法苑珠林 83.40

83.40

宋沙門僧規者。武當寺僧也。時京兆張瑜。于此縣常請僧規在家供養。永初元年十二月五日。無痾忽暴死。二日而蘇愈。自說云。五日夜二更中。聞門衖間嘵嘵有聲。須臾見有五人炳炬火執信幡徑來入屋。叱喝僧規。規因頓臥怳然。五人便以赤繩縛將去。行至一山都無草木。土色堅黑有類石鐵。山側左右白骨填積。山數十里至三岐路。有一人甚長壯。被鎧執杖。問曰。五人有幾人來。答正一人耳。五人又將規入一道中。俄至一城。外有屋數十。築壤為之。屋前有立木。長十餘丈。上有鐵梁。形如𣚃槹。左右有匱貯土。土有品數。或有十斛。形亦如五升大者。有一人衣幘並赤。語規曰。汝生世時有何罪福。依實說之。勿妄言也。規惶悑未答。赤衣人如局吏云。可開簿檢其罪福也。有頃吏至長木下。提一匱土懸鐵梁上稱之。如覺低仰。吏謂規曰。此稱量罪福之秤也。汝福少罪多。應先受罰。俄有一人衣冠長者。謂規曰。汝沙門也。何不念佛。我聞悔過可度八難。規於是一心稱佛。衣冠人謂吏曰。可更為此人稱之既是佛弟子。幸可度脫。吏乃復上匱稱之。秤乃正平。既而將規至監官前辯之。監官執筆觀簿遲疑久之。又有一人朱衣玄冠珮印綬執玉版。來曰。算簿上未有此人名也。監官愕然。命右右收錄云。須臾見反縛向五人來。監官曰。殺鬼何以濫將人來。乃鞭之。少頃有使者稱天帝。喚道人來。既至帝宮經見踐歷。略皆金寶。精光晃昱。不得凝視。帝左右朱衣寶冠飾以華珍。帝曰。汝是沙門。何不勤業。而為小鬼橫收捕也。規稽首諸佛祈恩請福。帝曰。汝命未盡。今當還生。宜勤精進。勿屢游白衣家。殺鬼取人亦多枉濫。如汝比也。規曰。橫濫之厄。當以何方而濟免之。帝曰。廣設福業最為善也。若不辦爾可作八關齋。生免橫禍死離地獄。亦其次也。語畢遣規去。行還未久。見一精舍。大有沙門。見武當寺主白法師弟子慧進皆在焉。居宇宏整資待自然。規請欲居之。有一沙門曰。此是福地非君所得處也。使者將規還至瑜家而去。何澹之。東海人。宋大司農。不信經法多行殘害。永初中得病見一鬼。形甚長壯牛頭人身。手執鐵叉晝夜守之。憂悑屏營。使道家作章符印錄。備諸禳絕而猶見如故。相識沙門慧義。聞其病往候之。澹為說所見。慧義曰。此是牛頭阿旁也。罪福不昧唯人所招。君能轉心向法。則此鬼自消。澹之迷佷不革。頃之遂死（右一驗出冥祥記）。

The monk Senggui of the Song was a monk of Wudang Temple. At that time, Zhang Yu of Jingzhao often invited Senggui to his home in this county to make offerings. On the fifth day of the twelfth month of the first year of Yongchu, without any illness, he suddenly died abruptly, but revived and recovered after two days. He recounted: During the second watch on the night of the fifth day, he heard a clamour in the alleyway outside the gate. Presently he saw five men holding blazing torches and carrying messenger banners come directly into the room. They shouted at Senggui, and Senggui thereupon collapsed, falling dazed onto the bed. The five men then bound him with a red cord and led him away. They came to a mountain completely devoid of grass and trees; the soil was hard and black, resembling stone and iron. White bones were piled up on both sides of the mountain. After several tens of li along the mountain, they came to a three-forked road. There was a man who was extremely tall and robust, clad in armour and holding a staff. He asked: 'How many have come with the five men?' They answered: 'Just one person.' The five men then led Senggui down one path. Soon they reached a city; outside were several tens of houses made of rammed earth. In front of the houses was an upright timber over a hundred feet tall, atop which was an iron beam shaped like a well-sweep. To its left and right were chests storing earth. The earth had various grades: some amounted to ten bushels, yet appeared only as large as five pints. There was a man whose clothes and turban were all red, who said to Senggui: 'What sins and merits did you have during your lifetime? Speak truthfully; do not speak falsely.' Senggui was terrified and had not yet answered when the red-clad man, who seemed to be a bureau officer, said: 'We can open the ledger to examine his sins and merits.' After a short while, the officer went beneath the tall timber, lifted a chest of earth, and hung it on the iron beam to weigh it. It seemed to tilt high and low. The officer said to Senggui: 'This is a scale for weighing sins and merits. Your merits are few and your sins are many; you should first receive punishment.' Suddenly there was a senior man dressed in robes and a cap, who said to Senggui: 'You are a śramaṇa. Why do you not be mindful of the Buddha? I have heard that repenting one's faults can save one from the eight difficult conditions.' Thereupon Senggui single-mindedly invoked the Buddha. The man in robes and cap said to the officer: 'You may weigh it again for this man. Since he is a disciple of the Buddha, he may fortunately be delivered.' The officer then put the chest back on to weigh it, and the scale became completely level. Afterwards, they brought Senggui before a presiding official to interrogate him. The presiding official held a brush, looked at the ledger, and hesitated for a long time. There was another man in vermilion robes and a black cap, wearing a seal on a ribbon and holding a jade tablet, who came and said: 'On the ledgers of lifespans, this man's name is not yet present.' The presiding official was astonished and ordered his attendants to make an arrest, saying [the name]. Presently the five men from before were seen brought in, tied backward. The presiding official said: 'You deadly demons, why have you brought someone arbitrarily?' and had them flogged. After a short while, a messenger claiming to be from the Heavenly Emperor summoned the man of the Way to come. When he arrived at the Emperor's palace, all that he experienced and walked through was mostly gold and jewels, radiating brilliant light that could not be gazed upon steadily. The Emperor's attendants wore vermilion robes and jewelled caps, adorned with blossoms and precious gems. The Emperor said: 'You are a śramaṇa. Why were you not diligent in your practice, and instead were unlawfully arrested by petty demons?' Senggui bowed his head to the Buddhas, praying for grace and entreating for blessings. The Emperor said: 'Your lifespan is not yet exhausted; you shall now return to life. You should be diligent and energetic, and do not frequently visit the houses of laypeople. The deadly demons who seize people also make many wrongful and arbitrary arrests, as in your case.' Senggui asked: 'By what means may one be saved and spared from the disaster of arbitrary capture?' The Emperor said: 'Broadly establishing meritorious deeds is best. If you cannot manage that, you may observe the Eight-fold Uposatha; to avoid accidental calamity in life and to escape hell after death is the next best.' Having finished speaking, he sent Senggui away. Senggui had not walked back long when he saw a monastery with a great many śramaṇas; he saw White Dharma Master, the abbot of Wudang Temple, and his disciple Huijin, all present there. The dwellings were vast and neat, and the necessities of life were spontaneously provided. Senggui requested to reside there. A śramaṇa said: 'This is a land of merit; it is not a place you may occupy.' The messenger brought Senggui back to Zhang Yu's house and then departed. He Danzhi of Donghai was the Grand Minister of Agriculture under the Song. He did not believe in the scriptural teachings and committed many cruel harms. During the Yongchu era, he fell ill and saw a demon, extremely tall and robust in form, with an ox's head and a human body, holding an iron pitchfork and guarding him day and night. Terrified and panic-stricken, he had Daoists write petitions, talismans, seals, and registers, preparing all kinds of exorcisms, yet he still saw it as before. The śramaṇa Huiyi, an acquaintance of his, heard of his illness and went to visit him. Danzhi recounted to him what he had seen. Huiyi said: 'This is the ox-headed horse-faced warder. Sins and merits are not obscured; they are incurred solely by oneself. If you can turn your mind toward the Dharma, this demon will naturally disappear.' Danzhi was obdurate in his delusion and would not reform. Shortly afterward, he died. (The one verification above is from Mingxiang ji.)