往生集 2.28

2.28

Wang Rixiu of the Song was a native of Longshu. Dignified, tranquil, concise, and pure, he was broadly learned in the classics and histories. One day he set them aside, saying: 'These are all karmic habituations, not the ultimate Dharma. I shall make the Western Direction my refuge.' From then on he diligently engaged in buddhamanasikāra. At the age of sixty, wearing coarse cloth and eating vegetarian food, he performed a daily regimen of a thousand prostrations, sleeping only at midnight. He composed a Pure Land Text to exhort the world. Three days before he was to die, he bade farewell to all his relatives and acquaintances, uttering words indicating they would not meet again. When the time came, having finished reading books, he performed his customary prostrations and recitations. Suddenly he called out the name of Amitābha Buddha in a loud voice, declaring: 'The Buddha has come to welcome me!' He passed away standing upright, like a planted tree. A person of the commandery dreamed that two boys in blue robes led the gentleman westward. From then on, every household made offerings to him.