禪林寶訓 4.25

4.25

Zhuo'an said: "When Fojian lived at Taiping, Gao'an served as karmadāna. Gao'an was young in years and proud in spirit, looking down upon the various quarters, with few who met his approval. One day at mealtime when the mallet was struck, he saw an attendant place food in a different bowl before Fojian. Gao'an came out of the hall and said in a stern voice: 'A kalyāṇamitra of five hundred monks acts in such a fashion! How can you serve as a model for later students?' Fojian acted as though he had neither heard nor seen. When he came down from the hall and investigated, it was pickled vegetables in water. Because Fojian had long had a spleen ailment and did not eat oil, Gao'an felt ashamed, went to the abbot's quarters, and tendered his resignation. Fojian said: 'What the karmadāna said was very appropriate. It is only because Huiqin is ill that it is so. I have heard the sages say that through principle one penetrates all obstacles. Since what I ate was not superior to the assembly, I had no doubts about it. The karmadāna's aspiration is clear and far-reaching; in the future you will certainly be a pillar of the lineage gate. Pray do not hold any grievance over this.' When Fojian moved to Zhihai, Gao'an went over to Longmen; later he became an heir of Foyan."