三寶感應要略錄 1.23

1.23

悟真寺釋惠鏡。本淄州人也。出家已後蔬食苦行。頗有工巧能。心欣淨土。自造釋迦彌陀二像。供養禮拜。生年六十有七。正月十五日夜。夢有一人沙門。身黃金色。謂鏡曰。汝欲見淨土否。唯願得見。復欲見佛否。答唯願欲見。時沙門以一鉢授鏡曰。汝應見鉢內。即向鉢內。忽見廣博莊嚴淨土。以眾寶莊嚴。黃金為地。金繩界道。宮殿樓閣。重重無盡。諸天童子。遊止其中。聲聞菩薩海會眾。圍繞世尊。而為說法。爾時沙門在前。鏡在後。漸進佛前。至佛所已。忽然不見沙門。鏡合掌而立。佛言。汝識前導沙門不。答不知之。佛言。汝所造釋迦像也。又復識我否。答不識。復曰。汝所造阿彌陀像是也。釋迦如父我如母。娑婆世界眾生如赤子。譬如父母有多子。幼稚無識。墮於深泥。父入深泥。抱持其子。置於高岸。其母在岸。抱持養育。教誘不還本泥。本我等亦然。釋迦教化娑婆濁惡愚癡眾生。為開避引導。示其淨土路。我在淨土。攝取不退還。鏡聞之語。歡喜踊躍。欲見如來。忽然無所見。夢覺身心安樂。如入禪定。彌信禮供二如來像。又復夢見前沙門。告鏡曰。汝十二年後。當生淨土。聞是語已。晝夜身心不怠。七十有九而卒。隣房僧夢。百千聖眾。自西來迎惠鏡去。微細音樂在空。一時聞者蓋多矣。

Shi Huijing of Wuzhen Monastery was originally a man of Zizhou. After renouncing household life, he followed a vegetarian diet, practiced austerities, and had considerable skill in craftsmanship. With a mind aspiring to the Pure Land, he personally fashioned two statues of Śākyamuni and Amitābha, making offerings and paying homage to them. In his sixty-seventh year, on the night of the fifteenth day of the first month, he dreamed of a śramaṇa whose body was golden in colour, who said to Jing: 'Do you wish to see the Pure Land or not?' 'My only wish is to see it.' 'Do you further wish to see the Buddha or not?' He answered: 'My only wish is to see him.' At that time, the śramaṇa handed a bowl to Jing, saying: 'You should look inside the bowl.' Thereupon looking inside the bowl, he suddenly saw the vast and adorned Pure Land, decorated with manifold jewels, with ground of gold and golden cords demarcating the roads. Palaces and tiered pavilions were manifold and inexhaustible. Devas and young boys roved and dwelt among them. An ocean-wide assembly of śrāvakas and bodhisattvas surrounded the World-Honoured One, who was expounding the Dharma for them. At that time, the śramaṇa went ahead and Jing followed behind, gradually advancing before the Buddha. Having reached the Buddha's presence, the śramaṇa suddenly vanished. Jing stood with palms joined. The Buddha said: 'Do you recognize the śramaṇa who guided you?' He replied: 'I do not know him.' The Buddha said: 'He is the Śākyamuni statue you fashioned.' 'And do you recognize me or not?' He answered: 'I do not.' The Buddha further said: 'I am the Amitābha statue you fashioned. Śākyamuni is like a father and I am like a mother; the sentient beings of the Sahā world are like infant children. For example, parents may have many children who are young, foolish, and fall into deep mire. The father enters the deep mire, holds his child, and sets him upon the high bank. The mother remains on the bank, embraces and nurtures him, teaching and guiding him not to return to the original mire. We two are also fundamentally like this: Śākyamuni teaches and transforms the turbid, evil, and foolish sentient beings of the Sahā world, clearing away obstacles, guiding them, and showing them the path to the Pure Land. In the Pure Land, I gather them in so they do not retrogress.' Hearing these words, Jing leaped for joy. Wishing to gaze upon the Tathāgata, suddenly nothing was to be seen. Awakening from the dream, his body and mind were at peace and bliss, as if having entered dhyāna-concentration. He paid even greater homage and made offerings to the statues of the two Tathāgatas. Again he dreamed of the former śramaṇa, who told Jing: 'Twelve years from now, you shall be born in the Pure Land.' Having heard these words, his body and mind were untiring day and night. He passed away at the age of seventy-nine. A monk in an adjacent room dreamed of hundreds of thousands of holy beings coming from the west to welcome Huijing away. Faint music lingered in the sky; those who heard it at the time were truly numerous.