法苑珠林 13.11

13.11

又觀佛三昧經云。昔過去久遠有佛出世。號釋迦牟尼。滅度之後有一王子。名曰金幢。憍慢邪見不信佛法。有一比丘。名定自在。語王子言。世有佛像。眾寶嚴飾然為可愛。可暫入塔觀佛形像。王子即隨共入塔中見像相好。白比丘言。佛像端嚴猶尚如此。況佛真身。比丘告言。汝今見像不能禮者。應當合掌稱南無佛。是時王子。即便合掌稱南無佛。還宮繫念塔中像故。即於後夜夢見佛像。夢已歡喜。捨離邪見歸依三寶。由一入塔稱佛善根。命終得值九百萬億那由他佛。於諸佛所逮得甚深念佛三昧。得三昧故諸佛現前為其授記。從是已來經於百萬阿僧祇劫不墮惡道。乃至今日獲得甚深首楞嚴定。昔王子者。今財首菩薩是。以是因緣。智者應當如是學念佛也。

The Guanfo sanmei jing also states: "In the remote past, a Buddha appeared in the world named Śākyamuni. After his parinirvāṇa, there was a prince named Suvarṇadhvaja, who was arrogant, held wrong views, and did not believe in the Buddha's Dharma. There was a bhikṣu named Samādhirāja, who said to the prince, 'In this world there is a Buddha image adorned with manifold jewels and exceedingly lovely. You might enter the stūpa for a moment to view the Buddha's physical likeness.' The prince then followed him into the stūpa and saw the image's major marks and minor signs. He said to the bhikṣu, 'Even the Buddha's image is this dignified and magnificent; how much more so the Buddha's true body!' The bhikṣu told him, 'Now that you see the image, if you cannot prostrate, you should join your palms and say: Namo Buddhāya.' At that time, the prince joined his palms and said: 'Namo Buddhāya.' Having returned to his palace, because his mind remained fixed on the image within the stūpa, in the latter part of the night he dreamed of the Buddha's image. Upon waking, he was filled with joy, abandoned his wrong views, and took refuge in the Three Jewels. Due to the wholesome root of entering the stūpa once and chanting the Buddha's name, at the end of his life he was able to meet nine hundred billion nayutas of Buddhas. In the presence of those Buddhas, he attained the profound samādhi of recollecting the Buddha. Because he attained this samādhi, the Buddhas appeared before him and bestowed a prediction [of buddhahood] upon him. From that time onward, he passed through one million asaṃkhyeya kalpas without falling into the evil realms, culminating in his attainment today of the profound Śūraṅgama Samādhi. The prince of that time is now the bodhisattva Dhanapāla. By this circumstance, the wise should learn to recollect the Buddha in this manner."