法苑珠林 65.65

65.65

Xu Rong of the Jin was a native of Langye. When returning from Dongyang, he passed Mount Ding. The boatman was unaccustomed [to the route] and mistakenly fell into a whirlpool; dancing amid the surging billows, they were on the verge of sinking. Rong had no further plan and merely called upon Avalokiteśvara with utmost sincerity. In an instant, it was as if several tens of people were pulling the boat with combined strength; it leapt out of the whirlpool and regained smooth current. Continuing down along the river, evening had already arrived. The sky was heavily overcast and dark, and the wind and rain were extremely fierce; not knowing where they were heading, the waves grew ever larger. Rong chanted the sūtras without ceasing from his mouth. After a short while, looking in the distance, he saw a radiant firelight atop a mountain. Turning the helm, he headed for it and directly reached Yunpu, the whole boat safe and sound. Once they arrived, the light was no longer visible. His companions marvelled at it, suspecting it was not a human fire. The next morning, they asked the people in the anchorage: 'What was that firelight on the mountain last night?' Everyone said in astonishment: 'With wind and rain like that yesterday, how could there possibly be a fire? None of us saw it.' Only then did they realise it was a divine light. Rong later served as a supervisor in the Kuaiji commandery government. Xie Fu heard him relate this personally. At that time, among those on the same boat with Rong was the śramaṇa Zhi Daoyun, a prudent and honest scholar, who fully witnessed the incident; he later told it to Fu Liang, and it agreed with what Rong had recounted.