宏智禪師廣錄 9.512

9.512

In the sixth year of the Xuanhe era, Lord Xiang Yin was serving as Commissioner of Transport. He dreamed that a monk led him to an ancient monastery with a gold sign inscribed "Xi Prefecture," the meaning of which he could not fathom. In the ninth month of autumn, the abbot's seat at Puzhaowang Monastery in Sizhou fell vacant. Lord Xiang heard that Monk Zhengjue, the first seat of Changlu, was promoting the Caodong lineage and patch-robed monks placed their faith in him. He prepared an official invitation and dispatch, requesting him to fill the post. When Zhengjue arrived and Lord Xiang inquired of his hometown, he replied, "Xi Prefecture." Only then did Lord Xiang understand his earlier dream, and his reverence and respect grew even greater. The master subsequently served as abbot at seven monasteries, his renown shaking the realm. Alas! When a realized person, a great being, appears in response to the world as a teacher of humans and gods, how could it be by mere chance? The master's secular surname was Li. On the night his mother, née Zhao, gave birth to him, light shone from the house, and all the people marveled at it. At age seven, he recited several thousand words of books daily, and in his youth he mastered the Five Classics. His grandfather Ji and his father Zongdao had long studied under Chan Master Fotuoxun, a lineage son of Old Nan of Jicui. Fotuoxun once pointed to the master and said to his father, "This child is extraordinary and stands out from the crowd; he is not a man of the mundane dust. You should let him leave home; in the future he will surely become a great vessel of the Dharma." At age eleven, he was ordained by Benzong of Jingming Monastery in his home commandery. At fourteen, he received the full precepts under Zhiqiong of Ciyun Monastery in Jinzhou. At eighteen, he traveled forth through various regions, bidding farewell to his grandfather with the vow, "If I do not clarify the great matter, I swear never to return!" Arriving between Jin and Jiang, someone sought to stop him because he lacked travel credentials. The district magistrate saw the master's outstanding talent and, holding out the fan in his hand, showed it to him, saying, "Give me a turning word." Instantly answering, the master took up a brush and wrote a gāthā upon it. The magistrate was greatly pleased and requested credentials for him so that he could proceed. Crossing the Yellow River to Luoyang, he spent the summer retreat at Mount Shaoshi. Daily he gathered wild vegetables to feed sick monks; when the vegetables were exhausted, he harvested herbal shoots to continue. Traveling to Longmen, he met monks from his hometown, who pulled at him to return together. The master said, "Leaving home and traveling on pilgrimage are fundamentally for seeking spiritual teachers and resolving the matter of life and death. One's hometown is not something to yearn for." Slinging his bundle on his waist, he went straight to Xiangshan in Ruzhou to meet Kumu Cheng. At first sight, Kumu deeply valued him. One day, hearing a monk recite the Lotus Sūtra and reach the line, "With the eyes born of one's father and mother, one completely sees the three-thousandfold world," the master had a sudden flash of awakening. He rushed to the abbot's quarters to present his realization. Xiangshan pointed to an incense box on the stand and asked, "What thing is inside?" The master said, "What kind of mental activity is that?" Xiangshan said, "What about your realization?" The master drew a circle in the air with his hand, presented it, and then tossed it behind him. Xiangshan said, "You fellow playing with mud balls, what limit is there to it?" The master said, "Wrong!" Xiangshan said, "You must go see someone else!" The master assented. At that time, Chan Master Danxia Chun's reputation for the Dao was flourishing, so the master went to him. Danxia asked, "What was your original self before the kalpa of emptiness?" The master said, "The frog at the bottom of the well swallows the moon; at the third watch of the night, one does not borrow the night-illuminating screen." Danxia said, "Not yet! Say more!" As the master hesitated, Danxia struck him with his whisk and said, "You just said 'do not borrow'!" The master suddenly had an awakening and made prostrations. Danxia said, "Why don't you say a phrase?" The master said, "Today I have lost money and incurred punishment." Danxia said, "I have no time to beat you; be off with you!" He was twenty-three years old at the time. When Danxia retired to Dacheng in Tangzhou, the master followed him. The resident abbot, Venerable Sheng, who was also an heir of Danxia Chun, recommended the master