大慧普覺禪師宗門武庫 1.79

1.79

When Prime Minister Zhang Wujin went to the capital at nineteen to sit for the civil service examinations, he passed through the Xiang household. That night, someone in the Xiang household had a dream where a person announced, “Tomorrow you will receive the minister.” At dawn, they swept and cleaned a room to wait for him. Toward evening, they saw a poor scholar wearing a yellow Daoist robe; it was Wujin. Master Xiang greeted him with courtesy, welcomed him in, and asked where the scholar was headed. Wujin told him the truth. Xiang said, “Scholar, you are not yet married; I should offer my daughter to attend to sweeping and sprinkling for you.” Wujin declined politely several times. Xiang said, “Even if this trip is unsuccessful, I shall not break my previous promise.” Later, he did indeed pass the examination, and so he married her.

In his first post as registrar, he entered a Buddhist monastery and saw the Tripitaka in palm-leaf volumes neatly arranged. He remarked indignantly, “The teachings of our Sage Confucius are not revered and respected by people as much as the books of the barbarians!” Sitting in his study at night, he ground ink and moistened his brush, leaning over paper and chanting aloud at length. Staying awake in the middle of the night, Lady Xiang called out, “My lord, it is deep into the night; why not go to sleep?” Wujin told her his earlier thoughts: that he was composing an *Essay on the Non-existence of Buddha*. Lady Xiang replied on the spot, “Since there is no Buddha, what essay can there be? You should compose an *Essay on the Existence of Buddha* before it will do.” Wujin harbored doubts at her words and thereupon dropped the matter.

Later, when visiting a colleague, he saw a sutra scroll in front of a Buddha niche and asked, “What book is this?” The colleague said, “The *Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa Sūtra*.” Wujin opened the scroll casually, reading up to the passage where it says that this illness is not of the earth element, nor is it apart from the earth element. He exclaimed in admiration, “Can the words of the barbarians reach such heights as this?” He asked, “How many fascicles does this sutra have?” The colleague replied, “Three fascicles.” He borrowed it to take home and read it completely. Lady Xiang asked, “What book are you reading?” Wujin said, “The *Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa Sūtra*.” Lady Xiang said, “You may read this sutra thoroughly, and only then compose your *Essay on the Non-existence of Buddha*.” Wujin was startled and amazed by her words; from then on he had deep faith in the Buddha Vehicle and turned his mind to the path of the patriarchs.

Later, while serving as the fiscal commissioner of Jiangxi, he visited ancestral seats everywhere. First he called upon Master Zhaojue Zong of Donglin. Zong questioned him on the point of his understanding, and finding it in accord with his own, he gave him seal of approval, saying, “I have a Dharma heir residing at Yuxi, who is Ci Gujing; you may speak with him as well.”

Later, while inspecting his administrative circuit, Wujin passed through Fenning, and the monks from the various Chan monasteries welcomed him. When Wujin arrived, he first paid respects to Ci of Yuxi, then to the other mountains, and lastly inquired after Chan Master Doushuai Yue. Yue was short and small of stature; Wujin had once heard Gong Dezhuang say that he was intelligent and charming, so he said, “I hear that the venerable master is good at literature.” Yue laughed loudly and said, “The Transport Commissioner has lost an eye! I am a ninth-generation descendant of Linji; for me to discuss literature with the Transport Commissioner is just like the Transport Commissioner discussing Chan with me.” Wujin did not think his words were correct, so he stiffly counted on his fingers and said, “Yes, nine generations.” He then asked, “How far is Yuxi from here?” Yue said, “Thirty li.” He asked, “And Doushuai?” Yue said, “Five li.” That night Wujin went to Doushuai.

The night before, Yue had dreamed that the sun rose into the sky and he seized it with his hands. He recounted this to the head monk, saying, “The sun wheel conveys the meaning of transport (yun). I hear that Transport Commissioner Zhang will pass by here before long; I should pierce him deeply and prick him sharply. If he is willing to turn his head, it will be a fortunate thing for our school.” The head monk said, “Scholars and officials today are accustomed to being flattered; I fear he will become angry and cause other troubles.” Yue said, “Even if he is upset, at most he can only dismiss me from my temple; there will be no other trouble.”

While Wujin was conversing with Yue, he praised Donglin. Yue would not concede to what he said. Wujin thereupon inscribed a poem on the Pseudo-Waterfall Pavilion behind the temple, which read in part:
“Not looking toward Mount Lu to find where it falls,
The elephant king's nostrils vainly reach across the sky.”
His intention was to mock Yue for not yielding to Donglin.

The minister leisurely brought up matters of the Chan school. Yue said, “Today, accompanying the Transport Commissioner, I am exhausted from social pleasantries; take care, go to sleep.” Late into the night, Yue arose and discussed this matter with Wujin. Burning incense, he asked the Buddhas of the ten directions to bear witness: “Since Donglin has sealed and approved the Transport Commissioner, does the Transport Commissioner have even the slightest doubt regarding the teachings of the Buddhas and Patriarchs?” Wujin said, “I do.” Yue asked, “What kind of words do you doubt?” He said, “I doubt Xiangyan's 'One-legged verse' and the story of Deshan carrying his bowl.” Yue said, “Since you have doubts about this, how could you be without doubts about the rest? Taking just the 'last word', is there one, or is there not?” Wujin said, “There is.” Yue laughed loudly, returned to the abbot's quarters, and shut the door.

Wujin could not sleep soundly all night. At the fifth watch, getting off the bed, he knocked over the footstool and suddenly came to an awakening. He composed a verse:
“The drum fell silent, the bell sank down, and he returned carrying his bowl;
Yantou's single thrust was like thunder.
As expected, he only lived for three more years;
Could it be that he had received his prophecy from him?”
He then knocked on the door of the abbot's quarters, saying, “I have caught the thief!” Yue asked, “Where is the stolen loot?” Wujin was speechless. Yue said, “Transport Commissioner, go for now; we shall see each other tomorrow.”

The next day Wujin presented his earlier verse. Yue said to Wujin, “Investigating Chan is solely because the life-root is not cut off; one relies on words to give rise to understanding. As for such explanations, you have already awakened deeply to them, but when it comes to the extremely subtle places, they make one unconsciously and unknowingly fall into boundaries and domains.” Later, Yue composed a verse to confirm this, saying:
“Wherever one walks casually, step by step all is thus;
Though dwelling amidst sounds and forms, how could one stagnate in being or non-being?
The one mind has no difference, the ten thousand dharmas are not distinct;
Cease distinguishing essence and function, do not choose between fine and coarse.
Confronting the dynamic without obstruction, responding to things without restraint;
Sentiments of right and wrong exhausted, both the ordinary and the holy are eliminated.
Who gains and who loses? Who is intimate and who is distant?
Taking the head as the tail, pointing to the real as empty.
Turning one's body in the realm of Māra, turning one's feet on perverse paths;
Realizing there is neither opposition nor accord, one expends no effort.”
Wujin invited Yue to Jianchang. Along the way he observed him closely, composing ten verses to recount these matters; Yue also responded with ten verses. This was in the eighth month of the eighth year of the Yuanyou era.