曆代法寶記 1.7

1.7

The fifth patriarch of the Tang dynasty, Chan Master Hongren, had the secular surname Zhou and was a native of Huangmei. At the age of seven, he served Master Xin. At the age of thirteen, he entered the Way and donned the robe. By nature he was taciturn, reticent, and profound. His fellow disciples made light of him and teased him, but he remained silent without answering. He was always diligent at his tasks, behaving humbly toward others with propriety. By day, he mingled in the chores and ran errands; by night, he would sit and gather his mind until dawn, never wearying or growing remiss. For thirty years he did not leave Master Xin's presence. He was eight feet tall, and his appearance was utterly extraordinary. Having received the transmission of the Dharma and the kāṣāya, he dwelt on Mount Pingmao, which lies east of Mount Shuangfeng, not far from each other. People of the time called him the Dharma Master of the East Mountain—that is, Mount Pingmao, not Mount Song. At that time, there were wild bandits, such as Keda, Hannu, and Lu, who surrounded the prefectural city several folds thick; there was no road into it, and even flying birds could not pass. The Master was seen from afar coming to that city, and the band of bandits retreated and dispersed, saying to one another, 'Countless vajra-warriors holding pestles were pursuing us, glaring with anger and gnashing their teeth! We then fled in disarray.' Master Ren returned to Mount Pingmao. In the fifth year of the Xianqing era, the Great Emperor sent an imperial envoy to Mount Pingmao in Huangmei to invite Master Ren. The Master did not accept the invitation. Another imperial envoy was sent to invite him again, but he did not come. The emperor bestowed robes and medicines upon him, making offerings to him at Mount Pingmao. For more than forty years afterward, he guided both the monastics and the laity; dragons and elephants from all four directions took refuge and rushed to him. The Master entrusted the Dharma and the kāṣāya to Huineng. Later, in the fifth year of the Xianheng era, he ordered his disciple Master Xuanji: 'Build a stūpa for me.' On the fourteenth day of the second month, he asked whether the stūpa was completed. [Xuanji] answered: 'The work is finished.' The Master said, 'I cannot enter parinirvāṇa on the fifteenth day of the second month, the same as the Buddha.' He also said, 'In my whole life, I have taught countless people. Aside from Huineng, there are only ten others: Master Shenxiu, Master Zhixian, Master Zhide, Master Xuanji, Master Lao'an, Master Faru, Master Huizang, Master Xuanyue, and Liu Wangbo. Although you have not left my presence, each of you shall be a master of one region.' Later, on the eleventh day of the second month in the second year of the Shangyuan era, he quietly entered sitting transformation. Master Ren was seventy-four years of age. His disciple Huineng transmitted the robe, attained the Dharma, and succeeded him. Academician Lüqiu Jun composed the stele inscription.