樂邦文類 3.102

3.102

右記見唐文粹。余翻閱諸書，又見於異類中，進修西方獲感驗者凡三事。龍舒文曰「潭州有人，養一鸜鵒，俗號八八兒。偶見僧念彌陀佛，即隨稱不絕，因捨與僧。後亡，乃棺以葬之，俄口生蓮華一枝。有頌曰：有一非禽八八兒，解隨僧口念阿彌。死埋平地蓮華發，我輩為人豈不知。」戒殺類曰「當塗漁人劉成李暉天寶春，載魚往丹揚，泊舟浦中。李㳂幹，劉獨在，遽見船中大魚振鬣搖首，稱阿彌陀佛。劉驚奔于岸，俄聞萬餘魚俱跳躍，念佛聲動天地。劉大恐，盡投魚于江。李至不信，劉即用己財酬之。明日忽於荻中得錢萬五千，題云還汝魚直。」《自信錄》曰「黃巖正等寺觀師，甞畜一鸜鵒，能言語。纔聞念佛則隨之，其後唯呼阿彌陀佛。一日立死，穴土葬之，未幾於舌端生一紫蓮華。靈芝師甞讚之，有『立亡籠閑渾閑事，化紫蓮華也大奇』之句。大哉！物之奇異若此。」（余）聞《大彌陀經》曰「阿彌陀佛現在十方世界，教化無央數天人，下至蜎飛蠕動，莫不過度之。」是知佛之為化，不以品類為間，凡有善心者悉濟度之。惟夫人為萬物之靈，柰何聞見而不能景慕者，蓋亦多矣。今觀鱗羽之梭化，豈人倫之不若乎？

The above record appears in the Wencui of the Tang. Turning the pages of various books, I have also found altogether three accounts of different species making progress in cultivation toward the Western Direction and obtaining verification. Longshu's writings state: "A person of Tanzhou kept a mynah bird, commonly called babar. Happening to see a monk reciting Amitābha Buddha, it immediately followed in continuous recitation; the person therefore gave it to the monk. Later it died, and he placed it in a coffin and buried it; shortly thereafter, a single lotus blossom grew from its mouth. A eulogy says: 'There is a non-bird, babar, / Who could follow a monk's mouth reciting Ami[tābha]. / Dead and buried in level ground, a lotus blossomed; / As human beings, how could we fail to understand this?'" The Category on Abstaining from Killing states: "During the spring of the Tianbao era, Liu Cheng and Li Hui, fishermen of Dangtu, carried fish toward Danyang and moored their boat in a creek. Li went off on business while Liu remained alone; suddenly, he saw a large fish in the boat shake its fins, shake its head, and recite Amitābha Buddha. Terrified, Liu fled to the bank; shortly, he heard over ten thousand fish all leaping, their recitation of the Buddha's name shaking heaven and earth. Liu was utterly terrified and cast all the fish into the river. When Li arrived, he did not believe it, so Liu reimbursed him with his own wealth. The next day, he suddenly found fifteen thousand coins among the reeds, inscribed with the words: 'Returning your fish price.'" The Record of Self-Confidence states: "Master Guan of Zhengdeng Temple in Huangyan once kept a mynah bird that could speak. As soon as it heard the recitation of the Buddha's name, it would follow; thereafter, it called only upon Amitābha Buddha. One day, it died standing; they dug the earth and buried it, and before long a purple lotus blossom grew from the tip of its tongue. Master Lingzhi once praised it, writing the lines: 'Dying standing while idle in the cage was quite an ordinary matter; / Yet transforming into a purple lotus blossom is extraordinary indeed!' How great! The marvel of living creatures is like this!" I have heard that the Larger Amitābha Sūtra states: "Amitābha Buddha is presently in the worlds of the ten directions, teaching and converting countless devas and humans, down to flying bugs and wriggling insects, crossing them all over without exception." From this we know that the Buddha's teaching makes no distinction among kinds; all who possess a wholesome mind are completely rescued and delivered. It is only that human beings are the spiritual elite among myriad creatures; yet why is it that among those who hear and see, those who cannot admire and yearn are also so many? Now observing the swift transformations of scaled and feathered creatures, could they truly be inferior to human beings?