安樂集 2.23

2.23

答曰：「必得！何者？如《惟無三昧經》云：『有兄弟二人，兄信因果，弟無信心，而能善解相法。因其鏡中自見面上死相已現，不過七日。時有智者，教往問佛。佛時報言：「七日不虛。若能一心念佛、修戒，或得度難。」尋即依教繫念，時至六日即有二鬼來，耳聞其念佛之聲，竟無能前進，還告閻羅王。閻羅王索符，已注云，由持戒、念佛功德，生第三炎天。』又《譬喻經》中，有一長者，不信罪福，年已五十。忽夜夢見剎鬼索符來欲取之，不過十日。其人眠覺，惶怖非常。至明，求覓相師占夢，師作卦兆云：『有剎鬼必欲相害，不過十日。』其人惶怖倍常，詣佛求請。佛時報云：『若欲攘此，從今已去，專意念佛，持戒，燒香，然燈、懸繒旛蓋，信向三寶，可免此死。』即依此法專心信向。剎鬼到門，見修功德，遂不能害，鬼即走去。其人緣斯功德，壽滿百年，死得生天。復有一長者，名曰執持，退戒還佛，現被惡鬼打之。」

Answer: "It certainly can! Why? As the Weiwu sanmei jing says: 'There were two brothers. The elder brother believed in cause and effect, while the younger brother had no faith, but was skilled at understanding physiognomy. Looking into a mirror, he saw signs of death already appearing on his face, giving him no more than seven days. At that time a wise person taught him to go and ask the Buddha. The Buddha then answered: "Seven days is indeed true. If you can single-mindedly practice buddhānusmṛti and cultivate the precepts, you may perhaps cross over the calamity." He immediately bound his mindfulness in accordance with the teaching. When the sixth day arrived, two ghosts came, but hearing the sound of his buddhānusmṛti, they could not advance at all, and returned to report to King Yama. King Yama demanded their tally, on which it was already noted that by the merit of keeping precepts and buddhānusmṛti, he was reborn in the third Yāma heaven.' Furthermore, in the Avadāna-sūtra, there was an elder who did not believe in sin and merit, already fifty years of age. One night he suddenly dreamed of a rākṣasa holding a tally and coming to take him within ten days. The man awoke in extreme terror. When morning came, he sought out a physiognomist to divine the dream, and the master made a divination, saying: 'There is a rākṣasa who will certainly harm you within ten days.' The man was twice as terrified and went to the Buddha to plead. The Buddha then answered: 'If you wish to ward this off, from now on, single-mindedly practice buddhānusmṛti, keep the precepts, burn incense, light lamps, hang silk banners and canopies, and turn with faith toward the Three Jewels; you may escape this death.' He immediately relied on this method with single-minded faith and devotion. When the rākṣasa arrived at his gate and saw his cultivation of merit, he could not harm him, and the ghost fled away. Due to this merit, the man lived to the full age of a hundred years, and upon death was reborn in heaven. There was another elder named Zhichi, who retreated from the precepts and returned them to the Buddha, and was beaten by an evil ghost in his present life."