景德傳燈錄 2.14

2.14

His parents firmly restrained him. Thereupon he did not eat for the whole day. They then permitted him to leave household life at home, naming him Saṃghanandi. They also ordered the śramaṇa Shanliduō to be his master. For nineteen years he never slackened or wearied. The Venerable One often reflected to himself: 'Dwelling in the royal palace, why is this leaving the household life?' One evening a heavenly light descended upon him. He saw a flat, even path and unawares walked slowly along it. After about ten leagues, he arrived before a great cliff where there was a stone cave. He then resided in quietude within it. His father, having lost his son, banished Shanliduō from the country and searched for his son without finding where he was. After ten years, the Venerable One, having obtained the Dharma and received the prediction, was traveling and teaching in the country of Madra. Suddenly a cool breeze blew over the assembly; their bodies and minds felt extraordinarily comfortable and pleasant, without their knowing why. The Venerable One said: 'This is the wind of the Dao and virtue. Must there be a holy one appearing in the world to succeed the ancestral lamp?' Having spoken, he took the great assembly with supernormal power to travel through mountains and valleys. In the time of a meal, he arrived beneath a peak and addressed the assembly, saying: 'Above the summit of this peak are purple clouds like a canopy. A holy person dwells here.' He then paced back and forth with the great assembly for a long time. They saw a young boy from a mountain house holding a round mirror come straight before the Venerable One. The Venerable One asked, 'How old are you?' He replied, 'A hundred years old.' The Venerable One said, 'Your age is still tender; why do you say a hundred years old?' He replied, 'If I do not understand the principle, I am precisely a hundred years old.' The Venerable One asked, 'Are you skilled in faculties and conditions?' He replied, 'The Buddha said: "If a person lives for a hundred years without understanding the faculties of the Buddhas, it is not as good as living for one day and obtaining a decisive comprehension of them."' The master said, 'What does that which is in your hand signify?' The boy said, 'The great round mirror of the Buddhas has no flaw or obscuration inside or outside. Two people see it together; their minds and eyes are both alike.' When his parents heard their son's words, they at once gave him up to leave household life. The Venerable One took him back to his original place, and after he received the full precepts, he was named Gayāśata. At another time, hearing the wind blow the copper chimes of the hall, the Venerable One asked the master, 'Is the chime sounding, or is the wind sounding?' The master replied, 'It is neither the wind nor the chime; it is only my mind that sounds.' The Venerable One said, 'And who is the mind?' The master replied, 'Both are tranquil.' The Venerable One said, 'Excellent, excellent! Who other than you can succeed to my Way?' He then transmitted the Dharma with a gāthā, saying: