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

There was a certain Kim Kuayi of the [Korean] Kingdom of Silla who bore a single son. When he was a young boy the son left home [as a Buddhist monk]. He had always shown a particular delight in reading the Lotus Sūtra. However, in the second fascicle of his family’s copy of the scripture, there was one character that had been accidentally scorched beyond recognition.

At age eighteen the young monk died unexpectedly and was reborn in the household of another Kim Kuayi who lived elsewhere. Once again he left home [as a Buddhist monk] and developed a particular affection for reading the Lotus. But whenever he reached the second fascicle there was one particular word that he would always forget how to read, the instant he learned it. One night he dreamed that a person said to him: “Young master, in a former life you were born into the household of a certain Kim Kuayi in such and such a region. You also became a mendicant, and in that former life read and recited the Lotus Sūtra. However, one character was inadvertently scorched. As a result, in this life you are prone to forget it as soon as you learn it. That old copy of the sūtra still exists. Go there; find it; and see for yourself.”

Guided by his dream, the young master set off in search of the household in question. Upon finally locating it he asked tentatively if he might pass the night there. His father and mother from his previous life had a vague feeling that they knew him. [After he told them the story,] they brought out the old sūtra. Sure enough, they found that one character was scorched in the second fascicle. The young monk and his parents were joined deeply in their feelings of joy and sadness. The two households consequently became quite intimate, brought together almost as one. Their story reached the county and prefectural governments. From there, the local officials reported it to the throne. Thus it came to be transmitted and retold throughout the land. Even down to today it has not died out. All of this happened during the Zhenguan era [627-650].