景德傳燈錄 26.49

26.49

Chan Master Zhijue, Yanshou, of Huiri Yongming Monastery in Hangzhou was a native of Yuhang. His surname was Wang. From the age when his hair was bound in tufts, he directed his mind toward the Buddha vehicle. Once he was capped, he did not eat meat, and ate only one meal a day. When reciting the Lotus Sūtra, he could take in seven lines at once; within merely sixty days, he could recite it entirely by heart. It moved a flock of sheep to kneel and listen. At the age of twenty-eight, he served as garrison commander of Huating. It happened that the Great Master Yongming of Cuiyan moved his residence to Longce Monastery, where he vastly propagated the mysterious transformation. At that time, King Wenmu of Wuyue knew of the Master's yearning for the Way; he therefore complied with his aspiration and permitted him to leave home. He paid homage to Cuiyan as his master. Performing labor and serving the assembly, he completely forgot himself. In clothing he did not use silk or padding, and in food he took no double flavors; he spent morning and evening on wild vegetables and a cloth jacket. Soon afterward, he went to Tianzhu Peak on Mount Tiantai to practice samādhi for ninety days. There was a bird resembling a quail that nested within the folds of his robe. When he paid homage to State Preceptor Shao, upon their first meeting the State Preceptor deeply valued his capacity and secretly imparted the mysterious purport to him. He further said to the Master, "You have an affinity with the commander-in-chief. In the future you will greatly promote Buddhist activities." Thus he secretly received the prediction. At first he resided at Mount Xuedou in Mingzhou, where students gathered like clouds. (In the first year of Xianping, it was bestowed the plaque reading "Zisheng Monastery.") The Master entered the hall and said, "Here at Xuedou, a swift waterfall of a thousand fathoms halts not for a fine grain; strange crags of ten thousand cubits offer no place to set foot. Toward what place will all of you advance?" Then a monk asked, "How does one tread the single path of Xuedou?" The Master said, "Step by step, cold frost forms; word by word, ice freezes to the very bottom." In the first year of Jianlong, King Zhongyi invited him to enter and reside at the new monastery on Mount Lingyin as its first generation. The next year, he again invited him to reside at the great place of practice at Yongming as its second generation. The assembly numbered more than two thousand. A monk asked, "What is the wondrous purport of Yongming?" The Master said, "Add more incense." The monk said, "Thank you, Master, for your instruction." The Master said, "Fortunately, it has nothing to do with it." The Master had a verse: