佛祖統紀 27.23

27.23

Daozhen resided at Mount Lu during the Tianjian reign era of the Liang dynasty. Admiring Master Huiyuan, he set his mind on the Pure Land. At another time, he saw in a dream ten people on a boat floating upon the sea. He asked where they were going. They replied, “We are going to the Land of Peaceful Nurturance.” Zhen said, “I wish to follow and go along.” They answered, “A single day's cultivation surpasses eternal eons of effort; yet you have not recited the Amitābha Sūtra, nor have you ever bathed the Saṅgha. How could you seek to go?” Zhen thereupon extensively provided baths for the monks and devoted himself to reciting the Amitābha Sūtra. Two years later, someone arrived bearing a silver dais and said, “By your merit, Dharma Master, you ought to have obtained a golden dais, but why was your initial resolve hesitant? Therefore, it is limited to this.” Zhen said, “If the foundation for seeing the Buddha can only be attained gradually, why must it be a golden dais?” On the night he died, a thousand blazing torches of fire appeared on the cliff where he resided. The local villagers were greatly alarmed. At dawn, they learned that Zhen had passed away.