釋氏稽古略 3.101

3.101

Chan Master Xiu of the Northern School: His taboo name was Shenxiu. He was a collateral heir of the Fifth Patriarch. He was born into the Li family of Kaifeng. In his youth he practiced Confucianism, and being extensively learned and well-informed, he suddenly thought of leaving home. Reaching Shuangfeng Monastery in Qizhou, he met the Fifth Patriarch, whereupon he sighed in admiration and served him, gathering firewood and drawing water in hard labor to seek his Way. The Patriarch then ordained him. After the Fifth Patriarch passed away, the master resided on Mount Dangyang in Jiangling. When the Empress Dowager heard of him, she summoned him to the capital, providing offerings for him together with National Preceptor Hui'an in the inner bodhimaṇḍa and showing him extraordinary reverence. She ordered the establishment of Dumen Monastery on Mount Dangyang to commend his virtue. After Emperor Zhongzong ascended the throne, he treated him with even greater courtesy and esteem. The Grand Councilor Zhang Yue once heard the essentials of the Dharma from him and took the etiquette of a disciple. The master showed the assembly, saying, 'All Buddha-dharmas are originally present in one's own mind. To seek externally with the mind is to abandon one's father and run away.' In the second month of the second year of the Shenlong reign era of Emperor Zhongzong, he passed away at Tiangong Monastery in the Eastern Capital. He was posthumously named Chan Master Datong. By imperial order he was buried at Longmen. On the day of burial, imperial feather insignia and ceremonial regalia were provided. The Emperor escorted him as far as Bian Bridge and decreed that Zhang Yue, the President of the Secretariat, compose an inscription for the stele. The master was born at the end of the Sui and lived over one hundred years, with a monastic seniority of eighty years. At that time, Prince Fan of Qi and the summoned scholar Lu Hongyi both carved steles and composed eulogies. A biography is found in the Old Book of Tang. Bestowing posthumous titles upon monks began with this master. His disciples Puji, Yifu, and others all inherited the master's seat (Gaoseng zhuan).