釋門自鏡錄 1.61

1.61

Zhu Tansui, of unknown origin, lived a dissolute life in his youth and did not cultivate moral conduct. Arrogant and self-important, he excelled in treachery and wickedness. If a single word offended him, he would harbor resentment for years; no one in the monastery, whether elder or junior, escaped his wrath and indignation. One night, he dreamt of a woman coming to say, "You should become the spirit of the Qingxi Shrine." Later, when he fell ill and was about to die, he said to his fellow students, "Throughout my life, I have been obstinate and deficient in straightforwardness; moreover, because my merit and virtue are shallow, I must receive the body of a ghost-spirit and become the master of the Qingxi Shrine. If you gentlemen have the karmic affinity, please pay a visit." When he died, it was indeed heard that there was a new spirit at the shrine. The monks went to the shrine and conversed with it, its voice, speech, and laughter being just like in life. They then invited the monks to chant sūtras. There was a śramaṇa named Huijian, who had constantly read and recited them in the past; he therefore chanted several melodies for him. Whenever each finished, he sighed deeply and likewise cried out, "O face of the Bodhisattva!" Unable to contain his sorrow, they all wept for him. He then said, "Now having received an evil body, I am extraordinarily hideous and foul; how can the hardships and intense suffering be described again? Beneath the doorsill of your disciple's former room, there are five thousand coins; you may use them to generate posthumous merit for me, in the hope that I may escape this suffering." Thereupon, they parted. The monks performed confession and repentance and held a vegetarian feast for him, after which the shrine was quiet, with no further supernatural traces.