大明高僧傳 6.16

6.16

Shi Zujue was a son of the Yang family of Jiazhou. Intelligent from childhood, he could recite books and histories after glancing at them. He then composed a book rejecting the Buddhists. Suddenly an evil state appeared before him; in great terror, he repented his faults, left home, and relied upon Master Huiri Neng. Before long, an ulcer grew on his knee, which remained unhealed despite five years of medical treatment. Because he copied out the *Huayan helun*, at the end of the night he had a remarkable dream. At dawn, he cast away his staff and walked briskly in his shoes. Just like the day before, he recited up to the 'Manifesting Appearances' chapter, which says:
'The Buddha body has no arising, yet is able to manifest arising.
The Dharma nature is like empty space; the Buddhas dwell within it.
Without dwelling and without going, everywhere one sees the Buddha.'
He thereupon awakened to the essential principle of the *Huayan*, and only then was entered into the monastic register. The prefectural commander invited him to lecture at the Hall of a Thousand Sections, and his broad and unconstrained eloquence was revered by the assembly. It happened that Chan Master Nantang Jing passed by his gate and said to him: 'Observing your lecturing, you stand alone in the Southwest. It is only a pity that you have not yet understood how to depart from the characteristics of words. If you could inquire into the Way beyond convention, you would be today's Zhou Diamond.' Jue gladly stopped lecturing and traveled south to Chan assemblies. He then relied upon Yuanwu at Zhongfu. One day, entering the room, Yuanwu cited: 'Luoshan said: When there are words, crouch on the tiger's head and seize the tiger's tail; under the first phrase, clarify the essential principle. When there are no words, confront and expose the dynamic pivot like a flash of lightning. How do you understand this?' Jue had no reply. Thereupon he investigated it day and night, and suddenly had an awakening. He composed a gāthā and presented it, saying:
'My home is atop an isolated peak;
For years the door has been half-closed.
Sighing to myself that my body is already old,
I entrust the livelihood to my children and grandchildren.'
Yuanwu did not approve. The next day, entering the room, Yuanwu asked: 'How about yesterday's gongan?' Jue intended to reply, but Yuanwu shouted and said: 'The Buddhadharma is not this principle!' Jue stayed for another five years, becoming even more bewildered and stifled. Later, at Xixian on Mount Lu, he read Fushan Yuan's *Xiaozhi lun* (Treatise on Peeling Away Attachments), which said: 'If one says that awakening has closeness and distance, how could foul grass grow within a sandalwood grove?' Only then was he thoroughly and greatly awakened. He then composed a gāthā and sent it to Yuanwu, saying:
'Leaving the grove, I still enter tangled weeds;
The net of heaven is vast, impossible to escape.
Who could believe that karmic conditions offer nowhere to hide?
Returning, I am not afraid of raising my voice high.'
Yuanwu was overjoyed, held it up to show the assembly, and said: 'Jue of the *Huayan* has penetrated through!' From then on, all quarters called him Jue of the *Huayan*. Ascending the hall, a monk asked: 'I wonder, whom did the primordial King of Awesome Sound and the final Rucika Buddha study with?' Jue said: 'Living in the city of Daliang, you further ask for the road to Chang'an.' The monk asked: 'What is a shout like the precious sword of the Vajra King?' Jue said: 'Blood spatters the Brahmā Heaven.' [The monk] asked: 'What is a shout like a crouching lion?' Jue said: 'Frightening wild foxes to death.' [The monk] asked: 'What is a shout like a sounding rod and shadow grass?' Jue said: 'Testing you until your bones show.' [The monk] asked: 'What is a shout that is not used as a shout?' Jue said: 'You must simply recognize the person holding the needle; do not speak of the fine plumage of the mandarin ducks.'