高僧傳 11.9

11.9

Zhu Tanyou, also called Fayou, was a native of Dunhuang. In his youth, he practiced austerities and trained in dhyāna meditation. Later, he traveled to the region east of the Yangtze and stayed at Mount Shicheng in Shan, begging for food and sitting in dhyāna. He once went on his begging rounds to the house of a person who practiced witchcraft (gu poison). As soon as Tanyou finished his praṇidhāna, a centipede suddenly leaped out from the food. Tanyou ate it heartily without any harm. Later, he moved to a stone chamber on Mount Chicheng in Shifeng to sit in dhyāna. Several tens of fierce tigers crouched before Tanyou, but he recited the sūtras as before. One tiger alone fell asleep, so Tanyou tapped its head with a ruyi sceptre and asked why it was not listening to the sūtra; shortly thereafter, all the tigers departed. Before long, large snakes competed to emerge, more than ten spans around; coiling back and forth, they raised their heads toward Tanyou, departing only after half a day. The next day, a deity manifested in physical form, came to Tanyou, and said: "The Dharma Master's majestic virtue is so profound that you have come to reside in this mountain; I, your disciple, respectfully yield my chamber to present it to you." Tanyou said: "I wandered into this mountain hoping to encounter someone; why not live together?" The deity said: "It is not that I, your disciple, am unwilling to do so, but my subordinates have not yet been transformed by the Dharma and are difficult to restrain at short notice. When people come and go from afar, they might harass or offend them. Humans and spirits follow different paths, and this is why I am leaving." Tanyou asked: "What spirit were you originally? How long have you lived here, and where do you wish to move?" The spirit replied: "I am the son of an emperor of the Xia, and I have dwelt in this mountain for more than two thousand years. Mount Hanshi is ruled by my maternal uncle; I shall go to live there." Soon he returned to the shrine at Shanyin. Parting, he held Tanyou's hand and presented him with three cases of incense, whereupon, beating drums and blowing horns, he soared through the clouds and left.