Rebirth of Lady Wang of the Tang Dynasty

Lady Wang. She lived during the Sui Dynasty. She was the wife of Xue Weng and the mother of the monk Dinggai. In her daily life Lady Wang recited Buddhist sutras, diligently practised repentance, and wholeheartedly aspired to be reborn in the Western Pure Land. In the eleventh year of Emperor Taizong’s Zhenguan era (637 CE), she fell ill and became even more diligent in reciting Amitabha Buddha’s name. Before long, she saw a red lotus as large as a five-dou[1] jar in front of her. Later, she saw a blue-green lotus filling the entire room, and Amitabha Buddha, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, and Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva descended from the sky. Her grandson, Daxing, who had been attending on her on her left side, saw that the figure of Amitabha Buddha was towering in height, taller than the two bodhisattvas. After a long while, the three figures disappeared, by which time Lady Wang had already attained rebirth. (Continued Biographies of Eminent Monks)

[1] dou is a unit of volume. 1 dou = 10 litres; 5 dou =50 litres.

- Excerpt from ‘Records of the Pure Land Sages’