景德傳燈錄 10.73

10.73

Upādhyāya Puhua of Zhenzhou: it is not known where he was from. He served Panshan, secretly receiving the true instructions, but feigned madness and spoke without restraint. When Panshan passed away, he traveled and taught in the northern regions. Whether in cities and markets or among graves, he shook a bell and cried, “Coming in brightness, I strike; coming in darkness, I strike!” One day, Linji had a monk seize him and ask, “What when it is neither bright nor dark?” He replied, “Tomorrow there is a vegetarian feast at Dabei Cloister.” Whenever he saw anyone, regardless of high or low, he would shake his bell once; at the time, people called him Upādhyāya Puhua. Sometimes he would hold the bell right by someone's ear and shake it, or slap their back. If anyone looked back, he would extend his hand and say, “Give me a coin.” When he encountered food at improper times, he ate it too. He once entered Linji’s cloister at dusk and ate raw vegetables and rice. Linji said, “This fellow looks very much like a donkey!” The Master immediately brayed like a donkey. Linji then stopped. The Master said, “That young lad Linji has only a single eye!” (A monk asked Fayan, “I wonder what phrase Linji uttered at that time?” Fayan said, “Linji left it for later people.”) The Master saw a horse-and-foot commissioner coming forth clearing the road; the Master also called out to clear the road and assumed a wrestling stance. The commissioner had someone strike him with five blows of a staff. The Master said, “It resembles it, yes, but it is not it.” The Master once shook his bell in the marketplace and chanted, “Seeking a place to go cannot be found.” At that time Daowu encountered him, grabbed hold of him, and asked, “Where do you intend to go?” The Master said, “Where do you come from?” Daowu was speechless. The Master jerked his hand free and left. One day he entered Linji’s cloister. Linji cried, “Thief, thief!” The Master also cried, “Thief, thief!” Together they entered the Monks' Hall. Linji pointed to the holy monk [statue] and asked, “Is it ordinary or holy?” The Master said, “It is holy.” Linji said, “To utter such words!” The Master then shook his bell and chanted, “The new bride of Heyang; the old woman’s Chan of the wooden pagoda; that young lad Linji has only a single eye!” At the beginning of the Xiantong era of the Tang, when the Master was about to manifest extinction, he went into the market and said to people, “Give me a direct robe.” Some gave him a lined jacket, others a cloth cloak; he accepted none of them, shook his bell, and walked away. At that time Linji sent someone to give him a coffin. The Master laughed and said, “That fellow Linji is so talkative!” and accepted it. He then announced his departure, saying, “Puhua will go to the East Gate tomorrow to die.” The people of the prefecture led one another to see him out of the city. The Master shouted, “Today’s burial does not accord with Qingwu [geomancy]!” and said, “On the second day I will pass away at the South Gate.” People followed him there too. He said again, “Going out the West Gate tomorrow will be auspicious.” The people coming out became fewer; after coming out, they returned, and their interest somewhat waned. On the fourth day, he carried the coffin himself out beyond the North Gate, shook his bell, entered the coffin, and died. The people of the prefecture ran out of the city; lifting the coffin to look, he was already gone. They only heard the sound of the bell growing fainter in the distance, and none could fathom its cause.