釋氏稽古略 4.196

4.196

Duke Qingxian Zhao Bian in ordinary life took Chan Master Tianbo Chongyuan of the Northern Capital (now Daming Circuit; heir of Tianyi Huai) as his friend beyond the mundane world, consulting him to resolve matters of the mind-dharma. When he governed Qingzhou, he had an awakening upon hearing thunder, and immediately uttered a verse saying: / 'Retiring from duties in the official hall, I lean on the table; / Motionless and unshaken, the mind is like water. / A single clap of thunder penetrates the crown of my head, / Startling into wakefulness my original self from before. / Raising my head to the vast azure, I am joyful and joyful again; / In every realm and every speck of dust, nothing is not this. / People of middling and lower capacity cannot hear of it: / Wondrous functions and spiritual powers, and that is all!' / Afterwards, in his reply to Duke Zheng Fu's letter, he wrote in brief: 'Recently I sent three fascicles of an abridged edition of the Transmission of the Lamp, which should have been delivered. Now I have ordered Envoy Song Wei to deliver the remaining seven scrolls to you. Bian respectfully considers that the Western Sage's Dharma transmitted separately outside the teachings was not set forth for people of middling and lower faculties. Those of superior wisdom awaken suddenly and enter; once attained, it is attained forever. The foolish are deluded and do not return, scattered in a thousand differences and ten thousand distinctions. Only Buddhas and Patriarchs transmit mind with mind. In their unavoidable need to benefit living beings and receive people, they consequently used blows, shouts, fists, fingers, raising eyebrows, blinking eyes, lifting the mallet, raising the fly-whisk, and spoken and written words—various kinds of skillful means. As we depart further from the sages, students in all quarters forget the root and pursue the branches, abandoning the source and following the waves; they are vast and everywhere. These are what are truly pitiable. Unworthy as I am, in early autumn of last year in Qingzhou, owing to a resonance, I came to know slightly that original nature has nothing lacking and nothing surplus. What the ancients called the Dharma-gate of peace and joy is truly not false. Lately I have been favored by the Grand Preceptor and Minister to seek Chan records for him; I have long received your grace, and hearing this I was so overjoyed that I unconsciously danced with hands and feet. I respectfully consider that your highness has attained wealth and honor to such an extreme, virtue and Way in such abundance, blessings, longevity, health, and peace in such completeness, and leisure in retirement to such heights; that which you had not yet paid close attention to was merely the Tathāgata's one great causal matter. Now you have again attained an awakening into the true nature; Bian ventures to congratulate your household.' At this point, in the second year of Yuanfeng, Duke Qingxian retired from administration with the title Junior Protector of the Crown Prince and returned to Quzhou. He lived among the local people without maintaining distinctions of rank or appearance. He built a dwelling called 'Gaoghai' (High Studio) and expressed his mind in a verse, saying: / 'With yellow gold at my waist I have already retired; / The reflections within are also ordinary. / If people of the time wish to know the old man of High Studio, / He is merely Zhao the Fourth of Ke Village.' / He also wrote an inscription for his tomb built during his lifetime, saying: 'My governance has ended; my age is seventy-two. After a hundred years, I shall return to this mountain earth. That true Dharma body is neither identical nor separate. It fills the great thousand worlds, universally manifesting compassion and wisdom. It cannot be concealed, nor can it be placed away. The discourse on the living tomb is thus, is thus.' The Duke passed away in the eighth month in the autumn of the seventh year of Yuanfeng (Luohu jilu).