佛祖歷代通載 16

English (machine translation) 16

Language: English

16.1

Compiled by Nianchang of Huating, Abbot of Dazhong Xiangfu Chan Monastery in Jiaxing Circuit.

(1. Yisi) Emperor Jingzong, Zhan (eldest son of Muzong; his mother was Empress Dowager Wang. He indulged in unrestrained play, befriended petty men, and his character was impulsive and petulant. He was assassinated by Keming. He passed away at the age of eighteen and was buried at Zhuangling. He reigned for two years), changed the reign title to Baoli.

16.4

(2) In the eighth month, an imperial envoy was sent to Tiantai to search for numinous herbs. An edict ordered the Daoist Liu Congzheng to enter the palace to provide consultations on matters of immortality; he was appointed Chief Minister of the Court of Imperial Entertainments and additionally titled Master Shengxuan.

16.5

(Bingwu) In the third month, the Daoist Sun Zhun was ordered to compound the elixir of longevity, and Zhun was appointed Hanlin Academician Waiting for Orders.

16.6

In the fourth month, the Emperor returned from hunting at night, and while drinking heavily and playing polo with the eunuchs, the candles were suddenly extinguished and he was assassinated. He was eighteen years old. Grand ministers such as Pei Du welcomed the Imperial Younger Brother, the Prince of Jiang, to ascend the throne; this was Wenzong.

16.7

In the fifth month, an edict was issued reforming the extravagant and lawless affairs of the two previous reigns. Twenty-eight persons, including the Daoist Sun Zhun, as well as the fawning monk Weizhen, were arrested, dressed in commoner clothing, and exiled to the Lingnan region.

16.8

(3. Dingwei) Emperor Wenzong, Ang (second son of Muzong. Open-minded and receptive to advice, yet unable to remain resolute. Employing Li Xun and Zheng Zhu, he wished to execute all the court eunuchs. Qiu Shiliang and others secretly detected it and unleashed soldiers, killing over twenty persons including Chancellor Wang Wo. The Emperor passed away at the age of thirty-two, having reigned for fourteen years), changed the reign title to Taihe.

16.9

(Wushen) In the tenth month, the Surveillance Commissioner of Jiangxi, Shen Fushi, submitted a memorial requesting that in the Emperor's birth month, a Fangdeng Ordination Platform be erected in Hongzhou to ordain monks to generate merit. The imperial decree stated: "Repeated edicts have ordered that monks and nuns shall not be ordained. Fushi, disgraced as the commissioner of a region, has violated prohibitions to submit a petition. He shall be fined one month's salary."

16.10

(4) [The Chan Master] Weiyan of Yaoshan in Lizhou passed away. The great Confucian Tang Shen composed a stele inscription for him, which said: In the year after the Emperor acceded to the throne, on the sixth day of the twelfth month, the great master of the Śākya clan of Yaoshan in Liyang commandery passed away at his place of mental cultivation. Eight years later, his disciples wrote an account of their late master's conduct, came west to the capital, and informed the Great Worthy of Chongjing Monastery, seeking a way to display their late master's bright radiance and transmit it into immortality. The Great Worthy of Chongjing was my maternal cousin. He had formerly studied with Jingshan and obtained his essential mind. After [the Master] Kuanjing of Xingshan entered nirvāṇa, people from all four quarters who followed the Way, seeking clarification on doubts and the transmission of the profound, all went to Chongjing. He once said to Shen: 'Our Way's brilliance in Yaoshan is like your teaching's renown at the Zhu and Si Rivers. Although the torch of wisdom has been extinguished, the thunder of the Dharma still resounds. How could we allow his radiant virtue to remain unilluminated and his supreme practice to be buried in oblivion?' The Great Master was born in Xinfeng, Nankang. From his childhood, he never engaged in playing among crowds of children; he frequently sat alone as if meditating or contemplating. At the age of seventeen, he went south across Dayu and reached Mount Xishan in Chaozhou, where he met Chan Master Huizhao. He then shaved his head, donned black robes, and served him with propriety. During the Dali reign era, he received the full precepts (upasampadā) under Vinaya Master Xichen of Mount Heng. In the Buddhist etiquette and monastic rules, his movements were as if practiced in past lives. One morning, he said: 'A great man should detach from phenomena and become tranquil of himself; how could he painstakingly attend to trivial conduct concerning robes and cloths?' At that time, there was [Shitou Xi]qian at Nanyue, [Mazu Dao]ji in Jiangxi, and [Tianhuang Dao]hong at Zhongyue, all of whom had realized the mind and attained accord. Thus one knows that the quality of a great jade tablet need not wait for polishing, and the radiance of a chariot-illuminating jewel can hardly conceal its markings and brilliance. From then on, [Mazu] Ji became renowned in all four quarters for the Mahāyāna teaching. When disciples came to point directly to the mind and transmit the essential, what the crowd could not comprehend, the Master inevitably retained in silence and understood thoroughly; he did not disagree, appearing as if foolish. He resided in Ji's chamber for nearly twenty years. Ji said: 'What you have attained can be said to have permeated your mind and spread to your four limbs. Wishing to add more, there is nothing to add; wishing to know more, there is nothing to know. Purely harmonious with nature, it unites with the original non-being. I have nothing left to teach you. The Buddha took opening and displaying the truth to the blind masses as great work, and crossing over and eliminating all evils as great virtue. You ought to widely deliver the deluded masses through this merit and virtue. You should become a ladder and a raft; do not linger here long.' Thereupon he climbed Luofu, traversed Wutai Shan, passed through the Three Gorges, and traveled around the Nine Rivers. At the beginning of the Zhenyuan reign era, he rested at Yaoshan and sighed: 'My life's lodging in the world is merely like duckweed and tumbleweed; why should I emulate their drifting and turning?' Having cleared the weeds and built a hut just large enough to shelter his cross-legged seat, local villagers who learned of this carried food and drink and rushed thither. The Master said: 'I have no virtue toward men; how could I trouble others?' He declined them all and would not accept. The villagers knelt and said: 'We wish to hear what provisions you need daily.' He replied: 'One sheng of rice is enough.' From then on, he usually took several wild vegetables to accompany his food. After a single meal, he would approach his seat and recite the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka, Avataṃsaka, and Nirvāṇa sūtras, day and night as one. From beginning to end, it was like this for nearly thirty years. Disciples traveling in search of benefit came to know that the teaching was here. Several years later, the monastic assembly repaired and built dwellings, and the beams and ridgepoles of the meditation halls stood dense as fish scales. The assembly became beyond count. As for moistening afflictions and correcting the overturned, the source of the Way formed a stream, wherein one could see the prior knowledge and clarity of Master Ji. Suddenly, one morning, he said to his disciples: 'Traveling by relay-post, one rests when evening comes; no one travels forever without resting. I have arrived at my destination; I am about to rest. The spiritual source is naturally pure; what confounds it are marks. Being able to eliminate all marks is to be devoid of physical form. Fathom the source and sever external objects—may you completely understand this!' Having finished speaking, he leaned on his armrest and transformed. His worldly age was eighty-four; his monastic age was sixty summers. His personal disciples Chongxu and others moved his seat and erected a stupa to the east of the meditation dwelling, in accordance with the original teaching. Formerly, the Master had always used coarse linen cloth for his robes and bamboo utensils for his sandals. He shaved his own head and prepared his own food. Although his disciples numbered several hundreds and his youthful attendants were numerous, he never changed his own labor. Though hundreds of fine delicacies and fresh fruits were laid out in rows, he never changed his food. Though winter furs were doubly warm and summer garments were light and coarse, he never changed his robes. Though luxurious rooms were tranquil and deep and fragrant couches were adorned and clean, he never changed his dwelling. Though deer surrounded him and fierce beasts lay prostrate before him, he never changed his gaze. Though the noble and base came in succession to pay obeisance below his seat, he never changed his demeanor. Were he not one who had exhausted all existence, accorded with true emptiness, left behind the sickness of grasping at conditions, and possessed an original nature pure beyond material things, how could he have cast off his bodily form, forgotten cravings and desires, and remained unchanging for so long? As for other eminent ministers and high officials who took refuge and paid homage to the Master's Way, none had reached his inner threshold, so they are not listed in this text. The inscription reads: A single thing is in the center; / stirred when touching objects. / I reveal its source: / without objects, without leaping. / The sage of the western regions / truly spoke its essential. / Once its essential is attained, / its profundity can be spoken. / Our source saves itself; / our true nature is spiritual of itself. / Greatly, it envelops all existence; / subtly, it emerges without form. / What Caoxi transmitted / was vainly hidden in secrecy. / Body and world are both empty; / how could there ever have been a thing? / Seeing oneself is called illumination; / this is the supreme essence. / Emerging and vanishing rests with me; / who speaks of death and life? / Carving this on fine jade, / erecting it upon the mountain crag, / the one who composed the stele is Shen, / who aspires to immortality.

16.11

(5) Li Ao wrote the *Essay on Recovering the Nature* (*Fuxing shu*). The first part states: That by which human beings become sages is nature. That by which human beings cloud their nature is emotion. Joy, anger, sorrow, fear, love, hate, and desire—these seven are the workings of emotion. Once emotion becomes murky, the nature is hidden away; this is not the fault of the nature. The seven circulate and alternate in coming forth; thus the nature cannot govern them. When water is muddied, its current is not clear. When fire creates smoke, its light is not bright. It is not the fault of the clarity and brightness of water and fire: if silt does not muddy it, the current is clear; if smoke does not obscure it, the light is bright; if emotions do not stir, the nature is governed. Nature is the decree of Heaven. Sages are those who attain it and remain unconfused. Do sages have no emotions? A sage is tranquil and unmoving; reaches without going; is trusted without speaking; shines without flashing; his fashioning of rites matches Heaven and Earth; his transformations unite with yin and yang. Though he has emotions, he has never had emotions. If so, do ordinary people have no nature? The nature of ordinary people and the nature of sages do not differ. Even so, the turbidity of emotions attacks mutually without end; hence, though they live out their lives, they never behold their own nature. Fire latent within mountain rocks and forest trees is not un-fire. The downstream stretches of the Yangzi, Yellow, Huai, and Ji rivers originating as springs in the mountains are not un-water. If stones are not struck and wood is not rubbed, they cannot burn their mountains and forests or dry out the myriad things. If the springs' sources are not unblocked, they cannot become the Yangzi, the Yellow, the Huai, or the Ji rivers, nor gather eastward into the great abyss, surging vast and surging deep beyond measure. If the stirrings of emotion do not cease, one cannot recover one's nature and illuminate Heaven and Earth with limitless brightness. Therefore, sincerity is the nature of the sage. Tranquil and unmoving, vast, clear, and bright, it illuminates Heaven and Earth; when stimulated, it immediately penetrates the affairs of all under Heaven. In walking, stopping, speaking, or keeping silent, there is nowhere it does not attain the ultimate. Those who recover their nature are the worthy who follow it without ceasing. If they do not cease, they can return to its source. Sages knew that the nature of human beings can all be followed without ceasing until they reach sageliness; hence they fashioned rites to regulate it and composed music to harmonize it. Resting in humaneness is the root of music; acting with propriety is the root of rites. Thus when in a carriage, one hears the sound of harmony and harness bells; when walking, one hears the chiming of jade pendants; without cause, one does not set aside the zither and lute. Watching, speaking, and acting move in accordance with ritual and law; this is the means to teach people to forget desires and return to the Dao of nature and destiny. The Dao is utmost sincerity without cease. When utmost sincerity is without cease, there is emptiness; when emptiness is without cease, there is brightness; when brightness is without cease, it illuminates Heaven and Earth leaving nothing out. It is nothing else: this is the Dao of fulfilling nature and destiny. How lamentable! Everyone can attain this, yet none stop [their confusion] to do it—is this not delusion? In the past, the Sage transmitted it to Master Yan. Yan Hui attained it and grasped it firmly without losing it; returning from not far away, for three months his mind did not depart from humaneness. The Master said, 'Hui is close to it, yet often empty.' The reason he did not reach sageliness was merely a single breath [short]; it was not that his strength was insufficient, but because he died young. As for the rest who ascended the hall, all indeed received the transmission. The spring generated by a single qi, the enrichment provided by a single rain—those who receive them vary in depth and are not necessarily equal. When Zengzi was dying, he said, 'What should I seek? Having attained correctness and dying here, this is enough.' These are words of rectifying nature and destiny. Zisi was Zhongni's grandson; attaining the Dao of his ancestor, he expounded forty-nine chapters of the *Doctrine of the Mean* (*Zhongyong*) to transmit to Meng Ke. Meng Ke said, 'At forty, I had an unmoving mind.' Ke's accomplished disciples, the likes of Gongsun Chou and Wan Zhang, indeed transmitted it. Meeting with the Qin burning of the books, among the unburnt chapters of the *Zhongyong*, one chapter remained. Thereupon this Dao fell into decay and neglect. Those who taught merely took fragments of style and syntax, or the arts of deportment and swordsmanship, to instruct one another. The source of nature and destiny, then, I could no longer find transmitted. When the Dao reaches the extreme of peeling away (*bo*), it must return (*fu*). Since the age of six I have read books, but pursued only the study of words and phrases. I have aspired to the Dao for four years. Speaking of it with others, there has never been anyone who agreed with me. Looking south at the surging river, I entered Yue, where Lu Can of Wuxing resided. Speaking with him, Lu Can said, 'Your words are the mind of Confucius. If there is a sage in the east, he does not go beyond this; if there is a sage in the west, he likewise does not go beyond this. You need only practice it without ceasing, that is all.' Alas! Although books on nature and destiny survive, scholars cannot illuminate them. For this reason, they all enter Zhuangzi, Liezi, Laozi, and the Śākya [traditions]. Those who do not understand say that the Master's disciples were insufficient to exhaust the Dao of nature and destiny, and all who believe them agree. When someone asked me, I transmitted what I knew, and thereupon wrote it in a book to open the source of sincerity and brightness, so that the discarded, broken, and unexpressed Dao might perhaps be transmitted. Thus I named it *Essay on Recovering the Nature*, to govern the mind and transmit to others. Ah! Were the Master to be reborn, he would not discard my words.

The second part states: Someone asked, 'Human delusion has lasted long. If one wishes to recover one's nature, there must be a gradual process. May I ask the method?' The answer was: 'Do not reflect and do not deliberate, and emotions will not arise. Once emotions do not arise, this is right reflection. Right reflection is being without reflection and without deliberation. The *Changes* (*Yijing*) says, "Under Heaven, what reflection, what deliberation is there?" It also says, "Fend off depravity and preserve sincerity." The *Odes* (*Shijing*) says, "In thoughts, no depravity."' The questioner asked, 'Is this all?' The answer was: 'Not yet. This is fasting and purifying the mind; it has not yet departed from stillness. Where there is stillness, there must be motion; where there is motion, there must be stillness. Motion and stillness without cease—this is emotion itself. The *Changes* says, "Good fortune, bad fortune, regret, and humiliation arise from motion." How could this recover the nature?' The questioner said, 'What then should be done?' The answer was: 'At the time of stillness, knowing that the mind is without reflection is fasting. Knowing that there is fundamentally no reflection, departing from both motion and stillness, tranquil and unmoving—this is utmost sincerity. The *Doctrine of the Mean* says, "When sincere, there is brightness." The *Changes* says, "The motions under Heaven are rectified in the One."' The questioner asked, 'At the time of neither reflecting nor deliberating, when things reach one from without and emotions respond from within, how can they be stopped? Can emotion stop emotion?' The answer was: 'Emotion is the depravity of the nature. Knowing it to be depraved, fundamentally having no such mind, tranquil without cease, depraved thoughts will naturally cease. Only when the nature shines brightly, where can depravity arise? If one uses emotion to stop emotion, this is great emotion. When emotions stop one another, will it ever end? The *Changes* says, "The son of the Yan family is almost there! If there is ungood, he never fails to know it; knowing it, he never acts on it again." The *Changes* says, "Returning from not far away brings no regret; great good fortune."' The questioner asked, 'Fundamentally having no reflection and departing from both motion and stillness—does this mean that when stillness comes, one does not hear? When the shapes of things appear, does one not see them?' The answer was: 'Not to see and not to hear is not to be human. Seeing and hearing clearly without giving rise to seeing and hearing—this is right. There is nothing unknown, nothing undone; the mind is tranquil, its light illuminating Heaven and Earth—this is the brightness of sincerity. The *Great Learning* (*Daxue*) says, "The extension of knowledge lies in the investigation of things (*gewu*)." The *Changes* says, "Without reflection and without action, tranquil and unmoving, when stimulated it immediately penetrates the affairs of all under Heaven." If not the most spiritual under Heaven, who could take part in this?' The questioner said, 'May I ask, what is meant by "the extension of knowledge lies in the investigation of things"?' The answer was: 'Things (*wu*) are the myriad things. *Ge* means to arrive. When things arrive, the mind clearly discerns them without attaching to them; this is the extension of knowledge; this is the utmost of knowledge. When knowledge is utmost, the intent is sincere; when the intent is sincere, the mind is rectified; when the mind is rectified, the body is cultivated; when the body is cultivated, the family is regulated; when the family is regulated, the state is ordered; when the state is ordered, all under Heaven is at peace. This is how one can match Heaven and Earth. The *Changes* says, "Resembling Heaven and Earth, hence not contrary; wisdom encompasses the myriad things and the Dao aids all under Heaven, hence not exceeding; acting broadly without straying, rejoicing in Heaven and knowing destiny, hence without sorrow; resting content in one's place and earnest in humaneness, hence able to love; framing and encompassing the transformations of Heaven and Earth without exceeding; rounding out the myriad things without leaving anything out; penetrating the Dao of day and night and knowing it—hence the spirit has no direction and the *Changes* has no body. One yin and one yang is called the Dao." This is what it means.' The questioner said, 'Sir, explain the *Doctrine of the Mean* for me.' The answer was: 'It does not go beyond what was said before.' The questioner said, 'I am not yet clear. May I ask what is meant by "what Heaven ordains is called the nature"?' The answer was: 'Human life is born tranquil; this is Heaven's nature. Nature is Heaven's decree. "Following the nature is called the Dao"—what does it mean? Following means to trace. Tracing the source and returning to one's nature is the Dao. The Dao is utmost sincerity; utmost sincerity is the Dao of Heaven. Sincerity is being settled and unmoving. "Cultivating the Dao is called instruction"—what does it mean? Instruction is the Dao of man: choosing the good and holding fast to it. Cultivating this Dao and returning to its root is brightness. Such instruction can then teach all under Heaven; Master Yan was such a man. "The Dao cannot be departed from for an instant; if it could be departed from, it would not be the Dao." Commentators say: This is because the mind cannot be stirred for an instant. If it stirs, it goes far astray and is not the Dao. Its transformations have no fixed direction, yet never depart from being unmoved; this is why. "Therefore the gentleman is cautious about what he does not see, and apprehensive about what he does not hear. Nothing is more visible than what is hidden; nothing is more manifest than what is subtle. Therefore the gentleman is watchful over himself when alone." Commentators say: Seeing what is not seen, no sight is greater; hearing what is not heard, no hearing is more profound. When the mind is unmoved, this is seeing what is not seen, hearing what is not heard; its return is not far away. Therefore he is watchful over himself when alone. Being watchful over himself when alone is preserving the center.' The questioner asked, 'Former commentators on the *Doctrine of the Mean* all differ from your words; why is this?' The answer was: 'They explained it by external affairs; I penetrate it through the mind.' The questioner said, 'Did they also penetrate the mind?' The answer was: 'I do not know.' The questioner asked, 'If human nature is like the sage's nature, whence do cravings, desires, love, and hate arise?' The answer was: 'Emotions are false and depraved.' The questioner asked, 'If depraved and false, then they have no cause. When false emotions cease and the original nature is clear and bright, circulating through the six voids, this is why it is called being able to recover one's nature. The *Changes* says, "The Dao of Qian transforms, each rectifying its nature and destiny." The *Analects* says, "Hearing the Dao in the morning, one may die in the evening." This is because one is able to rectify nature and destiny.' The questioner asked, 'When clouded by emotion, the nature is destroyed. Why say it is still like the sage's nature?' The answer was: 'Water is clear; what muddies it is sand and mud. When it is muddied, do the nature and emotions then cease to exist? Kept still for a long time, the sand and mud sink of themselves, and the clear and bright nature mirrors Heaven and Earth; it does not come from without. Thus, when muddied, the nature is fundamentally not lost; when recovered, the nature is likewise not newly born. Human nature is just like water.' The questioner asked, 'Human nature is fundamentally good, yet depraved emotions cloud it. May I ask: will the sage's nature again be muddied by cravings and desires?' The answer was: 'It will not be muddied again. Emotions are fundamentally depraved and false; obscured by depravity and falsehood, the nature cannot be recovered. Once the sage has recovered his nature, he knows that what emotion does is depraved. Once depravity is awakened to by brightness, there is no depravity. Whence could depravity arise?' The questioner said, 'May I ask where death goes?' The answer was: 'This is what the sages did not clearly write in their books. The *Changes* says, "Tracing the beginning and pursuing the end, one thus understands the explanation of death and life. Essences and qi constitute things; the wandering soul causes change; thus one knows the condition of ghosts and spirits." This exhausts it. The Master said, "Not yet knowing life, how can one know death?" Tracing the beginning and returning to the end, one can exhaust the Dao of life. When the Dao of life is exhausted, the explanation of death is understood without study. This is not urgent. Cultivate it without ceasing, and you will know it yourself. I cannot speak conspicuously of what is not in the books.'

The third part states: Those who work by day and rest by night are ordinary people. Working at what is not true work, they work along with things; resting at what is not true rest, they rest along with things. I am not like ordinary people: by day I have nothing to work at; by night I have nothing to rest from. Working is not my working; work has its things. Resting is not my resting; rest has its things. Resting or working? Departing from both, neither remains; that which I preserve shall never perish nor depart. The reason human beings do not apply themselves to the Dao is that they are murky and do not reflect. Between Heaven and Earth the myriad things are born; human beings and the myriad things are one. How are they distinguished from birds, beasts, insects, and fish? Is it not that the nature of Dao and virtue is complete in them? Receiving a single qi and taking form, one becomes an animal and another a human; obtaining this [human form] is exceedingly difficult. Living in the world, one's years are not deeply long. With years that are not deeply long, possessing a body exceedingly difficult to obtain, yet failing to be solely devoted to the Great Dao and indulging what the mind desires, that by which one is distinguished from birds, beasts, insects, and fish is lost! Murky and unreflecting, in their murkiness they will never become bright. My years are thirty and nine. Reflecting on when I was nineteen, it seems like this morning; reflecting on when I was nine, it likewise seems like this morning. When humans receive life, the long-lived do not exceed seventy or eighty years; those reaching ninety or a hundred are rare. When at a hundred years, looking back on ninety, is the distance from my reflections today on the past vastly different? Can it be farther than the morning? If so, human life, even if enjoying a hundred years, is startled like thunder and lightning clashing, or like wind swirling and whirling—this can be known. How much more so when among hundreds of thousands of people, not one reaches the age of a hundred? Therefore all day long I set my will on the Dao, still fearing I may not reach it. Those who indulge whatever their minds desire—what kind of men are they?

16.12

(Jiyou) [829 CE] — In the valleys of the three prefectures of Yun, Dai, and Wei, stones turned to flour, and the people gathered and ate it.

16.13

(6) At Chongxuan Monastery in Suzhou, the carving of the stone wall scriptures was completed. Bai Juyi, the regional governor, composed an inscription for it, which read: "The stele stands next to the east of the stone wall. The stone wall is in the southwest corner of the Guangde Fahua Cloister. The cloister is a certain number of paces west of Chongxuan Monastery. The monastery is a certain number of li north of the city of Suzhou. The Buddhist scriptures were engraved in the Chinese language and the Tang script; from the chapter titles and the names of the various Buddhas downward, the characters were overlaid with gold. Now, for opening, demonstrating, awakening to, and entering the insight of the Buddhas, for crossing over the boundless through meaning, and for handing down the inexhaustible through the Perfect Teaching, none is more venerable than the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka-sūtra, totaling 69,505 words. For realizing the endurance of non-arising, entering the gate of non-duality, and dwelling in inconceivable liberation, none goes further than our Vimalakīrtinirdeśa-sūtra, totaling 27,092 words. For gathering the four kinds of births and nine classes of beings into nirvāṇa without remainder, where in truth none are crossed over, none surpasses the Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra, totaling 5,287 words. For averting transgressions, gathering blessings, and purifying all evil destinies, none is more urgent than the Uṣṇīṣavijayā Dhāraṇī Sūtra, totaling 3,010 words. For answering mindfulness, complying with vows, and wishing for rebirth in the Land of Utmost Bliss, none is more urgent than the Amitābha Sūtra, totaling 1,800 words. For using correct views to contemplate true reality, none surpasses the Sūtra on the Method of Contemplating the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra's Practices, totaling 6,990 words. For explaining the intrinsic nature and recognizing original awakening, none exceeds the Sūtra of the Esoteric Meaning of the True Mark of Phenomena, totaling 3,205 words. For emptying the dust of phenomena and relying on the Buddha's wisdom, none exceeds the Heart Sūtra of the Perfection of Wisdom, totaling 258 words. These eight kinds of sūtras possess the twelve divisions, comprising in all 116,857 words. The essential points of the Triyāna and the secret store of the myriad Buddhas are exhausted herein. This stone wall is piled four layers deep, three xun high, fifteen zhang long, and one chi and one zhi thick. Stone lotuses unfold and cover it above and below; stone spirits solidly protect it before and behind. Fire and water cannot burn or flood it; wind and sun cannot shake or dissolve it. It is what may be called bestowing the unsurpassed Dharma until the end of the future. The work began in the winter of the second year of the Changqing reign of the Tang and was completed in the spring of the third year of the Taihe reign. The vinaya-virtuous śramaṇa Qinghuang launched the design, and Qinghai continued his intention; the disciples Nanrong brought it to fruition, and Daoxe completed it. The monastery monk Qiyuan relinquished his [other] arts and calligraphed it, while the governor of the commandery, Bai Juyi, offered words and praised it. The praise states: 'After the Buddha passed into extinction, the world became empty. Only these scriptures remained together with sentient beings. Even if someone were to write them on palm leaves and store them in sandalwood shrines, these are neither solid nor lasting, like a wax seal pressed against the void. Even if someone were to prick their blood for ink and flay their skin for paper, as soon as the person perishes, they vanish, like writing on water with a brush. Ah! Writing on water is not as good as incising stone; stamping in wax is not as good as lettering in gold. Its merit will not decay; its meaning is exceedingly profound. Therefore, I say that the merit of the stone scriptures accords with the mind of the Tathāgata's entrustment.'"

16.14

(7) In this year, Chan Master Tianran of Danxia was about to pass away. He ordered his attendants to prepare a bath. After bathing, he donned a bamboo hat, grasped his staff, took his shoes, and hung down one foot; before it touched the ground, he transformed [and died], at the age of eighty-six. The Master was originally a Confucian scholar traveling to take the civil service examinations. By chance, he met a Chan practitioner, who asked, 'Where is the benevolent one going now?' He replied, 'I am going to be chosen as an official.' The Chan practitioner said, 'How can being chosen as an official compare to being chosen as a Buddha?' He asked, 'To be chosen as a Buddha, where should I go?' The Chan practitioner said, 'Mazu has appeared in Jiangxi; that is the arena where Buddhas are chosen.' The Master then went to see Mazu. Using his hand, he pushed back his headcloth from his forehead. Mazu gazed at him for a long time and said, 'Shitou of Nanyue is your teacher.' The Master arrived at Nanyue and approached [Shitou] with the same intention. Shitou said, 'Go to the stable.' He bowed in thanks and entered the postulants' hall to perform duties. Later, when the community was summoned to weed grass, the Master alone washed his head and knelt before Shitou. Shitou gladly shaved his head. Soon after, when [Shitou] was about to expound the precepts for him, he covered his ears and walked away. He then returned to Jiangxi to see Mazu again. Without paying respects, he went directly into the saṃgha hall, straddled the neck of the Holy Monk [statue], and sat there. The assembly was astonished and reported this to Mazu. Mazu entered the hall, saw him, and said, 'My son Tianran (Natural).' The Master immediately stepped down to the ground, bowed, and said, 'I thank the Master for bestowing my Dharma name.' After a long time, he traveled extensively through various regions. Later, he lay down horizontally on Tianjin Bridge. When Governor Zheng came out, he shouted at him, but he did not get up. When an official asked the reason, he replied, 'A monk of no affairs.' Zheng marvelled at him and daily provided him with rice and flour. The people of Luoyang unanimously turned to him in reverence. He resided at Danxia in Dengzhou, where his followers numbered several hundred. He once instructed the assembly, saying: 'All of you must urgently protect this single spiritual thing! This is not something you can fabricate or depict with names. What more is there to say about apprehending or not apprehending it? When I formerly saw the Venerable Shitou, he also only taught me to protect this matter; it is not something for your talk and chatter. Each of you has ground for a sitting mat—what Chan do you still doubt? Is this something you can understand? How could there be a Buddha to attain? The single word "Buddha" is something I never wish to hear! Look for yourselves: skillful means, loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity do not come from outside; they do not attach to the square-inch [heart]. Skillfulness is Mañjuśrī; means is Samantabhadra. What else do you intend to chase after? There is no need to pass through things or fall into emptiness. Students of today are in an uproar, all practicing Chan and inquiring into the Way. Here with me, there is no Way to cultivate and no Dharma to realize. A single drink and a single peck each have their share; there is no need for doubts or worries. Everywhere and in every place, it is just like this. If you recognize Śākya, he is just an ordinary man. You must see for yourselves! One blind man leads a crowd of blind men, together falling into a pit of fire. In the dark of night, how can dice throw a winning score? Farewell, be of no affairs.' The Master once composed two poems titled 'Chant on Playing with the Pearl.' The first says: 'Recognizing the jewel within the garment, the drunken stupor of ignorance naturally wakes. / When the hundred bones are all shattered and dissolved, / One thing remains ever spiritual. / The realm of wisdom is entirely without body; / The divine pearl has no fixed form. / Awakened, it is the three bodies of the Buddha; / Deluded, one doubts the myriad scrolls of scriptures. / Within the mind, the mind can fathom it; / Passing into the ear, the ear finds it hard to hear. / Indistinct, it precedes Heaven and Earth; / The mysterious spring emerges from the dark and deep. / Originally rigid, it is not forged; / Primordially pure, it is not clarified. / Broad and vast, it turns the morning sun; / Translucent and bright, it reflects the dawn stars. / Its auspicious light flows without extinguishing; / When the true vital energy is touched, it arises anew. / Mirroring and illuminating, Kongtong is still; / Encompassing all, the Dharma realm is luminous. / Diminishing the ordinary, its merit does not decrease; / Transcending the noble, its fruition does not overflow. / The dragon maiden personally offered it from her mind; / King Ajātaśatru presented it from his own mouth. / The one who protected the goose was saved alive; / The yellow sparrow’s intent was yet light. / Understanding speech does not concern the tongue; / Being able to speak is not sound. / Beyond boundaries, it fills the vast expanse; / Boundless, it equals empty space. / Expounding the teachings is not speaking; / Hearing the name, one suddenly recognizes the name. / Do not establish either of the two extremes; / There is no need to walk the Middle Way. / Seeing the moon, stop looking at the finger; / Having returned home, cease inquiring about the road. / Recognizing the mind, the mind is itself the Buddha; / What other Buddha remains to be achieved?'

16.15

(8) At that time, there was Old Woman Ling, who once visited the Venerable Fubei. While they were drinking tea together, the old woman asked, 'The phrase that cannot be spoken even with utmost effort—to whom do you entrust it?' [Fubei] said, 'Fubei has no surplus words.' The old woman said, 'I would not say it like that.' [Fubei] said, 'How would you say it?' The old woman pulled back her hands, wept, and said, 'Blue Heaven! What an even greater injustice!' Fubei was silent. The old woman said, 'If speech does not know the partial and the correct, when [directed toward] another, disaster arises.' Later, a monk brought this up to Nanquan. Nanquan said, 'How bitter, Fubei! He was broken by an old woman.' When the old woman heard Nanquan's words, she laughed and said, 'Old Master Wang still lacks the mechanism.' There was a Chan practitioner named Chengyi who met the old woman and asked, 'How is it that Nanquan still lacks the mechanism?' The old woman then wept and said, 'How lamentable, how grievous!' Chengyi was at a loss. The old woman said, 'Do you understand?' Chengyi stood with palms joined. The old woman said, 'Dead-drudge Chan monks are like hemp and millet.' Later, Chengyi brought this up to Zhaozhou. Zhaozhou said, 'If I had met that foul old woman, I would have questioned her until her mouth was struck dumb.' Chengyi said, 'I wonder how the Venerable would question her?' Zhaozhou hit him with a staff, saying, 'A dead-drudge Chan monk like this—if I do not hit him now, what am I waiting for?' and struck him several times in succession. When the old woman heard that Zhaozhou had said this, she said, 'Zhaozhou himself ought to eat a blow from this old woman's hand.' Later, a monk brought this up to Zhaozhou. Zhaozhou wept, saying, 'How lamentable, how grievous!' When the old woman heard these words of Zhaozhou, she joined her palms and said, 'Zhaozhou's eyes emit bright light, illuminating and breaking through the four continents.' Later, Zhaozhou sent a monk to ask, 'What are Zhaozhou's eyes like?' The old woman raised her fist. When Zhaozhou heard this, he sent her a verse, saying: 'Meeting the dynamic, hold it up directly face-to-face; / Face-to-face meeting the dynamic, it is swift. / I tell you, Old Woman Ling: / In the sound of weeping, what gain or loss is there?' The old woman also answered with a verse, saying: 'The Master has already understood the sound of weeping; / Having understood it, who else knows? / At that time in the country of Magadha, / The function died before the dynamic right in front of the eyes.'

16.16

(9 / Xinhai) [831 CE] — Emperor Wenzong was fond of eating clams. One day, among the imperial dishes, there was a clam that could not be split open. Suddenly, it transformed into an image of a Bodhisattva. The Emperor was astonished and issued an edict to send it to Xingshan Monastery, ordering the assembly of monks to gaze upon and worship it. He then asked his attendants, 'What omen is this?' Someone answered, 'Chan Master Weizheng of Mount Taiyi deeply understands the Buddha Dharma. You should issue an edict to inquire of him.' The Emperor summoned Zheng and questioned him. He replied, 'Things do not respond in vain; this is surely to arouse Your Majesty's faithful mind. A sūtra says: "To those who should be saved by the form of a Bodhisattva, he immediately manifests the form of a Bodhisattva to expound the Dharma for them."' The Emperor said, 'The form of the Bodhisattva has now been seen, but I have not heard it expound the Dharma. Why is that?' Zheng replied, 'Does Your Majesty regard seeing this as ordinary or extraordinary? Do you believe it or not believe it?' The Emperor said, 'An extraordinary auspicious sign—how could I not believe it?' Zheng said, 'Your Majesty has already heard it expound the Dharma; why say you have not heard it?' The Emperor was greatly pleased and decreed that all monasteries under heaven should erect images of Avalokiteśvara and make offerings to them.

16.17

(Guichou) [833 CE] — In the tenth month, on the Emperor's birthday, Dharma Master Zhixuan and Daoist priests were summoned to debate the Way in the Linde Hall.

16.18

(10 / Yimao) [835 CE] — In the fourth month, on the dingsi day, Grand Councillor Li Xun submitted a memorial requesting the abolition of the Inner Palace Chapel and the purging of counterfeit and illicit monks and nuns. An imperial decree approved it. On that day, when the edict was issued and they were just beginning to destroy the sacred images in the Imperial Palace, a violent wind suddenly arose. The ridge-end ornaments of Hanyuan Hall all fell down, the guardhouses of the Three Gold Marks were unroofed, the towers and gatehouses of both the inner and outer city walls were all ruined, and the wall of Guanghua Gate also collapsed. Scholars and commoners trembled in fear. Considering that what Li Xun requested went against the will of Heaven, the Emperor urgently decreed the suspension of the previous purge and ordered that the holy images in the Imperial Palace be re-erected. The wind thereupon abruptly ceased. This is recorded in the 'Treatise on the Five Elements' in the Old History. In the winter of that year, in the eleventh month, Grand Councillors Li Xun and Zheng Zhu plotted to eliminate the eunuchs, but they did not succeed and their plot failed; both Xun and Zhu died.

16.19

(11) In this year, Chan Master Nanquan Puyan (a native of Xinzheng in Zhengzhou, whose lay surname was Wang) was about to enter into silence. The head monk asked, "After the Venerable's hundred years are over, to where will you go?" The Master said, "Down the mountain to become a water ox." The head monk said, "May this one follow the Venerable, or may I not?" The Master said, "If you would follow me, you must come holding a stalk of grass in your mouth." He then gathered his disciples and said to them, "Stars obscured, a lantern’s phantoms—their rising has long been so. Do not say that I have coming or going." When he finished speaking, he passed away. The Master attained the Dharma from Mazu. Later he returned to Chiyang, built his own meditation hermitage to reside in, and for thirty years did not come down from Nanquan. It happened that Lu Gen, the Surveillance Commissioner of Xuancheng, invited him down the mountain to pay him the respects of a disciple, whereupon students gathered like clouds. Lu once asked, "This disciple comes from the Six Coordinates. In their midst, is there still a body or not?" Nanquan said, "Remember clearly, and quote this to an adept!" Lu said, "The Venerable is greatly unfathomable; wherever one goes, the world is fully present." Nanquan said, "Just now, all was just the affair of your Excellency's portion." On another day Lu said again, "This disciple slightly understands the Buddha Dharma." Nanquan said, "Throughout the twelve hours of the day, how is it?" Lu said, "Not a single thread hangs [on me]." Nanquan said, "You are still a fellow below the steps!" Nanquan further said, "Have you not heard it said: a ruler who possesses the Way does not accept a wise minister?" One day, seeing people playing double-six, His Excellency picked up the dice and said, "Thus, not thus; when one just follows the roll thus, how is it?" Nanquan picked up the dice and said, "Stinking bones, eighteen!" He once instructed the assembly, saying: "To utter 'Thusness' has already altered it. Monks of today must go directly among different kinds [of beings]!" He also said, "I have nowhere to go throughout all places; others cannot constrain me. This is called the 'all-traversing samādhi' and 'universally manifesting the physical body.'" He also said, "Nowadays, one cannot fail to uphold the precepts. I am not him; he is not me. If you can act like a badger or a white bull, your conduct will be joyous. If a single thought diverges, it will be difficult to practice. As soon as a single thought diverges, there are superior and inferior faculties; this is also emotional views. Following those causes and effects, what share of freedom is left?" He also said, "The old monk at eighteen understood how to make a living. Is there anyone who understands how to make a living? Come forward and let us discuss it together. It must be someone dwelling in the mountains to succeed! Take care, there is nothing to do, practice each on your own!" When the great assembly did not leave, the Master said again, "Even a holy fruition is greatly fearsome; even great persons of immeasurable [capacity] can do nothing about it. For now, I am not him, and he is not me. Those scriptural and treatise masters speak of the dharmakāya as the ultimate, calling it the 'samādhi of exhausted principle.' This is like the old monk earlier being instructed by someone to 'return to the source and revert to the origin'—if I had understood it thus, what a catastrophe! Brothers, recently there are too many Chan masters; one cannot find a foolish and dull person. I do not say there are none at all, but among them they are few. If there are any, come forward and let us discuss it together. In the kalpa of emptiness, are there still people who practice or not? Whether there are or not, why do you not speak? You are usually clever-lipped and glib-tongued, but when questioned you all say nothing! Why not come forward? Let alone the matter of the Buddha appearing in the world! Brothers, people nowadays carry the Buddha on their shoulders as they walk. Hearing the old monk say 'mind is not Buddha, wisdom is not the Way,' they immediately gather heads together intending to topple the old monk. There is no place for you to topple! If you can bundle up empty space into a staff and strike the old monk with it, you may topple me as you please!" The style of the Master and Zhaozhou was universally revered as the supreme standard under heaven.

16.20

On the eleventh day of the ninth month of the ninth year of Dahe, Chan Master Yuanzhi of Mount Daowu in Tanzhou announced his passing into silence. He was a native of Haihun in Yuzhang, whose lay surname was Zhang. In his youth he relied on Master Pan to receive instruction and ascend [the platform for] the precepts. Participating in Yaoshan's Dharma assemblies, he intimately tallied with the mind-seal. One day Yaoshan asked, "Where have you come from?" He said, "I have come from wandering the mountains." Yaoshan said, "Without leaving this room, speak quickly!" He said, "The birds on the mountain are white as snow; the swimming fish in the ravine stream are ceaselessly busy." Once when the Master and Yunyan were standing in attendance, Yaoshan said, "Where wisdom does not reach, be scrupulous not to speak of it! If you speak of it, horns will grow on your head. Ascetic Zhi, how is it?" The Master walked right out. Yunyan asked Yaoshan, "Why did senior brother Zhi not answer the Venerable?" Yaoshan said, "I have a backache today; he, however, understood. Go ask him." Yunyan immediately went and asked the Master, "Why did senior brother just now not answer the Venerable?" The Master said, "Go back and ask the Venerable." (A monk asked Yunju, "What is the meaning of 'be scrupulous not to speak of it'?" Yunju said, "These words are most poisonous." The monk said, "What are the most poisonous words?" Yunju said, "A single staff kills both dragons and snakes.") When Yunyan was about to pass away, he sent someone with a letter of farewell. When the letter arrived, the Master opened and read it, saying, "Yunyan did not know it exists! I regret not having told him at that time. Although this is so, in the end he did not go against Yaoshan's son." (Xuanjue said, "Did the ancient have it or not when speaking thus?" He also said, "Yunyan did not understand at that time. Tell me, where was it that he did not understand?") Guishan asked, "Where has the Master come from?" The Master said, "I have come from visiting the sick." Guishan said, "How many people are sick?" The Master said, "There are those who are sick, and there are those who are not sick." Guishan said, "Is the one who is not sick Ascetic Zhi?" The Master said, "Being sick or not sick has nothing to do with him at all! Speak quickly, speak quickly!" A monk asked, "Ten thousand miles without clouds is not yet the original sky. What is the original sky?" The Master said, "Today is good for drying wheat in the sun." [A monk] asked, "Why are the footprints of a bodhisattva without supernatural powers difficult to trace?" The Master said, "Only a fellow traveler knows." [The monk] said, "Does the Venerable know?" The Master said, "I do not know." [The monk] said, "Why do you not know?" The Master said, "You do not understand my words." Shishuang asked the Master, "After your hundred years, if someone asks about the ultimate matter, what will you say to him?" The Master called to a novice. The novice answered. The Master said, "Add water to the clean pitcher." After a long pause, the Master asked Shishuang, "What did you ask just now?" Shishuang brought it up again. The Master stood up and left. On another day Shishuang asked again, "The Venerable's single piece of bone rings like bronze when tapped. Where will it go?" The Master called the attendant. The attendant answered. The Master said, "In the year of the donkey!" The Master said, "Sickness brings suffering." The monastic assembly came to inquire after his condition. The Master said, "Experiencing [sickness] is not retribution. Do you know this?" The assembly all looked sorrowful. When he was about to depart, he addressed the assembly, saying, "I must journey west; by principle there is no moving east." Having finished speaking, he announced his silence. His age was sixty-seven. After the cremation (jhāpita), several pieces of relic bones were obtained, and a stūpa was erected on the sunny side of Mount Shishuang. By imperial decree he was posthumously titled Great Master Xiuyi, and the stūpa was named Shixiang.

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佛祖歷代通載 — Classical Chinese