釋氏稽古略 3.125

3.125

Stove-Toppler. Chan Master Pozaoduo ('Stove-Toppler') did not state his surname or given name. He attained the Dharma under National Preceptor Hui'an and lived in seclusion on Mount Song. In a mountain ravine there was a shrine that was exceedingly numinous. In the hall was placed only a single cooking stove; sacrifices from far and near never ceased. One day, the master led an attendant monk into the shrine, struck the stove three times with his staff, and said: 'Bah! This stove is merely assembled from mud and tiles. Whence comes the holiness? Wherefore arises the numinous power? Why slaughter living creatures like this?' He struck it three more times, and the stove then collapsed and fell down. In a moment, a person wearing green robes and a tall hat bowed before the master. The master said, 'What kind of person are you?' He said, 'I was originally the stove god of this shrine, and for a long time I suffered karmic retribution. Today, receiving the master's preaching of the Dharma of non-arising, I was able to escape from this place and be born in the heavens. I have come especially to express my gratitude.' The master said, 'It is your own inherent nature; it was not my forced words.' The god bowed again and vanished. Because of this, the people of the time called the master 'the Stove-Toppler Monk' (Transmission of the Lamp).