大明高僧傳 8.6

8.6

Śramaṇa Shi Ziyuan, styled Puyun, was a son of the Yong family of Mianzhou. Having spiritual roots from earlier lives, he was able to sever worldly affection while still young. He cast off the fetters of desire as a fish escapes the net, and entered the garden of the Dharma like a phoenix perching on a parasol tree. At nineteen, he was tested on the scriptures and received his certificate of ordination with a hymn. After dyeing his robes, he first explored the Vinaya school: his [observance of] action, transgression, cessation, and upholding was like white jade and fine gem. He immersed himself in the ocean of teachings for five years, and only afterward went beyond the pass and headed south. As he traveled and trained, the four assemblies all praised him as outstanding. He called upon venerable elders everywhere. Upon first entering Longmen, he happened to walk in the corridor and veranda, and seeing a painting of a foreigner on the wall, he suddenly had an awakening. That evening he reported it to Gao'an. Gao'an brought up Fayan's verse: 'On his head he wears a sable cap; at his waist hangs an awl of ram's horn. His words do not allow people to understand; one must find someone to translate them.' Gao'an then picked up the tongs, held up fire, showed it to him, and said: 'I have translated it for you.' At these words, Yuan had a great awakening and presented a verse: 'The sounds of foreign words cannot be exhausted; / Beneath the Cloud-Arising Pavilion, all at once they are penetrated. / The gate of the mouth is vast and boundless; / It swallows whole the chestnut burs of Yangqi.' Gao'an sent him to attend upon Foyan. Foyan said: 'My Way has gone east.' Shi Shanneng was also a Dharma heir and disciple of Gao'an. His family was from Yanling; his surname is not recorded. One day, Gao'an held a communal labor to pick vegetables. Recognizing that [Shanneng's] conditions were ripe, Gao'an suddenly threw a cat into Neng's embrace. As Neng hesitated, Gao'an struck his chest and stepped on him, knocking him down. Thoroughly and greatly awakened, Neng stood up, only chanting and laughing. Having attended upon him for a long time, his fragrant virtue was heard far and wide. Monastics and laity inclined their hearts to him, and devas and humans ushered him forth. He served as abbot at Zhongji in Fuzhou, vastly propagating the style of the school. The world called it the twin-tree Dharma banner.