釋門自鏡錄 2.84

2.84

江北僧隱圓。參學天寧。某年六月暴亡。母在泰州。報到膚已粘席矣。將殮復甦細言。前世曾作令某縣。自侵庫銀。嫁禍庫吏。復計殺之以滅口。吏恨極訟之閻君。追攝對理。冥君勸庫吏云。彼既出家為僧。汝決意報復。何如以法力超薦汝乎。隱圓承旨遂立願。三年日禮千佛懺。夜放蒙山。以釋夙恨吏首肯。遂得回生因乞一冥使。引遊地府到一大會處。榜曰補經堂。中有數百僧道。乘光誦經。須臾復暗。隱圓問何處所。冥使曰。此陽間僧道包攬施主藏經。雖得財而經未誦故在此補也。又問。頃刻即暗何也。答曰。以業力深厚不許便使補完。故遲久光現。現而即收。使久處黑獄也。隱圓回生三年酬愿畢。復參學靈隱焉。

The monk Yinyuan of Jiangbei was pursuing his studies at Tianning. In the sixth month of a certain year, he died suddenly. His mother was in Taizhou, and by the time news reached her, his skin had already adhered to the mat. Just as they were about to encoffin him, he revived and related in detail: 'In a previous life, I served as magistrate of a certain county. I embezzled silver from the treasury and shifted the blame onto the treasury clerk, then contrived to have him killed to silence him. In extreme resentment, the clerk brought an accusation before King Yama, who had me summoned for a confrontation. The Underworld King reasoned with the clerk, saying: “Since he has now renounced household life and become a monk, if you are determined to seek revenge, would it not be better [to let him] use the power of the Dharma to deliver you?” Yinyuan received the directive and thereupon made a vow: for three years, he would daily perform the repentance of the Thousand Buddhas and conduct the Mengshan food distribution at night to dissolve the former resentment. The clerk consented, and Yinyuan was permitted to return to life. He then begged an underworld messenger to guide him on a tour of the subterranean realm. They arrived at a large assembly hall with a placard reading “Hall for Completing Sūtras.” Inside were several hundred monks and Daoists chanting scriptures in a fleeting light, which soon went dark again. Yinyuan asked what place this was. The underworld messenger replied: “These are monks and Daoists of the human realm who took commissions from donors to recite the complete canon; though they took the money, they never chanted the texts, so they are here making up for what they omitted.” He further asked: “Why does it grow dark in an instant?” The reply was: “Because their karmic obstacles are profound, they are not allowed to finish easily. Thus the light appears only after a long interval, and as soon as it appears it is withdrawn, keeping them long confined in the dark prison.” When Yinyuan revived, he completed his three-year vow and subsequently resumed his studies at Lingyin Monastery.'