禪林寶訓 3.2

3.2

When Master Xuetang Xing resided at Jianfu, one day he asked a newly arrived monk: "Where do you come from?" The monk said: "I come from Fuzhou." Xuetang said: "Did you see any good elders along the road?" The monk said: "Recently I passed through Xinzhou; Master Ben, the abbot of Boshan, though I have not paid homage to him in person, is a good elder." Xuetang said: "How do you know he is good?" The monk said: "Upon entering the monastery, the pathways were cleared and opened, the corridors and verandas were orderly and well-kept, the incense and lamps in the halls were never extinguished, the morning and evening bells and drums were clear and precise, the gruel and rice for the two meals were pure and clean, and the monks and postulants treated guests with propriety. By this I knew he was a good elder." Xuetang smiled and said: "Ben is indeed worthy, but you too possess the eye." He immediately reported these words to the prefect, Lord Wu Fupeng, saying: "The discussion upheld by this monk is quite similar to Fan Yanling's recommendation of Zhang Xiyan; and your lordship's worthiness is no less than that of Lord Zhang Zhongding. This old monk is advanced in years; I beg you to invite Ben to be the abbot, so that it may be a grand event for the monastic forest." Lord Wu was greatly pleased, and Ben was transferred to Jianfu that very day.