法苑珠林 96.25

96.25

He also said, “The six periods of the day are wonderful for mindful wholesome thought. If you cannot manage them all, even one period is fine. In this way, even a single mindful thought is fine: all can eradicate evil.” Seeing that his words were upright and true, and his phrases harmonious and elegant, someone was about to put a question, but [the monk] expired not long after. Thereupon, with roused aspiration, Foxing diligently circumambulated the stupa and recited. He also heard a voice in the sky say, “May your diligent observance of the fast cause sentient beings to attain bodies that need no food, and cause hungry ghosts always to be sated.” Observing these inspirations and influences, they were all through Sengya’s power. When [Sengya] first ascended the pyre tower, the śramaṇa Sengyu was at the gate of Great Jianchang Temple and saw flames forty to fifty spans high and thirty to forty spans wide rise from the ground, surging up beside the tower, dying away only after a long time. Furthermore, on the first day of the burning, the venerable śramaṇa Baohai of the prefectural temple asked, “It is the same fire; why does the Bodhisattva experience being burned with no sensation of pain at all?” Sengya replied, “It is because sentient beings cling to characteristics that there is pain.” [Baohai] asked again, “It is always said that one takes on suffering on behalf of sentient beings—can this truly be achieved or not?” He answered, “Since one takes it on with the mind on their behalf, why could it not be achieved?” [Baohai] asked again, “The Bodhisattva burns himself, but when the sins of sentient beings ripen, each receives their own suffering; how can one take their place?” He answered, “It is just like burning the hand: a single thought of a root of goodness can eradicate evil. How is that not taking their place?” He then said to his attendant Zhiyan, “After my parinirvāṇa, attend well to the sick. They are truly unfathomable: most are fundamentally Buddhas and holy ones who ride on skillful means to manifest in response [to conditions]. Unless one has a great and impartial mind, how could one show them reverence? This is true practice.” Among those seated was someone who doubted whether Sengya was a holy one; [Sengya] called that person directly by name and said, “When the Buddhas respond to the world, their forms have no fixed appearance. Sometimes they appear ugly and afflicted with various illnesses, or even as lowly kinds of beasts. Dānapati, take care not to lightly disparage them!” When the fire was about to be lit, all witnessed extraordinary signs. Some saw a round parasol cover Sengya, with a monk seated atop the canopy. Some saw five-colored light in human shapes at the four gates. Others saw what looked like a rising sun atop the pyre tower, with showers of flowers—the larger ones the size of two bamboo hats, the smaller ones like fragments of stalactite—falling profusely in a blend of five colors. Many caught them, but at the touch of a hand they all vanished. After Sengya passed away, a person of Pi County saw a net-draped litter in the sky beside the Pi River. Sengya was seated on it, dressed in a patched yellow robe, his right shoulder bared with a purple mantle, grasping a khakkhara. Behind him were five to six hundred monks, all sheltered by bamboo umbrellas, traveling through the sky and vanishing into the west. Furthermore, the monk Huice of Lingguo Temple in Tongzhou, upon hearing of Sengya’s parinirvāṇa, held a great vegetarian feast for him. In the old market place, just before the meal, a dark cloud suddenly came from the southeast, casting a cool shade over the assembly. Then rained down dragon hairs, distinct in five colors, the longer ones a foot and a half, the shorter ones still six inches. Flowers, banners, and incense smoke also rained down, filling the air in profusion, seen by the entire assembly. Furthermore, when the heart-śarīra was first retrieved and brought into the resident temple, all saw flowering bushes burst into bloom, brightening the courtyards. Also, the monk Huisheng of Akaniṣṭha Temple, who was confined to bed with illness, had not witnessed the self-immolation and felt deep regret. In a dream, Sengya came with a novice, carrying three dou of incense and sandalwood shavings wrapped in a cloth. He divided them into four heaps surrounding Sheng and set fire to burn the incense. Sheng said in terror, “I am but an ordinary person; I cannot burn my body!” Sengya said, “Fear not; this is only to fumigate your illness.” Once the embers were burnt out, [Sheng] immediately felt refreshed and healthy. He then requested a miraculous sign. [Sengya] replied, “In Yizhou, ‘Sengya’ was only my assumed name; my real name is Bodhisattva Brightly Illuminating Treasure Treasury.” After Sheng awoke, his strength was doubled compared to normal. Later, when an assembly was held for Sengya in an outlying village, Sheng led the chanting himself, saying, “Tongzhou had great merit, so monastics and laity saw miraculous signs; our obscurations are heavy, so we have seen nothing.” Thereupon, in response to his words, about two hundred people all saw heavenly flowers fall like swirling snow across the sky, glowing against the sun. By the end of the midday meal, the flowers gradually grew as large as seven-inch plates, all of golden hue, pure and dazzling to the eyes. The fourfold assembly vied to catch them, but none could be grasped; some climbed trees and mounted high places hoping to seize them, but they all flew upward. Furthermore, Wang Senggui, a resident of Chengdu, had his entire household abandon meat after Sengya’s self-immolation. Later, due to some business, they were about to break their vegetarianism and privately discussed it among themselves. At the second watch of the night, they suddenly heard a voice outside the gate calling, “Dānapati!” When they opened the door, they saw a monk who said, “Take care not to eat meat!” His words were sorrowful and earnest, and he walked away weeping. They ran after him, but though he seemed near, he remained far, and suddenly disappeared. Furthermore, in the eighth month after the self-immolation, a Rao tribesman named Mu Nandang was hunting on the summit of Qiao Mountain. Holding his arrow and crossbow, he looked up for deer and suddenly saw Sengya riding a blue muntjac. The hunter said in astonishment, “You burned your body and died in Yizhou; how are you here now?” Sengya said, “Who says that? It is only deceiving people! Can you burn your body? Shooting and hunting incur guilt. You should diligently farm the fields.” He then parted and left. In the winter, Sengya’s nephew was by a stream when he suddenly heard a tumult in the mountain valleys as if from tens of thousands of people. Looking up, he saw Sengya followed by two monks, walking while holding khakkharas. He pursued and caught up with him, intending to grasp his kāṣāya. Sengya said, “You need not lay hold of me.” Pointing to the chickens and pigs ahead, he said, “These sounds all have meaning. Just like your words, others do not understand them, and you do not understand the speech of other lands. Humans and animals differ, yet all have the Buddha-nature; it is merely due to unwholesome karma that they receive these forms. You must only work the fields and not raise livestock.” His words were thorough and detailed. Thus, his frequent manifestations and foreknowledge of people’s minds were generally of this nature. All this is fully recorded in the śramaṇa Wangming’s collection, Fei Zhangfang’s Sanbao lu, and the Yibu jiyi ji.