神僧傳 3.28

3.28

The śramaṇa Master Bao was a recluse of high virtue on Mount Song. One morning, he set out from Linlü toward Mount Bailu. Because he lost his way, when the sun was nearing midday, he suddenly heard the sound of a bell. Following the sound, he advanced. The crags and ridges were multiple obstacles, but he climbed and hurried on, and then saw a monastery. Standing alone deep in the forest, its three gates faced directly south, magnificent and resplendent. Approaching the gates, he looked at the plaque, which read 'Lingyin Monastery'. Outside the gates were five or six dogs as large as oxen, with white fur and black muzzles, some leaping, some lying down, turning their eyes to look at Bao. Bao was frightened and about to turn back. In a moment, he saw a foreign monk coming from outside. Bao called out to him, but he did not answer, nor did he look back, walking straight inside the gate, and the dogs followed him inside. After a long while, Bao saw people gradually entering. The buildings were surrounded on all four sides, and the doors of the rooms were all closed. Proceeding to the lecture hall, he saw only couches and a high seat, solemn and imposing. Bao entered the southwest corner and sat on a couch. After a long time, he suddenly heard a sound from the eastern chamber. Looking up, he saw an opening the size of a well, and great bhikṣus flew down from the opening one after another, reaching fifty or sixty men. Having taken their seats according to rank, they asked one another: 'Where did you eat today during the fasting meal?' Some said Yuzhang, Chengdu, Chang'an, Longyou, Jibei, Lingnan, or the Five Indias, and so forth; there was nowhere they had not gone, traveling over ten million li at a move. The last monk flew down from the sky. The others vied to ask: 'Why did you come so late?' He replied: 'Today at Bi'an Monastery east of the city of Xiang Prefecture, Dhyāna Master Jian held a lecture assembly. Each propounded their doctrines. There was a young man of bright intellect who raised difficult questions; his words and voice clashed like sharp blades, exceptionally worth seeing. Without realizing it, it became late.' Bao had originally served Jian as his upādhyāya. Having heard these words, he hoped to join the conversation. Thereupon, he adjusted his robes, stood up, and said to the monks: 'Jian is my upādhyāya.' The monks looked straight at Bao. In an instant, the location of Lingyin Monastery was lost. Bao was merely sitting alone beneath an oak tree; he saw nothing at all, beholding only crags and valleys, with birds soaring, gathering, and chirping in confusion. When he emerged from the mountain, he asked Dharma Master Shangtong. Shang said: 'This monastery was built during the Shi Zhao dynasty by Dharma Master Fotudeng. After a long period of years, sages and worthies dwell there; it is not a place for ordinary people. Sometimes it sinks, sometimes it hides, shifting without fixed location. Even now, travelers in the mountains still hear the sound of the bell.'