樂邦文類 3.138

3.138

國學進士王日休，字虛中。君自行之智、化他之悲，已見張于湖序文，茲不再述。公，龍舒人，有淨土文，因以為號。其文盛行天下，修淨業者莫不覽之。乾道中廬陵李彥弼，染時疾垂革，棺槨已備。忽夢一人神清貌古，以手案摩肢體。弼驚問，答曰：「予龍舒居士也。」弼因以疾告，公曰：「汝起，食白粥即差矣。」又曰：「汝還記闕仲雅教汝捷徑否？」弼曰：「每日念佛不輟。」弼覺，因索白粥食之，病果愈。後見公畫像，儼如夢睹。弼敬重公，稱生死骨肉，遂遣子姪遠從其學。一日忽迴曰：「居士於某夜講書罷，如常禮念。至三鼓，忽厲聲稱阿彌陀佛數聲，唱言佛來接我，屹然立化。邦人此夜有夢二青衣引公西行者。又三日前遍別道友，勉進淨業，有不復相見之語。」噫自非了唯心本性之道、達生死變化之數，不臻于是。或疑李之夢因想以成。弼曰：「其指白粥愈病，又安可欺哉？」時丞相益國公周（必大）睹君奇跡，製為之贊曰：皇皇然而無求，惕惕然而無憂。閔頹風之將墜，攬眾善以同流，導之以仁義之原，誘之以寂滅之樂。世知其有作，而莫識其無為。故中道奄然，而示人以真覺。李君謹愿，無以報德，遂刊公像并事跡以傳遠，自是廬陵家家供事之。後九年，盰眙軍有信士聶允迪，欽公景行超卓，宜以寘之不朽，故勒石于報恩彌陀殿。至慶元四年，越有致政簽判曾公迅，覺世虛幻、清淨自居，仰止龍舒、志圖西邁，頃以兄宦游得茲石刻，且欲人人思齊，因洊鋟木布于江浙。其善誘之心，誠與王君相表裏。（宗曉）一日扣公室，即蒙出示。因摭始末，用傳不朽云。

Wang Rixiu, an advanced scholar (jinshi) of the National Academy, had the courtesy name Xuzhong. The gentleman’s wisdom in his own practice and his compassion in transforming others have already appeared in Zhang Yuhu’s preface, so they will not be repeated here. The gentleman was a man of Longshu and wrote the Pure Land Texts (Jingtu wen), whence he took his sobriquet. His writings circulated widely throughout the realm, and none who cultivated pure karma failed to read them. During the Qiandao reign era, Li Yanbi of Luling contracted an epidemic disease and fell into critical condition; the inner and outer coffins were already prepared. Suddenly he dreamed of a person of pure spirit and archaic countenance massaging his limbs with his hands. Startled, Bi asked who he was, and he answered, “I am Layman Longshu.” Bi then reported his illness to him, and the gentleman said, “Rise, eat plain congee, and you will recover.” He also said, “Do you still remember Que Zhongya teaching you the shortcut?” Bi said, “Reciting the buddha-name every day without ceasing.” When Bi awoke, he asked for plain congee and ate it; his illness was indeed cured. Later, when he saw the gentleman's painted portrait, it was just as he had seen him in the dream. Bi revered the gentleman, calling him a kinsman of life and death, and thereupon sent his sons and nephews from afar to study under him. One day they suddenly returned, saying: “After finishing lecturing on texts one night, the layman performed his bows and recitations as usual. At the third watch, he suddenly called out ‘Amitābha Buddha’ loudly several times and cried aloud, ‘The Buddha has come to receive me!’ and passed away standing resolutely. That night, people of the region dreamed of two youths in blue garments leading the gentleman westward. Furthermore, three days prior, he had bid farewell to all his fellow practitioners on the path, encouraging them to advance in pure karma, and uttered words to the effect that they would not meet again.” Ah! Were it not for understanding the path of the original nature of mind-only and fathoming the measures of the transformations of life and death, one could not attain this. Some doubted whether Li’s dream had been formed merely from thinking of him. Bi said, “How could his pointing out that plain congee would cure the illness be a deception?” At that time, Prime Minister and Duke of the State of Yi, Zhou (Bida), observed the gentleman’s miraculous traces and composed a eulogy for him, which said: “Resplendent, yet seeking nothing; vigilant, yet without sorrow. Pitying the decadent customs on the verge of ruin, he embraced all good deeds to flow together with them; he guided them with the source of benevolence and righteousness, and enticed them with the joy of quiescent cessation. The world knows his active undertakings, yet none comprehends his non-action. Therefore, departing suddenly midway, he manifested true awakening to men.” Gentleman Li, being conscientious and earnest, had no other way to repay this virtue, so he carved the gentleman's portrait along with his deeds to transmit them far and wide; from then on, every household in Luling made offerings to him. Nine years later, Nie Yundi, a faithful layman of the Xuyi Military Prefecture, admiring the gentleman's exalted conduct as extraordinary and deserving of being set into immortality, had it carved on stone in the Amitābha Hall of the Bao’en Temple. In the fourth year of the Qingyuan reign era, Former Assistant Staff Supervisor Lord Zeng Xun of Yue, perceiving the world to be illusory and dwelling in purity, revered Longshu and resolved to journey to the West. Having recently obtained these stone rubbings through his elder brother's official travels, and wishing that all people might emulate him, he repeatedly had it carved on woodblocks and distributed throughout Jiangzhe. His mind to skillfully guide others was truly in perfect harmony with Gentleman Wang’s. One day, I (Zongxiao) visited the lord's residence, and he graciously brought it out to show me. I have therefore picked out the beginning and end of these events to transmit them to immortality.