Ancient Story: Soldiers Suddenly Die for Damaging an Immortal Holy Body

Throughout history, certain eminent monks have reached such high levels of cultivation that their bodies were filled with a high-energy substance which made their bodies immortal. In Buddhism, such immortal bodies are regarded as holy bodies. The following is a story where two soldiers meet their death as retribution for damaging a holy body.

In the 13th year of the era of Yuan He in the Tang Dynasty, Sikong Xue-Ping and Li Guangyan, the military commissioners of Zhenghua Shire and Chenxu Shire, respectively, were ordered by the emperor to command self-defense armies in the area of Qi County, Henan province, to carry out a punitive expedition against Dongping. When they were about 7 Li [a Li is equivalent to 1/2 mile] south of Puyang, they built a military base. All the villagers had run away. There was one pagoda in the village. Inside the pagoda, there was the immortal body of an eminent monk. His eyes remained open and he was still wearing his monk's clothing. When someone touched the body, the touched portion of his clothes dissolved into dust and fell off. Everybody from the army fought to take a look at the holy body. The pagoda was crowded for many days.

One day a soldier from Xuzhou named Hao Yi declared, “How can a body possibly be immortal?” He stabbed the monk’s body hard with a knife and then walked off. Within only 3 to 4 steps, Hao Yi suddenly screamed with his hands on his heart and died at once. Li Guangyan ordered the incident to be recorded, and buried him under the pagoda. The next day, another soldier from Chen Zhou named Mao Qing commented, “How can there be such a thing? Hao Yi’s death yesterday was only a coincidence.” Mao Qing used the knife to remove two teeth from inside the monk's mouth. When Mao Qing walked only two to three steps from the corpse, he screamed with his hands on his face, and died. Once again, Li Guangyan ordered this incident to be recorded and buried him under the pagoda. From then on, nobody dared to damage the body any more. Everyone in the military base began to worship gods and deities, begging to be blessed by them. There was an endless supply of burning incense and candles at the pagoda. Local residents within a radius of 3 to 4 Li flowed in to worship the holy body. The pagoda became very crowded. The soldiers at the military base also donated their money and clothing to the pagoda. Traffic was backed up for 2 Li. Sikong Xue-Ping then ordered the wounded soldiers to stay near the area for rehabilitation. Within ten days, the wounded soldiers were ready to catch up with the eastbound army. Even today, the immortal body still shows the knife cut and the gums show two missing teeth.

Source: Shu Yi Ji

Chinese version available at http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2003/4/16/21229.html