Once an old priest and a handsome young priest were travelling together to Kumano. When they arrived at the Muro District of Kii Province, they took shelter in a roadside house. The mistress was a widow who had a few maidservants. The widow cordially entertained the two travellers.
Later that night, the mistress stealthily stepped by the young priest’s bed. Covering herself with a garment, the widow lay close to the young priest and whispered, “As you know, I have never allowed any man to stay here overnight. But I let you stay here tonight because when I first glanced at you this afternoon, I was determined to share this bed with you. So I have come here like this to realize my wish.”
No sooner had the priest heard her than he sat erect on the bed. “I have held convictions all my life. While practicing the ways of an ascetic, I decided to take the long trip to Kumano Shrine. How could I be involved in such wrong-doing?” said the young priest in refusal.
Being greatly distressed, the widow began to utilize all the means she knew and embraced the priest to tempt him. The widow’s alluring efforts annoyed the young priest all through the night. The young priest tried to dissuade her with various excuses. Finally, the priest suggested. “After visiting Kumano and making offerings at the shrine, we will return here in three days. Then will comply with your wishes.” Leaving with this promise, the young priest and his old companion left for Kumano early in the morning.
Since then, the widow had been counting the days as she waited for the priests and prepared the proper feasts and entertainments. However, the priests returned by a different route. The anxious widow went out on the road and asked each traveler about the two priests. When she saw a priest coming from Kumano, she asked if he had seen two priests, one old and the other young. The priest answered, “Yes, I saw them leaving Kumano about three days ago.”
Hearing this, the enraged widow, clapping her hands with chagrin and regret, ran into a separate room and confined herself by closing the door. After a while, an eighteen foot-long poisonous snake emerged from the room, left the house, and went down the highway pursuing the two priests.
At the sight of the snake, some frightened travelers told the two priests, “A strange thing A great eighteen-foot-long snake is coming this way, crossing the fields and mountains!” Hearing this, the two priests instantly realized their situation. “So the furious woman has transformed herself into a snake and is chasing us.”
The frightened pair of priests thought of running to the Dōjōji Temple and seeking help. When they arrived at the temple and explained their situation, the priests of the temple gathered and decided to help them. They suggested that the large bell in the belfry be taken down and the young priest be placed inside the bell. They closed all the temple doors.
Soon the great snake arrived at the temple. After circling the temple hall a few times, the snake approached the belfry door behind which the bell hid the young priest. The snake hit the door with its powerful tail for about a hundred times until the door broke. It entered the belfry and began to coil around the bell. The snake tightened its coils into a firm grip and struck the dragon-shaped stem of the bell with its tail for a few hours.
Although frightened, the wondering priests of the temple opened all the doors of the belfry and were astonished to see the snake shedding bloody tears from both of its eyes. Now it uncoiled from the bell and returned the way it had come, raising its head high and flicking its flame-like tongue. The poisonous venom of the snake had transformed the bell into molten flames, making the bell unapproachable. Finally, the priests cooled the bell by pouring cold water over it. They removed the half-melted bell. Alas, the poor young priest had been cremated to death, leaving only a handful of ashes on the ground.
Sometime later, a senior priest of the Dōjōji dreamed that a larger snake than the one which had coiled around the bell appeared and said, “I am the young priest who died in the bell the other day. I have been violated by that snake, which was the transformation of the evil widow, and have been forced to become her husband. Now I have been given the miserable status of a snake with endless sufferings. Even though I wish to escape these sufferings, I do not have enough influence to do so. While alive, I did respect the Lotus Sūtra, yet my devotion to it is not enough. So I ask you, great holy man, to have mercy and to copy the Chapter of Tathāgata of the Hokekyō to help both of us escape our status as snakes. Without the efficacy of the sūtra, how can I be relieved from these sufferings? And also please practice good to save the evil woman from her sufferings.”
After waking up from his dream, the senior priest was firm in the faith and aware of the sufferings of life and death. He copied the Chapter of Tathāgata of the Hokekyō, sold all his belongings, invited many priests, and offered a devout Buddhist service during one day for the repose of the souls of the two snakes.
That night, the senior priest had a second dream. A smiling priest and a woman came to the temple. They reverenced the Three Treasures and the priest, and said, bowing and rejoicing, “Thanks to your merit accumulated by your pure heart, both of us have left our evil status and will be reborn in the heavens, the priest in the Tōriten and the widow in the Tosotsu Heaven.”
As they finished speaking, they ascended into the air separately.
It is diffcult to listen to The Lotus;
It is difficult to make comments, copy, and recite it;
It is diffcult to meet those who venerate it.
Those who see, hear, praise or slander it
Will equally become Buddhas.
(Page 145-146)
Miraculous Tales of the Lotus Sutra from Ancient Japan