辯正論 7.4.1

7.4.1

石賢者飯僧蒙活（幽明錄曰。 石長和死。 四日蘇。 說初死東南行見二人治道。 恒去和五十步。 長和疾行亦爾。 道兩邊棘刺皆如鷹爪。 見人大小群走棘中。 如被驅逐身體破壞。 地有凝血。 棘中人見長和獨行平道。 歎息曰。 佛弟子獨得行大道中。 前行見七八十梁瓦屋。 中有閣十餘。 梁上有窓內有人面辟方三尺。 著皂袍四縫腋憑向坐。 唯衣衿以上。 見長和即向拜。 又曰。 石賢者來也。 一別二十餘年。 和曰爾。 意中便若憶。 此時也有憑收孟承夫妻先死。 閣上人曰。 賢者識承不。 長和曰識。 閣上人曰。 孟承生時不精進。 今恒為我掃地。 承妻精進晏然。 與官家事。 舉手指西南一房曰。 孟妻今在中。 妻即開窓向見長和問。 石賢者何時來。 遍問其家中兒女大小名字平安不。 還時過此。 當因一封書。 斯須見承閣西頭來。 一手捉掃帚糞箕。 一手捉把亦問家消息。 閣上一人曰。 聞魚龍超修精進。 為信爾不。 何所修行。 長和曰。 不食魚肉。 酒不經口。 恒轉尊經。 救諸疾痛。 閣上人曰。 所傳不妄。 閣上人問都錄主者。 石賢者命盡也。 枉奪其命也。 主者錄餘四十年。 閣上人勅主者。 獨車一乘兩辟車騎兩吏送石賢者。 須臾東向。 便有車騎人從如所差之數。 長和拜辭上車而歸。 前所行道邊。 所在有亭傳吏民床座飲食之具。 倏忽歸家。 前見父母坐其尸邊。 見屍大如牛。 聞屍臭不欲入其中。 繞屍三匝長和歎息。 當屍頭前。 見其亡姊於後椎之。 便落屍面上因即蘇矣）久鬼多慧。 能現怪而飽餐。 新鬼無知。 入佛家而轉磨（遍略云。 有新鬼不得飲食。 形瘦疲頓忽逢故友。 死來積年形體肥健。 便相問訊。 請示活方久鬼答曰。 為人作怪。 人必大怖。 因致飲食爾乃肥健也。 新鬼便入事佛之家。 其家精進常修善業。 屋西有磨鬼往推之。 家主大喜勅子弟曰。 吾家至貧善神助磨。 急輦麥與之。 至暮磨數十斛麥。 既不得食疲頓乃去。 復到一家上碓而舂。 其家正信相與喜曰。 昨日某甲家磨。 今復來助我舂。 益更輦穀使婢簸之至。 暮得五十斛米。 如是疲弊又不得食。 中心忿怒不自堪任夜見久鬼亟申怨責。 久鬼曰。 君自不慮耳。 此二家奉佛正信其心難動。 用心一至亦能感徹。 冥空我輩正當其使。 今去可覓門前有竹竿懸斷索灌口者。 往彼為怪。 新鬼用語至一家門有竹竿。 見一群女子窓前共食。 中庭有一白狗。 鬼便令狗在空中行。 其家惶怖競唱云生來未見此怪。 卜占云。 客鬼索食。 可殺狗煮餅果於庭中祠之。 可得無他。 便如師言。 鬼遂得食。 後恒飽滿也）趙泰精思唯善是求（幽明錄云。 趙泰字文和。 清河貝丘人。 公府辟不就。 精思典籍鄉黨稱名。 年三十五晉大始五年七月三日夜半卒心痛而死。 心上故煖身體屈申。 停屍十日。 氣從咽喉如雷聲。 眼開索飲食。 便起說。 初死時有二人。 乘黃馬從兵二人但言捉將去。 二人扶兩腋東行不知幾里。 便見大城。 如錫鐵正崔嵬。 從西城門入官府舍。 有二重黑門。 數十梁瓦屋。 男女當五六十住立。 吏著皂單衣將五六人。 注疏姓字男女有別。 言莫動當入斷呈府君。 泰名在第三十。 須臾將入。 府君西向坐科出案名。 復將南入黑門。 一人絳衣坐大屋下。 以次呼名。 前問。 生時所行事。 有何罪過。 行何功德。 作何善行。 言者各各不同。 主者言。 許汝等辭恒遣六部督錄使者。 常在人間。 疏記人所作善惡以相檢校。 人死有三惡道。 殺生禱祀最重。 奉佛法持五戒十善慈心布施。 死在福舍安隱無為。 泰答。 一無所事亦不犯惡。 科問都竟使為水官。 監作吏將千餘人接沙著岸上。 晝夜勤苦啼泣悔言。 生時不作善。 今墮此處。

The virtuous person Shi fed monks and was granted his life. (The Youming lu states: Shi Changhe died and revived after four days. He recounted that when he first died, he walked southeast and saw two people clearing a path. They were constantly fifty paces ahead of He, and even when Changhe walked swiftly, it remained the same. On both sides of the path were brambles and thorns, all shaped like eagle claws. He saw people, large and small, running in droves amid the brambles as if being driven; their bodies were broken and injured, and congealed blood covered the ground. When the people in the brambles saw Changhe walking alone on the smooth path, they sighed and said, 'Only a disciple of the Buddha is able to walk on the great highway!' Moving forward, he saw a tiled-roof hall of seventy or eighty rafters, within which were more than ten pavilions. Above a rafter was a window, and inside was a person whose face was three feet square, wearing a black robe sewn on four sides under the armpits, seated leaning toward [the window], visible only from the collar upward. Seeing Changhe, he bowed to him and said, 'The virtuous person Shi has arrived! It has been over twenty years since we parted.' He said, 'Yes.' In his mind, he seemed to recall him. At that time, Meng Cheng and his wife, relatives of Ping Shou, had died previously. The person in the pavilion said, 'Do you, virtuous one, recognize Cheng?' Changhe said, 'I recognize him.' The person in the pavilion said, 'Meng Cheng was not vigorous while alive; now he constantly sweeps the ground for me. Cheng's wife was vigorous and tranquil, and deals with official affairs.' Raising his hand, he pointed toward a room to the southwest and said, 'Meng's wife is now inside.' The wife immediately opened the window facing Changhe and asked, 'When did the virtuous person Shi arrive?' She inquired thoroughly after the names of all the children and adults in her household, asking whether they were well, [and added,] 'When you return, stop by here, and I will entrust you with a letter.' In a short while, he saw Cheng coming from the west end of the pavilion, holding a broom and a dustpan in one hand, and holding a handle in the other, and he also asked for news of his family. A person in the pavilion said, 'I hear that Yu Longchao is cultivating vigor. Is that true? What does he cultivate?' Changhe said, 'He eats neither fish nor meat, wine never touches his lips, he constantly turns the venerable sūtras, and relieves all illnesses and afflictions.' The person in the pavilion said, 'What has been transmitted is not false.' The person in the pavilion asked the master of records, 'Is the virtuous person Shi's lifespan exhausted? Or was his life taken mistakenly?' The master recorded that forty years remained. The person in the pavilion commanded the master, 'Provide a single carriage flanked by mounted escorts and two officials to escort the virtuous person Shi back.' In a moment, turning toward the east, there were mounted escorts and followers in the assigned number. Changhe bowed in farewell, mounted the carriage, and returned. Along the road he had previously traveled, wherever he went there were postal stations, officials, commoners, couches, seats, and food and drink provisions. Suddenly he returned home. Ahead, he saw his parents sitting beside his corpse. He saw the corpse as large as an ox, and smelling its foul odor, he did not want to enter it. Circling the corpse three times, Changhe sighed. Standing before the head of the corpse, he saw his deceased elder sister strike him from behind; he then fell upon the face of the corpse and immediately revived.) An old ghost has much wit: it can manifest anomalies and eat its fill; a new ghost is without knowledge: it enters a Buddhist household and turns a millstone. (The Bianlüe states: There was a new ghost that could get no food or drink. Its body was emaciated and exhausted. Suddenly it encountered an old friend who had been dead for many years, whose body was plump and robust. They greeted each other, and [the new ghost] asked for a means of sustenance. The old ghost replied, 'Manifest anomalies for humans; the humans will surely be greatly terrified, and as a result, they will offer food and drink. Thus you will become plump and robust.' The new ghost then entered the household of a Buddha-worshipper. That household was vigorous and constantly cultivated good karma. To the west of the building was a millstone; the ghost went and pushed it. The master of the house was delighted and instructed his sons and younger brothers, 'Our family is extremely poor; a good spirit is helping to grind! Quickly cart over wheat and give it to it.' By evening, it had ground several tens of bushels of wheat. Since it got nothing to eat, it left exhausted. It then went to another household, mounted the pestle, and pounded. That household had correct faith, and they rejoiced together, saying, 'Yesterday it ground for so-and-so's household, and today it has come again to help us pound!' They carted even more grain and had the maidservants winnow it. By evening, they obtained fifty bushels of rice. Being exhausted like this and still getting no food, inside it was resentful and could not bear it. At night it saw the old ghost and urgently expressed its grievances. The old ghost said, 'You simply did not consider the matter! These two households venerate the Buddha with correct faith; their minds are difficult to shake. When the mind is single-minded to the utmost, it can penetrate the dark void, and our sort are precisely put to their service. Now go and look for a gate with a bamboo pole hanging a broken rope with an inverted pot on its mouth; go there and make an anomaly.' Following these words, the new ghost arrived at a house whose gate had a bamboo pole. It saw a group of women eating together before the window. In the courtyard was a white dog. The ghost then made the dog walk in mid-air. That family was terrified and vied to shout, 'In all our lives we have never seen such an anomaly!' A divination said, 'A visiting ghost is demanding food. You may slaughter the dog, cook cakes and fruit, and sacrifice to it in the courtyard, and you will be free of trouble.' They followed the diviner's words. The ghost then got food, and thereafter was constantly sated.) Zhao Tai had penetrating thoughts and sought only the good. (The Youming lu states: Zhao Tai, styled Wenhe, was a native of Beiqiu in Qinghe. When summoned by the ducal ministry, he did not take up office. He contemplated the classical texts with penetrating thought, and was renowned among his villagers. At the age of thirty-five, in the fifth year of the Taishi era of the Jin dynasty, on the night of the third day of the seventh month, he suddenly died of heart pain. His heart was still warm, and his body could bend and stretch. His corpse was kept for ten days. Air issued from his throat like thunder; his eyes opened, and he demanded food and drink. He then arose and recounted: When he first died, there were two people riding yellow horses with two foot soldiers following, who only said, 'Seize him and take him away.' Two people supported him under both arms and went east for an unknown number of leagues. Then he saw a great city, towering steep like tin and iron. Entering from the west city gate into an official mansion, there were double black gates and a tiled-roof hall of several tens of rafters. Around fifty or sixty men and women were standing there. Officials wearing plain black robes led five or six people at a time, recording their surnames and names, with men and women kept separate. They said, 'Do not move; you must enter for judgment and presentation to the prefectural lord.' Tai's name was thirtieth. In a short while, he was led inside. The prefectural lord, seated facing west, set forth and reviewed the names on the case files. He was again led south through a black gate. A person in crimson robes sat under a large hall and called the names in order. Stepping forward, they were asked, 'What deeds did you perform during life? What transgressions did you have? What merits did you perform? What good deeds did you do?' What each person said was different. The presiding official said, 'We grant your statements. We constantly dispatch the commissioners overseeing records from the Six Departments to reside regularly in the human realm, to record the good and evil performed by people and verify them. When people die, there are three evil destinies; killing living beings and making sacrificial offerings are the gravest offenses. Those who venerate the Buddha's Dharma, uphold the five precepts and the ten wholesome deeds, and practice charitable giving with a mind of loving-kindness, upon death abide in halls of merit, at peace and in non-action.' Tai answered, 'I served nothing, nor did I commit evil.' When the questioning was concluded, he was appointed an officer of the water department, an overseeing official leading over a thousand people to transport sand and deposit it onto the shore. Day and night, toiling bitterly, they wept and lamented with regret, saying, 'During life we did not do good, and now we have fallen to this place.')