龍舒增廣淨土文 5.62

5.62

夫人名法信，贈少師許珣之女，適承宣使陳思恭。少多疾，及嫁疾尤甚，醫者以為不可療，往見慈受深禪師，問愈疾之方。深教以持齋誦佛。夫人盡去葷血及裝飾之奉，衣掃塔服，專以西方為念，行亦西方也，坐亦西方也，起居食息亦西方也，語默動靜亦西方也，酌水獻華亦西方也，誦經行道亦西方也。剎那之念秋毫之善，一以為西方之津梁。十年間無惰容，心安體健神氣昌盛，人皆尊尚之。一日忽書偈云「隨緣任業許多年，枉作老牛為耕田。打疊身心早歸去，免教鼻孔受人穿。」族黨怪之，夫人云：「行即歸。何怪之有？」乃臥疾，微有喘息，忽矍然而起云：「吾神遊淨土，面禮阿彌陀佛，觀音左顧、勢至右盻，百千萬億清淨佛子稽首，慶我來生其國。」若宮殿林沼光明神麗，與《華嚴經》及《十六觀經》所說一同。明日安然化去，家人聞妙香芬馥，不類人間。及三日荼毘，舉尸如生。

The Lady's name was Faxin. She was the daughter of the posthumously honored Junior Preceptor Xu Xun, and married to Chen Sigong, Pacification Commissioner. In her youth she was often ill, and after marrying her illness worsened even more; physicians regarded her as incurable. She went to see Chan Master Cishou Shen and inquired about a method to cure her illness. Master Shen taught her to observe vegetarian fasting and recite the Buddha's name. The Lady completely discarded meat, blood, and ornamental luxuries, wore robes suitable for sweeping pagodas, and made the Western direction her sole mindfulness. Walking was the Western direction; sitting was the Western direction; daily living, eating, and resting were the Western direction; speaking, silence, movement, and stillness were the Western direction; pouring water and offering flowers were the Western direction; chanting sūtras and circumambulating were the Western direction. Every instant of thought and every tiny speck of good was used exclusively as a bridge to the Western direction. For ten years she showed no sign of indolence; her mind was at peace, her body healthy, and her spirit flourishing, so that everyone respected and esteemed her. One day she suddenly wrote a verse: 'Following conditions and bearing karma for so many years, / In vain acting like an old ox plowing the fields. / Packing up body and mind to return early, / To avoid letting my nose be pierced by others.' Her clan relatives found it strange. The Lady said: 'I am about to depart and return. What is strange about it?' Then she took to her bed with an illness, breathing slightly, when suddenly she started up with alertness and said: 'My consciousness has journeyed to the Pure Land! I have bowed face-to-face before Amitābha Buddha; Avalokiteśvara looked to the left, Mahāsthāmaprāpta gazed to the right, and hundreds of thousands of myriads of pure disciples of the Buddha bowed their heads, rejoicing that I have come to be born in their land.' The palaces, forests, ponds, and radiant spiritual beauty were identical to what is spoken of in the Avataṃsaka-sūtra and the Sixteen Contemplations Sūtra. The next day she peacefully passed away. Her family members smelled an exquisite, abundant fragrance unlike anything in the human world. When she was cremated after three days, her corpse was lifted as if still alive.