景德傳燈錄 20.12

20.12

Chan Master Daojian Zhaohua of Mount Yunju (the second generation abbot) was a native of Fanyang. Having long entered the room of Yunju, he secretly received the true seal; he was assigned monastic duties and took charge of gathering firewood and cooking. Because of his advanced monastic seniority, he resided in the hall as the first seat. When Upādhyāya [Daoying] was approaching his peaceful demise, the administrative monk asked, "Who is worthy to succeed you?" [Daoying] said, "Jian in the hall." Although the administrative monk heard the words, he did not grasp their meaning, thinking it meant "selection" (jianxuan). He then deliberated with the monks and nominated the second seat to be the spiritual leader. Nevertheless, they prepared the protocol to first invite the first seat, intending that if he courteously declined, they would firmly invite the second seat. At that time, Master Jian, having already secretly received his teacher's prediction, did not decline at all. He immediately took up his own implements, entered the abbot's quarters, gathered the assembly, and expounded the Dharma. The administrative monks and others were displeased as their original intention was thwarted, and they refused to comply with the rules. The master discerned their sentiments, thereupon abandoned the monastery, and secretly went down the mountain. That night the mountain deity wailed and wept. At dawn, the administrators and the great assembly rushed to the wheat farm, repented their fault, and mournfully begged him to return to the monastery. The assembly heard the mountain deity calling repeatedly, "The upādhyāya has come!" A monk asked, "What is the master's house style?" The master said, "At ease everywhere." [A monk] asked, "Is not Vimalakīrti the Tathāgata Golden Grain?" The master said, "He is." [The monk] said, "Why then did he participate in Śākyamuni's assembly to listen to the Dharma?" The master said, "He does not dispute self and other." [A monk] asked, "How is it when lying across to cover [all]?" The master said, "Can it be covered?" [A monk] asked, "Why does the young snake swallow the snake charmer?" The master said, "Inside, it does not harm." [A monk] asked, "Can the upādhyāya speak of what the sages cannot speak of?" The master said, "What place do you say the sages cannot speak of?" [A monk] asked, "How is it when meeting a fierce tiger on the road?" The master said, "Out of a thousand or ten thousand people, none meet it; why is it that only you meet it?" [A monk] asked, "How is it when sleeping alone on a solitary peak?" The master said, "Leaving the seven-bay monks' hall unoccupied and not sleeping there, who told you to sleep alone on a solitary peak?" After the master manifested his passing, Zhang Chong, the military commander of Luzhou, donated funds to erect a stone stūpa on the home mountain, which still exists today.