法苑珠林 64.29

64.29

唐曹州城武人方山開。少善弓矢。尤好畋獵。以之為業。所殺無數。貞觀十一年死。經一宿蘇云。初死之時被二人引去。行可十餘里。即上一山。三鬼共引山開登梯而進。上欲至頂。忽有一大白鷹。鐵為嘴爪。飛來玃開左頰而去。又有一黑鷹。亦鐵嘴爪。玃其右肩而去。及至山頂。引而廳事。見一官人。被服緋衣首冠黑幘謂山開曰。生平有何功德。可並具言之。對曰。立身已來不修功德。官曰。可且引向南院觀望。二人即引南行。至於一城。非常嶮峻。二人扣城北門數下。門遂即開。見其城中赫然總是猛火。門側有數箇毒蛇。皆長十餘丈。頭大如五㪷塊。口中吐火。如欲射人。山開恐懼不知所出。唯知叩頭念佛而已。門即自開。乃還見官人欲遣受罪。侍者諫曰。山開未合即死。但恐一入此城不可得出。未若且放令修功德。官人放之。令前二人送之。依其舊道而下復有飛鷹欲玃之。賴此二人援之免脫。下山遂見一坑。其中極穢。逡巡之間遂被二人推入。須臾即蘇。爪跡極深。終身不滅山開於後遂捨妻子。以宅為佛院。常以讀誦為業。

Fang Shankai of Chengwu in Caozhou during the Tang dynasty was skilled with bow and arrow from his youth. He was especially fond of hunting and made it his livelihood, killing countless creatures. He died in the eleventh year of the Zhenguan era, and revived after one night, saying: When he first died, he was led away by two men. After traveling about ten li or so, they ascended a mountain. Three ghosts together guided Shankai to climb a ladder to advance. As he was about to reach the top, there was suddenly a large white hawk with beak and talons of iron, which flew up, clawed Shankai's left cheek, and left. There was also a black hawk, likewise with iron beak and talons, which clawed his right shoulder and left. When he reached the mountain peak, he was led into an administrative hall, where he saw an official wearing crimson robes and a black cap on his head, who said to Shankai, 'What meritorious deeds did you do during your lifetime? You may recount them all.' He replied, 'Since establishing myself, I have not cultivated any meritorious deeds.' The official said, 'He may temporarily be led to the southern courtyard to look.' The two men then led him south, arriving at a city that was extraordinarily precipitous. The two men knocked several times on the city's north gate, whereupon the gate immediately opened. He saw that inside the city it was blazing fiercely, entirely with violent flames. Beside the gate were several venomous serpents, each over a hundred feet long, with heads as large as five-bushel boulders, vomiting fire from their mouths as if about to shoot at people. Shankai was terrified and did not know how to escape; he only knew to bow his head and recite the Buddha's name. The gate then opened on its own. He was then brought back to see the official, who intended to send him to receive his punishment. An attendant admonished, saying, 'Shankai is not yet meant to die immediately. We only fear that once he enters this city he will not be able to get out. It would be better to release him for the time being and allow him to cultivate merit.' The official released him, ordering the previous two men to escort him. Descending along the former path, there were again flying hawks that wanted to claw him, but thanks to these two men aiding him, he escaped. Descending the mountain, he then saw a pit, inside of which was foul in the extreme. In a moment of hesitation, he was pushed in by the two men. In an instant he revived. The claw marks were extremely deep and never faded for the rest of his life. Thereafter, Shankai renounced his wife and children, converted his residence into a Buddhist cloister, and constantly took chanting and recitation as his vocation.