淨土往生傳 3.14

3.14

釋惟恭。不識何許人。出家于荊州法性寺。慢上吞下。親狎非類。或時暫暇。則誦經文。期陞安養。然而酒徒博侶。交集于門。虛誑云為曾無虛日。同寺有僧靈巋。跡頗類之。荊人戲而嘲曰。靈巋作盡業。惟恭繼其迹。地獄千萬重。莫厭排頭入。恭聞之曰。我既作之。焉能避之。然賴淨土教主。憫我愆惡。拔我塗炭。詎有地獄入之哉。唐乾寧二年。恭病且死。人未之知。巋時出寺可百步。路逢少年六七人。衣裝鮮潔。手執樂器。若龜茲部。巋疑其儔。適其寺之樂佛也。問其所來。少年曰。來自西爾。又曰。吾之來也有待焉。又曰。惟恭上人寺且何在。巋指其寺曰。此其寺也。此其房也。少年聞之。其意甚喜。乃於懷中出一金瓶。瓶中取一蓮華。其合如拳。漸而開之。其大如盆。葉葉之下。迭出異光。光彩交映。如聚數燈。望寺馳之。未達其寺俄失焉。巋乃大驚。不敢迴顧。亦不形諸言。次日既至寺門。遽聞鐘聲。又見寺僧咸集門下。問其故則曰。惟恭夕且死矣。或曰。恭死之時。寺僧有夢。蓮華光相。以臨其室。久而西去。巋乃具言所見聞者增信焉。閭里之人。或以其事勉巋。巋因感悟。遂守名節。以成高邁云。

Shi Weigong—it is not known where he was from. He left the household at Faxing Monastery in Jingzhou. He was haughty toward superiors and bullying toward inferiors, associating familiarly with unvirtuous kinds. At times of brief leisure, he would chant sūtra texts, aspiring to ascend to Anyang. However, drunkards and gamblers congregated at his door; deceitful words and deeds never ceased for a single day. In the same monastery was a monk named Lingkui, whose conduct was rather similar. The people of Jing playfully mocked them, saying: 'Lingkui exhausts all evil karma; Weigong follows in his footsteps. Though hell has thousands and myriads of levels, do not begrudge entering in line!' When Gong heard this, he said: 'Since I have already made them, how can I avoid them? Yet relying on the Lord of the Pure Land Teachings, who pities my transgressions and evils and pulls me out of misery, how could there be a hell for me to enter?' In the second year of Qianning of the Tang, Gong was sick and about to die, though people did not yet know it. At that time Kui stepped about a hundred paces out of the monastery, and met on the road six or seven youths, their attire fresh and clean, holding musical instruments in their hands like a Kucha orchestra. Kui suspected they were his peers going to play music for the Buddha at his monastery. He asked where they came from; the youths said: 'We come from the west.' They also said: 'Our coming has someone to await.' They further asked: 'Where is Master Weigong's monastery?' Kui pointed to the monastery, saying: 'This is his monastery, and this is his room.' Hearing this, the youths were exceedingly joyful, and from within their robes brought out a golden vase, and from the vase took out a lotus flower. It was closed like a fist, and gradually opened, becoming as large as a basin. From beneath each petal extraordinary light burst forth in succession, the brilliant colors gleaming against each other like a cluster of several lamps. Looking toward the monastery, they hastened toward it, and before reaching the monastery they suddenly vanished. Kui was greatly astonished, dared not look back, and did not express it in words. The next day, when he reached the monastery gate, he suddenly heard the sound of the bell, and saw the monastery's monks all assembled beneath the gate. Asking the reason, they said: 'Weigong died last night.' Someone said: 'When Gong died, a monk of the monastery dreamt that the radiant form of a lotus flower approached his room, and after a long time departed to the west.' Kui then fully recounted what he had seen, and those who heard it increased their faith. Some people of the neighborhood used this matter to encourage Kui; Kui, moved to realization, thereupon maintained moral integrity and attained lofty excellence.