宋高僧傳 19.4

19.4

Shi Pozaoduo's place of origin is unknown. In the era of the Heavenly Empress, he attended upon Chan Master An of Mount Song—known as Lao'an. Thoroughly penetrating the methods of Chan, he was free and unfettered; seeking him by ordinary principles, one could not see what came before him, and taking another path, none could pursue what came after him. He once met a shaman who could perform sacrifices to the stove and exorcise calamities for people, similar to Li Shaojun in the time of Emperor Wu of Han, who held that sacrificing to the stove could summon material wealth. Whenever he performed his petitions, forms and omens of ghosts were often seen; the neighborhoods feared them by turns, word spread among the multitude, and those who slaughtered lesser victims to sacrifice to it crossed paths continually. Esteeming the Lord of the Stove, they shielded it with banners and canopies, keeping it secret and rarely seen—was this not what Yangzi meant by "the awe of a spiritual precinct is suited to the night"? At that time Duo visited it; first he admonished the shaman, and finally preached the Dharma for the spirit, who announced: "Having heard the Master's teaching, I will definitely be born in heaven." Thereupon it revealed its form, bowed to take leave, and said: "Receiving the Master's earnest instruction, I have obtained exceedingly deep benefit and attained birth in an exquisite heaven." Having spoken, it vanished; the stove, which was the shrine of the spirit, immediately fell apart tile by tile and naturally collapsed, not through human effort. Far and near were shocked and astonished. This master ordinarily did not state his name; from this event he took another moniker entirely, being called Pozaoduo ('Broken-Stove Duo').