弘贊法華傳 6.11

6.11

Shi Huiguo was a native of Yuzhou. In his youth, he took vegetarian diet and ascetic hardship as his occupation. At the beginning of the Song, he traveled to the capital and stayed at Waguan Monastery, where he recited the Lotus and the Daśabhūmika. Once, before the latrine, he saw a ghost who paid homage to Guo and said, 'In the past, I served the monastic assembly as a karmadāna. Falling slightly short of the Dharma, I fell into the realm of dung-eating pretas. The Dharma master's virtue and practice are lofty and bright, and you hold compassion in your mind; I pray that you will aid me with a means of deliverance.' He further said, 'Formerly, I had three thousand coins buried beneath the roots of a persimmon tree; I wish you to take them to generate merit.' Guo immediately informed the assembly and dug it up, truly finding three thousand coins. For him, he produced one copy of the Lotus and held a midday feast. Later, he saw this ghost in a dream, who said, 'I have already attained rebirth, greatly superior to before.' Guo died in the sixth year of the Dashi era of the Song at the age of seventy-six.