龍舒增廣淨土文 5.62

5.62

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.