經律異相 37.27

37.27

昔人不信罪福。年已五十。夢見殺鬼欲來取之。眠覺惶怖求師占夢。師作卦兆云。有殺鬼必欲相害不過十日。若欲攘此。從今已去十日中間。受佛五戒燒香燃燈懸繒幡蓋。信向三寶可免此死。即依此法專心信向。殺鬼到門見作功德不能得害。鬼即走去。其人緣斯壽滿百歲。死得生天（出雜譬喻經）。

Formerly there was a person who did not believe in sins and blessings. When he was already fifty years old, he dreamt of a killer ghost coming to take him. Waking up in terror, he sought a master to divine the dream. The master cast the hexagrams and omens, saying, "There is a killer ghost that certainly wishes to harm you within no more than ten days. If you wish to avert this, from now on and during these ten days, receive the Buddha's five precepts, burn incense, light lamps, hang silk banners and canopies, and have faithful devotion toward the Three Jewels; then you may escape this death." He thereupon followed this method with single-minded devotion. When the killer ghost arrived at the door and saw him performing merits, it was unable to harm him. The ghost immediately fled. Because of this, the man lived to the full age of a hundred years, and upon death he was reborn in heaven. (Extracted from the Miscellaneous Sūtra of Parables.)