法苑珠林 62.52

62.52

晉張應者。歷陽人。本事俗神鼓舞淫祀。咸和八年移居蕪湖。妻得病。應請禱備至。財產略盡。妻法家弟子也。謂曰。今病日困求鬼無益。乞作佛事。應許之。往精舍中見竺曇鎧。曇鎧曰。佛如愈病之藥。見藥不服。雖視無益。應許當事佛。曇鎧與期。明日往齋。應歸夜夢見一人長丈餘。從南來入門曰。汝家狼籍乃爾不淨。見曇鎧隨後曰。始欲發意。未可責之。應先巧眠。覺便炳火。作高座及鬼子母座。曇鎧明往。應具說夢遂受五戒。斥除神影大設福供。妻病即間。尋都除愈。咸康二年應至馬溝糴鹽。還泊蕪湖浦宿。夢見三人以鋼鉤釣之。應曰。我佛弟子。牽終不置曰。奴叛走多時。應怖謂曰。放我當與君一升酒。調乃放之。謂應但畏後人復取汝耳。眠覺腹痛泄痢。達家大困。應與曇鎧悶絕已久病甚。遣呼之適值不在。應尋氣絕經日而蘇活。說有數人以鋼鉤釣。將北去下一坂岸。岸下見有鑊湯刀劒楚毒之具。應時寤是地獄。欲呼師名忘曇鎧字。但喚和尚救我。亦時喚佛。有頃一人從西面來。形長丈餘。執金杵欲撞此釣人。曰佛弟子也。何入此中。釣人悑散。長人引應去。謂曰。汝命也盡。不復久生。可暫還家頌唄三偈并取和尚名字。三日當復命過即生天矣。應既蘇即復休然。既而三日持齋頌唄。遣人疏取曇鎧名。至日中食畢禮佛讚唄。遍與家人辭別。澡洗著衣。如眠便盡。

Zhang Ying of the Jin was a native of Liyang. Originally he served worldly spirits with drum dances and licentious sacrifices. In the eighth year of the Xianhe reign, he moved to Wuhu. His wife fell ill. Ying prayed and petitioned with utmost diligence, nearly exhausting his wealth. His wife was a disciple of the Dharma; she told him, 'Now that my illness grows more critical by the day, seeking help from ghosts is of no use. I beg you to perform Buddhist deeds.' Ying agreed to it. He went into the monastery and saw Zhu Dankai. Dankai said, 'The Buddha is like medicine that cures illness. If you see the medicine and do not take it, looking at it is of no use.' Ying promised that he would serve the Buddha. Dankai set a time with him to go perform the fast the next day. When Ying returned, that night he dreamt he saw a man over a zhang tall coming in through the gate from the south, who said, 'Your house is in such a mess and so impure!' He saw Dankai following behind, who said, 'He has only just begun to generate the intention; he should not be blamed yet.' Ying had pretended to be asleep earlier; upon waking, he lit a fire and made a high seat as well as a seat for Hārītī. Dankai went there the next morning. Ying recounted his dream in full and thereupon received the five precepts, cast out the images of the spirits, and set out a great offering of merit. His wife's illness immediately eased, and soon she was completely cured. In the second year of the Xiankang reign, Ying went to Magou to buy salt; on his return he anchored at Wuhu inlet for the night. In a dream he saw three men hooking him with steel hooks. Ying said, 'I am a disciple of the Buddha.' They dragged him and would not let go, saying, 'The slave has run away for a long time.' Ying, in terror, said to them, 'If you release me, I will give you a sheng of wine.' Tricked, they then released him and said to Ying, 'You should only fear that those who come later will take you again.' Upon waking from sleep, his belly ached with diarrhea, and when he reached home he was in extreme distress. Ying had been in a coma for a long time and was severely ill; he sent for Dankai, who happened not to be there. Soon Ying's breath ceased, and after a day he revived. He recounted that several men had hooked him with steel hooks and led him north down a steep bank; below the bank he saw cauldrons of boiling water, swords, and implements of bitter torment. Ying realized then that it was hell. Wishing to call out his master's name, he forgot Dankai's style-name and only called, 'Upādhyāya, save me!' and also called upon the Buddha from time to time. Before long, a man came from the west, his body over a zhang tall, holding a golden pestle, wishing to strike these hook-men, saying, 'He is a disciple of the Buddha! Why has he entered here?' The hook-men scattered in fear. The tall man led Ying away and said to him, 'Your life is also at an end; you will not live long. You may temporarily return home, chant three gāthās of praise (pāṭha), and also obtain your upādhyāya's name. In three days your life will pass again, and you will immediately be born in heaven.' After Ying revived, he returned to ease. Thereupon for three days he kept the fast, chanted hymns (pāṭha), and sent someone to write down Dankai's name. At noon, when the meal was finished, he paid reverence to the Buddha and praised with hymns (pāṭha). He took leave of his family members one by one, bathed, put on clean clothes, and passed away as if falling asleep.