法華傳記 9.46

9.46

The monk Xiaoci was about fifty years old. From his youth, he had relied on Dhyāna Master Xinxing, preaching the Three Stages Dharma and cultivating ascetic practices. He made begging for food his constant vocation, performed the six periods of prostration and repentance, and wore robes made of discarded rags. Wherever he went, he preached the Three Stages Dharma to guide the ignorant commoners. Whenever he preached the Three Stages Dharma, he would say: 'It is improper to read and recite the scriptures of the Great Vehicle. If you read and recite them, you will enter the Avīci Hells of the ten directions; you must urgently repent!' Later, at one time in Qizhou, he preached the Three Stages Dharma. At that time, there was an upāsikā who upheld the Lotus Sūtra and also encouraged those with affinity to chant and uphold the Lotus Sūtra. That Dhyāna Master Xiaoci exhorted the upāsikā and others who upheld the Lotus Sūtra, saying: 'You who uphold the Lotus Sūtra do not suit the spiritual capacity [of this age], and ought to enter hell.' He urged them to abandon its recitation, and consequently several upāsikās gave up upholding the sūtra. At that time, the Dhyāna Master stood among the assembly to perform repentance, taking upholding the Lotus Sūtra as the foremost sin. The upāsikā who encouraged upholding the Lotus Sūtra was indignant in her heart. Subsequently, on the day of a great vegetarian feast, the Dhyāna Master was preaching the Three Stages Dharma to the assembly. At that time, with nearly ten thousand people seated below, that upāsikā burned incense among the great assembly and made a vow, saying: 'If my upholding of the Lotus Sūtra does not accord with the Buddha's intent, I pray that I will contract a severe illness in this present life, so that the great assembly will all know that upholding the Lotus Sūtra receives this retribution of sin; I also pray that my living body will sink into the Avīci Hell, so that the assembly may witness it together. But if my upholding of the Lotus Sūtra accords with and follows the Buddha's intent, may the same befall the Dhyāna Master!' At the moment this upāsikā made her vow, the Dhyāna Master was struck by a spirit, lost his voice, and could not speak. The one on the high seat to the west who proclaimed the collections also lost his voice and could not speak. Below, five elder Dhyāna masters likewise lost their voices and could not speak. The several people who had previously abandoned reciting the Lotus Sūtra thereupon gave rise to the aspiration, and became even more earnest in reciting the Lotus Sūtra.