弘贊法華傳 9

English (machine translation) 9

Language: English

9.1

Compiled by the śramaṇa Huixiang of Langu

The Āraṇyaka Bhikṣu of a Foreign Country
Emperor Ming, Gaozong of the Qi
Emperor Yuan, Zhongzong of the Liang
Śramaṇa Zhiyuan of Su Temple in Gai Prefecture under the Song
Cui Yanwu, Prefect of Wei Prefecture under the Sui
Concubine of Su Chang, Prefect of Ba Prefecture under the Tang
Liu Hongren, Magistrate of Jiaxing County in Suzhou under the Tang
Old Man Xin of the City Market of Zheng Prefecture under the Tang
A śrāmaṇera of the kingdom of Silla under the Tang
A pigeon chick of Shibishi Temple in Bing Prefecture under the Tang
Śramaṇa Fayan of Baima Temple in Luoyang under the Tang
Liu Shi of Wannian County in Yong Prefecture under the Tang

9.4

The Dà zhìdù lùn states: In the past, in a certain country, there was an āraṇyaka bhikṣu who extensively read the Mahāyāna. The king of that country would regularly undo his hair and have him walk upon it. Another bhikṣu said to the king, "This mahāthera does not read the sūtras much; why do you make such great offerings to him?" The king said, "One day at midnight, wishing to see this bhikṣu, I went straight to his dwelling. I saw this bhikṣu inside his cave reading the Lotus Sūtra, and I saw a person of golden radiance riding a white elephant, joining his palms in offering. When I arrived, he turned about and vanished, no longer appearing. I immediately asked, 'Venerable, why did that radiant person disappear because I came?' The bhikṣu said, 'This was Samantabhadra Bodhisattva. He himself said that if there is anyone who reads and recites the Lotus Sūtra, he would come riding a white elephant to teach and guide them. Because I recite this sūtra, Samantabhadra came of his own accord.' Bianji is Samantabhadra."

9.5

Emperor Ming, Gaozong of the Qi, had the taboo name Luan and the courtesy name Jingqi. He focused his mind on the sea of awakening, and his thoughts dwelt on Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa. He sprinkled the single rain upon the masses in darkness, and moistened the three varieties of vegetation among all beings. He made a thousand-pound golden image, copied the entire canon of sūtras, observed the six pure fasting days, and chanted the Prajñā[-pāramitā] aloud with his mouth. He founded Guiyi Temple, convened dhyāna monks, and constantly read the Lotus Sūtra, persisting through many winters and summers.

9.6

Emperor Yuan, Zhongzong of the Liang, had the taboo name Yi and the courtesy name Shicheng. Through the accumulated good of his family's enduring blessings, their house passed down utmost virtue. Having revered supreme causes from past lives, he cherished deep faith. He founded the two temples of Tianju and Tiangong, made offerings to a thousand monks, lectured on the Tattvasiddhi-śāstra, and studied the Abhidharma under Master Yan. He learned the divining of yarrow stalks under Master Zhishang. With his own hand he drew images of the holy monks and wrote the names of the Thousand Buddhas, and he recited the Bhaiṣajyarāja dhāraṇī. Furthermore, he diligently sought the place of jewels and bore the jewel of the topknot upon his head, making the recitation of the Lotus Sūtra his constant practice.

9.7

Śramaṇa Zhida was a monk of Su Temple in Yi Prefecture. His conduct was rather worldly, but he was skilled in chanting sūtras and regularly recited the Lotus Sūtra. At the age of twenty-three, in the sixth month of the third year of the Yuanhui reign era of the Song, he fell ill and died. His body remained warm and was not encoffined, and thus two days passed. His breath gradually returned, and on the morning of the third day he was able to speak. He recounted himself: When he first fell critically ill, he saw two men, both wearing yellow cloth trousers and jackets. One stood outside the door and the other went straight to his bed, saying, "The reverend should depart; you may step down to the ground." Zhida said, "This impoverished monk's body is weak and cannot endure walking the road." This man said again, "You may ride a palanquin." Thereupon a palanquin arrived, and when Zhida got in, his consciousness became bewildered, and he no longer saw his family, the room, or the palanquin he rode in. Looking as far as his eyes could see in all directions, he beheld only a desolate wilderness, with the roads rugged and perilous. Showing him the way, they climbed and trod along; the two men hurried him on so that he could not catch his breath. They arrived at a vermilion gate whose walls and portals were magnificent. Zhida entered and reached the foot of the hall. Upon the hall was a nobleman wearing a vermilion cap, sitting alone on a couch, his appearance stern and dignified, possessing great awe-inspiring authority. There were about a hundred guards to his left and right, all in red garments leaning on swords, ranked straight and formidable. When the nobleman saw Zhida, he composed his expression, sat upright, and addressed him, saying, "A person who has left household life, why have you accumulated so many transgressions?" Zhida said, "Since I attained awareness, I do not recall committing sins." He asked, "Have you recited the precepts or not?" Zhida said, "When I first received full ordination, I indeed practiced reciting them regularly. Recently, however, I neglected lectures, and constant affairs made me increasingly heedless, so in reciting the precepts I at times had lapses." He said again, "To be a śramaṇa and not recite the precepts is contrary to the Dharma. For now, you may read a sūtra." Zhida thereupon recited the Lotus Sūtra for three sections and ceased. The nobleman ordered the men who had brought Zhida, saying, "You may take him and place him in an evil realm, but do not subject him to great torment." The two men led Zhida away. After walking several tens of li, he gradually heard a deafening clamor of clashing noise boiling up to the heavens, while the road ahead grew increasingly dark. Next, they arrived at a gate several tens of zhang high, extremely hard and black in color—it was evidently an iron gate—and the walls were likewise. Zhida thought to himself, "The sūtras speak of hell; this must be it." He was seized with great terror, regretting that while in the world he had not cultivated meritorious practice. When he entered within the gate, the clamor grew louder, and listening quietly for a long while, he only then realized that it was the sound of people screaming. Inside the gate it grew darker, so that nothing could be seen; only now and then was there the light of flames, now extinguishing, now flaring up. He saw several people bound with their hands behind them walking forward, followed by several people stabbing them with pitchforks, their blood flowing like a gushing spring. One of those people was Zhida's paternal aunt; when they saw each other, they wished to speak, but someone dragged her along very swiftly, so she had no time to say anything. Two hundred or so paces inside the gate, he saw an object shaped like a grain bin, about a zhang or more in height. The two men seized Zhida and threw him onto the bin. Inside there was fire, which severely scorched Zhida's body; half of his body was completely roasted, the pain unbearable. He fell from the bin to the ground, unconscious. After a long while, the two men led Zhida away again, and he saw more than ten iron cauldrons, all boiling sinners. The people inside the cauldrons rose and sank with the boiling fluid; beside the cauldrons were people stabbing them with pitchforks. Some clutched the cauldrons trying to climb out, their eyes burst and protruding, their tongues extended more than a foot, their flesh completely shredded and roasted, yet still they did not die. All the cauldrons were full, and only one remained empty. The two men said to Zhida, "The reverend should enter into this one immediately." When Zhida heard their words, his liver and gall fell to the ground in terror. He then implored them, saying, "I beg you to grant this impoverished monk a moment to pay homage to the Buddha." He then bowed with utmost devotion, praying to be spared this suffering. Lying prostrate on the ground for the duration of a meal, he prayed and repented with extraordinary earnestness. After this, when he looked all around, he saw none of those things anymore, beholding only a flat plain with luxuriant trees, the landscape clear and bright. The two men were still leading Zhida along, and they arrived beneath a tower. The tower was tall and small; atop it was a person barely able to sit, who said to Zhida, "For a śramaṇa to receive a light retribution is indeed something to rejoice in." Beneath the tower, Zhida suddenly lost awareness, and returned to his present body.

9.8

Cui Yanwu of Boling served as Prefect of Wei Prefecture during the Kaihuang reign era of the Sui dynasty. While traveling through his administrative territory, he arrived at a certain hamlet. In astonishment and joyful surprise, he said to his attendants, "In a past life I was once a woman of this hamlet, and now I know where my home was." He then rode his horse into a long lane, turning and winding until he reached a house, where he ordered his men to call at the door. The master of the house was elderly and came out to pay respects. Yanwu entered the house and first ascended its hall. Looking at the eastern wall, six or seven feet from the ground, there was a raised protrusion. He said to the master, "In the past I read the Lotus Sūtra and, together with five gold hairpins, hid them in this wall; that raised place is it. The very last sheet of the seventh scroll of that sūtra was burned by fire, destroying the text. To this day, whenever I read this sūtra, upon reaching the end of the seventh scroll, I forget it and cannot remember it." He then ordered his attendants to chisel into the eastern wall, and indeed they obtained the sūtra wrapper. When they opened it, the end of the seventh scroll and the gold hairpins were all just as he had said. The master wept and said, "When my late wife was alive, she constantly read this sūtra, and the hairpins were also my wife's belongings. Because she died in childbirth, their whereabouts were lost. I never expected that you, commissioner, would know where they were." Yanwu then pointed to a pagoda tree in front of the courtyard and said, "When I was about to give birth, I cut off my own hair and placed it in the hollow of this tree." They had someone search inside the tree to test it, and indeed they found the hair. Thereupon, the master was overcome with sorrow and joy. Yanwu left behind clothes and goods, generously providing for the master before departing.

9.9

Su Chang—it is not known where his native place was—served as the Commissioner of Waterways during the Wude reign era, and was sent out as the Prefect of Ba Prefecture. Taking his family to assume his post, they crossed the Xiling River. In midstream, a wind arose and the boat sank; more than sixty men and women aboard the vessel were drowned. There was only one concubine who constantly read the Lotus Sūtra. When the water entered the boat, the concubine placed the sūtra wrapper upon her head, vowing to sink along with it. But after the boat sank, the concubine still did not go under, floating along with the waves, and before long she reached the shore. She then stepped ashore carrying the sūtra wrapper, and when she opened and inspected the sūtra, it was not wet or soiled at all. In Yangzhou she was married to become someone's wife, and her faith became all the more devout.

9.10

Liu Hongren, when he was eighteen years of age, was a student of the National Directorate. Along with ten of his fellow students, he went to a physiognomist to seek predictions of fortune and misfortune. The physiognomist accurately set down the timing of their wealth, nobility, poverty, and lowliness, as well as the number of years and months of their natural life spans. He said to Hongren, "When you reach the age of fifty-one, you will surely die on the eleventh day of the fourth month of that year." At that time Hongren served as Magistrate of Jiaxing County in Suzhou. The other nine men all met with fortunes and misfortunes without deviation, just as the physiognomist had spoken, and all the fortunes and misfortunes of Hongren from age eighteen onward had been verified. Now he was precisely fifty-one years old. Knowing that he would surely die when the date arrived, on the first day of the fourth month he went to the prefecture to bid farewell to his fellow officials. At that time, Prince Yuanjia of Han was the Prefect of Suzhou. He asked the reason, and Hongren explained the matter in full. The prince instructed him to cultivate merit. When the eighth day of the fourth month arrived, Hongren fell gravely ill. The prince invited monks and nuns from various temples to recite the Lotus Sūtra one thousand times for Hongren. On the eleventh day, the prescribed number of sūtra recitations was completed; the monks further read it another one hundred times for Hongren. Hongren broke out into a profuse sweat, his illness was completely cured, and he recovered to health as normal. Thus we truly know that the power of merit is indeed immeasurable.

9.11

There was an Old Man Xin, whose personal name is lost. He was over eighty years of age and lived in the southwest corner of the market of Zhengzhou. He constantly received and upheld the Lotus Sūtra with dedicated purity of heart. For the past thirty years, whenever he read the sūtra at night, the night would be as bright as day, requiring no lamps or candles. If he put down the sūtra scroll, it would turn dark again as usual, and he could no longer see anything.

9.12

In the kingdom of Silla, there was a Deciding Captain Jin who fathered a boy. From childhood the boy left home, taking delight in reading the Lotus Sūtra. When he reached the second scroll, he accidentally burned a single character. At the age of eighteen, he suddenly died an untimely death, and was reborn in the household of another Deciding Captain Jin in a different place. Once again he was able to leave home, and had a particular love for reading the Lotus Sūtra. Whenever he reached that one character in the second scroll, as soon as he asked about it he would immediately forget it. He dreamt that someone told him: 'In your previous life, Little Master, you were born into the household of a certain Deciding Captain Jin in that township, and also were able to leave home. In that life, when reading and chanting the Lotus Sūtra, you accidentally burned a single character. For this reason, in this present life, as soon as you learn it you forget it. That old sūtra still exists there; go there and look for yourself.' Following the dream, this Little Master went there to search for it, and indeed found the household. He inquired and asked to lodge for the night. The parents of his previous life dimly felt they recognized him. Searching for the old sūtra, they indeed saw in the second scroll that one character had truly been burned. The Little Master and his previous parents were overcome with mixed grief and joy. The two households thereupon became close friends, treating each other as one. They immediately reported the matter to the prefecture and county. The prefecture and county submitted a memorial to the throne, and it was celebrated and recounted throughout the whole country, not ceasing down to the present day. This was during the Zhenguan era.

9.13

There was an old monk whose name is lost. He lived at Shibishan Temple in Bingzhou, practicing dhyāna contemplation as his vocation. At the end of the Zhenguan era, there were two young pigeon chicks upon the pillars of his room. The old master always fed them with leftover food. Later, though they gradually grew larger, their feathers and wings were not yet fully formed. They attempted to learn to fly together, and both fell to the ground and died. The monk accordingly gathered and buried them. More than ten days later, the monk dreamt at night of two young boys who told him: 'Because we previously incurred a minor offense, we underwent rebirth in pigeon bodies. Recently, hearing the master read the Lotus Sūtra and the Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā, we were able to receive human bodies. We are now being conceived as boys in the household of so-and-so in a certain village more than ten li beside this temple. After ten months, we shall be born.' The monk then, following the appointed time, went to observe, and saw that a woman of this household had given birth to twin boys. Thereupon he held a full-month vegetarian feast. The monk called to the two infants, saying: 'Pigeon boys!' Both boys responded together, saying, 'Yes!' After that single response, it was more than a year before they began to speak.

9.14

Shi Fayan, whose secular surname was Gao, was the great-grandson of Gao Ke, Duke of Qi under the Sui. His secular courtesy name was Lijing, and another name was Yuanyi. Before leaving home, during the Zhenguan era, together with his elder brother Lilan, he studied and read the Lotus and Prajñā under the monk Mingzang of Huadu Temple, becoming somewhat proficient. Jing later abandoned what he had practiced. In the first year of the Longshuo era, he returned from the campaign against Liaodong. In the first month of the third year, he went to the Department of State Affairs to look at meritorious service records. Coming out from the Shunyi Gate, two horsemen pursued him, saying: 'Now you are caught!' Jing asked, 'Who are you, sirs?' They replied, 'We are envoys of King Yama, specifically come to pursue you.' Panic-stricken, he spurred his horse and dashed out, seeking to reach Puguang Temple. The envoys said, 'Hurry to the temple gate and do not let him enter! If he enters, he will escape!' When he arrived at the temple gate, he saw a horseman blocking the gate. He then fled westward, seeking to enter Kaishan Temple, but the horsemen joined together to block that gate as well. Thereupon they galloped in pursuit of each other. He wished to return to his own residence, which was east of Huadu Temple. Fearing the way was long, he sought to enter Liquan Ward. One horseman was in front; Jing struck him with his fist, and the ghost fell from his horse. The other ghost behind said, 'This man is exceedingly violent! Quickly drag him down and seize him by the hair!' He was immediately seized by the hair as if sliced by a knife. There was also a man in red robes on a white horse who struck Jing on the chest with his hand. Jing immediately fell from his horse and collapsed. After a long while, he gradually came to, as if sitting in mist. His family carried him home. At dawn he revived and said: 'I met King Yama in full. He said: "Why did you steal the monks' fruit? Why did you speak of the faults of the Three Jewels?"' Thereupon, faced with the indictment of offenses, he dared not utter a word. The king said, 'For the offense of stealing fruit, you ought to swallow four hundred and fifty iron pellets; only after enduring it for four years will it be exhausted. For the offense of speaking of faults, your tongue ought to be ploughed.' He was then released to return, and thus revived. Soon he saw for himself a person with two horns on his head holding an iron pellet, who bound Jing's hands and feet and made him eat them one by one. By-standers could not see the iron pellets; they only saw Jing open his mouth, glare with bulging eyes, his whole body fiery red, with hot vapor surging up from inside his throat, so scorching and stifling that none could approach him. Only after a whole day did he regain consciousness, saying: 'I have already swallowed more than a hundred pellets for one year.' If he did not have this sūtra, it would have been like this for four days. When he said the swallowing of pellets was finished, he immediately went to the two temples of Huichang and Huadu, devoting his sincerity to repentance. On the third day of the third month, he was again pursued by the previous envoys and taken to see the king. The king said, 'You slandered the Three Jewels; for your offense, your tongue should be ploughed.' Jing again saw two people pull out his tongue with tongs, making it appear several hundred feet long. He also saw two people, each holding a ploughshare blade, ploughing side-by-side upon it. Examining the case register, they then said: 'He once read the Lotus and the Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā; because of this, let him revive.' His relatives and others looked at his tongue, and it was as if cut by a knife; because he had read the two sūtras, it had not been severed. Later, whenever Jing recalled or spoke of it, he trembled in terror and wept. Consequently, he left home, taking the name Fayan, and practiced with double his usual vigor. He resided at Baima Temple in the Eastern Capital, and his end is not known.

9.15

Liu Shi was a native of Pingkang Ward in Wannian County, Yongzhou. In the sixth month of the second year of the Yonglong era, he fell ill and died after two days. He had been dead for six days, but only the area over his heart remained warm. His family had already chosen the day for burial, but had not yet dared to shroud and encoffin him. At dawn on the seventh day, he suddenly revived and recounted: At that time, he had been led by a person into a great city, whose palaces, towers, and lookouts were extraordinary in their grandeur. He met King Yama, who said, 'You may record in full the meritorious virtues of your lifetime.' He then replied, 'In my lifetime I only read two scrolls of the Lotus Sūtra, and have no other meritorious virtues.' The king then called for the register of offenses and weighed them on the balance of karma: the two scrolls of the Lotus Sūtra were heavier than the register of offenses. The king examined the register and said, 'This man is entitled to live for ninety years.' He said to the clerk of records, 'Why did you mistakenly pursue him? A great offense! You may release him to return.' Thus he was permitted to live. After twenty-some days, his exhaustion was finally cured. He then received the precepts, abstained from wine and meat, and copied the Lotus Sūtra in gold characters to serve perpetually as an offering.

9.16

Hongzan fahua zhuan, Fascicle 9

Linked texts (1)

弘贊法華傳 — Classical Chinese