景德傳燈錄 19.13

19.13

Chan Master Zongjing of Longxing [Monastery] in Hangzhou was a native of Taizhou. When he first visited Xuefeng, he secretly received the seal of the school. He then vowed to serve as the cook (fantou), toiling in hard labor for over ten years. Once, in the assembly hall, he bared one shoulder while nailing up a curtain. Xuefeng saw this and made a prophecy, saying, 'In the future, when you preside [over a monastery], you will have a thousand monks, but among them there will not be a single true patch-robed monk.' The master repented his fault, took his leave, and returned to his home region, where he resided at Liutong Cloister. King Qian ordered him to reside at Longxing Monastery. He had an assembly of over a thousand, but they were solely followers who lectured on and recited the three learnings; it turned out just as Xuefeng had foretold. At the beginning of the Guangshun era of the Zhou dynasty, at the age of eighty-one, King Qian invited him to expound the unsurpassed vehicle in the monastery's Great Hall. Monastics and laypeople crowded around. A monk asked, 'What is the extraordinary chant of Liutong?' The master said, 'The whole world cites it.' [The monk] asked, 'What is the house style of Liutong?' The master said, 'A single patch-robed robe weighs over a catty.' A monk asked, 'What is the path for a student to step forward?' The master said, 'Who would dare deceive you?' [The monk] said, 'Is there really no skillful means?' The master said, 'Already an injustice has been done.' [A monk] asked, 'What is the upādhyāya's house style?' The master said, 'Porridge for breakfast, rice at midday.' [The monk] said, 'I ask the upādhyāya to speak further.' The master said, 'This old monk is tired.' [The monk] said, 'In the end, how is it?' The master simply laughed heartily. King Qian treated him with special reverence and repeatedly invited him to the palace. Because he had first resided at [Liutong] Cloister, [the King] bestowed on him the title Great Master Liutong. In the last month of winter in the first year of the Xiande era, a jia-yin year, he manifested cessation at the age of eighty-four. His stupa was erected at Mount Daci.