諸經要集 8.74

8.74

In ancient times, Udayana first carved the sandalwood [statue], and Prasenajit first cast the gold form; both portrayed the true likeness and skillfully depicted the wondrous marks. Thus they could radiate light, manifest auspicious signs, and make people leave their seats to pay reverent homage. Extending to the two stūpas for hair and nails, and the two platforms for the robe and the shadow, these were established models already seen during the Tathāgata's presence in the world. Since he withdrew his traces by the river and was cremated outside the forest, the eight kings requested to divide [the relics] and returned to their kingdoms to erect stūpas, along with the two places for the vase and the embers; thereupon the ten shrines arose. The places of his birth, attaining the Way, preaching the Dharma, and nirvāṇa; the topknot and uṣṇīṣa bone, the four canine teeth and pair of footprints; the bowl, staff, spittoon, and antarvāsa—all had stūpas raised and inscriptions carved, with monuments marking the divine wonders. More than a hundred years later, King Aśoka dispatched envoys across the seas, dismantled the various stūpas, divided and retrieved the relics, and on returning encountered wind and tide, losing quite a few; therefore among the marine creatures of today, they are sometimes found. Thereafter the eighty-four thousand [stūpas] arose because of this. King Aśoka's daughters also successively generated pure minds, engraving stone and melting metal to depict the divine forms, which were even able to float down rivers and drift across the sea, casting their transforming shadow to the eastern lands. Although the spiritual traces secretly communicated, they were not yet made manifest to sight and hearing. When Cai Yin and Qin Jing returned from the Western Regions, they first transmitted a woven painting of Śākyamuni; thereupon images of his marks were painted at the Liang Terrace and the Shouling Tomb. From then onward, statues and stūpa-monasteries vied in rank with time; down to the Liang dynasty, the remaining light was profound and flourishing. Yet the dharmakāya has no image; it takes form in response to stimulus. Responses and perceptions have differences, so the physical responses have distinctions. If the mind's path is vast and hazy, the true form is separated from transformation; if sentiment and aspiration are earnest and ardent, even wood and stone will open the heart. Thus Liu Yin's utmost filial devotion moved sincere response, so that an inscription formed on the bottom of his pot; Ding Lan's warming and cooling exhausted sincerity, so that the wooden mother changed color; Luyang swung his spear and the sun turned back; the wife of Qi shed tears and the city wall collapsed. These are all concealed sympathies entering their innate nature, thereby causing auspicious signs to manifest before ear and eye. Thus we know that the Way depends on humanity for its propagation, and spirits respond to things through stimulus; how could this be false? Therefore, 'sacrificing to the spirits as if the spirits were present,' the spiritual Way interacts; revering the image as if revering the Buddha, the dharmakāya responds. Thus entering the Way must take wisdom as the root, and wisdom must take merit as the foundation. It is like a bird equipped with two wings, suddenly soaring ten thousand fathoms; or a chariot complete with two wheels, galloping a thousand li at once. How could one not be diligent? How could one not strive?