佛祖統紀 27.64

27.64

惟恭。荊州人。常事酒博。暫暇則誦經祈生安養。同寺靈巋。跡頗類之。荊人嘲之曰。靈巋作盡業。惟恭繼其跡。地獄千萬重。莫厭排頭入。恭聞之曰。我佛閔我造惡。拔我塗炭。豈有地獄之入。一日恭病。巋出寺有所往。逢少年七人。手執樂器。如寺之樂器狀。曰我來自西方。惟恭上人寺何在。巋指之即於懷出金瓶。取蓮華如拳漸開。葉葉出異光。望寺而馳。巋大驚不敢回顧。次日回寺則恭已夕亡。巋因感悟。卒守名節為高德云。

Weigong was a native of Jingzhou. He frequently indulged in drinking and gambling, but in moments of leisure he would recite sūtras and pray for birth in the Land of Peaceful Nurture. In the same monastery, Lingkui's conduct was quite similar. The people of Jingzhou mocked them, saying: / 'Lingkui exhausts all evil deeds; / Weigong follows in his tracks. / Hell has thousands of levels— / Do not tire of entering in a line!' / Gong heard this and said, 'My Buddha pities my wrongdoing and pulls me out of torment—how could I enter hell?' One day Gong fell ill. Kui went out of the monastery on an errand and met seven youths holding musical instruments shaped like those in the monastery. They said, 'We come from the West; where is Master Weigong's monastery?' Kui pointed it out, and they immediately took a golden vase from their bosoms and produced a fist-sized lotus that gradually unfolded, each petal emitting an extraordinary light as they dashed toward the monastery. Kui was terrified and dared not look back. The next day, when he returned to the monastery, Gong had already passed away the previous evening. Because of this, Kui was moved to awakening; in the end, he preserved his reputation and moral conduct, becoming an eminent virtue.