大明高僧傳 5.36

5.36

Shi Fazhong was styled Mu'an. He was a son of the Yao family of Siming. At nineteen, he passed the scriptural examination, was ordained, and studied the Tiantai teachings. Though he awakened to the principle of the three contemplations in one mind, he could not obliterate all traces of it, and so he traveled everywhere to consult renowned virtues. Later he arrived at Longmen. Observing the turning of a watermill, he attained illumination, composed a gāthā, and presented it to Foyan, saying:
"Turning the great wheel of Dharma, / It is contained right before one's eyes. / If you ask further what it is like: / Water driving a stone mill." / Foyan said, "What is the matter within it?" Zhong said, "The water beneath the torrent flows forever." Foyan said, "I have a final word; wait until I impart it to you." Zhong thereupon covered his ears and walked away. Later he arrived at Mount Lu, where he fasted and sat in pure meditation inside a hollow dried tree at Tong'an. During the Xuanhe era, there was a severe drought in Xiangtan. Prayers brought no response. Zhong leapt into the Dragon Abyss and shouted, "You karmic beast, rain one foot down!" The rain immediately arrived. He once lived on the Southern Peak, frequently riding a tiger when going out; Confucians and Buddhists alike bowed to him from afar. He ascended the hall and said, "I have a single phrase: it does not borrow the mouths of the sages, nor does it move one's own tongue. It is not voice or breath, nor is it the discrimination of consciousness. Even if Vimalakīrti kept silent in Vaiśālī or Śākyamuni shut his room in Magadha, it would be much like covering one's ears to steal a bell, unable to avoid leaking the heavenly mechanism. Even with Deshan's stick and Linji's shout, if brought before Mu'an's gate, they would amount to merely a single stake. A thousand kinds of words and ten thousand sorts of explanations are only meant to make you rest yourself; let the great earth and empty space be as uneven and rugged as they will."