佛祖統紀 40.25

40.25

In the fifteenth year, an imperial decree ordered that small Buddha halls in villages and hamlets throughout the empire be dismantled, and their merit-images moved into nearby monasteries; those with large halls were all ordered to be sealed up. Officials and commoners conformed to the trend, and even grand buildings and large statues were damaged and destroyed. When the decree reached Yuzhou, the magistrate of Xinsi, Li Xu, happened to be drunk when the prefectural warrant arrived; in great anger, he warned the clerks and headmen that anyone who dared demolish them would be beheaded. Xu's actions were often rebellious; he had not intended to preserve the Buddhist buildings. Later he fell ill and died. After he was encoffined, the sound of fingernails scratching was heard from inside the coffin; his mother urged that it be opened, and he came back to life. It being the summer months, his body was ulcerated and took more than a month to heal. He recounted: Initially, he was arrested by two bailiffs and brought to the royal court, where he saw a former clerk of Xinsi who had been dead for over a year. The clerk said to Xu, "The magistrate had a mind for slaughter; now you are to receive retribution." Xu was terrified upon hearing this and pleaded for help. The clerk said, "Last year when Buddha halls were dismantled, only within the magistrate's jurisdiction were they completely preserved. This merit reaches to heaven; you ought not to be arrested and summoned here. If the King asks, just reply with this." Shortly after, he saw the King. Someone held a case file, and the clerk read: "Li Xu specifically practiced severing the legs of sheep; he should receive one hundred strokes of the rod and have his own flesh cut." Xu said, "Last year there was a decree to destroy Buddha halls; within Xu's jurisdiction, they alone were preserved. I wish to use this merit to offset my former sins." The King said in surprise, "Is this truly so?" The clerk reported that there was a record of blessings in the celestial hall. The King ordered it examined. The clerk read: "Last year when Buddha halls were demolished, Xinsi district alone preserved them. This warrants offsetting countless evils of his lifetime and extending his life by thirty years." When he finished speaking, fire erupted from the ledger of sins and burned it almost entirely. Thereupon, he ordered two bailiffs to escort him back. Thirty years later, he died without illness (Taiping guangji). Tripiṭaka Master Bodhiruci passed away at the age of one hundred and fifty-six. He was posthumously titled Tripiṭaka Master of Omniscience and granted the office of Chamberlain for the Honglu Si. When Fang Guan was the magistrate of Lushi, the Daoist Xing Hepu went out traveling with him; passing Xiakou, they entered a deserted monastery and sat under an old pine tree. He ordered men to dig the ground, obtaining calligraphy and paintings exchanged between Lou Shide and Chan Master Yong that had been concealed in an earthen jar. He said to Guan, "Do you recall this?" Guan suddenly realized that his former life was Master Yong. Ren Shan of Suizhou died of illness, and together with several laypeople and one monk, arrived at the place of King Yama. The monk said, "I constantly recited the Diamond Sūtra." The King immediately joined his palms. Suddenly, five-colored clouds welcomed the monk to ascend to heaven. An official of the netherworld said to Shan, "You have also recited it twenty-one times," and immediately ordered him released to return. Furthermore, Zhao Bi of Lianshui went to the capital for the official examinations; on the road he met his deceased wife, who said, "I am now suffering unspeakable torment in the netherworld offices. My clothing is at my mother-in-law's place; you can take and sell it to produce one copy of the Diamond Sūtra." Bi did as she said. When he had barely reached half a fascicle, he passed by her grave and saw an old man claiming to be the local deity, who said, "Your wife already attained rebirth in heaven yesterday" (Jingang ganyan lu).