釋鑑稽古略續集 2.28

2.28

Chan Master Chushi, whose taboo name was Fanqi and courtesy name was Chushi, was a son of the Zhu clan of Xiangshan in Mingzhou. His mother, Lady Zhang, dreamed that the sun fell into her bosom, and gave birth to him. When the master was an infant in swaddling clothes, a spiritual monk stroked his crown and said, "This is a Buddha sun; at another time he will be able to illuminate the dark pathways." Thus his childhood name was Tanyao. At age seven he read books and straightaway comprehended their great principles, being hailed as a wondrous youth. At age nine he went to Old Na of Yongzuo Monastery to leave home. He shaved his head under the venerable Xun of Chong'en and went to Zhaoging to receive the full precepts. Following Master Xun to reside at Daochang, he had charge of the scriptural depository. Reading the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, he had an awakening. He consulted the venerable Yuansou Duan and asked, "'Words emerging are not sound; facing form, it is not an object.' What does this mean?" Yuansou questioned him with the master's own words, and he had not yet penetrated it. It coincided with the Yuan emperor Yingzong commissioning a gold-lettered Great Canon, and the master was selected to go up to the capital. One day, hearing the sound of the drum on the city tower, he broke into a sweat like rain and said, "The nostrils of Jingshan are in my hands today!" His verse said: "I gave up a speck of snow in the red furnace; / yet it was June ice on the Yellow River." He consulted Yuansou again; upon seeing him once, Yuansou said, "I am delighted that you have obtained the secret meaning of the one who came from the West!" He came into the world at Fuzhen in Haiyan, and rose to become abbot of Yongzuo. He founded the Great Jewel Pavilion, cast holy statues of a thousand buddhas, and built a seven-tiered pagoda twenty-four zhang high. As the work was nearly finished, it leaned and was about to collapse. The master prayed, and that night there was a great storm of wind and rain. Ghostly spirits were heard speaking to one another, saying, "The pagoda of Tianning is leaning; hurry and go rescue it!" By dawn the pagoda was upright as before. He moved to Baoguo in Hangzhou, and transferred to Benjue in Jiaxing, where he constructed the Ten Thousand Buddhas Pavilion, grand and magnificent, as if a heavenly palace had descended to the mortal realm. The Imperial Preceptor praised his practice and conduct, and bestowed upon him the title "Buddha Sun Universally Illuminating and Wise Eloquence," which closely matched the divination of the spiritual monk of former days. Shortly afterward, he answered the invitation to Bao'en, and retired to build the Western Studio to end his days. In the first year of Hongwu, he attended the Dharma assembly at Mount Jiang, ascending the seat to preach the Dharma; in the second year it was likewise. He was granted a banquet beneath the Literary Tower, personally attended imperial queries, and was presented with silk and gold. In the third year, in the seventh month, he showed signs of illness. Having bathed, he wrote a verse: "The true nature is completely luminous, originally without arising or ceasing; / The wooden horse neighs at night; in the west the sun rises." He said to Mengtang, "I am about to depart." Tang asked, "Where will you go?" The master said, "To the West." Tang asked, "Is there a Buddha in the West and no Buddha in the East?" The master gave a stern shout and serenely passed away. It was the twenty-sixth day of that month. Following cremation, his teeth, tongue, and prayer beads were not consumed, and the relics were numerous as pearls. A pagoda was erected for him at Tianning Yongzuo Monastery. His age was seventy-five; his monastic seniority was sixty-three. His writings include the Discourse Records of Six Assemblies, Pure Land Poems, Verses on Rebirth Above, and three collections: Northward Journey, Fengshan, and Western Studio, as well as poems matching those of the Three Sages of Tiantai and works on Yongming Shou, Tao Jingjie, and Lin Hejing. He was said to be the first-rate ancestral master of the beginning of the dynasty.