法苑珠林 82.54

82.54

Under the Sui, there was the śramaṇa Shi Fachong of Huacheng Temple on Mount Lu in Jiangzhou. His secular surname was Bi, and he was a native of Jiujiang. He constantly recited the Lotus and Large Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras. In his later years he lived halfway up the summit of Mount Lu at Huacheng Temple cultivating samādhi. Unless it was for monastic affairs, he never set foot outside. He constantly urged the monastic assembly not to allow women to enter the temple, [saying,] 'Above, it harms the Buddha's teaching; below, it brings vulgar gossip.' However, because the temple's foundation and affairs were weighty, some did not comply. Chong sighed and said, 'Not encountering a Buddha in this life is already a condition born of wrongdoing. If the correct teaching cannot be practiced, it is right to die early. Why worry that this region will not uphold the precepts?' Thereupon, from Incense Burner Peak on this mountain, he cast himself down, vowing to shatter his body and bones so as to be reborn in the Pure Land. Midair, his head suddenly flipped upward, and he drifted slowly downward into the deep valley without harming a single hair. The monastic assembly did not know of it. Later, someone travelling up the path to the mountain peak looked down more than a thousand ren and heard the sound of a human voice. Approaching and searching for it, it turned out to be Chong. His life was still intact, and he was reciting as before. They welcomed him back to the temple. Moved by his remonstrance unto death, the monks barred women from entering. Six years passed before he died. It was the height of summer, yet his corpse did not smell or rot. This was in the late years of the Kaihuang reign era. (The above two accounts are from the Tang Gaoseng Zhuan.)