佛祖統紀 41.7

41.7

In the third year, an imperial decree summoned National Preceptor Huizhong to the palace and brought a hermit from Mount Taibai to see him. The Master said: 'What abilities do you possess?' The hermit said: 'I recognize mountains, recognize lands, recognize characters, and am skilled in calculation.' The Master said: 'Is the mountain where you live a male mountain or a female mountain?' He was bewildered and did not know how to answer. The Master said: 'What land is this within the hall?' He replied: 'Allow your disciple to calculate.' The Master drew a horizontal line on the ground and asked: 'What character is this?' He replied: 'It is the character "one" (一).' The Master said: 'A stroke above the character "earth" (土)—is that not the character "king" (王)?' The Master said: 'How much is three sevens?' He replied: 'Twenty-one.' The Master said: 'Is three and seven not the character "ten" (十)?' The Master said to the Emperor: 'Asked about mountains, he does not recognize mountains; asked about lands, he does not recognize lands; asked about characters, he does not recognize characters; asked about calculation, he does not know how to calculate. Why does Your Majesty retain this foolish man?' The Emperor looked at the hermit and said: 'The Master is indeed a treasure of the state!' The Emperor, while in an informal hall, pointed to the eunuch Yu Chao'en and said to the Master: 'Chao'en also understands the Buddha Dharma.' Chao'en came forward and asked the Master: 'What is called ignorance, and from where does it arise?' The Master said: 'With the signs of decline manifesting before you, even a slave understands how to ask about the Buddha Dharma!' Chao'en was furious. The Master said: 'This very thing is ignorance; ignorance arises from this.' Later, when the court made decisions without his participation, Chao'en ceased his work in anger, saying: 'Can anything in the world happen without me?' The Emperor was displeased upon hearing this, blamed him for treasonous plots, and had him strangled to death. An imperial decree summoned Chan Master Faqin of Mount Jing for an audience; the Emperor treated him with the etiquette of a teacher. Once, when he saw the Emperor arriving in the inner court, he stood up. The Emperor said: 'Why does the Master rise?' The Master said: 'How could the dānapati expect to see this poor monk abandon the four postures?' The Emperor was delighted. He did not accept any of the gifts offered to him; wearing cotton robes and carrying an earthenware bowl, he only begged for food each day with his disciples. Prime Minister Yang Guan sighed, saying: 'He is truly a gentleman beyond worldly bounds!' Chief Minister Cui Huan asked: 'May this disciple leave home?' The Master said: 'Leaving home is the business of a great man; how could generals and ministers accomplish it?' More than thirty people, including Pei Du, the Duke of Jin, enquired about the Way and observed the rituals of disciples. Later he begged to return to the mountains, and was granted the title Chan Master Guoyi. An imperial decree directed the defending officials of Hangzhou to rebuild a monastery in the mountains, with magistrates visiting monthly to pay their respects. The Master had initially relied on Chan Master Su, who instructed him: 'Follow the stream, and when you encounter a path (jing), stop.' The Master thereupon went south to Lin'an, saw a mountain in the northeast, and met a woodcutter whom he asked about the place; the woodcutter replied, 'Mount Jing.' He then planted his staff there (seventh generation under the Fourth Patriarch). In the seventh month, an imperial decree ordered the establishment of the Ullambana Assembly, setting up spirit seats for the seven ancestral temples down from Gaozu. They were welcomed from the Imperial Ancestral Temple into the Palace Bodhimaṇḍa, accompanied along the avenues with banners, flowers, drums, and flutes, while the hundred officials bowed to greet them; this was made an annual custom. The next day, lingzhi mushrooms grew in two chambers of the Imperial Ancestral Temple. An imperial decree appointed Śramaṇa Fazhao of Mount Nanyue as National Preceptor. The Master stated that his teacher, Chengyuan of Mount Nanyue, possessed extraordinary virtue; the Emperor faced south and bowed to him, and realizing that his spiritual presence could not be summoned, named his residence the Pratyutpanna Bodhimaṇḍa to honor his rank (recorded in Liu Zongyuan's writings). Chan Master Jingxi expounded the gate of calming and contemplation (śamatha-vipaśyanā) to Dharma Master Daosui at Folong on Mount Tiantai. An imperial decree permitted the Uyghurs who adhered to Manichaeism to build the Dayun Guangming Monastery.