往生集 2.59

2.59

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."