往生集 2.61

2.61

Mei Runeng of the Song dynasty was a native of Changshu who attained the rank of County Magistrate. He had an aspiration for pure karma. He suddenly dreamed that a monk handed him one hundred sheets of paper with the characters "two" and "eight" punched through them. He asked Master Zhaoshi of Dongling, who said: "Two times eight is sixteen; could it refer to the Sixteen Contemplations Sūtra?" Just then a monk gave him the sūtra and abruptly vanished. From this he recited the sūtra and practiced buddhamanasikāra, naming himself "Wangsheng" (Reborn) to show his aspiration. When Master Sheng in his district fashioned a sixteen-foot image of Amitābha, he donated one million cash to adorn it. Thereupon a double-headed white lotus with a hundred petals sprouted in the pond before the hall. In the winter of that year, he passed away free of illness.