袁州仰山慧寂禪師語錄 1.2

1.2

The Master's taboo name was Huiji; he was a son of the Ye clan of Huaihua in Shaozhou. At the age of nine, he went to Chan Master Tong at He'an Monastery in Guangzhou to leave household life (that is, Non-speaking Tong). When he was fourteen, his parents brought him back, wishing to arrange a marriage for him. The Master would not comply; thereupon he severed two fingers of his hand, knelt before his parents, and vowed to seek the true Dharma in order to repay their toil and care. Only then did his parents consent, and he went once again to Master Tong's place to receive tonsure. Before receiving full ordination, he set out on itinerant pilgrimage. He first visited Danyuan and had already awakened to the abstruse purport; later he studied with Guishan and thereupon ascended to the innermost sanctum.