三寶感應要略錄 1.61

1.61

昔有一比丘。往遊西域。欲請問得戒源由。發足到天竺。適見一人阿羅漢。即請問僧尼得戒不得戒。阿羅漢言。我是小乘聖者。不知菩薩僧尼等戒得不。汝在暫住。我上昇兜率。奉問彌勒。即入定向天。具問僧尼並得戒請靈驗。彌勒即取金花云。若邊地僧尼。取金花入羅漢手掌。不得莫入。發心既訖。得花安手其花入掌中。高一尺顯現。以此為驗。復問。若受戒已更有犯者。如何遠得所失。彌勒答。若聲聞法。犯性戒現身難得。若大乘法此事不難東方有土名淨瑠璃。佛名藥師。以本願故。破戒稱名。必得淨戒。比丘聞已。後說此事。聞者信受矣。

Long ago, a monk travelled to the Western Regions wishing to inquire about the origin of receiving the precepts. He set out and arrived in India, where he happened to meet an arhat. He then asked whether monks and nuns genuinely receive the precepts or not. The arhat said, “I am a Hīnayāna sage and do not know whether the bodhisattva monks and nuns receive the precepts or not. Wait here a short while, and I will ascend to Tuṣita to inquire of Maitreya.” He immediately entered samādhi, ascended to heaven, and fully inquired about the monks and nuns receiving the precepts, requesting a sign of verification. Maitreya then took golden flowers and said, “If monks and nuns of peripheral lands [truly receive them], let the golden flower enter the arhat’s palm; if not, let it not enter.” Once the resolution was made, he received the flower and placed it near his hand; the flower entered his palm and appeared standing one foot high. This was taken as proof. He further asked, “If having received the precepts one commits infractions again, how can what was lost be regained?” Maitreya replied, “According to the Śrāvaka Dharma, if one breaks a natural precept, it is difficult to regain in this present life. But according to the Mahāyāna Dharma, this is not difficult: in the east there is a land named Pure Vaiḍūrya, and the Buddha is named Bhaiṣajyaguru. By virtue of his original vows, if one who has broken the precepts recites his name, they will surely attain pure precepts.” Having heard this, the monk later related the matter, and those who heard it believed and accepted it.