct beyond the smoke, and only dissipated after some time had passed. Fourteen days later, a pair of paulownia trees sprouted inside the room where Yu had resided. Their roots and branches grew lush and luxuriant, identical in size, piercing through the rafters and standing straight, eventually becoming magnificent trees. Men of discerning understanding considered them akin to the jewelled Śāla trees brilliantly manifesting nirvāṇa; because Yu had attained an approximation thereof, this proof appeared. He was thus called the 'Dual Paulownia Śramaṇa'. Zhang Bian of Wu Commandery, who was then Senior Clerk of Hu'nan, personally witnessed the event and composed a full biography and eulogy for him. (From the Mingxiang ji.)