集神州三寶感通錄 3.29

3.29

Formerly, during the Yongming reign era of the Southern Qi dynasty, there was the monk Huijin of Gaozuo Temple in the capital Yangdu. In his youth he was bold, valiant, and an itinerant knight-errant. At the age of forty, he suddenly realized impermanence; he consequently renounced the household life, ate vegetarian food, and wore cloth robes. He vowed to recite the Lotus Sūtra, applying his mind with bitter toil. Whenever he took up the scrolls, he fell ill. Thereupon he made a vow to produce one hundred copies to repent of his former hindrances. He had just gathered one thousand six hundred coins when bandits came demanding goods. Huijin showed them the sūtra money, and the bandits withdrew in shame. Thereafter he succeeded in completing the hundred copies, his chronic illness also abated, and having recited the sūtra through to the end, his heartfelt wish was fulfilled. Dedicating the karmic merit of this recitation, he vowed to be reborn in Anyang. He heard a voice from the sky telling him: 'Your wish has already been fulfilled; you will surely attain rebirth there.' He consequently died without illness, at the age of over eighty.