弘贊法華傳 8.22

8.22

清信士陰明觀。丹陽小鄒村人也。少年曾經出家。無他行業。誦法華經一部。後遂還俗。兼有妻子。家業農功。或被官驅役。或居家力作。生業甚貧。衣食不繼。口恒誦經。不曾暫息。除寢食私承官私人事之外。皆不棄口。在後。忽於夜中。聞空中有人。喚陰明觀陰明觀。喚甚分明。觀起應諾。空中人又曰。汝起。我與汝金寶。寶在村南田東頭。大黃連樹下。汝可往取。明觀懷欣。即起呼其子。持火及鍬鑺。共往田中。子見父將往。猶懷疑恨。曰。那得忽爾夜中取金。阿翁狂癲。父固戾去。及至樹下掘𮢶。了不見金。兒又諫父。須臾之頃。聞空中聲曰。可更近前。依言而取。果有所獲。因此生業用展。無復貧寒之斃。村鄉怪其引用異常。疑有他故。觀乃具向父老說之。彌勤誦習矣。

The layman Yin Mingguang was a man of Xiaozou Village in Danyang. In his youth he had once gone forth from home, and having no other practice, he recited the complete Lotus Sūtra. Later he returned to lay life, took a wife, and had children. Engaging in household agriculture, he was sometimes conscripted into government labor and sometimes worked hard at home. His livelihood was extremely poor, unable to sustain food and clothing, yet his mouth constantly recited the scripture without pausing even for a moment. Except for sleeping, eating, and attending to official or private affairs, it never left his lips. Later, in the middle of the night, he suddenly heard someone in the sky calling, "Yin Mingguang! Yin Mingguang!" very clearly. Guang arose and answered. The person in the sky spoke again, "Arise! I will give you gold and treasure. The treasure is at the eastern end of the field south of the village, beneath a large Chinese goldthread tree. You may go and take it." Mingguang rejoiced, immediately arose, called his son, took fire, a hoe, and a mattock, and went together to the field. Seeing his father going, the son was still skeptical and resentful, saying, "How could one suddenly take gold in the middle of the night? The old man has gone mad." The father stubbornly went on. Arriving under the tree, they dug a pit but saw no gold at all. The son rebuked the father again. In a short while, they heard a voice in the sky saying, "You may move a bit closer!" Following the instruction, they dug and indeed obtained it. Consequently, his livelihood expanded, and he was no longer distressed by poverty and cold. The villagers found it strange that his spending was extraordinary and suspected other causes; Guang then recounted the matter in full to the village elders, and recited and practiced with even greater diligence.