釋氏稽古略 3.157

3.157

National Preceptor Nanyang: His name was Huizhong. He was born to the Ran clan of Zhuji in Yuezhou, Zhedong. Having received the mind-seal from the Sixth Patriarch, he resided in Dangzi Valley on Mount Baiya in Nanyang. For more than forty years he did not descend the mountain. Suzong heard of his practice of the Way. In the second year of Shangyuan, he decreed that the palace commissioner Sun Chaojin summon him to the capital, treating him with the etiquette due to a master. He resided in the Western Chan Cloister of Qianfu Monastery. The Emperor asked the Master, "What Dharma did you attain at Caoxi?" The Master said, "Does Your Majesty see a patch of cloud in the sky?" The Emperor said, "I see it." The Master said, "Is it nailed fast or hanging suspended?" The Emperor again asked, "Who is the Teacher and Regulator with the Tenfold Body?" Thereupon the Master stood up and said, "Do you understand?" The Emperor said, "I do not understand." The Master said, "Pass the pure pitcher to this old monk." The Emperor also said, "What is the samādhi of non-contention?" The Master said, "The dānapati walks on top of the crown of Vairocana." The Emperor said, "What does this mean?" The Master said, "Do not misidentify your own pure Dharmakāya." The Emperor asked further, but the Master did not look at him. The Emperor said, "I am the Son of Heaven of the Great Tang. Why does the Master not pay the slightest attention to me?" The Master said, "Do you still see empty space?" The Emperor said, "I see it." The Master said, "Does it lower its gaze to look at Your Majesty?" The Emperor grasped the understanding. In the tenth year of Dali of Daizong, as his conditions for transforming beings were coming to an end, the Master bade farewell to the Emperor. Daizong said, "After the Master's parinirvāṇa, how shall your disciple commemorate you?" The Master said, "I request the dānapati to build a seamless stūpa." The Emperor said, "I ask the Master for the design of the stūpa." The Master remained silent for a long time and said, "Do you understand?" The Emperor said, "I do not understand." The Master said, "After this poor monk departs, my attendant Yingzhen will know of this matter; please summon and inquire of him." On the nineteenth day of the twelfth month, he passed away lying on his right side. He was entombed in a stūpa in Dangzi Valley, with the posthumous title Chan Master Dazheng. Daizong summoned Yingzhen and asked about the earlier words. Zhen remained silent for a long time and said, "Does the Sage understand?" The Emperor said, "I do not understand." Zhen recited a verse: "South of the Xiang, north of the Tan, / Within is pure gold enough for an entire land. / Beneath the shadowless tree, board the same boat together; / Atop the lapis lazuli palace, there is no good friend." Yingzhen resided on Mount Danyuan in Jizhou, Jiangxi, and was a dharma heir of the National Preceptor of Nanyang (Record of the Transmission of the Lamp).