In the reign of Empress Shotoku, a monk named Zen Master Eiko lived in the village of Kumano in Muro District, Kii. He taught and guided the people of the coast, and they honored him with the name "Bodhisattva of the South."
One day a monk came to Eiko. All he carried was a copy of the Lotus Sutra, a white bronze water jar and a rope stool. He always chanted the Lotus Sutra, and stayed with the master for more than a year. Then he said, "I mean to go into the mountains and cross over to Ise," and took his leave. The master gave him dried rice and sent two men to guide him. Partway, the monk sent his guides back and went into the mountains alone.
About two years later, the people of Kumano went up into the mountains along the upper Kumano River to cut timber for boats. From somewhere came the sound of someone reading the Lotus Sutra. Days passed, months passed, and still the voice did not stop.
Hearing of it, Eiko thought it strange, went into the mountains and searched toward the voice. He found a corpse. The man had tied both feet with hemp rope and thrown himself from a rock. Beside him lay a water jar. It was that monk. The master wept with grief and went back to the village.
Three years later, the mountain people sent word: "The voice reading the sutra still has not stopped." The master went again to gather the bones. When he looked at the skull, the tongue had not rotted, and it went on chanting the Lotus Sutra as if alive.
Truly, the virtue of one who believed deeply in the Lotus Sutra and gave up his body in practice had shown itself in this way.