淨土往生傳 1.18

1.18

Shi Huijin, whose secular surname was Yao, was a native of Wucheng in Wuxing. By nature he was brave, valiant, and fond of chivalric deeds. At the age of forty, realizing that his body was like a dream and an illusion, he went to Gaozuo Monastery in the capital Yangdu and left the household. Because Jin had left the household in middle age, he could not probe the mysteries of the perfect and sudden [teaching], so he vowed to recite the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka to finish out his remaining retribution body. He applied his mind so laboriously that, holding the scrolls, he fell ill. He sighed and said, 'Could it be that my karmic obstacles are so deep and heavy, and the Tathāgata's teaching so hard to master?' He then made another vow to produce a hundred sets of the scripture to repent of his past obstacles. At first, he gathered sixteen hundred cash. One night, a band of bandits came to raid; Jin was neither startled nor disturbed, but only bowed his body, pressed his palms together, and pointed to the money, saying, 'This is scripture money, derived from the households of dānapatis; I possess nothing.' When the bandits heard this, they withdrew in shame and contrition. After this, he indeed completed the hundred sets. As the fascicles reached their full number, his illness also cleared up accordingly. Jin dedicated the merit he had achieved entirely to assist his rebirth in the Pure Land, his resolute vow being deep and firm. Presently, a voice from the sky announced to him, saying, 'Your task is already done, and your vow is also fulfilled. As for being born in the Pure Land, who could it be if not you?' Jin heard this and said, 'Jin originally did not dare hope for the superior grade; but even in the lowest of the low grades, there will be no falling back.' In the third year of the Yongming era of the Qi dynasty, he passed away without illness, at an age of over eighty.