法苑珠林 64.23

64.23

Ruan Zhizong of the Song was a native of Hedong. In the sixteenth year of the Yuanjia reign, when Ruan Yin of Sui was Governor of Zhongli, Yin dispatched Zhizong to travel to a distant village, with commandery clerks Gai Gou and Bian Ding accompanying him. Arriving at a commoner's house, he became dazed as if asleep and did not wake again. The commoners, thinking he was dead, carried him outside the gate and were preparing funeral items. After a night passed, he was able to speak, saying: At first, about a hundred men bound Zhizong and took him away. Traveling several tens of li, they reached a Buddhist monastery (stūpa). The saṃgha and offerings were no different from the secular world. A monk said, "You were fond of fishing and hunting, and now you must receive your retribution." They then took Zhizong, flayed his skin, and sliced his flesh into pieces, exactly according to the method of preparing various sacrificial livestock and beasts. They further put him into deep water and hooked him by the mouth to draw him out, cutting and slicing him into mince. Furthermore, they boiled him in cauldrons and roasted him over braziers. At first, he was completely pulped, but immediately returned to his original state; the agonizing pain and bitter venom ceased only after three rounds. They asked whether he wished to live or not. Zhizong then kowtowed and begged for his life. A man of the Way ordered him to squat on the ground and poured water over him, saying, "A single pouring removes five hundred sins." Zhizong bitterly begged for more pourings. The śramaṇa said, "Three are quite enough." Seeing several ants, the man of the Way pointed and said, "Although these are tiny creatures, they must not be killed, not to mention anything larger than this. Meat and fish that die of themselves may be eaten. On the day of a vegetarian feast, wear only newly cleaned clothes; if there are no new ones, they can be washed." Zhizong then asked, "There were three of us on the journey; why am I alone afflicted with this suffering?" The man of the Way said, "Those two men know sin and merit for themselves; knowing it, they intentionally violate it. Only you were ignorant and did not understand karmic retribution; therefore, this was to admonish you." Thereupon he revived, and after several days was able to rise. From then on, he permanently gave up fishing and hunting. (The above case is from the Mingxiang ji.)