廣弘明集 11.23

11.23

The Scripture of the Immortal Inquiring into the Difficulties of the Multitude of Sages says: 'The Immortal Lord Ge told his disciples: "Formerly, I, together with four people—Shi Daozheng, Zhu Fakai, Zhang Tai, and Zheng Siyuan—made vows at the same time. Daozheng and Fakai, the two of them, vowed to become śramaṇas; Zhang Tai and Zheng Siyuan vowed to become Daoists."' The Diary of the Immortal Lord's Daily Life says: 'At that time he was born in the house of Minister Ge. The Minister was over eighty years old when he first had this single son. At that time there was a śramaṇa who called himself a monk from India, buying large amounts of incense in the market. The people in the market were surprised and questioned the monk, who said: "Last night I dreamed that Bodhisattva Shansi descended to be born in the house of Minister Ge; I will use this incense to bathe him." When the time of birth came, the monk arrived, burned incense, circumambulated him to the right seven times, paid homage with reverence, bathed him, and ceased.' The Immortal Lord's Inquiring Scripture, Upper Fascicle says: 'Speaking with śramaṇas and Daoists, one's intention is then directed toward the Way.' The Chapter on Comparing Merits in the Superior Precepts Scripture says: 'Giving to Buddhist stupas and temples brings a thousandfold retribution; bestowing upon śramaṇas brings a hundredfold retribution.' The Shengxuan neijiao jing says: 'There are also people who, in ordinary times, are unwilling to create merit; seeing śramaṇas and Daoists preaching the Dharma and encouraging goodness, they have no intention at all of following it,' and so forth.