Liu Yimin: "By the Power of This Sutra", Passing Away Facing West
Person：Liu Chengzhi, styled Yimin
Period：Eastern Jin (d. 410)
Died in the sixth Yixi year; one of the eighteen worthies of the Lotus Society on Mount Lu.
Reading preferences
事見《法華經顯應錄》「信男」門「廬山劉遺民」條（夾注云「遠法師廬山集」），並見《法華經持驗記》晉朝「晉劉程之」條。以下白話譯註以《持驗記》較詳本為主。
故事
劉程之，字仲思，彭城人，是漢代楚元王的後裔。他博通墳典百家，尤其喜好佛理。朝廷以「遺民」之號禮遇徵辟，他都遜辭不受。後來入廬山，傾心依止慧遠法師。慧遠與雷次宗、周續之、宗炳、張詮等人結白蓮社，共修淨土，鑱石立誓，推劉遺民為社中上客。他又著作〈念佛三昧詩〉，以表明專念坐禪的旨趣。
自從入山半年，他便在定中見佛光照耀大地，一切都成金色。十五年間精進不已。一日正念佛時，又見阿彌陀佛玉毫光照，安慰接引，為他摩頂。又一日念佛，見自身入七寶池，池中蓮華青白相間，池水湛然。有一人項有圓光，胸有卍字，指著池水對他說：「這是八功德水，你可以飲用。」程之飲水，甘美無比。醒來之後，還覺得異香從毛孔中散發。他感歎說：「我往生淨土的因緣到了。」
於是他請僧眾轉讀《法華經》數百遍，廬山諸僧都來聚集。程之對著佛像焚香，再拜祝願：「我因釋迦如來的遺教，才知道有彌陀慈父。此香先供養釋迦牟尼如來，次供養阿彌陀佛，再次供養妙法蓮華經——我所以得生淨土，是因為受持此經。願一切有情，同生淨土。」
發願已畢，他面向西方，合掌而逝。時為義熙六年（410）。異香郁然，七日方歇。慧遠法師為他撰寫紀德碑。
編者省思
在本站全部收錄中，這是「法華」與「彌陀」兩大信仰線索交會得最明白的一則：一位蓮社居士，臨終三段供養——釋迦、彌陀、法華經——並親口說出「所以得生，功由此經」。原書收錄他，正是要為法華經的功德作證。
值得注意的是，原書同樣沒有用敘事者口吻說「已往生極樂」，而是記錄了他自己的授記語（「淨土之緣至矣」）、發願文與臨終瑞相。本站依一貫標準標為「經解讀推斷」。兩部書一詳一略，細節互有出入（見考證），恰可對讀。
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Master Bacheng: Sixty Years of Recitation, a Single Prayer for the West
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Bacheng became a monk at twenty with dull faculties, vowing to recite the Lotus Sutra for rebirth in the West. He memorised a line a day, sometimes half a verse, completing the sutra only at eighty. When a heavenly envoy came to invite him to Trāyastriṃśā he declined — his prayer was solely for Ultimate Bliss. He later dreamt of a jeweled pagoda and the welcoming stairway of the Western jeweled city, arranged a communal offering, asked his disciples whether they saw the thousand Buddhas and smelled the uncanny fragrance, then passed away facing west.
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Master Kejiu: Names on the Lotus Platforms, Verified Five Years On
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Kejiu of Kaiyuan Monastery in Siming constantly recited the Lotus Sutra and was known as 'Master Jiu of the Lotus'. A close friend of Su Shi, he died without illness in 1093 and revived after three days, reporting that he had travelled in spirit to the Pure Land: what he saw matched the Contemplation Sutra exactly, and on the lotus platforms of the jeweled pool were written the names of those yet to be born — a purple-gold platform for the monk Xun (already born), golden platforms for Sun the Twelfth and for Kejiu himself, a silver platform for the nun Xu. Five years on, the nun died with fragrance filling her room; seven years on, Sun died to celestial music — each just as he had said.