法苑珠林 52.34

52.34

Dong Qingjian of the Jin was a man of unknown origins. His father was styled Xianming and served as Commandant of the Agile Cavalry in the beginning of the Jianyuan era. When Jian's mother, Lady Song, was pregnant with him, she dreamt that someone told her: "You will surely give birth to a boy. He will have a dark-blue birthmark on his body, and you may name him Qingjian." When he was born, it was as foretold, so he was named accordingly. He possessed a dignified demeanour and pleasant conversation and laughter; by nature he was magnanimous and gentle, and his family had never seen him display an angry countenance. All who saw him marveled at him. When he reached the age of fourteen, the province invited him to serve as an Office Attendant. In the beginning of the Jianyuan era, when the Crown Prince guarded Fan and the Han River, [Jian] served as Adjutant of the Waterways Section. On the sixteenth day of the seventh month of the second year, he took to his bed with an illness, and said himself that he would not recover. On the eighteenth day, as his end drew near, he sat up and addressed his mother: "My transgressions are exhausted, blessings have arrived, and karmic ties are severed forever. I pray that you, Mother, restrain your grief and do not worry about me." Thereupon he wailed aloud seven times; when his voice ended, he breathed his last. When they were about to lay him out in the casket in front of the fasting hall, that night his spirit spoke, saying: "The ways of life and death are opposed; do not place [the coffin] before the fasting hall. A monk who makes statues will surely come to receive the corpse." The next day, a monk indeed came, named Danshun. They immediately recounted [the matter] to Danshun according to the spirit's words. Danshun said: "I reside at Nanlin Temple making an eighteen-foot statue, which is nearly complete; that your worthy son has had this sympathetic resonance must be because of it. There is a small vacant ground west of the temple where he may be laid to rest." He was thereupon buried beside the temple. Three days later, his mother took about ten of his relatives to make an offering at the tomb. East of the tomb, they saw Jian appear as if alive, who said: "I pray that you, Mother, restrain your grief and go back; I am now living back at the temple." His mother immediately stopped weeping and returned home. The entire household adopted a vegetarian diet and kept a perpetual fast. On the eleventh day of the intercalary month, Xianming dreamt that he saw Jian, who said: "I pray that you, Father, step out into the eastern fasting hall for a moment." Xianming then bathed himself in scented water, observed the precepts, and went out into the eastern fasting hall. On the fourteenth night, while asleep, he heard Jian calling his name. Startled awake, he saw Jian standing before the fasting hall as if alive. His father then asked: "Where have you been residing?" Jian said: "Since passing away, I have been living in the Palace of Spirit Refining. When one hundred days are completed, I shall be reborn in Trāyastriṃśa Heaven. Because I could not bear to see my parents and brothers weeping and mourning in agony, for three times seven days I bowed to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and petitioned the Four Heavenly Kings, and thus I was granted permission to return briefly. I pray that from now on, my parents will no longer weep and offer sacrifices. My mother has already made a vow seeking to see me; she will soon end her life and be reborn together with me in the same place. My father's lifespan can reach seventy-three; after his life ends, he must endure retributions for transgressions for three years, but if he diligently and austerely practices the Way, he can be liberated." [The father] asked: "You come out of the darkness of night; how is it that you have radiance?" Jian said: "I have now descended together with the Bodhisattvas and the deities of heaven; this is merely the light of their bodies." He also asked: "Whom do you recognize in heaven?" Jian said: "I saw General of Chariots and Cavalry Wang, Prefect of Wuxing Zhang, and my maternal grandfather Song of Xihe." Jian continued: "I was not born in this single clan alone; over the past forty-seven years until now, I have died seven times and been reborn seven times, and have already attained the Four Fruits of the Path. Having previously made seven vows wishing to be reborn in the human realm, I therefore underwent life and death. From now on it is permanently concluded, and I am freed from the seven sufferings. When I was near my end, I saw seven places of life and death; the reason I wailed loudly was to bid farewell to the seven households." [The father] asked: "Into whose households were you born?" Jian said: "I was born into the households of Minister of Personnel Jiang, Inspector of Guangzhou Yang, Prefect of Wuxing Zhang, General of Chariots and Cavalry Wang, Prefect of Wuxing Xiao, Supernumerary Director Liang, and Commandant of the Agile Cavalry Dong. Only in this place did I live for seventeen years; in the other places, it was merely five or three years. From now on, years of noxious pestilence will be numerous; one should diligently cultivate merit. I see that when worldly people die, most fall into the three miserable paths, while those born in heaven are few; if one strives diligently, one can attain liberation and crossover. If you make a vow to be born in heaven, we may also see each other; but if our conduct diverges, there will be no time when we meet again." [The father] asked further: "Your mother is yearning for you to the point of dying; can you let her see you?" Jian said: "There is no need to see each other, for it would only add to her torment and sorrow. Simply speak to her according to what I have said. The deities of heaven have already departed, and I cannot stay long." With a somber and sorrowful countenance, he suddenly vanished. After his departure, around the bamboo grove there was still a fragrant aroma, and the family members all smelled the lingering fragrance. Jian said that the seven households into which he was born were those of Jiang Gai, Yang Xi, Zhang Yong, Wang Xuan, Song Mo, Xiao Huiming, and Liang Jifu. Xianming thereupon left the household, taking the Dharma-name Fazang.