景德傳燈錄 14.6

14.6

Chan Master Daowu of Tianhuang Monastery in Jingzhou was a native of Dongyang in Wuzhou. His surname was Zhang. His spiritual demeanor was outstandingly exceptional; from childhood he had innate knowledge, and as he grew up he was endowed with extraordinary spirit. At the age of fourteen he earnestly sought to leave home, but his parents would not permit it. Thereupon he made a vow to reduce his food and drink; eating only one meal a day, his body became emaciated. His parents had no choice but to give their permission. Relying upon a Venerable of Mingzhou, he was tonsured. At the age of twenty-five he received the full precepts at Zhulin Monastery in Hangzhou, diligently cultivating pure conduct, and was commended as vigorous. Sometimes, in wind, rain, and dark nights, he would sit peacefully in burial mounds; with body and mind tranquil, he was free from all terrors. One day he travelled to Yuhang and first called upon Chan Master Guoyi of Jingshan, receiving the mind-dharma and serving him diligently for five years. During the Dali era of the Tang, he arrived at Zhongling and visited Great Master Ma. [Master Ma] confirmed his prior realization again, and the Dharma was without divergent teachings. He stayed for two more summers. Then he called upon Great Master Shitou Qian and asked, 'Leaving aside concentration and wisdom, by what dharma do you show people?' Shitou said, 'Here I have no slaves or maidservants; what is there to leave aside?' He said, 'How can one understand it?' Shitou said, 'Can you grasp space?' He said, 'If so, then it does not go from today.' Shitou said, 'I do not know what time you came from over there.' He said, 'Daowu is not a person from over there.' Shitou said, 'I already knew where you came from.' He said, 'Master, why are you falsely incriminating someone?' Shitou said, 'Your body is visibly present.' He said, 'Even if it is so, after all, how should one show it to later people?' Shitou said, 'Tell me, who are later people?' From this the Master had a sudden awakening. Under the words of the two former philosophical adepts, his clinging mind was completely cleared of all traces. Later he divined a dwelling at Mount Chaizi in Dangyang of Jingzhou (the place where the five hundred arhats soared and roamed). Students attached themselves to him, crowding shoulder to shoulder and heel to toe; ladies and gentlemen from the capital arrived following his fame. At that time, the head monk of Chongye Monastery submitted a report to the military commissioner, who welcomed him into the prefectural city. To the left of the city was Tianhuang Monastery, which was a famous monastery; it had been destroyed by fire. The supervising monk of the monastery, Lingjian, intending to restore it, said, 'If we could obtain Chan Master Wu to be the presiding leader of conversion, he would surely bring us blessings.' Thereupon, in the middle of the night, he went secretly and made a tearful request, bringing him in a sedan chair. Thus he resided at Tianhuang. At that time, Pei Gong, the governor of Jiangling and Right Grand Counselor, bowed and asked about the Dharma, performing ceremonies with utmost diligence. The Master was not in the habit of welcoming or sending off guests; whether noble or humble, he sat and bowed to all alike. Pei Gong took refuge in him all the more. Because of this, Shitou's Dharma-way flourished at this seat. A monk asked, 'What is the subtle and profound teaching?' The Master said, 'Do not say that I understand the Buddha-dharma.' The monk said, 'What should be done about the student's doubts and blockages?' The Master said, 'Why not ask the old monk?' The monk said, 'I have already asked.' The Master said, 'Go! This is not your place to settle.' In the fourth month of the dinghai year of Yuanhe, the Master showed illness; he ordered his disciples to announce his passing in advance. When the last day of the month arrived, the assembly asked after his illness. The Master suddenly called the head of the kitchen. The head of the kitchen stepped forward. The Master said, 'Do you understand?' He replied, 'I do not understand.' The Master then picked up a pillow, tossed it onto the ground, and immediately passed away. His age was sixty; his monastic age was thirty-five. On the fifth day of the eighth month of that year, a stūpa was erected for him to the east of the prefecture. (Venerable Jiyin said: 'Chan Master Daowu of Tianwang Monastery in Jingzhou: as recorded in the Record of the Transmission of the Lamp, it says: "Daowu attained the Dharma from Shitou; the monastery where he resided was called Tianhuang; he was a native of Dongyang in Wuzhou, with the surname Zhang. He left home at the age of fourteen, was tonsured under a Venerable of Mingzhou, received the full precepts at Zhulin Monastery in Hangzhou at the age of twenty-five, first called upon Chan Master Guoyi of Jingshan, serving him diligently for five years. During the Dali era he arrived at Zhongling and called upon Great Master Ma, spending two summers, and then visited Shitou. In the fourth month of the dinghai year of Yuanhe he showed illness; his age was sixty and his monastic age was thirty-five." Yet when inspecting the Five Houses' Lineages compiled by Chan Master Daguan Ying, it says: "Daowu was a successor of Mazu." It cites a stele inscription of several thousand characters composed by Qiu Xuansu of the Tang, which says in brief: "The Master was named Daowu, a native of Zhugong whose surname was Cui; he was a descendant of Ziyu. At the age of fifteen he left home under Vinaya Master Tanzhu at Changsha Monastery. At twenty-three he went to Mount Song and received the precepts (śīla) from a master of Vinaya virtue. He called upon Shitou and knocked at the quietude for two years without any awakening. Then he entered Chang'an and drew close to National Teacher Zhong. At thirty-four, together with his attendant Yingzhen, he returned south to call upon Great Master Ma and had a great awakening under his words. [Mazu] instructed him, saying, 'In other days, do not leave your old place.' Therefore he returned again to Zhugong. In the fourth month of the wuxu year, the thirteenth year of Yuanhe, he first showed illness; on the thirteenth day he returned to stillness, his age being eighty-two and his monastic age sixty-three." Examining their biographies, they appear genuinely to be two different people. What Xuansu recorded says: "There was one person who transmitted the Dharma, Chongxin, who resided at Longtan in Lizhou." The stele of Chan Master Rang of Nanyue, composed by the celebrated Tang writer Gui Deng, lists several Dharma-grandsons at the end, among whom is the name Daowu. Guifeng's Statement on the Tenets of the Sects in Response to Chancellor Pei lists six successors of Mazu, the first of whom is Daowu of Jiangling, with a note below: "Concurrently received from Jingshan." Today, those who falsely engage in disputes between the two schools of Yunmen and Linji are laughable.' Taken from the Linjian lu. ○ The Preface to the Re-collated Lineages of the Five Houses from the Juemeng Hall says: 'During the Jingde era, the Wu monk Daoyuan compiled the Record of the Transmission of the Lamp in thirty fascicles. Below Caoxi, it divides into two branches: one is Rang of Nanyue, and from Rang came Great Master Ma; one is Si of Qingyuan, and from Si came Qian of Shitou. From these two branches, five houses were further divided: Great Master Ma produced eighty-four kalyāṇamitras, among whom was Hai of Baizhang; Hai produced two people, Yun of Huangbo and You of Dahui; below Yun came Xuan of Linji, hence called the Linji school; below You came Ji of Yangshan, hence called the Weiyang school. Among the eighty-four people there was also Wu of Tianwang; Wu attained Xin of Longtan; Xin attained Jian of Deshan; Jian attained Cun of Xuefeng; below Cun came Yan of Yunmen, called the Yunmen school; next was Bei of Xuansha; Bei produced Chen of Dizang; Chen produced Yi of Qingliang, called the Fayan school. Next, Shitou Qian produced two people: Yan of Yaoshan and Wu of Tianhuang. Below Wu, he attained Huizhen; Zhen attained Youxian; Xian attained Wenfen; after three generations it ended. Only Yaoshan attained Sheng of Yunyan; Sheng attained Jie of Dongshan; Jie attained Zhang of Caoshan; this is the Caodong school. Now the Transmission of the Lamp instead places both the Yunmen and Fayan schools under Shitou, which is an error. This is because at that time there were two people named Daowu: one was Daowu of Tianwang Monastery west of Jiangling City, a native of Zhugong and descendant of Cui Ziyu, who succeeded Mazu and died on the thirteenth day of the fourth month of the thirteenth year of Yuanhe. The Grand Master of Closing Court Counsel Qiu Xuansu composed his stūpa inscription, a text of several thousand words, which says in brief: "Mazu instructed him, 'In other days, do not leave your old place.' Therefore he returned again to Zhugong." The other was Daowu of Tianhuang Monastery east of Jiangling City, a native of Dongyang in Wuzhou with the surname Zhang, who succeeded Shitou and died in the dinghai year, the second year of Yuanhe. Gentleman of the Musical Pitch Fu Zai composed his stūpa inscription. The origins and life-details recorded in the two steles are very detailed. However, because on the day Daoyuan collected the Transmission of the Lamp he did not personally go to seek them out one by one, but merely relied on indirect reports gathered through others, his falling into error is understandable. From the Jingde era down to the present, all under heaven take the Transmission of the Lamp as the standard; even those who occupy seats in renowned monasteries and establish schools are unable to investigate and discern this in the least. Only the two gentlemen, Prime Minister Layman Wujin Zhang Gong and Lü Xiaqing, whenever discussing matters in the ancestral school, used to say: "Shitou had Yaoshan, and Yaoshan had the one school of Caodong, whose doctrine, practice, fruit, and discourses are subtle and winding. Moreover, under Daowu of Tianhuang there emerged a Diamond Zhou, who berated the wind and cursed the rain, so that even Buddhas and Patriarchs dared not face his sharp edge. We fear that from Tianhuang's place there may be an error." Venerable Jiyin also once doubted this, saying, "There seem to be two Daowus." Layman Wujin later obtained the stūpa record of Daowu of Tianhuang composed by Fu Zai of the Tang from Chan Master Daguan Ying, and also obtained the stūpa record of Daowu of Tianwang composed by Qiu Xuansu. Carrying them, he showed them everywhere in all directions, saying: "I used to wonder why Deshan and Dongshan, both emerging under Shitou, had such different ways of using killing and bringing to life when letting down their hands. Now, verifying it with these two records of Qiu and Fu, it is clearly luminous; only now do I trust that my discernment of Dharma and testing of men is not mistaken." Jiyin said: "Guifeng's Statement on the Tenets of the Sects in Response to Chancellor Pei lists six successors of Mazu, the first of whom is Daowu of Jiangling, with a note below: 'Concurrently received from Jingshan.' Today, those who falsely engage in disputes between the two schools of Yunmen and Linji are laughable." This outline is briefly written down so that it may be passed on, in the hope that clear-sighted people may know that the orthodox lineages of the Five Houses are simply like this.)'