龍舒增廣淨土文 8.15

8.15

鎮江金壇縣株林村蔣婆年七十許，死至陰府。命未盡，當還。閻羅王問云：「汝能念經否？」對云：「不能。」王云：「汝不能念經，但念阿彌陀佛。」既放還，蔣婆謂閻羅王教我念佛，更無可疑，故常念此佛名，近百二十歲方終。其生淨土必可必矣。豈非以其念佛而又延壽乎？何其壽之多也。金壇士人弱延芝為予言之。

In Zhulin Village of Jintan County, Zhenjiang, an old woman named Jiang was about seventy years old when she died and went to the underworld. Her life not yet having run its course, she was due to return. King Yama asked her, saying: "Can you chant sūtras?" She replied, saying: "I cannot." The King said: "If you cannot chant sūtras, just recite Amitābha Buddha." After she was released and returned, Old Woman Jiang said that King Yama had taught her to recite the Buddha, leaving no room for further doubt; she therefore constantly recited this Buddha's name, and only passed away when nearly one hundred and twenty years old. That she was reborn in the Pure Land is surely certain! Is it not because of her recollection of the Buddha that her lifespan was also lengthened? How abundant was her longevity! Ruo Yanzhi, a scholar of Jintan, told me of this.