Note: This is another in the monthly excerpts from “Tales of the Lotus Sutra.”

The Buddhist monk Daochao. Nothing is known of his secular background, but on leaving home he took up residence at Qijunshan Monastery and observed the Buddhist practices with utmost purity. He had a disciple named Wangming, who was about fifteen years of age. He set out to memorize the Lotus Sūtra, but upon learning the first fascicle he contracted a sudden illness and died. This disciple was particularly zealous in his studies, possessed of both character and spirit, and naturally endowed with human-heartedness and filiality. His master loved him dearly, and from the moment the boy died, he grieved over him day and night.

Qi commandery is not far from the shrine of Mount Tai. Daochao ruminated to himself, “I have often heard it said that, when a person dies, the soul must first pass through [the court of] the Lord of Mount Tai. Only after that is it able to be reborn. Even though the worlds of light and darkness are veiled from one another, a sincere heart will inevitably bring a response. I will try to ask the Lord of Mount Tai. Perhaps he will know where my disciple has been reborn.”

So resolved, Daochao took up his mendicant’s staff and incense [for offering] and set off for the mountain shrine. There he related in full his reasons for coming, declaring [his intentions] three times before the deity. Suddenly the wooden spirit-tablet spoke out in response, “Since you, master, are completely sincere in your observance of the precepts and your motives for coming here are so grave, I dare not tell you what you wish to know.” Thereupon he ordered an attending deity from one of the adjacent placards to summon [the spirit] in charge of [the dead disciple]. The deputy deity thereupon went into a chamber in the eastern wing of the shrine and called for a particular person to come forth. The Lord of Mount Tai then asked, “Where is the disciple Wangming at this moment?” To which the individual replied, “He is being retained here. He does not yet have a place of birth.”

Daochao then pleaded to see him, whereupon the Lord [of Mount Tai] had Chao follow the person back to the chamber in the eastern wing. Therein, at a distance of some ten paces away, he saw his disciple. His physical demeanor and clothing were the same as when he was alive. Master and disciple broke out in tears of grief. After a long while, Chao asked the boy, “Is your retribution painful or pleasant?”

The disciple replied, “At the moment I am being held here, so it is neither painful nor pleasant. It is just that my next place of birth has not yet been determined. I desperately need the support of religious merit. If I do not acquire wholesome karmic roots, I fear that I may be reborn in evil realms.”

The master asked, “What sort of meritorious acts might I perform to enable you to obtain an illustrious [destiny]?” His disciple replied, “I pray that you might make a single copy of the Lotus Sūtra [on my behalf] and hold a vegetarian feast for one hundred monks.”

“This can easily be arranged,” the master replied.

Thereupon, Daochao parted with the disciple. When he again saw the Lord [of Mount Tai], the Lord asked him what was said during their meeting. The master related how he needed to hold a vegetarian feast and fashion a copy of the sūtra [on his disciple’s behalf]. The Lord [of Mount Tai] told him, “Beings in the netherworld are in great need of spiritual merit. You should hasten to take care of this. When the task is completed, you may return to see [your disciple] again.”

Chao thereupon returned home, where he immediately prepared paper and brush and hired a person to copy the sūtra. After that, he held a purificatory celebration. With the merit making complete, he returned to the shrine and announced to the Lord [of Mount Tai] that the meritorious work was finished and he had come in search of his disciple. The Lord again ordered his deputy spirit to call [the disciple’s] warden. When the person arrived, the Lord asked him, “Is the disciple still here?”

The individual replied, “He has been reborn in a fine place.”

“What were the circumstances that brought about this rebirth?” Daochao asked.

The warden replied, “As the copyist began to form the first character miao – having finished the nu radical but not yet having started on the shao part – the disciple in that split instant obtained rebirth.”

“Where is he living now?” Chao asked.

The deity replied, “He has been born into the household of Wang Wu of Qi commandery. Wait for another two or three years, and then you may go to look for him.”

Chao inscribed the deity’s words in his heart, took his leave of the Lord [of Mount Tai], and departed. After three years had passed, he went to the Wang household and asked, “Good almsgiver, you have a little boy. This poor mendicant would like to see him.”

The household in question was a truly blessed one, in which they revered the three jewels faithfully. However, hitherto they had been unable to produce a son, as everyone both far and near knew. When this child was later born, [they kept it secret] and did not even tell their relatives about it. Thus, the head of the Wang clan stubbornly refused to admit that they had a son. Chao said to him, “It has been three years now since my disciple was born in your household. Why won’t you let me see him?”

Thereupon, Chao related the instructions of the Lord of Mount Tai. Having overheard him from a small side-door to the vestibule, the child’s mother told her husband, “If the master has such numinal powers of invocation as this, how can we keep the boy from him?” She then picked up the child and set him down outside the entranceway, at a distance of several meters from Chao. The boy immediately ran to him and threw himself into Chao’s embrace. There they remained weeping for a long time. When the child became older he left home and again served Chao as his disciple. This all took place in the fifteenth year of the Kaihuang reign-period [581-600]. No one knows when the master and his disciple passed away.