法華傳記 8.26

8.26

滿州虞縣有一男。失姓名。偏事神道。不信佛法。若見佛像及僧洗目。若聞說法及誦經音洗耳。因善知識化誘。更不肯受。或時依私要。往詣仁壽寺僧道如所。在門外謂。如有私用。將貸錢三千文。如曰。錢在寺庫。不可惜之。但吾依檀主請。造法華經。至方便品初行終。尚未書一字。硯水既乾。公為吾辦水畢。將欲起。男思惟。我本不見三寶今依無他。來投此處。若取硯水。豈非不祥。若不取之。必違要契。良久取水與之而去。如寫行已尋男子。更不見所在。男馳走投河流。不覺僻地悶絕。良久而起。流泣悔過。投寺謂如曰。吾悶絕入死門。兩人來驅向炎魔王宮。王初見吾恚曰。汝以邪見自莊嚴身。報在阿鼻。于時空中忽在異光。照吾頂。王撿始末。知是法華方便品初行終一字。取水令寫。故文字現佛身來助。問此誰光。答我是方便品文字。法華文字。一一皆是佛也。此男歸我故來救。時王歡喜曰。皆善哉。法華文字。變身放大光。尚救不信者。何況信心人。即示歸路得還活。即出家捨家。寫經一十六部。巡禮名山。不知所終。

In Yu County of Manzhou, there was a man whose surname and given name are lost. He exclusively served the spirits and gods, and did not believe in the Buddha-Dharma. If he saw Buddha statues and monks, he washed his eyes; if he heard the expounding of the Dharma and the sound of sūtra chanting, he washed his ears. Even when good friends tried to guide and convert him, he still refused to accept it. Once, on private business, he went to the monk Daoru of Renshou Monastery. Standing outside the gate, he said, 'I have private use for it, and wish to borrow three thousand copper coins.' Ru said, 'The money is in the monastery storehouse; I do not begrudge it. However, at the request of a dānapati, I am producing the Lotus Sūtra. I have reached the end of the first line of the "Expedient Means" chapter, and have not yet written a single character. The water for the inkstone has dried up. After you prepare the water for me, I shall rise.' The man reflected, 'I originally do not wish to see the Three Jewels. Now, having no alternative, I have come to this place. If I fetch the inkstone water, will that not be inauspicious? If I do not fetch it, I will surely violate our agreement.' After a long while, he fetched the water, gave it to him, and departed. After Ru wrote the line, he looked for the man, but could no longer see where he was. The man had run off and cast himself into a river, unwittingly falling senseless into a secluded spot. After a long while, he arose, wept, repented his faults, went to the monastery, and said to Ru, 'When I fell senseless, I entered the gates of death. Two men came and drove me toward King Yama's palace. When the king first saw me, he grew enraged and said, "You have adorned yourself with wrong views; your retribution is in Avīci!" At that time, a marvelous light suddenly appeared in the sky, shining upon the crown of my head. The king examined the beginning and the end, and knew that it was for the single character at the end of the first line of the "Expedient Means" chapter of the Lotus [Sūtra] that I had fetched water and enabled it to be written; therefore, the character manifested the body of a Buddha to come and assist me. He asked whose light this was. It answered, "I am the character of the 'Expedient Means' chapter. Each and every character of the Lotus [Sūtra] is a Buddha. This man has taken refuge in me, so I have come to rescue him." At that time, the king rejoiced and said, "How wonderful! The character of the Lotus [Sūtra] transforms its body and radiates great light, rescuing even an unbeliever; how much more so a person of faithful mind!" Thereupon he showed me the road back, and I was able to return to life.' He then left household life, renounced his home, copied sixteen sets of the sūtra, made pilgrimages to famous mountains, and where he ended his days is unknown.