法華傳記 5.10

5.10

僧道慧蜀人。少喪父母。從兄養大。晝夜悲哭。戀慕其父母。生年九。從師誦通法華。祈請其脫苦。誦滿一百部。夢福成寺上空。有殊特光。漸近於庭。忽見有天。百千天眾。而圍繞之。告道慧言。吾是汝雙親。依汝誦經力。生第二天。脫惡趣怖。若誦滿千返。必生淨土。當知親子深契來謁陳情。作是語已。隱而不見。覺悟倍生信重。彌專諷誦。聞者展轉。為父母脫苦誦經。感夢告蓋多。略不述而已。

The monk Daohui was a native of Shu. Having lost his parents in his youth, he was raised by his elder brother. Day and night he wept in grief, longing for his parents. At the age of nine, following a master, he recited the Lotus Sūtra until he was fluent in it, praying that they might be freed from suffering. When he had recited a full one hundred copies, he dreamt that in the sky above Fucheng Temple there was an extraordinary light, which gradually approached the courtyard. Suddenly he saw a god surrounded by hundreds of thousands of deities, who addressed Daohui, saying: "We are your two parents. Relying on the power of your recitation of the sūtra, we have been reborn in the second heaven and have escaped the terrors of the bad destinies. If you recite it a full thousand times, you will surely be born in the Pure Land." One should know that this was a deep bond between parents and child, who came to meet and express their feelings. Having spoken these words, they vanished from sight. Upon awakening, his faith and reverence redoubled, and he was ever more devoted to chanting and reciting. Those who heard of it passed the word along, and many recited the sūtra to deliver their parents from suffering, having dreams of such announcements; here they are only briefly passed over without being related.