弘贊法華傳 6.20

6.20

Shi [So-and-so], whose name has been lost, lived at Dong Monastery in Qin Commandery. There was a śrāmaṇera who recited the Lotus Sūtra with great fluency; only when he reached the two characters ai dai (cloudy) in the Medicinal Herbs Chapter did he forget them as soon as he was taught, up to a thousand times. The master reproached him severely, saying: "You recite the entire sūtra with such fluency; can you not apply your mind to remember these two characters?" That night, the master dreamed of a monk who said to him: "You should not reproach this śrāmaṇera. In a previous life, the śrāmaṇera was born as an upāsikā in the eastern village beside the monastery. She originally recited one copy of the Lotus Sūtra, but in her family's Lotus Sūtra, silverfish had eaten away the two characters ai dai in the Medicinal Herbs Chapter at that time. Since the text lacked these two characters then, he has only received them anew in this life and the habit is not yet formed. Her surname was So-and-so, and the sūtra is still extant. If you do not believe it, you may go and verify it." The next morning, the master went to that village and sought out this household. After speaking, he asked the master of the house, "Is there a place for offering?" The reply was, "There is." He asked, "What sūtras are there?" The reply was, "There is one set of the Lotus Sūtra." The master asked to see it, and in the Medicinal Herbs Chapter the two characters were indeed missing. Upon inquiry, he was told that it was the sūtra held and recited by the eldest son's deceased wife during her lifetime. Calculating from her death, it had been seventeen years, which indeed corresponded to this śrāmaṇera's age and months of gestation. From then on, after many years passed, he finally became proficient. Later it was not known where he ended his days.