法華傳記 5.36

5.36

崔義起大不信佛。妻父蕭鏗念善誦法華般若數千遍。辛酒不入門。起妻以五月亡。為修三七日齋正食。亡妻來有婢素玉。見作夫人語。我生時雖聞地獄。不大信今受苦不可言。汝男女等。不得不信。由汝為我轉經燃燈功德。蒙放暫歸。便向大眾陳懺。我至二十日更來。將素玉看我受罪。至期果至。將素玉去。見大城官府。夫人入別院。須臾火鑊鐵床總至。夫人受毒苦。忽見夫人父肅公。坐蓮華臺。語夫人。早放素玉。還告素玉。我女生時。不用我語。多嗔妬不信善惡。今受此苦。我無力可救。汝歸可悟其夫兒女道令修功德。不久解脫。又見婆羅門僧從空中下。教素玉誦金剛般若。又誦藥師法華兩卷一遍。兩卷並改名為聲聞。又曰。閻浮提人不信佛。汝誦此經聞婆羅門。並解經語。婢死三日便蘇。家人良賤。初如常遇患。麟德元年正月。薛將軍宅齋。迎婢請三道佛頂骨。婆羅門僧。令試誡素玉。乃昇座長誦。一無脫漏。皆合掌歎曰。如西國本不異。合眾驚訝希有奇事。薛將軍遂口奏。天子大歎曰。百官亦有不信者。冥道若此。何得不信。時朝貴聞者。咸生大信。司成館博士茫叔元。又將僧二十人。就翊善坊宅。召素玉令誦本經。梵音深妙。令人樂聞。自云不忘故爾云（感通錄下卷）。

Cui Yiqi did not believe in the Buddha at all. His father-in-law, Xiao Keng, was devoted to good deeds and recited the Lotus and the Prajñā several thousand times, never allowing pungent vegetables or alcohol to enter his gate. Qi's wife died in the fifth month. As they were holding a vegetarian feast on the twenty-first day for the midday meal, the deceased wife arrived. A maidservant named Suyu saw her speak in the mistress's voice: "Although during my life I heard of hell, I did not truly believe. Now I suffer indescribable pain. You, my sons and daughters, must believe! Because of the merit of your revolving the sūtras and lighting lamps for me, I have been granted temporary leave to return." Thereupon she confessed and repented before the great assembly: "On the twentieth day I will come again, and take Suyu to see me undergo my punishment." When the time arrived, she indeed came and took Suyu away. They saw the offices of a great city; the lady entered a separate courtyard. In an instant, cauldrons of fire and iron beds all arrived, and the lady suffered excruciating torment. Suddenly they saw the lady's father, Duke Su, seated upon a lotus pedestal. He said to the lady: "Release Suyu at once." He then addressed Suyu: "When my daughter was alive, she would not follow my words; she was full of anger and jealousy, and did not believe in good and evil. Now she suffers this torment, and I lack the power to save her. When you return, you can awaken her husband, sons, and daughters, telling them to cultivate merit, and before long she will obtain liberation." She also saw a Brahmin monk descend from the sky, who taught Suyu to recite the Diamond Prajñā, as well as to recite once through two fascicles of the Bhaiṣajyaguru and the Lotus; the two fascicles were both renamed "Śrāvaka". He also said: "The people of Jambudvīpa do not believe in the Buddha. When you recite this sūtra, Brahmins who hear it will all understand the words of the scripture." The maidservant revived after having been dead for three days. The household, both free and bonded, had at first thought she had contracted an ordinary illness. In the first month of the first year of the Linde era, a vegetarian feast was held at General Xue's residence; they invited the maidservant and requested three pieces of the Buddha's uṣṇīṣa-bone. A Brahmin monk had Suyu tested and examined; she then ascended the seat and recited at length without a single omission. All pressed their palms together and sighed in praise, saying: "It does not differ in the least from the texts of the Western Countries!" The whole assembly was astonished by this rare and marvelous event. General Xue thereupon presented an oral report to the throne. The Emperor sighed in great admiration, saying: "Among the civil and military officials there are also those who do not believe. If the unseen ways are like this, how can one not believe?" When the court dignitaries of the time heard of it, all gave rise to great faith. Mang Shuyuan, Erudite of the Directorate of Education, together with twenty monks, went to the residence in the Yishan Ward and summoned Suyu, bidding her recite the original scripture. Its Sanskrit sounds were profound and wonderful, causing people to listen with delight. She said of herself that she simply did not forget it. (Lower fascicle of the Gantong lu.)