釋門自鏡錄 1.41

1.41

The monk Xiaoci of Cimen Monastery was about fifty years old. From his youth onward he had relied on Dhyāna Master Xinxing, teaching the Dharma of the Three Levels and taking the practice of austerities and perpetual begging for food as his vocation. In the six periods of the day he paid homage and repented, and wore robes made of rags. Wherever he stayed, he preached the Three Levels Buddhist Dharma, admonishing and guiding the ignorant laypeople. Whenever he preached the Three Levels Buddhist Dharma, he always said: 'It is not fitting to read and chant Mahāyāna sūtras; those who read and chant them will enter the Avīci Hells of the ten directions. You must urgently repent!' Later, at one time in Qizhou, he preached the Three Levels Buddhist Dharma. At that time, there was an upāsikā who upheld the *Lotus Sūtra* and also encouraged those with karmic affinity to uphold the *Lotus Sūtra* together. That dhyāna master admonished those upāsikās who upheld the *Lotus Sūtra*, saying: 'You who uphold the *Lotus Sūtra* do not match your spiritual capacity; you should enter hell. I urge you to abandon its recitation.' Thereupon several upāsikās abandoned upholding the *Lotus Sūtra*, and among the assembly at the dhyāna master's place, repented the sin of upholding the *Lotus Sūtra*. The upāsikā who had originally encouraged the upholding of the *Lotus Sūtra* found this intolerable in her heart. Subsequently, on a day of a great vegetarian feast, the dhyāna master preached the Three Levels Buddhist Dharma for the assembly, at which time up to ten thousand people sat beneath his seat. That upāsikā burned incense among the great assembly and made a vow, saying: 'If my upholding of the *Lotus Sūtra* does not accord with the Buddha's intent, may I in this present body be stricken with an evil illness, so that the great assembly will collectively know that upholding the *Lotus Sūtra* brings this retribution of sin! Moreover, may my living body sink into hell, and may the assembly witness it together! If my upholding of the *Lotus Sūtra* accords with the Buddha's intent, may it be likewise for the dhyāna master!' At the moment this upāsikā made her vow, the dhyāna master was struck by a spirit, lost his voice, and could not speak. The one who chanted the collected records on the high western seat also lost his voice and could not speak. Furthermore, there were five elderly dhyāna masters who likewise lost their voices and could not speak. The several people who had previously abandoned the recitation of the *Lotus Sūtra* thereupon generated the resolve to recite the *Lotus Sūtra* with even greater earnestness.