法苑珠林 91.35

91.35

At Daolin Temple in the capital during the Song, there were the śramaṇas Saṅghadatta, Saṅghalāta, and others, who were all widely versed in the sūtras and treatises, and particularly took dhyāna meditation as their practice. In the beginning of the Yuanjia era, they came to travel in the Song territory. Datta often sat in dhyāna in the mountains. As the time [for the noon meal] drew near, he thought of wishing to take his meal, whereupon a flock of birds came flying with fruit in their beaks to offer him. Datta reflected, "Formerly, when a monkey offered honey, the Buddha also accepted and ate it. Now that flying birds offer food, why should it not be permissible?" Thereupon, he accepted it and ate it. (This one proof appears in the *Liang Biographies of Eminent Monks*.)