曆代法寶記 1.6

1.6

The fourth patriarch of the Tang dynasty was Chan Master Xin. His secular surname was Sima, and he was a native of Henei. He left home in his youth and served Master Can. Master Can recognized his extraordinary spirit. Day and night he constantly sat, not lying down for over sixty years, his ribs never touching a mat. His spiritual majesty was wondrous and unique; his eyes were kept closed without looking, and if he wished to look at someone, those who saw him were terrified. During the Daye reign era, Master Xin looked from afar toward Jizhou, where wild bandits had besieged the city for over a hundred days, and the springs and wells had run dry. The Great Master entered the city and exhorted the monastics and laypeople, causing them to practice the prajñāpāramitā; the wild bandits retreated on their own, and the springs and wells in the city overflowed again. Master Xin looked from afar toward Potou Mountain in Huangmei of Qizhou and saw a purple cloud canopy. Master Xin thereupon dwelt on this mountain, which was later renamed Mount Shuangfeng. In the seventeenth year of Zhenguan, the Civil and Martial Emperor sent an imperial envoy to Mount Shuangfeng to invite Chan Master Xin into the palace. Chan Master Xin declined on account of old age and did not go. The imperial envoy returned to see the emperor and memorialized, "Chan Master Xin declines on account of old age and will not come." An imperial edict was sent again to invite him. The envoy arrived at Chan Master Xin's place and said, "An imperial edict has been issued to invite the Chan master." The Chan master adamantly declined on account of old age and would not go, saying to the envoy, "If you want to have my head, feel free to cut it off and take it; I will never go." The envoy returned to see the emperor and memorialized, "He said, 'If you need my head, feel free to cut it off and take it; as for my heart to go, I will never go.'" The emperor again sent an envoy with a sealed sword to take the Chan master's head, but the decree said, "Do not harm the Upādhyāya." The envoy arrived at the Upādhyāya's place and said, "I have received an imperial decree to take the Upādhyāya's head. Will the Chan master go or not?" The Upādhyāya said, "I will never go." The envoy said, "The imperial decree says, 'If the Chan master does not come, sever his head and bring it.'" Master Xin stretched out his neck and said, "Sever and take it." The envoy reversed the blade and drew it across his neck. Master Xin called out, "Why do you not sever it? What more are you waiting for?" The envoy said, "The imperial decree does not permit harming the Upādhyāya." Chan Master Xin laughed heartily and said, "Let you know that there are [true] men here!" Later, Master Xin greatly performed Buddhist activities, broadly opened the dharma gate, and guided all classes of beings; the dragon-elephants of the four directions all received refuge. After more than thirty years, only Hongren served him and grasped his intent. Having finished entrusting the Dharma and the kāṣāya to Hongren, he instructed his disciple Master Yuanyi, "Build a dragon niche for me beside the mountain; it must be completed quickly." Later he asked, "Is the dragon niche completed or not?" Master Yuanyi replied, "The work is finished." On the twenty-fourth day of the intercalary ninth month of the second year of Yonghui, the Great Master, having had no illness, quietly passed away while sitting. The master was then seventy-two years old. One full year after his burial, the stone door opened on its own without any cause; the Great Master's features were dignified and serene, unaltered from normal days. Hongren and the others, beholding his spiritual deportment anew, could not overcome their feelings of admiration and reverence; they then applied lacquer cloth to his venerable countenance. From this time on, they dared not close it again. His disciples were very numerous; only Hongren transmitted the robe, attained the Dharma, and succeeded him. Du Zhenglun, Secretariat Director, composed a stela inscription.