三寶感應要略錄 2.112

2.112

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."