淨土五會念佛誦經觀行儀卷中．下 2.24

2.24

In ancient times, Master Rui of Chang'an, Huichong, Sengxian, and Huitong, down to the recent Later Zhou dynasty Chan Master Shi, Master Luan of Xihe, and others—several hundred persons in all—were all reborn in the West. Chan Master Daochuo and others, on account of Master Luan, attained rebirth in the West; each led those with whom they had affinity to cultivate the karma for the Pure Land with single-minded devotion. Chan Master Daochuo further compiled the records and verifications of the West entitled the Anle ji (Collection on the Land of Bliss), which circulated widely. Furthermore, Master Huiyuan of the Jin dynasty entered Mount Lu and did not leave for thirty years; he then summoned one hundred and twenty-three companions, both lay and monastic, to make a vow aiming for the West, carving into the mountain to inscribe their vow. Reaching the Tianjia reign era of the Chen dynasty, Chan Master Zhen of Mount Lu, while sitting, saw people riding a boat bound for the West, and so asked to board. They reported, saying, 'The Dharma Master has not yet recited the Amitābha Sūtra; you cannot go.' Thereupon he immediately recited this sūtra some twenty thousand times. Twenty-eight days before his passing, there was furthermore a divine person who arrived from the West bringing a white-silver dais, whose brightness in the sky surpassed the sun. He announced, saying, 'When the Dharma Master's lifespan ends, you shall ride this and be reborn in the land of Amitābha Buddha; therefore I have come to show it to you, so you may know that rebirth is certain.' When he was on the verge of passing away, both monastics and laity smelled a rare fragrance for several days. That night, everyone at the peak temple saw dozens of torches within a valley, as large as chariot wheels. When one investigates the verifications of those reborn in the West in ancient and modern times, they are not few; many saw transformed Buddhas and their retinues coming to welcome them. The miraculous omens recorded in biographies are too numerous to transcribe. Because Chan Master Zhen had verification through this sūtra, it is briefly related here to awaken future wise people and aid their aspiration for rebirth.