大慧普覺禪師宗門武庫 1.95

1.95

When Master Wuzu Yan studied under Master Duan of Baiyun Haihui in Shu Prefecture, he inquired into and resolved the great matter thoroughly to the very marrow of his bones. Duan had him serve as the mill master in front of the mountain. Year after year at the mill, Yan collected money from bran and chaff, ran pawn transactions to earn interest, hired laborers, and paid for the food offerings; the surplus funds were handed over to the permanent monastic property. Yet he was constantly slandered to Duan by troublemakers, who said: "Day after day at the mill, Yan drinks wine and eats meat, and keeps the women of the manor laborers. The whole monastery is in an uproar." Hearing this, Yan deliberately bought meat and wine to hang in the mill compound, and bought cosmetics to powder and paint the faces of the manor laborers' women. Whenever visiting Chan monks came to the mill compound, Yan bantered, laughed, and flirted with the women right in front of them without the slightest shame or restraint. One day Duan summoned him to the abbot's quarters and asked him why. Yan simply agreed with "yes, yes," saying nothing else. Duan slapped him across the face; Yan's expression did not change in the least, and he bowed and took his leave. Duan barked: "Step down immediately!" Yan said: "Wait until I have balanced the accounts and requested someone to hand them over." One day he reported to Duan: "While at the mill, after all the expenses for buying wine and meat, I have a surplus of three hundred thousand cash to turn over to the permanent property." Duan was greatly astonished, only then realizing that petty people had been jealous. At that time, Xiu Yuantong was the head of the hall; receiving an invitation to Simian, he immediately recommended Wuzu Yan to succeed him as the head monk.