大明高僧傳 5

English (machine translation) 5

Language: English

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Compiled by Śramaṇa Ruxing of Ciyun Chan Monastery on Mt. Tiantai of the Imperial Ming

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Chapter 3: Practicing Chan, Part 1 (Sixteen primary biographies, seven attached)

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Biography 1: Śramaṇa Zhengjue of Tiantong Temple in Mingzhou (Kumu Cheng, Danxia Chun)

Śramaṇa Zhengjue was a son of the Li family of Xizhou. His father's taboo name was Zongdao, and his mother was of the Zhao family. On the night the master was born, light issued from the house, and everyone thought it extraordinary. At age seven he memorized several thousand characters of books daily. At thirteen he mastered the Five Classics and the Seven Histories. One day he begged to follow the Buddhist path to learn the Dharma of non-arising. He relied on Master Benzong of Jingming Temple in the prefecture to shave his head, and received full ordination from Master Zhiqiong of Ciyun Temple in Jinzhou. At age eighteen he traveled wandering, taking a personal vow: "If I do not clarify the great matter, I swear never to return!" Thereupon he crossed the Yellow River and first visited Venerable Kumu Cheng in Ruzhou. After a long time, he still had no entry. At that time, Chan Master Danxia Chun's reputation for the Way was flourishing, so carrying his rain-hat, he went there. As he entered the gate, Danxia immediately asked, "What is your self from before the empty kalpa?" The master replied, "The frog at the bottom of the well swallows the moon; at the third watch, it borrows not the night-shining curtain." Danxia said, "Not yet! Say more!" The master hesitated. Danxia gave him a strike with the fly-whisk and said, "And you still say 'borrows not'!" The master suddenly had great awakening and made prostrations. Danxia said, "Why don't you utter a phrase?" The master said, "Today I lost money and incurred punishment." Danxia said, "I have no time to beat you yet; go for now!" It happened that Danxia retired to Dacheng Temple in Tangzhou, and the master followed him there. In the second year of the Xuanhe era, Danxia moved to Dahong and appointed him to manage the secretariat. In the third year, he was promoted to head seat. At that time, such figures as Jinsu Zhi and Xuedou Zong all studied under him. When Venerable Zhenxie Liao resided at Changlu, he invited the master to head the assembly. Before long, he left to preside over Puzhao in Sizhou. During the Jianyan era of Emperor Gaozong, he resided at Taiping in Shuzhou, moved to Yuantong Nengren in Jiangzhou, and next filled the vacancy at Changlu. At that time, the bandit chieftain Li Zai was raiding the borders and entered the temple. The assembly fled in fear, but the master alone sat upright in the hall, admonishing him solely with wholesome words. Li Zai bowed his head and offered gold to support the monks. Thereupon the whole region enjoyed peace and the bandits were quieted. After another two years, he crossed Qiantang in Zhejiang and reached Mingzhou to pay homage to the Mahāsattva of Putuo. The seat at Tiantong became vacant, and the commandery magistrate sent an urgent dispatch inviting the master to serve as abbot. Shortly thereafter, the northern barbarians invaded the borders. When the barbarians reached Deng Ridge, they gazed at the ridge from afar and saw what appeared to be divine guards, whereupon they withdrew their troops and retreated. The next year, he received an imperial order to preside over Lingyin. When he was about to depart, the four assemblies wailed to detain him, and hundreds of birds cried mournfully. The master resided at Tiantong for thirty years, and all the temple halls, quarters, and corridors were newly renovated. On the first day of the ninth month of the twenty-seventh year of the Shaoxing era, he took leave of the commandery commander and donors. On the seventh day he returned to the mountain and entertained guests as usual. The next morning he asked for a bath, changed his robes, sat upright, and wrote down his final instructions. After finishing, he wrote a gāthā: / "Dreams, illusions, flowers in the sky, / Sixty-seven years. / A white bird vanishes into the mist, / Autumn waters merge with the sky." / Throwing down his brush, he passed away. An imperial decree posthumously bestowed the title Chan Master Hongzhi, and his stupa was named Miaoguang.

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Biography 2: Śramaṇa Jiaoheng of Qingshou Temple in the Capital of Yan (Puzhao Bao)

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Śramaṇa Jiaocheng, courtesy name Xuming, was a son of the Wang family of Rencheng in Jizhou. Earlier, there was the monk Fu'an of Ciji Monastery in the capital of Bianjing, who had lived in Rencheng for years, diligently cultivating pure deeds, revered by both monastics and laity. One day, after attending a vegetarian feast in Mangshan village, he leaned against a tree and was transformed. That evening, he appeared in a dream to his younger sister, Lady Feng, from Peng village. She saw him riding down on a white horse, saying, 'I have been born into the household of Wang Guangdao in West Chen village.' When Feng awoke, she told her mother; both she and her son, three people in all, had had the identical dream. At dawn they went to Guangdao's house to inquire. His mother, Lady Liu, had also dreamed the night before that Master An came asking for a place to lodge. On that very day, Heng was indeed born. His right thumb was clenched and seemingly unable to stretch out, and though he blinked, he did not smile. The next day, the fellow monks Fuguang and Fujian heard of it and came to visit. As soon as they saw him, they called out, 'Brother An, are you well?' Heng gazed intently at them, raised his hand, extended his thumb, and smiled. His mother once laid the master to sleep in the room, where it sounded as if someone were reciting the Mahāprajñā[pāramitā]. When he reached his first birthday, they tested him with a Buddhist sutra and a wine cup; he straightaway took the sutra scroll. By nature he did not eat meat or blood, and upon seeing monks he joyfully followed them to wander about. People all called him 'Mountain Master An'. Therefore, Mangshan village inscribed an account of the master's deeds upon stone to record these wonders. At age seven, he left home, relying on Preceptor Yuan of Chongjue Monastery in the prefecture for his tonsure and dyeing of robes. At thirteen, he received the full precepts. He met Master Kugua, who physiognomised him and said, 'When this child sits in an awakening-bodhimaṇḍa in the future, he will surely lead ten thousand monks.' At fifteen, he went on pilgrimage. Hearing of the flourishing of the Dharma assembly of Preceptor Bao of Puzhao in Zhengzhou, he shouldered his tin staff and set out on foot from Bian. Master Bao had a dream that night of auspicious clouds like golden lotus blossoms tumbling down in profusion. He therefore told the assembly, 'I have not dreamed for ten years. Now having had this, what omen could it be?' The next day Heng arrived, and Bao alone found him extraordinary. The master inquired and practiced morning and evening, and Bao also spurred him on severely. One day, while traveling to Suiyang, he suddenly recalled on horseback the case of striking the bamboo; his thoughts congealed without dispersing, as though he had entered meditative absorption. Reaching the river ford, he was utterly oblivious. His traveling companion Deman called out, 'This is the river ford!' Heng was startled, dismounted, and felt sorrow and joy intermingle. Upon returning, he told Master Bao with tears. Bao said, 'This is merely a stiff corpse! You must absolutely revive and turn around before you can succeed. Have you ever contemplated the gongan of the Sun-Faced Buddha?' Heng replied, 'I could already recite it in my childhood.' Master Bao smiled and said, 'I only teach you to investigate the Chan that has been cast aside in all quarters; just investigate further, and you will naturally attain a place of strength.' One day, as Heng was sitting quietly in the Cloud Hall, he suddenly heard the sound of the wooden clapper being struck and had an instantaneous awakening. He then presented a verse: 'Sun face, moon face, / A shooting star, a flash of lightning. / If you hesitate any longer, / An arrow hits you straight between the eyes. Bah!' Master Bao said, 'I cannot deceive you.' Later, the master appeared in the world and presided over five bodhimaṇḍas: the Ordination Platform of Mount Song, Yunmen of Mount Shao, Puzhao of Zhengzhou, Dajue of Linxi, and Fawang of Mount Song. Next, because the prime minister of the Jin state, Jiagu Qingchen, invited him to preside over Tanzhe in the Central Capital, he was transferred to Puzhao in Jizhou. Shortly after, in the groves behind the abbot's quarters, there was suddenly a single tree standing loftily over ten feet high, and flocks of crows came one after another to nest in it, shaped like a pagoda of twelve tiers above and below. The assembly congratulated him, saying, 'Will the Venerable's Buddhadharma flourish all the more greatly?' In less than ten days, an imperial decree ordered him to reside at Qingshou Monastery, where the assembly regularly numbered ten thousand. Three years later, he succeeded to the abbacy of Shaolin, and the Dharma assembly flourished greatly. Before long, the master retired and wandered between Song and Shao, sometimes singing aloud, sometimes whistling long; so it was for several years. One day, he suddenly felt the four great elements loosen like slack strings. He barred his door, sat firmly, and declined all guests. Reaching the tenth day of the seventh month of the yimao year of the Xingding era of the Jin, he admonished his assembly, saying, 'Each of you, cultivate diligently!' He called for a bath, recited a verse, sat upright, and passed away. He lived to seventy years of age and sat fifty-eight summer retreats. At the jhāpita, the flames opened and closed like lotus blossoms. His teeth and eyeballs did not decay, and the śarīra were countless. Since childhood, a round pearl had appeared under the skin of the master's forehead; at this point, it burst forth and flew away with a pop. His disciples divided the relics to erect stupas for him.

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Biography 3: Śramaṇa Songgao of Jingshan in Lin'an Prefecture

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Śramaṇa Zonggao was styled Dahui. Because he resided at Miaoxi Hermitage, he was also called Miaoxi. He was born to the Xi family of Xuanzhou, and was the later rebirth of Yunfeng Yue. Inherently endowed with spiritual roots from the past, his wisdom was known from birth. At the age of only twelve, he went to Wuyun Qi. At seventeen, he underwent tonsure and dyeing of robes. Initially, he entered the gate of the Caodong lineage. A senior elder of the Caodong lineage, seeing the sharpness of the master's eloquence, burned arm-incense and bestowed upon him the mind-seal. The master did not approve of it himself and abandoned it to leave. He relied on Zantang Zhun; after a long time, there was still no accord. Because Zantang was confined by illness, he had him go see Yuanwu. Wu resided at Zhaojue in Shu. The master hesitated and did not proceed. One day, hearing that an imperial decree had transferred Wu to reside at Tianning in Bian, he said with delight, 'Heaven has bestowed this old man upon me!' He then arrived at Tianning days beforehand to welcome Wu, thinking to himself, 'I shall spend the full ninety days of the summer retreat. If he, like those in other quarters, falsely approves me as correct, I will write a treatise on non-Chan and leave.' It happened that Wu was opening the hall and brought up: A monk asked Yunmen, 'What is the place from which all Buddhas emerge?' Men said, 'The East Mountain walks on the water.' Wu said, 'Tianning is not so. I would simply say to him: "The fragrant breeze comes from the south, / Bringing a light cool to the palace halls."' Hearing this, the master's boundaries of before and after were suddenly cut off. Wu said, 'It was not easy for you to reach this stage, but what a pity that having died, you cannot come back to life. Not doubting words and phrases is a great sickness. Have you not seen it said: Letting go on a hanging cliff, / One takes responsibility for oneself; / Reviving after being cut off, / No one can deceive you. You must believe that there are such principles!' Thereupon, he ordered him to reside in the Zemu Hall as an attendant without specific administrative duties, allowing him to enter the room at any time together with the scholar-officials. One day, while Wu was eating with guests, the master raised his chopsticks without realising it, and none of the rice entered his mouth. Wu smiled and said, 'This fellow, practicing boxwood Chan, has shrunk!' The master said, 'Like a dog licking a hot oil pan.' Later, hearing that Wu asked a monk in his room the phrase, 'Existing phrases, non-existing phrases—like a vine clinging to a tree,' the master asked, 'I heard that when the Venerable was at Wuzu, you once asked about this phrase; I wonder what Wuzu said?' Wu smiled and did not answer. The master said, 'Since the Venerable asked it in front of the assembly back then, what harm is there in speaking of it now?' Having no choice, Wu said, 'I asked Wuzu: "Existing phrases, non-existing phrases—like a vine clinging to a tree. What is the meaning?" The Ancestor said, "Delineating it, it cannot be delineated; painting it, it cannot be depicted." I also asked, "When the tree falls and the vine withers, how is it?" The Ancestor said, "Following along!"' The master was released on the spot and had a great awakening, saying, 'I understand!' Wu brought up several cases to interrogate him, and he answered all of them without obstruction. Wu was delighted and said to him, 'Now I know that I did not deceive you.' He then composed the Linji Zhengzong Ji (Record of the Correct Lineage of Linji), entrusted it to him, and had him take charge of the correspondence office. Before long, Yuanwu returned to Shu. The master concealed his light, building a hermitage to live in. Later, spending the summer at Huqiu, while reading the Avataṃsaka Sūtra up to the stage where the bodhisattva of the seventh ground attains the forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas, he suddenly understood thoroughly the case demonstrated by Zantang of Aṅgulimāla holding his bowl to save the woman in childbirth. In the seventh year of the Shaoxing era of the Song, an imperial decree ordered him to reside at Shuangjing. One day, news of Yuanwu's death arrived. The master personally composed a eulogy to make offerings. That same evening, in an informal gathering, he brought up: A monk asked Changsha, 'Where has Nanquan gone after his transformation?' Sha said, 'In the eastern village he becomes a donkey, in the western village he becomes a horse.' The monk asked, 'What is the meaning?' Sha said, 'If you want to ride, then ride; if you want to dismount, then dismount.' 'If it were Jingshan, it would not be so. If a monk were to ask, "Where has the late master Yuanwu gone after his transformation?" I would say to him: "He fell into the Great Avīci Hell." "What is the meaning?" I would say: "When hungry, he eats molten copper; when thirsty, he drinks liquid iron." "Can anyone still save him?" I would say: "No one can save him." "Why can he not be saved?" I would say: "This is this old man's everyday tea and rice."' In the fifth month of the eleventh year, Qin Hui, considering the master to be a partisan of Zhang Jiucheng, revoked his monastic robes and ordination certificate and banished him to Hengzhou. In the tenth month of the thirty-sixth year, an imperial decree moved him to Meiyang. Soon afterward, his monastic appearance and clothing were restored, and he was released to return. In the eleventh month, an imperial decree ordered him to reside at King Aśoka Monastery. In the twenty-eighth year, an imperial edict commanded the master to reside at Jingshan once again, greatly propagating Yuanwu's ancestral lineage. In the spring of the xinsi year, he retired to Mingyue Hall. One evening, the assembly saw a star fall to the west of the monastery with a brilliant blazing light. Soon after, he manifested a slight illness. On the ninth day of the eighth month, he said to the assembly, 'I shall depart only tomorrow.' That evening, at the fifth watch, he personally wrote his final memorial and made arrangements for subsequent matters. A monk named Liaoxian requested a verse. The master then wrote in large characters: 'Birth is just this, death is just this. / With a verse or without a verse, what is the fuss?' He quietly passed away. His worldly age was seventy-five, and he had sat fifty-eight summer retreats. He was posthumously named Pujue, and his stupa was named Baoguang.

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Biography 4: Śramaṇa Shaolong of Huqiu in Pingjiang Prefecture

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Śramaṇa Shaolong was a native of Hanshan in Hezhou. At the age of nine, he bid farewell to his parents and joined the Fohui Cloister. Six years later, he received ordination and the full precepts. He investigated the Vinaya division with meticulous care. After five summer retreats, he went on pilgrimage. First, he visited Preceptor Xin of Changlu, gaining only a general outline. One day, seeing that a monk had brought the recorded sayings of Chan Master Yuanwu Qin, Long read them and sighed with praise, saying, 'Just thinking of them makes my mouth water. Though they have not yet drenched my entrails and washed my stomach, they nonetheless make one feel gladdened and delighted. I only regret that I have not heard his voice in person.' Thereupon, he went to Baofeng to rely on Zantang, next saw Sixin of Huanglong, and then visited Yuanwu. One day, upon entering the room, Yuanwu asked, 'When seeing seeing, seeing is still detached from seeing; seeing cannot reach it.' Wu suddenly raised his fist and said, 'Do you still see?' Long said, 'I see.' Wu said, 'Adding a head on top of a head.' Upon hearing this, Long was completely and seamlessly enlightened. Wu said, 'What did you see?' Long replied, 'The thickness of the bamboo does not obstruct the flowing water.' Wu nodded in approval and placed him in charge of the library keys. A monk asked Yuanwu, 'The Director of the Canon Long is so gentle and pliable like this; what can he possibly accomplish?' Wu smiled and said, 'He is a dozing tiger!' Later, because Yuanwu retired in old age and returned to Shu, Long went to reside at Kaisheng to the west of his home city. In the Jianyan era of the Song, he built a hut beneath Tong Peak. The prefectural governor Li Guang invited him to reside at Zhangjiao, and next he moved to Huqiu, where his teachings became widely prominent. Drawing upon the precedent of Baiyun Duan establishing an ancestral hall, he said, 'As a descendant, if one cannot personally practice the bequeathed instructions, how can one be at peace regarding righteousness?' Thereupon, he had portraits installed and wrote eulogies upon them. The eulogy for Bodhidharma said: 'The whole country found it hard to hold him back; / Bearing a single shoe, he returned west. / It must be that the moon over Mount Xiong'er / Casts a cold radiance for a thousand ages.' The eulogy for Baizhang said: 'A swift thunderclap shattered the moon in the clear pool; / On the spot he was deaf for three days. / Having cast off a fatal illness in the vitals, / The monasteries have had a family tradition ever since.' The eulogy for the founding master Great Master Mingjiao said: 'When spring arrives, a hundred flowers bloom everywhere, / A delicate fragrance wafting softly to greet one. / Facing the wind, an infinite, profound meaning: / Amidst heaps of sound and form, not a speck of dust.' Now, because Baiyun considered that the merit of Chan Master Baizhang Hai in establishing the Chan regulations warranted sharing offerings with Bodhidharma, he may be called one who understood the root. That Long was able to comply with and write eulogies for it, and moreover illuminate its Dao, makes him also one who understood propriety! In the bingchen year of the Shaoxing era, he manifested a slight illness, sat in the lotus posture, and passed away. His entire body was enshrined in a stupa in the southwest corner of the monastery.

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The appraisal says: In the Northern Song, the 'Three Buddhas' together proclaimed Master Yan's Dao, but only Foguo attained his marrow. And those who entered Foguo's room, sat upon the seat of fearlessness, and made the lion's roar were no fewer than ten-odd persons. Yet among the subsequent continuous line of Dharma heirs, extending down to our Ming dynasty's Jiajing and Longqing eras, those whose scent still touches men's noses are solely the descendants of Miaoxi and the Dozing Tiger. Others, after three or four transmissions, fell utterly silent. Truly, these two elders may be called deep sources with long flows. Was it not fitting that they were called the 'Two Gates of Sweet Dew' in their day?

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Biography 5: Śramaṇa Duanyu of Mount Yuwang in Qingyuan

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Śramaṇa Shi Duanyu was styled Fozhi. He was a descendant of King Qian of Wuyue. His ancestor of the sixth generation had governed Kuaiji and consequently made his home there. The Master was precocious from birth, with deep and elegant features. At fourteen he drove away crows at Dashan Monastery. At eighteen he was ordained and received full ordination. He went to rely on Chan Master Yi of Jingci. Before long, he happened to hear a monk bind an open pillar, saying: "Why do you not speak Chan?" Duanyu suddenly had a slight awakening. He left to visit Longmen Yuan, Ganlu Zhuo, and Letan Xiang, all of whom held him in high esteem for his outstanding pre-eminence. In his later years he saw Yuanwu at Zhongfu. One day Yuanwu asked: "'The Treasury of the Eye of the True Dharma is extinguished toward this blind ass.' Right now, is it extinguished or not extinguished?" He said: "Please, Master, it would be better to close your mouth." Yuanwu said: "This still has not transcended ordinary sentiments." Duanyu intended to reply; Yuanwu struck him, and Duanyu instantly cast away that in which he had been stuck. Attending on Yuanwu while residing at Tianning, he was ordered to take charge of the recorder's office. Soon he shared the seat, and his fame in the Way resounded through Jingxi. The surveillance commissioner requested him to open the Dharma at Danxia. Next he was transferred to Huqiu and Jingshan. He resigned from duties and, yielding to the invitation of the monastics and laity of Pingjiang, built a hermitage at Xihua. After several years, an imperial decree ordered him to reside at Baoning in Jiankang. Later he moved to Wanshou in the city of Suzhou, as well as Xuanmiao in Minzhong and Xichan of Shoushan. Again receiving an imperial decree, he filled the vacancy at Lingyin and Cining. When the Empress Dowager visited the residence of King Wei, she summoned Duanyu to expound the Dharma and bestowed on him a gold-threaded saṅghāṭī. He begged to return to his old retreat at Xihua. In the autumn of the wuchen year of Shaoxing, he accepted the appointment to Yuwang. Ascending the hall, he said: "When Deshan entered the gate, he immediately used his staff—mostly burying his traces within a cloth sack. When Linji entered the gate, he immediately shouted—always emerging and submerging amidst the dust of sounds. If you are a brilliant, spirited patch-robed monk, wind must arise beneath your feet, surpassing the tracks of past and present." Taking up his staff, he struck once, gave a shout, and said: "Just this—what is it like? If you call it a stick or a shout, your slumber has not yet awakened. If you do not call it a stick or a shout, you do not yet know Deshan and Linji. In the end, what is it?" He struck once and said: "You must not move at all!" A monk asked: "What is the guest within the guest?" Duanyu said: "You are a slave of fields and storehouses." The monk said: "What is the host within the guest?" He said: "Meeting each other is still reckless and crude." The monk said: "What is the guest within the host?" He said: "The sword's qi flashes through sorrowful clouds." The monk said: "What is the host within the host?" The Master said: "Striking the bone and pounding the marrow." When Duanyu presided over the community, his expression was always awe-inspiring. He neither slept nor ate apart from the assembly, chanting the Way without weariness. In early winter of the gengwu year of Shaoxing, he manifested a slight illness. On the eighteenth day, the head seat Faquan requested his final instructions. The Master said: "Exhaust this mind and intent, assisting one another through the Way." His words ended, and he passed away. After the fire, his eyeballs, teeth, and tongue were undamaged. That place emitted light all night. Countless śarīra were obtained, not ceasing for more than a month. The Daoist Luo Zhaochang, who usually questioned Duanyu about the Way, happened to return from abroad and alone obtained nothing. Luo was earnestly mindful. Just as he was eating with guests, during his chewing there seemed to be an object. When he spat it out, it was indeed a śarīra, as large as a bean and amber in color. A meddler carried it away. He then bowed again at the place of jhāpita. Hearing a sound in the incense casket, he hastily opened it, and what he obtained was as before, but somewhat more reddish and lustrous. His disciples took his remaining bones and erected stupas on Mao Peak and at Xihua. He was posthumously named Chan Master Dawu.

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Biography 6: Śramaṇa Shi Fatai of Mount Dahui in Tanzhou

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Shi Fatai was styled Foxing, a son of the Li family of Hanzhou. A monk asked: "Principle transforms along with phenomena, encompassing the myriad beings into a single slice of empty stillness. Phenomena fuse in pursuit of principle, equalizing the thousand differences so that all return to the realm of reality. What is the dharma-realm of principle?" The Master said: "The mountains, rivers, and the great earth." The monk asked: "What is the dharma-realm of phenomena?" The Master said: "The myriad phenomena arrayed in dense profusion." The monk asked: "What is the dharma-realm of the non-obstruction of principle and phenomena?" The Master said: "East, west, south, and north." The monk asked: "What is the dharma-realm of the non-obstruction of phenomena and phenomena?" The Master said: "Above, below, and the four intermediate quarters." Ascending the hall, he said: "Indistinct and distant, it encompasses the ten directions; open and vast, it is devoid of shape and devoid of marks. The eyes wish to gaze, but the pupils wither; the mouth wishes to speak, but words are lost. Mañjuśrī and Samantabhadra have no tricks whatsoever; Linji and Deshan may freely present their teachings. A tortoise swallows the iron ox of Shan Prefecture; a serpent bites the great statue of Jia Prefecture. It so frightens the carp of the Eastern Sea that right up to now its belly is swollen." Ascending the hall, he said: "Recalling former days wandering to various places, I obtained two kinds of things: one was a vajra hammer, the other was the bones of the thousand sages. Holding them while walking through the universe, my proud disposition rose lofty and towering. For thirty years like this, I used them as my standard. But now that I am old, what thing can be called a 'thing'? I have cast down the vajra hammer and smashed to pieces the bones of the thousand sages. Thrown out onto the crossroads, they can no longer be begrudged. I pass this floating life just as I please: pointing to south, I make it north; calling a tortoise, I take it for a soft-shelled turtle; shouting 'bean,' I take it for millet. Let those with clear eyes laugh at me for having no compass or rule!"

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Biography 7: Śramaṇa Shi Jingyuan of Huguo Monastery in Tiantai

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Shi Jingyuan was styled Ci'an. He was a son of the Zhang family of Yongjia in Wenzhou. At the age of eighteen, he relied on the Venerable Xigong of Lingshan and received full ordination. He studied Tiantai teachings for three years, then abandoned them to visit Chan Master Yuanwu Qin at Zhongfu. He heard a monk reciting the Venerable Sixin's words from an informal gathering, which said: "Having been deluded, one must obtain an awakening; having awakened, one must recognize delusion within awakening and awakening within delusion. When delusion and awakening are both forgotten, one establishes all dharmas right from the place of no delusion and no awakening." Yuan heard this and doubted it. He immediately hastened to the Buddha hall and pushed open the door leaf with his hand. Vastly and completely awakened, his sharp eloquence burst forth. Yuanwu regarded him as "Attendant Ao-tou Yuan" (Obstinate Yuan). Yuanwu personally inscribed a portrait and gave it to him, saying: / "In my life I have only spoken of obstinate Chan; / Bumping into the obstinate is like an iron wall. / Stripping away the snare and cutting off the heels, / Gathering up the great earth, it is pitch-black. / In my later years I have grown even less fussy; / Brandishing the vajra hammer, I shatter the dens and nests. / At another time, if you want to recognize Yuanwu's face, / Bring him out together with that fellow." / From then on, he concealed his talents and buried his light, not seeking renown or prominence. Later, Geng Yanxi, the prefect of Kuocang, admired Yuan and wished to invite him to open the Dharma at Nanming. Searching for Yuan, he found him at Bao'en in Tai, and pressed him to accept the appointment. A monk asked: "Sansheng said: 'Whenever I meet someone, I immediately step forth; yet in stepping forth, it is not for the sake of the person.' What is the meaning?" He said: "An eighty-year-old grandfather chewing raw iron." The monk also asked: "Xinghua said: 'Whenever I meet someone, I immediately do not step forth; yet in not stepping forth, it is precisely for the sake of the person.' How about that?" He said: "Waves churning the sky above the summit of Mount Sumeru." Later, Yuan manifested illness. He requested the retired abbot Ying'an Hua to be entrusted with the affairs of the monastery, and instructed his disciples as usual. Suddenly, he clenched his fist and passed away. Jhāpita yielded five-colored śarīra; his teeth, tongue, and right fist were undamaged. A stupa was built in front of Liu-Ruan Cave to the northeast of the monastery. His worldly age was fifty-three.

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The appraisal says: Dahui, having been the rebirth of Yue of Yunfeng, can be called someone endowed with great capacity; yet he endured Zhentang's fierce cornering without entering, and only at over thirty years of age did he meet Yuanwu's pincers and hammer to finally attain great awakening. Now Master Yuan was only twenty-one; merely hearing a neighboring monk recite Sixin's words, he then thoroughly realized [it]. That the sharpness of his capacity surpassed that of Dahui can generally be known. Emerging into the world, he first resided at Nanming and finally dwelt at Huguo. The monastery called him "Yuan Cloth-Sack" because he had the demeanor of a holy man. Jiantang Ji came out from his gate; when preaching the Dharma and taking up the mallet, his words were heroic, his vigor grand, and his dynamic edge complete and agile. This makes the lofty standard of Master Yuan all the more evident.

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Biography 8: Śramaṇa Shi Huiyuan of Lingyin Monastery in Lin'an (Lingyan Hui)

5.20

Shi Huiyuan was a son of the Peng family of Meishan. At the age of thirteen, he underwent tonsure and dyeing of robes under the Venerable Zongbian of Yaoshi Cloister. First he went to the lecture hall of Daci; next he studied under Chan Master Hui of Lingyan, where he had a slight entry. It happened that Yuanwu again received an imperial order to reside at Zhaojue, so Yuan went to him. When Yuanwu gave a general sermon citing the case of Layman Pang asking Mazu about not having the myriad dharmas as companions, Yuan suddenly had a sudden awakening and fell down amidst the assembly. The assembly supported him up, and Yuan then said: "I have awakened from a dream!" When it came to the evening informal gathering, Yuan stepped forward and asked: "Clean and naked, without a single thing; starkly poor, without a single coin; the door is broken and the house destroyed. I beg the Master to give relief." Yuanwu said: "Seven treasures and eight gems—take them all at once!" Yuan said: "Disaster does not enter the door of a cautious household." Yuanwu said: "When your dynamic edge does not leave its position, you fall into a sea of poison." Yuan then gave a shout. Yuanwu struck the Chan bench with his staff and said: "Have you had a taste of the stick yet?" Yuan shouted again. Yuanwu gave two shouts in succession. Yuan then bowed. From this time on, his dynamic edge burst forth steeply, with nothing that could withstand it. Emerging into the world, he first resided at Xianxiao on Mount Gaoting. On the fifteenth day of the tenth month in the sixth year of the Qiandao era of the Song, he was decreed to transfer to Lingyin. Ascending the hall, a monk asked: "What is it like when 'this very mind is Buddha'?" He said: "Horn-buns parted on the crown of the head." The monk asked: "What is it like when 'neither mind nor Buddha'?" He said: "Gold rings dangling from the ears." The monk asked: "When it is not mind, not Buddha, and not a thing, how is it then?" He said: "A balding Asura dancing the Zhezhi dance." On the fifteenth day of the second month in the seventh year, he was summoned into the Xuande Hall and granted a seat. Emperor Xiaozong asked: "How can one escape birth and death?" Yuan replied: "If one does not awaken to the Great Way, in the end one can never escape." The Emperor asked: "How does one attain awakening?" Yuan said: "If one investigates the inherent nature, there is no one who does not awaken." The Emperor asked: "What about after awakening?" Yuan said: "Only after awakening does one know that the whole body is manifest before us, completely devoid of the slightest visible mark." The Emperor nodded in agreement. The Emperor also asked: "How about 'this very mind is Buddha'?" Yuan said: "There are no dharmas before our eyes; what does Your Majesty call 'mind'?" The Emperor asked: "What is mind?" Yuan straightened his body, stood with folded hands, and said: "Just this." The Emperor was greatly pleased. On the seventh day of the eighth month in the autumn of the eighth year, he summoned Yuan into the Eastern Pavilion and granted him a seat. The Emperor said: "The other day in a dream I suddenly heard the sound of a bell, and thereupon woke up. I do not know how it is with dream and waking." Yuan said: "Does Your Majesty ask about the dream or ask about waking? If you ask about waking, right now this is precisely sleep-talk. If you ask about the dream, dream and waking are not different—who can be told to distinguish them? A dream is an illusion; knowing illusion, one immediately departs from it. The awakened mind is unmoving; therefore it is said: 'If one can transform things, one is identical to the Tathāgata.'" The Emperor said: "Since dream and illusion are both negated, from what place did the bell sound arise?" Yuan said: "It arose from the place of questioning." The Emperor asked again: "The other day when sitting in this pavilion, I suddenly thought of not having the myriad dharmas as companions and had a certain view." Yuan said: "I would like to hear it." The Emperor said: "The four seas are not too much." Yuan said: "What about 'swallowing all the water of the West River in a single gulp'?" The Emperor said: "It also has never been lacking." Yuan said: "The moment one enters into deliberation, it becomes a superfluous dharma. Even if it were like a severed wheel or a flash of lightning, it would have no bearing whatsoever. Why is that? Because the Dharma is not two; views have no dual views; the mind has no separate mind—just as the sky has no two suns." The Emperor was pleased and bestowed upon him the title Great Master Fohai. In the autumn of the second year, yimei, of the Chunxi era, he instructed the assembly and recited a verse: / "Chunxi, the second year, the leap late autumn, the first day of the ninth month; / Do not stick your head out into noisy places; observe from a cool, detached ground. / Light and darkness do not interfere with each other; both divide the half. / Being of one kind as noble people, who would be told to sell firewood and charcoal? / I say to you: it cannot be disparaged, it cannot be praised; / Its substance is like empty space, without shore or boundary. / Calling to one another, 'Come back, let us return!' / The Shangyuan Festival is definitely the middle of the first month." / In the first month of the following year, he suddenly took slightly ill. As predicted, on the Shangyuan Festival he recited a verse: / "Snapping the steelyard weight, / Turning over the tangled vines. / Standing out ahead of the dynamic function, / Even a crow cannot fly across." / He sat peacefully and passed away. His body was kept for seven days with its color unchanged, and was entombed whole in a stupa.

5.21

Biography 9: Śramaṇa Shi Xindao of Wenshu Monastery in Changde Prefecture

5.22

Śramaṇa Shi Xindao was a native of the Xu family of Meizhou. At age thirty he was ordained. He went to Chengdu to study Vijñaptimātra, believing himself to have attained the utmost. A monk sharing his quarters questioned him, saying, 'The three realms are mind-only; the ten thousand phenomena are consciousness-only. Now, all appearances before our eyes are right here. Where are mind and consciousness?' Dao was bewildered. He then left the pass and traveled through the Jiang and Huai regions. Having arrived at Taiping in Shuzhou, he heard Fojian holding an evening gathering and citing Zhaozhou's case of the cypress tree. When it came to Jue Tiecui saying, 'Our late master had no such words; it is best not to slander the late master,' Dao developed great doubt and raised and examined it for a long time. One night, he had a sudden breakthrough. He immediately hastened to the abbot's quarters, intending to recount what he had realized. Seeing him, Jian shut the door. Dao said, 'Venerable, do not deceive me.' Jian said, 'In the ten directions there are no walls; why do you not enter through the door?' Dao struck and broke the window paper with his fist. Fojian immediately opened the door, seized him, and said, 'Speak! Speak!' Dao then took Jian's head with both hands, made a spitting sound from his mouth, went out, and presented a verse: / 'Zhaozhou had a talk of a cypress tree; / Chan wanderers transmit it throughout the realm. / Most of them pluck leaves and search for branches, / Unable to comprehend directly down to the source. / Master Jue said there were no such words; / This is truly evil speech scolding to one's face. / If Chan practitioners possess the eye that penetrates everywhere, / They should distinguish true from false right within this.' / Jian approved of it. The prefect of Xiangyang invited him to open the Dharma at Tianning, and he was promoted to Dabie and Wenshu. In the first year of the Xuanhe reign of the Song, an imperial edict commanded that monks be changed into 'Men of Virtue' (Daoist masters). Thereupon he ascended the hall and said, 'The ancestor's intention coming from the west—today it is remarkably novel. Formerly of a bhikṣu's appearance, today I take the form of Laozi: a crane-feather cloak draped over silver-grey, the head wrapped in a plantain-leaf cap. A guest with nothing to do among the forests and springs has twice received the sovereign's favor. Therefore it is said: If you wish to know the meaning of the buddha-nature, you must observe the seasonal causes and conditions. Now tell me, just what season is this right now? Vairocana wears a jeweled crown on his head to manifest the conventional within the real; the old fellow Mañjuśrī wears a crane-feather cloak on his body just to condescend in accord with the times. If it is so for one person, it is also so for all. Together we establish monasteries, delighted that a host of immortals gathers together. Together we drink the wine that intoxicates immortals; in unison we sing the lyrics of pacing the void. We either read the *Scripture of the Numinous Treasure for the Deliverance of Humans* or speak of the medicine for long life and immortality. Lutes are plucked under the moon, fingertips producing sounds of highest antiquity; weiqi is arrayed before the veranda, wondrous moves emerging beyond divine calculations. Take a step forward, and you reach the Heaven of Great Net; take a step backward, and you enter the City of the Ninefold Darkness. Just what about the one phrase of neither advancing nor retreating?' Dao said: 'Even granted the feathered transformation along the path of the Three Purities, it is ultimately still a single illusory body in saṃsāra.' In the ninth month of the second year, an edict was issued restoring the monks. He ascended the hall and said, 'Not hanging the field-robes, one wears the feathered robes; Laozi's form and appearance were quite suitable. Thinking about it over this year and a half, generally, prosperity and decline each have their time. Our Buddha, the Tathāgata, prophesied in advance that the Dharma would face hardship; it is clearly recorded in the teachings, completely known to all. Calculating the era, it was precisely at this time. The demons took advantage of the opportunity to confuse and disrupt the orthodox tradition: monks were changed into secular forms, and the Buddhas were given different names; deluded and giving rise to heterodox interpretations, they expurgated the scriptural texts. Cymbals ceased their sounds, and feet were added to the almsbowls. In many ways, deceitful and pretentious, they duped the sagely sovereign. Fortunately, our sagely and brilliant [emperor] did not forget the entrustment and did not abolish the teachings. He specially bestowed an imperial composition and further permitted monks and nuns to take tonsure once again. This is truly called cold ashes reigniting and a withered tree flourishing anew. The wine that intoxicates immortals transforms into sweet dew and jade nectar; the lyrics of pacing the void turn into songs of returning home. Laying down the silver and wooden tablets, one picks up the niṣīdana. Yesterday morning bowing with clasped hands and raising fists, today Vandana. I wonder: is it only the former appearance that was changed, without changing the former person? I dare ask the great assembly: is the former person one or two?' After a long pause, he said, 'The autumn wind also knows to dislike disorder, blowing away every bit of that year's Daoist ashes.' In the spring of the third year of the Jianyan reign, he instructed the assembly, citing the circumstance of Linji entering extinction and entrusting Sansheng. Dao said, 'The treasury of the true Dharma eye extinguished by a blind donkey—when did Linji ever have this saying? People of past and present all transmit it falsely; if you do not believe, just watch the coming three months.' When it came to the intercalary third month, there were rebels who revolted. The assembly requested the master to flee south. Dao said, 'The reason one studies the Way is to resolve birth and death. What is there to avoid?' When the rebels arrived, Dao said, 'Kill me quickly to gladden your hearts.' The rebels then raised a spear and mutilated him. White milk flowed upward. The rebels were terrified, pulled a mat to cover him, and left.

5.23

Biography of Śramaṇa Shi Zhicai of Longya Monastery in Tanzhou, Tenth

5.24

Shi Zhicai was a native of the Shi family of Shuzhou. In his early years, he served diligently under Fojian. When he wandered to various places, he visited Sixin of Huanglong. The next day, he entered the room. Sixin asked, 'If you comprehend the first phrase, you comprehend the last phrase; if you comprehend the last phrase, you comprehend the first phrase. Putting the first and the last aside, how do you comprehend Baizhang's talk of the wild fox?' Cai said, 'Entering the door, I already knew the view you brought; what need is there to bring up again the mud within the ruts?' Sixin said, 'The new elder has died under the hands of the senior monk.' Cai said, 'Although the words differ, the ultimate principle does not diverge.' Sixin said, 'What is that which does not diverge?' Cai said, 'If one does not knock against the horn of Huanglong, how can one know the pearl under his chin?' Sixin then struck him. Cai first resided at Yuelu, and then moved to Longya. For thirty years, he oversaw the assembly with purity and hardship; hence the patch-robed monks feared and revered him. He also moved to Yunxi. In the eighth month of the wuwu year of the Shaoxing reign, on the full moon, he suddenly gathered the assembly to entrust the monastery's affairs, writing a verse: / 'On this day of mid-autumn in the wuwu year, / The affairs of leaving home and being abbot are finished. / When about to depart, my own self does not even exist; / What empty space is there to seek?' / Daily, his instructions were as usual. When it reached the twenty-third day, he again instructed the assembly, saying, 'Nirvāṇa and birth-and-death are completely sky-flowers; Buddha and sentient beings are both redundant words. What should all of you do?' The assembly all offered phrases that did not tally. Cai shouted, 'Bitter! Bitter!' and further said, 'White clouds surge from the earth; the bright moon is in the sky.' Having spoken, he smiled and passed away. His body was cremated, and five-colored śarīra were obtained. A stūpa was built at the northwest corner of the monastery.

5.25

Biography of Śramaṇa Shi Shigui (Zongfan) of Longxiang Monastery in Wenzhou, Eleventh

5.26

Shi Shigui was styled Zhu'an. He was a native of the Shi family of Chengdu. He initially relied on the Venerable Zongya of Daci to leave home, his mind enchanted by the *Śūraṅgama-sūtra*. Later he traveled south to visit various venerable elders, first calling upon Chan Master Yuan of Longmen. He reported to Yuan what he had understood in ordinary times. Yuan said, 'Your conceptual understanding is already at its peak, but you only lack exerting effort to open your eyes.' One day, as he stood in attendance, he asked, 'What is it like when opposites are absolute?' Yuan said, 'It is just like when you strike the mallet in the monks' hall.' Gui was at a loss. In the evening, Yuan arrived at the hall master's office. Gui raised his previous question again. Yuan said, 'Idle words.' Gui had a great awakening at these words. At the end of the Zhenghe reign, he resided at Tianning in Hezhou. In the Shaoxing reign, he received an imperial decree to open the mountain at Nengren on Mount Yandang. At that time, Master Zhenxie Liao resided at Jiangxin; fearing that Gui's conditions were not yet ripe, he welcomed him to the abbot's quarters and spread his mat with nine full prostrations to win over the people of Wenzhou. From this, all people gathered together to take refuge in and revere him. He ascended the hall and said: 'Clearly there is no awakening; where there is a dharma, there is delusion. You people cannot stand here, nor can you abide here. If you stand, you are in danger; if you abide, you are blind. You must simply let thought not stop in the mysterious, phrases not stop in thought, and function not stop in potential. Once these three are understood, everywhere there is no need to guard and maintain—it naturally appears before you; there is no need to watch over it—it is naturally distinct and clear. Even though it is like this, you still must know that there is that which goes beyond.' Raising the fly-whisk, he said, 'Long rain without clearing—bah!' On the eighteenth day of the seventh month of the bingyin year, he summoned Elder Zongfan to entrust his post-mortem affairs. The next day, he bathed, tolled the bell to assemble the crowd, took his seat, and passed away peacefully. Upon jhāpita, all those who saw him off obtained śarīra. A stūpa was erected on Mount Gu.

5.27

Biography of Śramaṇa Shi Anmin of Huazang Monastery in Jiankang, Twelfth

5.28

Shi Anmin was styled Miyin. He was a native of the Zhu family of Jiading Prefecture. At first he lectured on the *Śūraṅgama-sūtra* in Chengdu with renown. At that time, Yuanwu resided at Zhaojue, so Anmin went to visit him. It coincided with Yuanwu holding an informal gathering and citing the circumstance of the National Teacher calling his attendant three times. Zhaozhou commented, 'Like someone writing characters in the dark: although the characters are not formed, the pattern is already manifest. Where is the place where the pattern is already manifest?' When Min heard this, doubt arose in his mind. He asked for incense and entered the room. Yuanwu asked, 'What scripture does the lecturer expound?' He replied, 'The *Śūraṅgama*.' Yuanwu said, 'The *Śūraṅgama* has the searching for the mind in seven places and the returning of appearances in eight ways to discern seeing. Ultimately, where is the mind?' Min presented conceptual explanations many times, but Yuanwu approved none of them. Min asked for further instruction. Yuanwu told him to understand everywhere as 'the pattern is already manifest.' By chance, a monk asked about the *Discourse on the Ten Mysteries*, just raising: 'I ask you, what does the mind-seal look like?' Yuanwu said in a stern voice, 'The pattern is already manifest!' Hearing this, Min was delighted and considered himself to have reached the utmost. Yuanwu applied the tongs and hammer, giving no directional clues. One day, Min said to Yuanwu, 'Please do not cite cases; wait for me to explain, and see.' Yuanwu agreed. Min said, 'In ordinarily taking up the mallet and raising the fly-whisk, is it not as the scripture says: "All existing forms in all worlds are just the bodhi, the wondrous luminous true mind"?' Yuanwu laughed and said, 'So you have been making your living right here all along!' Min said again, 'When letting out a shout and striking the bed, is it not "turning hearing inward to hear one's own nature, and the nature accomplishes the unsurpassable Way"?' Yuanwu said, 'Have you not seen the scripture say: "The wondrous nature is round and clear, free from all names and forms"?' At these words, Min was released. Thereupon he ceased lecturing and attended upon Yuanwu. Because Yuanwu left Shu to reside at Jiashan, Min accompanied him. When Yuanwu held an informal gathering for the assembly and cited the circumstance of 'before the ancient sail is hoisted,' Min heard it without comprehending and thus sought resolution. Yuanwu said, 'You ask me.' Min raised the previous topic. Yuanwu said, 'The cypress tree in the courtyard.' Min immediately understood thoroughly and said to Yuanwu, 'The ancients said it is like a drop cast into a vast chasm, but they never realized that the great ocean is cast into a single drop!' Yuanwu laughed and said, 'What can one do with this fellow?' Yuanwu spoke a verse: / 'Cease boasting of the fourfold Vinaya, put an end to the *Śūraṅgama*; / Lower your clouds and thoroughly investigate. / Do not imitate Master Liang's calling upon Mazu; / Rather be like Dejiao visiting Longtan. / For seven years coming and going, wandering at Zhaojue; / For three years soaring, ascending Mount Bi'yan. / Today, I trouble you to fill the head seat; / Amidst the hundred flowers, the udumbara appears.' / Before long, he opened the Dharma at Baoning, and moved to Huazang, greatly propagating the Way of Yuanwu. Later, he manifested quiescence at his home mountain. From the jhāpita, śarīra were extremely abundant; people who dug a foot or so into the earth all obtained them, extraordinarily bright, clear, and clean. His heart and tongue did not decay, and a stūpa was erected for both.

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大明高僧傳 — Classical Chinese