The Heavens Rain Down Flowers;
Golden Lotuses Well
Forth from the Earth
While still in Nanjing, after he left the
imperial court, Patriarch Bodhidharma met the Venerable Shen Guang
(Spiritual Light), who was lecturing on the Sutras. When Dharma Master
Shen Guang explained the Sutras, the heavens rained down flowers, and
golden lotuses welled forth from the earth. Heavenly maidens scattered
blossoms, and from beneath the earth golden lotuses burst forth. Ah!
What a supreme state!
The Patriarch heard about that, and so he also
went to observe the Dharma assembly
and listen to the Sutra lecture.
By then he probably had learned some Chinese and could speak a few
sentences. If on the road from Guangzhou to Nanjing, he learned one
sentence a day, he would have learned ten sentences in ten days, and
a hundred in a hundred days. That Patriarch was very intelligent; he
did not have to study to learn Chinese, he just listened.
In Nanjing, he listened to Dharma Master Shen
Guang explain a Sutra. Dharma Master Shen Guang was quite pleased by
that. "Hah! See how well I lecture the Sutras? Even an Indian has
come to listen! Ah! He came from so far away to listen to my
lecture. How truly inconceivable!" He felt quite good about it.
