六祖大師法寶壇經 1.166

1.166

enly kings appeared and sat down [so as] to protect the four directions. The present monastery grounds include the Ridges of the Heavenly Kings, which are named on account of this.

Yaxian said, “I know that the power of Your Reverence’s Dharma is great, but the grave of my ancestor is also here. Some day when you build your stupa, I beseech you to leave [the grave] there. I also wish to donate all of this, to make it a precious domain [of the Dharma] forever. However, this earth is a [mountain] range to which come living dragons and white elephants. You may level heaven, but just do not level the earth.” Later, when they built the monastery, they followed what he had said completely.

The master roamed over the superior locations of mountains and water within the monastery grounds and then rested. Monastery [buildings] were constructed in thirteen locations, which are now called the Huaguo yuan (“Flower-fruit Chapels”). These are registered as belonging to the monastery.

As to the Baolin training center, when Tripiṭaka Master Prajñācandra of the Western Country came from the Southern Ocean and was passing by the mouth of Cao Creek (Caoqi), he scooped up some water and drank it, realized how unusual was its beautiful fragrance, and said to his followers, “This water is no different from the water of Western India. At the source of this stream there must certainly be a superior location suitable for a monastery!” They followed the current up to its source, which was surrounded by mountains and water on all four sides, with peaks and crags strange and excellent. [Prajñācandra] sighed, “This is like Mount Baolin (Ratnavana?) in Western

India.”153 He said to the people living in Caohou village, “You should build a monastery on this mountain. One hundred seventy years from now, the unsurpassable Dharma-treasure will be disseminated here. Those who attain enlightenment will be like a forest, so it would be appropriate to call it Baolin (“Treasure Grove”) [Monastery].”

At the time the governor of Shaozhou, Hou Jingzhong, [reported what Prajñācandra] had said in a memorial, and the throne granted his request and bestowed a name plaque for Baolin[si, written in the imperial hand and making the monastery] a pure palace [of the Dharma]. It was unveiled in the third year of the Tianjian [period, or 504].

In front of the monastery’s [Buddha] hall was a deep pool, where a dragon constantly went in and out, deforming the trees. One day he manifested a form that was extremely large, roiling up waves and obscuring [the sky with] clouds and mists. [Huineng’s] followers were all afraid, but the master scolded [the dragon], “You’re only able to manifest a large body— you can’t manifest a small body. If you were a divine dragon, your abilities at transformation would include the manifestation of the large with the small and the manifestation of the small with the large!”

The dragon suddenly disappeared and then instantly reappeared in a small body, jumping around the surface of the pool. The master held out his bowl, testing [the dragon] by saying, “But I’ll bet you don’t dare enter this old monk’s bowl!” The dragon then swam up in front of him, and the master scooped him up in the bowl. The dragon could not move. The master carried the bowl to the [monks’] hall and preached the Dharma for the dragon, who then shed his skeleton and went away. His skeleton is about seven inches long and was complete with head and tail, horns and feet. It is kept at the monastery. The master later had the pool filled up with earth and rocks. The iron stupa that now exists in front of the hall on the left side guards the location.

The rock that the master dropped from his hips [when he went to Hongren’s chambers to receive the transmission] is inscribed with eight characters [that read] “recorded [for] Layman Lu on the first year of the Longshuo [period, or 661].” This stone now exists at Dongchan[si] in Huangmei.

In addition, Assistant Director of the Right Wang Wei composed a Record of the Patriarch on behalf of Great Master Shenhui, which says, “The master hid among workers for sixteen years. When he encountered Yinzong’s lec-

turing on the [Nirvana] Sutra, [Yinzong] therefore performed the tonsure for him.”