Čudežna moč meniha Eijitsuja

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Čudežna moč meniha Eijitsuja

Long ago, when Lord Fuyutsugu, the Minister of Kan’in, was still a lieutenant general of the Third Rank, he fell gravely ill with the ague. Someone told him, “At a place called Kanna there is a monk named Eijitsu, a devoted reciter of the sutras, whose prayers are very effective against the ague.” He set out to have this monk pray for him, but as he reached the Arami River, another fit came upon him. Since the temple was now close at hand, he felt he could hardly turn back. Enduring the attack, he went on to Kanna, drew his carriage up beneath the eaves of the monk’s quarters, and sent word of his arrival. The monk replied, “I have recently eaten garlic.” Nevertheless, the lord sent back, “I ask only to see your reverence. I am in no condition to make the journey home just now.” “Then please come in at once,” the monk said. He took down a shutter that had been propped up, spread a fresh rush mat upon it, and invited his visitor inside. The lord entered, and after a little while the monk, having bathed, came out to meet him. He was tall and spare, and his very appearance inspired reverence. “I have been suffering from a severe cold,” he explained, “and have eaten garlic on a physician’s advice. But with you here in such distress, how could I stay away? So I have come. The Lotus Sutra makes no distinction between purity and impurity. I shall recite it for you. What harm could there be?” Rubbing his prayer beads between his palms, he drew close, and the sight was deeply reassuring. He slipped a hand beneath the lord’s neck and rested his head upon his own lap, then began to recite the chapter on the Life Span of the Tathagata. His voice was so holy that the lord marveled that anything in this world could inspire such reverence. Then, drawing a little apart, the monk chanted aloud, his voice truly moving to hear. Great tears streamed from his eyes, and he wept without restraint. At that moment the fit broke, and the lord felt wonderfully clear and well, with not a trace of his illness remaining. Again and again he pledged his devotion to the monk, even into the life to come, and returned home. From that time onward, they say, the monk’s fame for the miraculous power of his prayers spread far and wide.