樂邦文類 3.102

3.102

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?