往生集 2.59

2.59

宋錢象祖。號止菴。守金陵日。以淨土真修為念。常於鄉州建接待十處。皆以淨土極樂等名之。創止菴高僧寮。為延僧談道之所。自左相辭歸。益進淨業。嘉定四年二月微疾。書偈曰。菡萏香從佛國來。琉璃地上絕纖埃。我心清淨超於彼。今日遙知一朵開。後三日。僧有問疾者。公曰。我不貪生。不怖死。不生天。不為人。惟求生淨土耳。言訖跏趺而逝。後有人夢。空中云。錢丞相已生西方。蓮宮為慈濟菩薩。

Qian Xiangzu of the Song dynasty went by the sobriquet Zhi'an. When he governed Jinling, he took true practice of the Pure Land as his main concern. He frequently founded ten hospices in prefectural sub-districts, all named with titles such as Pure Land and Sukhāvatī. He established the Zhi'an Quarters for Eminent Monks as a place to invite monks to discuss the Way. After retiring as Left Grand Councilor, he advanced even further in pure karma. In the second month of the fourth year of the Jiading era, he fell slightly ill and wrote a verse: "The lotus fragrance comes from the Buddha-realm, / Not a speck of dust upon the vaidūrya ground. / My mind's purity surpasses even that; / Today I know from afar that a single flower has bloomed." Three days later, when a monk asked after his illness, he said: "I do not crave life, nor do I fear death; I do not wish to be born in the heavens, nor to become a human; I only seek to be reborn in the Pure Land." Having finished speaking, he passed away cross-legged. Later someone dreamed of a voice in the sky saying: "Grand Councilor Qian has already been reborn in the Western Direction; in the Lotus Palace he is the Bodhisattva Ciji."