法苑珠林 94.18

94.18

In the first year of the Longshuo era of the Tang dynasty, in the quarters of the nun Xiuxing at Jingfu Temple in Luozhou, there was a young serving-maid named Ren Wuniang. After she died, Xiuxing set up a spirit seat for Wuniang. More than a month later, her elder sister and younger brother suddenly heard groaning in the middle of the night from upon the spirit seat. Her brother was very frightened at first, but later questioned her. She replied, "When I was alive, I ate meat in the temple, and on account of this [sin] I suffer great pain. I have sores on my body and fear dirtying the bed and matting. You should bring plenty of ashes and place them on the bed." Her brother placed the ashes according to her words. When he looked at the bed later, there was a great deal of pus and blood. She also said to her brother, "Elder Sister suffers from being unable to sew clothes, and you are in utter rags. You should bring cloth; I will make a tunic and trousers for you." The brother placed cloth on the spirit bed, and over the course of the night they were finished. She also said to her younger sister, "When I was a child, I suffered from lacquer-poisoning. I then killed a crab and took its juice to apply to the sores, which cured them. Now I have entered the Forest of Swords Hell. In my flesh there are currently seven broken swords. I beg Elder Sister out of loving-kindness to generate merit to rescue and assist me. I know Elder Sister is pressed for means and cannot afford it, but the clothes that accompanied my corpse are of no use to the dead. They are not yet ruined now; please make use of them." While the sister had not yet replied, she then said, "I will fetch them myself." After a good while, she said again, "The clothes have arrived; look, they are on the bed." Her sister tested this by going to look: they were indeed the burial clothes. She then sent them to the place of Master Baoxian at Jingtu Temple, relying on him to copy the Diamond Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra. Each time one fascicle was finished copying, she immediately reported, saying, "One sword has already come out." After all seven fascicles were copied, she then said, "All seven swords have been extracted. Now, having received the aid of this merit, I am immediately going to take rebirth." Weeping, she parted from her elder sister and younger brother, and departed. Shen Xuanfa of Wuxing recounted this; what was recounted by the monk Zhizheng of Jingtu Temple was also identical (The above three verifications are from the Mingbao shiyi).