法苑珠林 83.40

83.40

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.)