法苑珠林 86.78

86.78

The Jin śramaṇa Huida was surnamed Liu and named Saha. He was a native of Lishi in Xihe. Before leaving the household, he grew up in the military and had never heard the Buddha-Dharma; he esteemed martial valor and was fond of hunting. At the age of thirty-one, he died of a sudden illness, but his body remained warm and pliant. His family had not yet placed him in his coffin when, by the seventh day, he revived. He recounted that when he was near death, he saw two men bind him and lead him away. Traveling toward the northwest, the road turned higher and gradually became a level thoroughfare with trees lining both sides. He saw a man holding a bow and wearing a sword standing right in the road, who pointed and told the two men to lead Saha westward. He saw numerous houses with white walls and red pillars. Saha entered one house, where there was a woman of beautiful appearance and attire. Saha approached to beg for food, but a voice from the sky said, 'Do not give it to him!' A person sprang up from the ground holding an iron pestle, about to strike him. Saha fled hastily and went into a dozen or so houses, but it was the same in all of them; he thus obtained nothing. Again traveling northwest, he saw an old woman riding in a carriage, who gave Saha a roll of writing. Saha received it. Reaching a house to the west, the halls and buildings were magnificent and orderly. There was an old woman sitting outside the door with tiger-like fangs in her mouth. Inside the room, the bed-curtains were resplendent, with bamboo mats and green tables, and another woman dwelt within. She asked Saha, 'Did you obtain a text and bring it?' Saha gave the roll of writing to her, and the woman took other texts to compare it with. Soon he saw two śramaṇas, who said to Saha, 'Do you recognize us?' Saha replied, 'I do not.' The śramaṇas said, 'You should now take refuge in Śākyamuni Buddha.' Saha gave rise to this thought as instructed. He then followed the śramaṇas as they walked together. In the distance, he saw a city resembling the city of Chang'an, but its color was exceedingly black; it was in fact an iron city. He saw people whose bodies were extremely tall and large, their skin black as lacquer, their hair dragging on the ground. The śramaṇas said, 'These are ghosts in the hells.' That place was bitterly cold. There were sheets of ice like mats that flew about, scattered, and struck people: when they struck the head, the head was severed; when they struck the foot, the foot was severed. The two śramaṇas said, 'This is the Cold Ice Hell.' Saha then recognized his own pūrvanivāsa and knew that the two śramaṇas had both been his masters in the time of Vipaśyin Buddha. When he had been a śrāmaṇera, he committed a secular transgression and could not receive the precepts; although a Buddha was in the world, in the end he could not see him. Thereafter, having twice regained a human body, he was born once among the Qiang, and now in the Jin. He also saw his paternal cousin in this hell, who said to Saha, 'Formerly, when I was in Ye, I did not know to serve the Buddha; seeing someone bathing an icon, I briefly tried to imitate it, but was unwilling to pay the cost. Now for this reason I suffer punishment; yet because of the merit of bathing [the icon], I will fortunately attain rebirth in heaven.' Next, he saw the Hell of the Mountain of Knives; passing through them successively, he observed very many. Each hell was in a separate city, not mixed together, and the number of persons was like sand, beyond reckoning. The methods and regulations of torture roughly corresponded with what is spoken in the sūtras. From the moment Saha set foot in the hells, an auspicious light appeared. Shortly after, a golden hue suddenly became visible, bright and clear. He saw a person about twenty feet tall, his marks and signs ornate and majestic, his body the color of yellow gold. Those to the left and right all said, 'It is the Great Being Guanshiyin!' and all arose to welcome and pay homage to him. There were two śramaṇas, of similar appearance, walking alongside him toward the east. After Saha finished paying homage, the Bodhisattva spoke the Dharma for him in full, with some thousand words, ending with: 'Whenever one creates merit for the deceased, whether parents, brothers, or even in-laws, relatives, friends, or strangers up to seven generations, whether in a vihāra or in the home, the suffering deceased will immediately attain deliverance. On the full-moon day of the seventh month, when śramaṇas receive their rains retreat counts, to make offerings at this time is especially superior. If one contributes vessels and implements to supply the offerings, let each vessel be inscribed, stating: "Personally offered to the Three Jewels on behalf of so-and-so." The more merit bestowed, the swifter the reward. If śramaṇas or white-robed [layfolk] can thoroughly confess and disclose their current transgressions, their sins of past lifetimes, and various evil deeds amidst the assembly, omitting no detail and sincerely repenting, their sins will be instantly extinguished. If, having a timid face, they are embarrassed and ashamed to expose their transgressions before the great assembly, they may quietly record and state them in a secluded place; if they omit no details, their sins will likewise be eliminated. If there are any omissions that are not done out of intentional concealment, although they are not exempted, the retributions they receive will be somewhat lighter. If one cannot repent and lacks a sense of shame, this is called persisting in error without returning; after life ends, one is certain to fall into the hells. Moreover, when others build a stūpa or halls, even if one contributes but a single lump of earth, a single piece of wood, a dab of dye, or a coat of green paint, if one offers help with full sincerity, one will obtain boundless merit. If one sees a stūpa or hall and there is weedy overgrowth, yet one does not weed it and instead treads upon it as one walks, the merit of one's prostrations and worship will immediately be exhausted.' He also said, 'Sūtras are the revered scriptures, the ford for transforming and guiding beings. The Pāramitā Sūtra's merit is supreme, and the Śūraṅgama is next to it. Wherever good people read and recite the sūtras, that ground all becomes diamond; only beings with fleshly eyes cannot see it. If one can diligently chant and uphold them, one will not fall into hell. The definitive text of the Prajñā and the Tathāgata's bowl will later come east to the land of Han; if one can perform a single good deed toward this sūtra and bowl, one will receive retribution by being born in heaven with multiplied merit.' What he said was very broad; this is a brief record of the essentials. As Saha was taking his leave to depart, [the Bodhisattva] said to him: 'You should have undergone full retribution for your sins over kalpas. Because you once heard the scriptural Dharma and gave rise to joy in your heart, you shall now undergo only a light retribution in this life, and once it passes you will be freed. When you are saved and revived, you may become a śramaṇa. In Luoyang, Linzi, Jianye, Maoyin, and Chengdu, these five places all have King Aśoka stūpas. Furthermore, there are two stone images in the Wu region made by the spirits and ghosts dispatched by King Aśoka. They convey much of the true likeness; those who can go and pay homage will not fall into hell.' Having spoken, he walked east. Saha paid homage and took his leave. Going out to the great southern road, more than a hundred paces wide, the travelers on the road were beyond count. Beside the road was a high seat, several tens of rods high, upon which sat a śramaṇa, flanked by a great array of monks on the left and right. There was a man holding a brush standing facing north, who said to Saha, 'When you were in Xiangyang, for what reason did you kill a deer?' Kneeling, he replied, 'Another person shot the deer; I merely inflicted an additional wound. Moreover, I did not eat its meat; on what grounds should I receive retribution?' At that moment, he immediately saw the place in Xiangyang where the deer was killed; grass, trees, mountains, and streams suddenly filled his eyes. The black horse he had ridden could also speak, completely testifying to the year, month, hour, and day when Saha killed the deer. Terrified, Saha had no answer. In a moment, someone took a pitchfork, forked him, and cast him into a cauldron of boiling water. Looking at himself, his four limbs disintegrated and boiled to pieces. A wind blew his body together on a small bank, and suddenly, without realizing it, his form became whole again. The one holding the brush asked again, 'You also shot pheasants, and you have also killed wild geese.' Having spoken, he was again cast into the cauldron of boiling water, rotting and disintegrating as before. Having received this retribution, Saha was then dismissed. Entering a large city where people dwelt, someone said to Saha, 'You received a light retribution and have been granted return to life; this was supported by the power of merit. From now on, will you commit sins again?' He then dispatched a man to escort Saha back. Seeing his old body from afar, he had no wish to return, but the escort pushed and pulled him; after a long time, he was reunited with the form and revived. He served the Dharma with meticulous diligence and thereupon left the household, taking the name Huida. At the end of the Taiyuan era, he was still in the capital; later he went to Xuchang, and it is not known where he ended his days. (This single verification is from the Mingxiang ji.)