三寶感應要略錄 2.52

2.52

During the Liang dynasty, Daozhen was mindful of the Buddha and practiced the water contemplation. He dreamed of seeing a expanse of water, and a hundred people boarded a boat wishing to go to the Western [Land], and he asked to board with them. The people on the boat would not permit it. Zhen said: "Throughout my life I have cultivated the karma for the Western [Land]; for what reason will you not permit me?" The people on the boat said: "The Master's karma lacks the recitation of the Amitābha-sūtra, as well as the provision of a bathhouse [for the saṅgha]." Thereupon, the people on the boat all set off at once. Having been unable to go, he wept and awoke from sleep; he then recited the sūtra and provided baths for monks. At a later time, he dreamed again: one person on a silver multi-storey pavilion raised his hand and said: "Your karma is already complete; apply your mind well. Therefore I have come to inform you: you are certain to be born in the West." On the night he approached his end, the mountaintop appeared as if several tens of torches were blazing, and a strange fragrance filled the monastery. After his death, inside a sūtra case, the written testament he left during his life was retrieved.