慈悲道場懺法 1.3

1.3

Baozhi answered, saying: “Nothing less than bowing to the Buddhas, repenting, and cleansing with sincere devotion will suffice.” The Emperor agreed with his words, searched the Buddhist scriptures, recorded their names and titles, and furthermore personally expressed his sagacious thoughts and wielded the imperial brush, composing repentance texts in a total of ten fascicles—all gathering the words of the Buddhas and cutting away superfluous phrases—to perform this repentance rite for her. Another day, an extraordinary, rich fragrance was smelled in the palace rooms, lingering for a long time, its origin completely unknown at first. The Emperor looked up and saw a heavenly being of elegant and beautiful demeanor, who said to the Emperor: “This is the python’s subsequent body. Relying on the Emperor’s merit, I have already obtained rebirth in the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven. I now manifest my present body to provide clear proof.” Expressing earnest gratitude, the being vanished after speaking. From the Liang dynasty until today, several hundred years have passed; those who obtain this scripture and reverently practice the repentance rite, whatever they do and whatever they pray for, all receive hidden and protective resonance. Fearing that these matters might remain obscure and unrevealed, this rough record has been made to reach everyone's ears and eyes.