According to An Shigao himself, in his previous life, he was a monk from India who practiced Buddhism in the Kingdom of Sravasti. A classmate likes to give, but he is very angry. When he encounters people or things that are slightly unsatisfactory, he will feel strong hatred and

According to An Shigao himself, in his previous life, he was a monk from India who practiced Buddhism in Savatthi Kingdom . A classmate likes to give, but he is very angry. When he encounters people or things that are slightly unsatisfactory, he will feel strong hatred and blame this person or that person. An Shigao advised him that if he stays like this for a long time, he will suffer the retribution of animals in the future. But that classmate didn't take it seriously at all.

After studying together for twenty years, he said goodbye to that classmate: "I am now going to Guangzhou, China, to repay the karmic debts of my previous life. Your understanding of Buddhist scriptures is better than mine, but because of your excessive anger, you will suffer in the next life. If you have achieved the retribution of your ugly body shape (following the path of an animal), then if I have attained enlightenment, I will save you."

Then, An Shigao's predecessor came to Guangzhou, and was killed by a young man when thieves were causing trouble. , and this young man was the person who had a grudge with him in his previous life. After An Shigao was killed in his previous life, his old debt was settled, and his spiritual consciousness was reincarnated into a wealthy family and became the prince of Parthia (now the Republic of Iran), which is An Shigao in this life.

When An Shigao came to China again, it was already the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 25-220). The Yellow Turban Uprising broke out in Guanzhong and Henan. The situation was very chaotic. He went to the Jiangnan area to preach and preach. He said that he would go to Lushan to redeem his classmates from previous lives.

At that time, there was a Jiating Lake Temple between Poyang Lake and Shenling Lake in Jiangxi Province. It was said that this temple was very efficacious. If passing merchant ships prayed and offered generous tributes, they would sail smoothly and safely. Otherwise, you will encounter strong winds and waves, and even die at the bottom of the lake.

When An Shigao passed through Lushan Mountain, there were more than 30 merchant ships following him. These merchants went to the mountain in groups to pray to the temple gods, offered sacrifices, and asked the temple gods to protect them.yòu.

But suddenly I heard the temple god (a clay or wooden statue in the temple) saying: "There is a Samana on the ship, please invite him up."

The merchants were frightened to death, and they tremblingly invited An Shigao into the temple. Come. Others stood far outside the temple and did not dare to follow.

The temple god said to An Shigao: "In my previous life, I became a monk and studied Taoism with you in a foreign country. I usually like to give alms, but I am very angry by nature. In this life, I have become the temple god of Jiating, and I have jurisdiction over a thousand miles around. , people offered me a lot of sacrifices, all because of my previous charity, but also because of my hatred, I became a temple god here. I am sad and happy to see my former classmates here. ! Now I am about to die, but my ugly figure is too big. If I die here, it will pollute the water in the lake, so I have to die in the mountains to the west. But I am worried about falling into dì hell after death, so I. Store a thousand pieces of silk and various treasures, and ask you to build a pagoda to save me so that I can turn to a good place. "

An Shigao: "I am here specifically to save you, why don't I show my true form as a temple god? : "My appearance is too ugly and weird, people will be scared when they see it."

An Shigao: "Just show your true colors, people won't be scared."

The temple god stretched out his head from the back seat of the statue, and it turned out that It was a large python, its length unknown. The python crawled to An Shigao's feet, and An Shigao recited several incantations and sang several verses of Sanskrit chants. The python burst into tears and then disappeared.

An Shigao took out the silks and treasures from the temple, and arrived at Yuzhang (now Nanchang, Jiangxi) with his fellow merchants, where he built temples and pagodas to accumulate blessings for his classmates.

After An Shigao left, the temple god passed away. One night, a young man came on the boat and knelt in front of An Shigao, thanking him for his salvation, and then suddenly disappeared.

An Shigao said to the people on the boat: "The young man just now is the temple god of Jiating. He has escaped from the animal realm."

After that, the temple god of Jiating never appeared again. Later, someone found a huge python dead on the west side of the mountain. The snake was more than a mile long.This place was later named "Snake Village" (in today's Jiujiang City, Jiangxi Province).

Whenever An Shigao talks about this predestined relationship, the listeners all sigh and believe that the cause and effect of the three lives is true. Buddhism believes that cause and effect runs through the past, present, and future three lives. The cause of the past life is the result of this life, and the cause of this life is the result of the next life. This is the "twofold cause and effect of the three lives." In view of the general tendency of people to pay attention to the results in this life, An Shigao mainly promoted this after coming to China.

Of course, An Shigao was not a storyteller. He translated a large number of Buddhist scriptures during his stay in China. The he is good at is the study of Zen numbers, which is the practice of meditation. Therefore, he mainly translated the classics on "Zen Shu", among which the famous ones such as "Anpan Shouyi Sutra" had a great influence on the entire Chinese Buddhism and even Taoism. The meditation, contemplation, and counting of breaths proposed in this sutra are still the main methods for practicing meditation today.