法苑珠林 20.75

20.75

During the Wude era of the Tang dynasty, Li Shanlong, a Commandant of the Left Gate Guard from Fengyi, died suddenly. However, an area over his heart about the size of a palm remained warm, so his family could not bear to encoffin him. After seven days, he revived. He himself recounted: When he died, he was arrested by the netherworld authorities and brought to an official department. The hall was exceedingly grand and vast. In the courtyard were several thousand prisoners, some in cangues and chains, others in fetters and manacles, all facing north and filling the yard. An officer brought Shanlong before the hall. The celestial official sat upon a high dais, his guards and attendants like those of a king. Shanlong asked the officer, 'What official is this?' The officer said, 'He is the King.' Shanlong stepped forward to the foot of the stairs. The King asked, 'What meritorious karma have you performed during your life?' Shanlong replied, 'Whenever fellow villagers arranged vegetarian feasts and lectures, I always contributed goods to join them.' The King said, 'What wholesome karma have you yourself practiced?' Shanlong said, 'I recited two fascicles of the Lotus Sūtra.' The King said, 'Very good! You may ascend the steps.' After he ascended, in the northeast corner of the hall there was a high seat like a preaching seat. The King pointed to the seat and said to Shanlong, 'You may ascend this seat and recite the scripture.' Shanlong complied with the order and went to its side. The King immediately stood up and said, 'I invite the Dharma Master to mount the seat.' After Shanlong mounted the seat, the King turned toward him and sat down. Shanlong opened the scripture and said, 'The Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wondrous Dharma, "Introductory Chapter One".' The King said, 'I invite the Dharma Master to descend.' Shanlong at once descended from the seat and stood again at the foot of the steps. Looking back into the courtyard, the prisoners were completely gone, with not a single person remaining. The King said to Shanlong, 'The merit of your recitation of the scripture has not only benefited yourself, but has also caused all the prisoners in the courtyard to obtain release through hearing the scripture. Is that not excellent? Now I release you to return.' Shanlong bowed in farewell. Having walked several tens of paces, the King called him back and said to the officer, 'You may take this man on a tour of the various hells.' The officer then took Shanlong eastward for over a hundred paces, where they saw an iron city of vast proportions. A roof covered the city above. Along the sides of the city were numerous small windows, some as large as small basins, others like bowls. He saw men and women flying from the ground into the windows, never to emerge again. Shanlong was astonished and asked about it. The officer said, 'This is the Great Hell. Within it are many partitions, each with different reckonings of guilt. These people each plunge into hell to suffer punishment according to their own original karma.' Hearing this, Shanlong was filled with sorrow and fear; chanting 'Homage to the Buddha', he begged the officer to seek a way out. Arriving at the courtyard gate, he saw a great cauldron of boiling soup with fierce flames. Beside it sat two men asleep. Shanlong asked them about it. The two men said, 'For our retributive punishment, we were to enter this boiling soup. Thanks to the virtuous gentleman chanting "Homage to the Buddha", all the sinners in this hell have gained a day of rest to sleep off their exhaustion.' Shanlong again chanted 'Homage to the Buddha'. The officer said to Shanlong, 'Government offices frequently make transfers and revisions. Now that the King has released you to go, you should address the King and request a clearance slip. If not, I fear other officials, being unaware of it, will pursue and arrest you again.' Shanlong immediately had an audience with the King to request a clearance slip. The King ordered a single line of characters written on paper and handed it to the officer, saying, 'Obtain the signatures of the Five Paths and the others for him.' Receiving the command, the officer took Shanlong to visit two more departments; each hall and its guards were just like this one. The King's dispatched officer obtained the signatures of those official departments, and after each had written a line, they gave it to Shanlong. Holding it, Shanlong went out to the gate. Three men said to Shanlong, 'The King has released you; can you not give us a little something?' Before Shanlong could speak, the officer said to Shanlong, 'The King's release of you had nothing to do with them. However, those three men were the envoys who arrested you before. One is the master of the rope, who was to bind you with a red rope; one is the master of the club, who was to strike your head with a club; one is the master of the sack, who was to gather your breath into a sack. Seeing that you have been allowed to return, they are merely begging for goods.' Terrified, Shanlong apologized to the three men, saying, 'In my ignorance, I did not recognize you, gentlemen. Please let me prepare goods upon reaching home, but I do not know where to deliver them.' The three men said, 'Burn them by the water's edge or under a tree.' Shanlong agreed. The officer escorted him home, where he saw his relatives weeping and preparing funeral articles. Shanlong entered the room, went beside the corpse, and immediately revived. The following day, he cut paper to make money and silk, and with wine and food, personally delivered them to the water's edge and burned them. Suddenly he saw the three men arrive to thank him, saying, 'We are deeply indebted and grateful to you for keeping your word and generously bestowing gifts upon us.' With these words, they vanished. Shanlong personally told this to the abbot of Zongchi Temple, and the abbot passed it on to Lin. (The above one case of verification is from the Mingbao ji).