大明高僧傳 8.4

8.4

Shi Desheng was styled Wan'an. He was a son of the He family of Hanzhou. In his youth, he sank in the worldly mire; as he grew older, he awoke as if from a dream. At twenty, he was ordained and directed his mind to the lecture seats. The three trainings and the four assemblies praised him as a tiger of doctrinal meaning. Suddenly disliking the piecemeal analysis, he completely changed his course. Changing his clothes and putting on a rain-hat, he visited Venerable Wenshu Dao and earnestly begged for the essential point of the Buddhadharma. Dao spoke a verse: / "The Khitans crushed the Persian fortress, / Seized the precious pearl, and sold it in the village. / A poor beggar at the crossroads, / At his waist hangs a stylish pouch." / When Sheng was about to reply, Dao shouted, "Do not make a mistake!" Thereupon he withdrew and investigated for three years before he grasped the earlier meaning. Entering Min, he climbed Gushan to pay respects to Zhu'an, asking, "What is the meaning of the National Preceptor's line about not stepping past the stone gate?" Zhu'an answered immediately, "Idle words." At these words he was suddenly enlightened. Later, a monk asked, "What is the true person of no rank?" Sheng said, "When heard of, rich and noble; after seeing, poor and destitute." Śramaṇa Huiwen was styled Luo'an and was born to the Zheng family of Fuzhou. Together with Sheng, he relied on Zhu'an in the East. Before long, because Zhu'an resigned from his duties, and feeling in his own chest that he was not yet clear, he also visited various senior masters such as Gao'an Wu, Nanhua Bing, and Caotang Qing, all of whom recognized his understanding. It happened that Zhu'an moved to Ganyuan in Min; Wen returned to visit him. Zhu'an said, "When feeling arises, wisdom is blocked; when thought alters, substance differs. There is no need to detain a prisoner to foster intellect; speak a phrase!" Wen was released and awakened, presenting a verse: / "Pushed out, the whole body is a mouth; what harm in cursing the rain and scolding the wind? / Last night in the village ahead, a fierce tiger bit to death the big bug of the southern mountain." / Zhu'an approved him. Later, he resided at Langshan in Tongzhou. Together with Sheng, he raised Zhu'an's red banner and served as a fine guide for the region.