龍舒增廣淨土文 7.16

7.16

歐陽永叔知頴州，一官妓口氣作蓮華香。有僧知宿命言：「此妓前世為尼，誦《法華經》三十年。一念之差，遂至於此。」問妓云：「曾讀《法華》否？」答曰：「失身於此，何暇誦經？」與以《法華》，則讀誦如流；與之他經，則不能讀。以此知僧言可信矣。使此尼知西方法門，則上品上生可也。不知而墜墮於妓，可不哀哉。以此知能用西方法門教人者，其濟拔之功大矣，福報豈易量哉？

When Ouyang Yongshu was prefect of Yingzhou, an official courtesan's breath had the fragrance of a lotus flower. A monk who possessed knowledge of past lives said: "This courtesan in her previous life was a nun who recited the Lotus Sūtra for thirty years. Through an error of a single thought, she ended up like this." They asked the courtesan, saying: "Have you ever read the Lotus Sūtra?" She answered: "Having fallen into this life, when would I have leisure to recite sūtras?" When they gave her the Lotus Sūtra, she read and recited it fluently; when they gave her other sūtras, she was unable to read them. From this it was known that the monk's words were trustworthy. Had this nun known the Dharma-gate of the West, she could have achieved the highest rebirth of the highest grade. Because she did not know it, she fell to becoming a courtesan; how could this not be lamentable? From this one knows that for those who can use the Dharma-gate of the West to teach others, their merit in rescuing and elevating them is vast indeed; how could their karmic reward be easily measured?