法苑珠林 36.18

36.18

又正法念經云。若有眾生持戒香塗佛塔命終生香樂天。與諸天女常相娛樂。從天命終得受人身。生大富家。又阿闍世王經云。過去無數劫有佛號一切度。與其眷屬俱行分衛。有三長者子嚴服共戲。見佛及諸菩薩光明巍巍。互相指示而吾等當共供養。二兒答言。既無香華當用何物。其一兒脫頭上白珠以著手中。便謂二兒。可以供佛。二兒學之。解頭上白珠著其手中。即至佛所。一兒復問二兒。持是功德以何求索。其一兒言。願如佛右面比丘。其一兒言。願如佛左面神足比丘。二兒共問一兒。報言。我欲如佛。八千天子皆言。善哉。若如所言。天上天下一切蒙恩。是三小兒已到佛前。各以白珠而散佛上。二兒發聲聞意者。珠在佛肩上。其一兒發菩提心者。珠在佛頭上。化為珠華交露之帳。其中有佛。佛告舍利弗。中央兒者則我身是。右面兒者舍利弗是。左面兒者目連是。舍利弗。汝等本畏生死故。不發菩提心。欲疾泥洹。觀此一兒發阿耨菩提故得成佛。又採華授決經云。時有羅閱國王。使十餘人常採好華以給王家。後宮貴人一日出城採華。遇佛發心稽首為禮。心自念言。寧棄身命以華上佛并散聖眾。縱使見害不墮苦痛。便以華散佛及聖眾。却自歸命一心重禮。佛知其念甚慈愍之。具為說法。諸採華人皆發道意。佛即授決。後當得佛。號曰妙華。時採華夫還家中與二親別。我今命盡為王見殺。父母愕然問何罪咎。具答所由。無華貢王必見危命。故辭別耳。二親聞之。益以愁慼。發篋視之。滿中好華香徹四面。父母告曰。可以進王。時王大瞋見不時來。將人反縛罪當棄市。入宮見王面色不變。王怪問之。汝等罪過命在當殺。何故不懼。即白王曰。人生有死物成有敗。每以非法不惜身命。朝來採華值佛供上。以知違令罪當合死。寧以有德而死。不以無德而存。還視華篋續滿如故。皆是如來恩仁所覆。王甚怪之。心不信然。故詣佛所問佛是意。佛言。實然。此人至心欲度十方不惜身命。故取眾華以散佛上。意無想報以得受決。將來成佛。號曰妙華。王大歡喜解縛悔過。自責愚意不及菩薩。唯原其罪。佛言。善哉。能自改者與無過同。

Also, the Saddharmasmṛtyupasthāna-sūtra states: If there are sentient beings who apply fragrant paste while observing the precepts to a Buddha stūpa, at the end of life they will be born in the Heaven of Fragrant Delight, always making merry with celestial maidens; after life in heaven ends, they will obtain a human body and be born into a family of great wealth. Also, the King Ajātaśatru Sūtra states: Incalculable kalpas in the past, there was a Buddha named Sarvātīta (All-Crossing), who went on alms rounds together with his retinue. There were three sons of elders, finely dressed, playing together. Seeing the towering radiance of the Buddha and the bodhisattvas, they pointed to one another and said, “We should jointly make an offering.” Two of the boys replied, “Since we have no incense or flowers, what shall we use?” One boy took off a white pearl from his head, held it in his hand, and said to the two boys, “We can use this to make an offering to the Buddha.” The two boys followed his example, untied the white pearls from their heads, and held them in their hands. They immediately went to the Buddha's place. The one boy then asked the two boys, “By means of this merit, what will you seek?” One boy said, “I wish to be like the bhikṣu on the Buddha's right.” One boy said, “I wish to be like the bhikṣu of supernatural powers on the Buddha's left.” The two boys jointly asked the one boy, who answered, “I wish to be like the Buddha.” Eight thousand sons of heaven all said, “Excellent! If it is as you say, all in heaven and under heaven will receive your grace.” These three young boys arrived before the Buddha and each scattered his white pearl over the Buddha. For the two boys who had aroused the intention of śrāvakas, the pearls rested on the Buddha's shoulders. For the one boy who had aroused the bodhicitta, the pearl rested on top of the Buddha's head and transformed into a pavilion draped with pearl flowers, inside of which was a Buddha. The Buddha told Śāriputra, “The boy in the middle was myself; the boy on the right was Śāriputra; the boy on the left was Maudgalyāyana. Śāriputra, because you feared saṃsāra in the past, you did not arouse the bodhicitta, wishing for quick nirvāṇa. Behold this one boy: because he aroused anuttarabodhi, he was able to become a Buddha.” Also, the Sūtra on Plucking Flowers and Receiving Prediction states: At that time, the king of the country of Rājagṛha dispatched more than ten men to regularly gather fine flowers to supply the royal household. One day, the ladies of the inner palace went out of the city to gather flowers, met the Buddha, aroused faith, and bowed their heads in homage. They thought to themselves, “We would rather give up our bodies and lives to offer flowers to the Buddha and scatter them over the noble assembly; even if we are killed, we will not fall into bitter suffering.” They then scattered the flowers over the Buddha and the noble assembly, then took refuge and made repeated prostrations with a focused mind. Knowing their thoughts, the Buddha had great compassion for them and expounded the Dharma in full. All the flower gatherers aroused the thought of the Way, and the Buddha immediately bestowed a prediction: “In the future you shall become a Buddha named Wonderful Flower (Suphulla).” When the flower gatherers returned home to bid farewell to their parents, they said, “Our lives are now at an end; we will be killed by the king.” The parents were astonished and asked what fault they had committed. They answered fully with the cause: “Without flowers to present to the king, we will certainly be put to death; thus we have come to bid farewell.” Hearing this, their parents grew even more sorrowful. Opening the baskets to look, they found them filled with fine flowers, their fragrance permeating all four directions. The parents said to them, “You can present these to the king.” At that time, the king was furious that they had not come on time; he had them tied with hands behind their backs, condemned to execution in the marketplace. Entering the palace to see the king, their facial complexions did not change. Surprised, the king asked them, “You have committed a transgression and your lives are doomed to execution. Why are you not afraid?” They said to the king, “Where there is human life there is death; where things are accomplished there is decay. Constantly doing what is unlawful, we never spared our lives. This morning when we went to gather flowers, we encountered the Buddha and offered them to him. Knowing that by violating your command our crime deserved death, we would rather die with virtue than survive without virtue. When we returned to look at the flower baskets, they were still filled as before. This is all the sheltering kindness and benevolence of the Tathāgata.” The king found this very strange and did not believe it was so; thus he went to the Buddha's place to ask the Buddha about this matter. The Buddha said, “It is indeed so. These people, with supreme devotion wishing to deliver [beings of] the ten directions, did not begrudge their bodies and lives; hence they took the flowers to scatter over the Buddha. With minds devoid of expectation of reward, they have received a prediction: in the future they will become Buddhas named Wonderful Flower.” The king was overjoyed; he untied their bonds, repented of his transgression, and reproached his own foolish mind for falling short of bodhisattvas, begging only to forgive their crime. The Buddha said, “Excellent! One who can reform himself is equal to one without fault.”