法苑珠林 32.88

32.88

Chen Xiuyuan of the Song dynasty was a native of Yingchuan. He once served as an officer of the Western Section (Xicao) of Xiangzhou and dwelt as a resident alien in Linxiang County. From his youth, he had faith in and revered the Three Jewels; when he passed the age of sixty, his diligent practice did not decline. In the seventh month of the second year of the Yuanhui reign of the Song (474 CE), during the evening, he was resting idly before going to sleep. He sighed as he reflected on how the myriad kinds of beings drift and revolve in life and death without stability, and he considered within himself whence his own body had come. Single-mindedly he prayed and contemplated, hoping to attain resonance in a dream. At that time, as night fell, the sky became overcast and the room had no lamp or candle. After a short while, he saw something by his pillow like a firefly, shining brightly, flying away. Suddenly the entire room became bright, and reaching up into the air it was like morning and daylight. Xiuyuan hastily sat up, joined his palms, and in the space of a breath, he saw above the central courtyard, at a height of four or five zhang, a bridge with a gallery. The balustrades were vermilion and stood in mid-air. Xiuyuan did not notice ascending or moving at all, but saw himself sitting calmly by the side of the bridge. He saw men and women on the bridge coming and going, filling the thoroughfare, their clothes and adornments no different from ordinary mortals. At the end there was an old woman, about thirty years old, wearing a blue jacket above and a white cloth skirt below; she walked to Xiuyuan's left side and stood there. After a short while, another woman appeared, entirely clad in white cloth, with her hair in a slanted looped chignon. Holding flowers and incense in her hands, she stood in front of him and said to Xiuyuan: "If you wish to see your previous life, it is I. Because I made offerings of these flowers to the Buddha, I was able to transform my body and become you." Turning and pointing to the woman in white, she said: "This, again, was my former life." When she finished speaking, she departed. After she left, the bridge also gradually faded from sight. Xiuyuan was suddenly unaware of the time he returned down below, and the light also subsequently vanished. (This single verification is from the Mingxiang ji.)