Record Gathering Up the Workings of Power of the Sixteen-Foot Gilt Image at Wangnyun Temple王輪寺丈六金像靈驗收拾記
詳夫自佛法之波及三韓也。由中及外。列刹相望。至如像設。無寺無之。但諸佛。一體也。凡像設所在。有顯靈應與不爾者。是凡夫思想未到處。其何以測之哉。雖然。諸佛菩薩之於神通方便。遊戲自在。無可無不可。亦不可以色相求之者也。然則其不顯光靈。非不爲也。始藏其用而已矣。若時乎應機赴感。有以顯其靈應。是亦自然方便所示。而蓋至人之細也。然以世之凡眼見之。則安得不驚駭且異。而篤生精信之心耶。精信之心篤。則佛輒應之。而其靈應又益顯矣。是世所譁傳某寺某佛像有大靈驗者之類是已。今夫都城之北。有寺曰王輪。是海東宗恒轉法輪之大伽藍也。寺有毗盧遮那丈六金像一軀。聞昔有二比丘。曰巨貧。曰皎光。同發願欲。鑄成金像。作俗諺所謂棟梁者。其所謂棟梁者。凡浮屠之勸人布施。營作佛事者之稱也。巨貧主其事。皎光佐之。巨貧忽一日謂佐者曰。事有不稱吾意者多矣。加之年亦老矣。必不能卒事。當入皆骨山。自焚而化。汝可拾吾舍利。持以勸人。則無有不樂施者。夫然后事可辦矣。言訖。入其山鍊道。至丙申八月十五日。於摩訶衍方丈北岫。生茶毗其身。皎公依其言。收靈骨盛于箱。自負擔歸京師。勸人檀施。則自上方至搢紳士庶人。無不施財。如山積焉。板方里有散將官。窮不能施物。有女年可十三。願以此納之。俾供使役。皎公不得已受之。時城南有將軍。失其名。年老無息。願贖此女爲養息。因納布五百段。又星臺洞有寡婦。家貧無長物。可捨以所寶大鏡施之。因告曰。此鏡久歸於人。今猶未還。故不能以此時輟納。迨鎔金之日。方取而齎去耳。皎公唯諾。至其時。以日遠偶忘之。不告鏡主而鑄焉。及成。凡相好無不具足端嚴。唯心胸有虧缺處。僧甚恐之。方議補鑄。鏡主聞像之已成也。大懷嗟惋。然業已捨之。故遂將其鏡往納焉。有以鏡置佛胸之缺隙者。其隙與鏡。甚穩當相御。因假置之。遲明日欲銘之。然後塡補之。至曉見焉。則鏡已自合。宛若鎔鑄而了無痕迹矣。都城觀者如堵。無不駭異。此靈驗一也。像成。輦入于寺。是日欲妥於金堂。以戶庳不得容。期翌旦將去上之限木。然後納焉。及旦見之。則佛已端然八座矣。此靈驗二也。崔侍中精安常痛敬丈六像。以其宅之在寺之南隣。故每上官之時。則到寺門。輒下馬禮拜而後去焉。及退公則至朝宗門。又下馬再拜。步過寺門。然後騎焉。凡所得新物。先奉之而後敢嘗。又往往造于堂。手煎茶供養。如是者久焉。忽夢丈六告曰。汝事我誠勤矣。然不若寺之南里鷹揚府老兵之歸心也。公明日使人尋其家。果有一老兵在焉。公親往訪之問曰。聞汝之常敬某寺丈六。信然耶。其敬之也。又別作何般耶。對曰。老僕自中風莫興。凡已七年矣。但晨夕聞鍾聲。則向其處合掌而已。安更有餘事哉。公曰。如是則老夫所以事佛者。其不若汝誠之至矣。由是大重其人。每受祿輒以一斛賜之。此靈驗三也。又侍中受祿之日。有緇褐僧到門乞食。公賜以食。觀其飮啖。有異於常者。別炊飯一斗進焉。復喫了無遺。公大異之。以祿一斛施之。使蒼頭負之而隨。及出門。告遣奴卽還。自負擔出歸。公聞之。急使人尋之。不得其迹。公親出追之。聞有負米一僧入王輪寺門者。卽入寺尋之。又不知其所如。偶欲禮丈六。入金堂見之。則有祿一斛在佛香案上。於是大悟。其僧乃丈六權化也。此靈驗四也。是皆故首座僧傑。傳之於宗門大士正林者也。正林後亦爲僧統。皆釋門老匠。精信謹篤大和尙也。豈妄傳之哉。其古老所傳章章播在人口者。則方丈六之入于寺也。以大車載之。輓者無慮百萬人。塡咽道路。有豚市商人輩。亦發隨喜心。倂力推轂。衆力如是而車忽不行。典事僧怪之。登高岸望之。則有群豕夾轂而行。因悟惡業之爲礙也。禁其人不得與推輪。然後車乃得行。此靈驗五也。又以古今擧國人所嘗親見者言之。國將有變。丈六先出汗示之。丈六出汗。則左右補處泥塑像及石刻華嚴經中凡如來世尊佛菩薩字。亦皆霑濕。餘字則否焉。是亦丈六所以護我國家。先之以警曉者已。此靈驗六也。皎公鑄此像。自成廟御宇八年大宋端拱元年戊子始之。至丁酉歲。凡十年乃成矣。按傑公所傳云。寺經回祿之災。凡文籍與丈六靈驗十餘條記。竝爲煨燼。今貧道所傳。特遺漏餘也。以是言之。則靈驗不啻此耳。後復有記其遺漏者。追附于此。亦可也。唯崔侍中齋僧事。所說不同。傑公之言則曰。有緇褐僧到門乞食云云。業門耆舊今之所說則云。公每趁日飯一僧。屬其奴曰。汝出求僧。先遇者是有緣僧。▣▣必以是邀之。奴一日出求僧。有一僧衣裳藍縷。形貌極醜。奴避而不邀。更覓他僧。則又其僧出見之。如是者數四。奴嫌其醜。便不肯邀之。還以狀白於公。公怒曰。是吾所謂有緣僧也。汝速去邀之。奴出見。又其僧在焉。則邀致於宅。公賜以食云云。此說未知孰是。兩皆有異。故存之。國家以丈六殿之頽殘。方命而修葺也。今相國淸河崔公。甚有力焉。公又聞佛蓋與幢蓋之多至殘毀。乃嘆曰。此皆梵儀之眉目也。不崇飾。無以備佛儀之最巨者。尋命工營之。百寶光明。爛然奪目。眞古所未見也。公覽遺記。嗟嘆不已。但以其所記。皆方言俚語。而不可久其傳。故命予文之。小子敢再拜稽首。爲之記云。時大歲乙西十二月日。朝議大夫試國子祭酒翰林侍講學士知制誥李奎報字春卿。謹誌。復讚之以頌曰。
Looking closely into it: ever since the Buddha's Law reached the Three Han, from the interior to the outer regions the temples have come to stand within sight of one another, and as for the housing of Buddha-images, there is no temple that lacks one. Yet all the Buddhas are one body. Now among the places where Buddha-images stand there are those that show forth a numinous response and those that do not; and this is a point the thought of ordinary men does not reach, so by what should we measure it?
Even so, the Buddhas and bodhisattvas, in their spiritual powers and their expedient means, roam at their own freedom, and there is nothing they can do and nothing they cannot; nor are they such as can be sought in color and form. If that is so, then their not showing forth their light and their numen is not from inability — they are only keeping their use hidden away. When at times they answer to the occasion and go forth to meet a feeling and so show forth their numinous response, this too is only an expedient means shown of itself, and for the Utmost Ones it is a trifling matter.
Yet seen with the common eye of the world, how should men not be startled and think it strange and bring forth a mind of thick faith? And when the mind of thick faith is thick, the Buddha answers at once, and that numinous response is shown forth the more. This is the sort of thing the world passes on with a clamor, saying, "At such a temple, in such an image, there is a great working of power."
Now to the north of the capital there is a temple called Wangnyun (王輪). This is a great monastery where the Order of the Eastern Sea turns the Wheel of the Law without ceasing. In the temple there is one gilt image of Vairocana (毗盧遮那), sixteen feet in height.
I have heard that long ago there were two bhikkhus, one called Geobin (巨貧) and one called Gyogwang (皎光). Together they made a vow, wishing to cast and complete a gilt image, and so became what the common speech calls "ridgepole and beam" (棟梁). What is called ridgepole and beam is the name given to a monk who urges men to almsgiving and manages the Buddha-work. Geobin took the work upon himself and Gyogwang helped him.
One day Geobin suddenly said to his helper: "There is much in this work that does not answer to my mind. Besides, I am old in years and shall surely not finish it. I shall go into Gaegolsan (皆骨山) and burn myself to death. You are to gather up my relics and carry them and urge them upon men; then there will be none who does not gladly give. Only after that can the work be done."
Having finished speaking he went into that mountain and cultivated the Way; and on the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the Byeongsin year, on the northern peak behind the abbot's quarters at Mahayeon (摩訶衍), he gave his own body to the flames while still alive. Master Gyo, as he had been told, took up the numinous bones and laid them in a casket and bore them himself back to the capital and urged men to give; and from the king above down to the officials and the scholars and the multitude of the people, there was none who did not bring out goods, so that they were heaped up like a hill.
In Panbang village (板方里) there was an officer who held no post, and being poor he could bring out no goods. He had a daughter of about thirteen years, and he wished to offer this child that she might be put to service. Master Gyo received her unwillingly. At that time there was a general south of the city whose name has been lost. He was old in years and without a child, and wished to take this child back and make her a daughter to raise, and he offered five hundred bolts of cloth.
Again, in Seongdae ward (星臺洞) there was a widow whose house was poor and who had nothing of worth; so she meant to bring out a great mirror she had treasured and give it in alms. She sent word, saying: "This mirror has long been in another's hands and has not come back to me yet. So I cannot bring it out just now. Only when the day comes for melting the metal shall I fetch it and bring it." Master Gyo said that this would do.
When that time came, the day being far off, they happened to forget, and cast the image without sending word to the mirror's owner. When it was finished, there was nothing wanting in the marks of its form, and it was upright and solemn; only at the very middle of the breast there was a place that was marred. The monks were greatly afraid, and were just taking counsel to patch it and cast it again.
The mirror's owner, hearing that the image was already finished, lamented greatly; but since she had already promised to give it, she brought that mirror at last and offered it. Someone set the mirror against the marred gap in the Buddha's breast, and that gap and the mirror fitted one another exactly. So they left it there for the time being, meaning to wait for daylight and then to cut and fill it in. At dawn they saw that the mirror had already joined of itself, so like the casting that there was not the least trace of a seam. The people of the capital stood round it like a wall to look, and there was none who did not marvel and think it strange. This is the first of the workings of power.
When the image was finished they loaded it on a cart and brought it into the temple. On that day they meant to set it at rest in the Golden Hall (金堂), but the door was low and it would not pass in. They settled that on the next morning they would take out the timber of the lintel above and then bring it in. In the morning they saw that the Buddha was already seated upright in its place. This is the second of the workings of power.
Vice Chancellor Choe Jeongan (崔侍中精安) always revered the sixteen-foot image utterly. His house was the temple's neighbor to the south, and so whenever he went out to office, on reaching the temple gate he would at once dismount and bow and then go on. Coming back from his duties, when he reached the Jojong Gate (朝宗門) he would again dismount and bow twice and walk past the temple gate before mounting again. Whatever he newly came by he first offered up, and only then dared to taste it. And now and then he would go up to the hall of the Law and brew tea with his own hands as an offering. He had done so for a long while.
One day the sixteen-foot image suddenly told him in a dream: "Your serving of me is diligent indeed. Yet it is less than the turning of the heart of the old soldier of the Eungyang garrison (鷹揚府) in the village south of the temple." The next day the lord sent a man to seek out that house, and there was indeed an old soldier there. The lord went himself and asked him: "I hear that you always revere the sixteen-foot image at such a temple. Is it true? And of what sort, besides, is this reverence of yours?" He answered: "This old servant has been struck with palsy and has not risen for seven years now. Only at dawn and at dusk, when I hear the sound of the bell, I join my hands toward that quarter. What other thing should there be?" The lord said: "If it is so, then my own serving of the Buddha, old as I am, is less than the utmost of your sincerity." From this he held the man in great weight, and whenever he received his stipend he would give him a measure of it. This is the third of the workings of power.
Again, on a day when the Vice Chancellor received his stipend, a monk in black hempen cloth came to the gate and begged for food. The lord gave him food, and watching him eat saw that he was unlike other men. He had a further peck of rice cooked and brought, and the monk ate all of that too and left nothing. The lord marveled greatly and gave him a measure of his stipend in alms and had a servant carry it and go with him. Once out of the gate the monk told the servant to go straight back, and bore it himself and went away.
When the lord heard of this he hastily sent men to look for him, but they could get no trace. The lord went out himself and gave chase. Hearing that a monk bearing rice had gone in at the gate of Wangnyun temple, he went straight into the temple and searched, but again could not learn where he had gone. He happened to go into the Golden Hall to bow to the sixteen-foot image, and there was the measure of stipend set upon the Buddha's incense table. At this he understood greatly: that monk had been the sixteen-foot image manifesting a body for a while. This is the fourth of the workings of power.
All this was handed down by the late Seat-holder Seunggeol (僧傑) to Jeongnim (正林), a great master of the Order. Jeongnim afterward also became Supervisor of the Clergy. Both were seasoned masters of the Buddha's gate, thick in faith and careful, great teachers — how should they have handed down anything idly?
What the old men of former days handed down, and what passes plainly from mouth to mouth, is this. When the sixteen-foot image was brought into the temple it was loaded on a great cart, and those who drew it were a million by rough count and filled the road. The crowd of traders from the swine market also brought forth a rejoicing heart and joined their strength to push at the wheels. Yet though the strength of the many was such, the cart would suddenly not go. The monk in charge of the work thought it strange and climbed a high bank to look, and saw a herd of swine going along flanking the wheels. At this he understood that evil karma was the hindrance, and he kept those men from joining in the pushing of the wheels; and only then could the cart go. This is the fifth of the workings of power.
Again, to speak of what the people of the whole country, in old days and now, have themselves seen: when a calamity is about to come upon the country, the sixteen-foot image first shows forth sweat. When the sixteen-foot image sweats, the clay images of the attendant Buddhas-to-come (補處) to left and right, and in the Flower Garland Sutra carved in stone, all the characters that read Tathagata, World-Honored One, Buddha, bodhisattva, are likewise wet, while the remaining characters are not. This too is the sixteen-foot image giving warning beforehand that it may guard our country. This is the sixth of the workings of power.
Master Gyo's casting of this image was begun in the eighth year of the reign of King Seongjong, the first year of Duangong (端拱) of the Song, the Muja year, and was finished by the Jeongyu year, after ten years in all.
Looking into what Master Geol handed down, he said this: "The temple suffered the calamity of fire, and the documents and the record setting down a dozen and more items of the workings of power of the sixteen-foot image were all burned up. What this poor monk now hands down is only what was left over from the loss." To speak by this, the workings of power are not these alone. If there be anyone hereafter who again sets down what was lost, he may well append it in sequence here.
Only concerning the Vice Chancellor's giving of a meal to the monk, what is said is not the same. Master Geol's account is the one that runs, "a monk in black hempen cloth came to the gate and begged for food," and so on. What the old men of the Buddha's gate now say is this. The lord, wishing to feed one monk every day, charged his servant: "Go out and seek a monk. The first one you meet is the monk who has the karmic tie. 〔〕 Be sure to bring this man." One day the servant went out to seek a monk, and there was a monk whose clothes were ragged and whose look was exceedingly ugly. The servant avoided him and did not bring him, and when he sought another monk, again that same monk came in sight. This happened three or four times. The servant, disliking his ugliness, would not bring him and came back and told the matter to the lord. The lord said in anger: "This is the monk with the karmic tie of whom I spoke. Go quickly and bring him." The servant went out, and that monk was there again, and so he brought him home. The lord gave him food, and so on. Of these accounts it cannot be known which is right. Since the two differ, they are left as they are.
The court, holding that the Hall of the Sixteen-Foot Image had fallen and decayed, had just given order to repair and re-roof it. Now the Chancellor, Lord Choe of Cheongha (淸河崔公), put out great effort in it. The lord, hearing further that the Buddha-canopy (佛蓋) and the banner-canopy (幢蓋) were much decayed and broken, sighed and said: "These are the eyebrows and the eyes of the Buddha's regalia. If they are not nobly adorned, the greatest among the Buddha's regalia cannot be made complete." He then gave order to the artisans to make them, and every kind of jewel shone and dazzled and stole away the eye. Truly it was such as had not been seen from old times.
The lord, seeing what remained of the record, did not cease from sighing. Only, since what was written there was all country speech and coarse speech and could not be handed down long, he commanded me to put it into writing. This little one dares to bow twice and bend his head and compose this record. The time is a certain day of the twelfth month of the Eulyu year. Jo'ui daebu, Acting Libationer of the National Academy, Hallim Lecturer-in-Attendance and Drafter of Royal Edicts, Yi Gyubo (李奎報), styled Chungyeong (春卿), respectfully records it. Again he praises it with an encomium.
Interlinear notes 1
曾
Formerly.
2Encomium
淸淨一體。月映秋水。卽之朗然。攬之邈矣。毗盧境地。本絶思議。造像者夢。讚者亦爾。
One body, clear and clean — the moon reflected in autumn water. Go toward it, and it is bright; reach to grasp it, and it is far away. The realm of Vairocana is from the first cut off from thought and discourse. He who made the image was dreaming, and he who praises it is dreaming too.