大慧普覺禪師宗門武庫 1.86

1.86

Attendant Ping of Dayang had frequented Ming'an’s room for years. Although he had thoroughly grasped his tenets, he took only arising and ceasing as his personal task, squeezing out and entrapping his peers, jealous of anyone who surpassed him. When Guangzhao of Langya and Yuanjian of Gongan were dwelling in the assembly, Chan Master Fenyang sent them to explore Ming'an’s essential宗旨. At Dayang, because Ping secretly transmitted it to them, Ming'an once said, “To revive the Dongshan school, if it is not Yuan, then it will be Jue.” The two masters said, “There is Attendant Ping here.” Ming'an pointed with his finger to his own chest and said, “Ping is not good in this place.” He also pinched his thumb in the cleft [of his fingers] and showed it to them, saying, “Ping in the future will surely die here.” When Ming'an entered stillness, his testamentary instruction stated, “Entomb my whole body; if there is no calamity for ten years, you should perform a feast offering for Mount Dayang.” At the time of entombment in the stūpa, the disciples feared Ping would act harmfully toward the master, so they wrote on the stūpa inscription that Commander Li Hewen had donated gold and silver vessels, though in reality there were none. Ping later resided at Dayang and suddenly said, “The fengshui of the late master’s sacred stūpa is inauspicious.” He had it taken and burnt. The elders on the mountain earnestly admonished Ping, but Ping said, “It hinders me.” He then opened the stūpa: the facial appearance was as if alive; though the firewood was exhausted, the body remained solemn and whole, so that everyone was shocked and astonished. Ping then struck open the skull with a hoe and added more oil and firewood; in a moment, it turned to ashes. The assembly reported the matter to the officials, and Ping was condemned for plotting after the treasures in the stūpa; for his unfilial conduct, he was returned to lay life. Calling himself Scholar Huang, Ping visited Langya. Langya said, “Formerly Attendant Ping, today Scholar Huang! When I was at Dayang, I saw what you were doing.” He refused to receive him. He also visited Gongan, but Gongan would not look at him either. Ping wandered with nowhere to rely on; later, at a three-pronged crossroads, he was devoured by a tiger. In the end, he did not escape Dayang’s prophecy of the cleft [fork]. How tragic!