淨土論 3.17

3.17

The nun Da Mingyue was a native of Pingyao in Jiezhou. She went forth from the household in her youth and resided at Duotuo Monastery; she was nearly sixty years of age. Toward the beginning of the Zhenguan reign era, she encountered Master Daochuo of Xuanzhong Monastery lecturing on the Larger Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra, who taught the practice of mindfulness of the Buddha. Whenever that nun practiced mindfulness of the Buddha, she would first put on clean clothes, hold an aloeswood incense bead in her mouth, burn incense in a clean room, and recite, doing so continuously without interruption for three or four years. At the time of her passing, her daily movements were unimpaired. The entire assembly beheld a bright light, and within the bright light they smelled the scent of aloeswood incense coming to welcome her; she thereupon passed away. Her younger sister, Shao Mingyue, also took mindfulness of the Buddha as her practice together with her elder sister at that time; at the time of impermanence, she too was moved by extraordinary omens (and so forth). It is difficult to record all the monastics and laypeople who, upon hearing of this, all joined in practicing mindfulness of the Buddha.