三寶感應要略錄 2.112

2.112

天水郡志達。姓張。特巧書譽。而信道士不寫佛經。或至親友家見。書寫大品般若。不了謂老子經。問親友老子經否。友戲言爾也。達取之寫三行。知非老子經。𠹤忽起去。經三年遇疾而死。過一宿還活。流淚悲喜悔謝。至親友家語曰。君大善知識。令我延壽。令我得天堂。友驚異曰。如何有此言。答曰。我死見閻摩法王。王見我來云。汝癡人。信邪師道。不識佛法。即取一卷書。撿挍惡業。二十餘紙。既盡殘唯半紙計。王止見我微笑。汝有大功德。至親友家。寫大品般若三行。我等依人間修習般若之力。三時受苦輕微。汝壽行既盡。今增壽業。放還人中。汝等受持般若。報今日放恩云云。聞是語已。還入本身。豈非君恩。即走歸家。捨所有財。書寫八部。而供養之。春秋八十三。無病而卒。後見遺書云。千佛迎我。以般若經為双翼。往生淨土矣。

Zhida of Tianshui Commandery, surnamed Zhang, was particularly renowned for his skillful calligraphy; however, he believed in Daoist masters and would not copy Buddhist scriptures. Once, visiting the home of an intimate friend, he saw someone copying the Large Chapter Prajñāpāramitā-sūtra. Not understanding, he assumed it was Laozi's scripture, and asked his friend, "Is this Laozi's scripture?" The friend joked, "It is." Zhida took it up and copied three lines, but upon realizing it was not Laozi's scripture, he immediately stood up in a huff and left. Three years later, he fell ill and died. After one night he revived, shedding tears of mingled grief, joy, and remorse. Going to his friend's house, he said: "Sir, you are a great good friend who has extended my lifespan and enabled me to attain the heavenly realm!" The friend asked in astonishment, "Why do you say this?" He replied: "When I died, I saw King Yama, the Dharma King. Seeing me arrive, the king said, 'You foolish person! You believed in false teachers of the Dao and did not recognize the Buddhadharma.' He then took a scroll of writing to inspect my evil karma—over twenty sheets in all. When they were exhausted, only about half a sheet remained. The king stopped, looked at me with a smile, and said: 'You have a great merit: you went to a close friend's house and copied three lines of the Large Chapter Prajñāpāramitā. By the power of prajñā practiced in the human realm, our suffering across the three periods of the day is lightened. Though your life-span and karmic course were exhausted, your lifespan-producing karma has now been increased, and you are released to return among humans. You must accept and uphold prajñā to repay the kindness of today's release.' Having heard these words, I returned to my body. How could this not be your kindness?" He then ran back home, gave away all his wealth, copied eight copies of the scripture, and made offerings to them. At the age of eighty-three, he passed away without illness. Later, a written message left by him was found, which said: "A thousand Buddhas come to welcome me, with the Prajñāpāramitā-sūtra as my two wings, and I am reborn in the Pure Land."