景德傳燈錄 26.61

26.61

Chan Master Shihu of Guangsheng Bodhimaṇḍa in Guangzhou was a native of Minyue. After obtaining the Dharma from Tiantai, his teaching flourished south of the ridges. The ruler of the kingdom, of the Liu clan, treated him with the etiquette due a teacher, founded a great monastery, and invited the Master to reside there, granting him the title Dayi. A monk asked, "In the past, King Brahmā requested the Buddha [to teach]; today, the ruler of the kingdom attends the feast. The ancestral transmission came from the west; how will you propose and chant it?" The Master said, "There is no need for coming from the west; this mountain monk has already proposed and chanted it." [The monk] said, "Is there no skillful means?" The Master said, "Was just now not skillful means?" [A monk] asked, "The king of the kingdom invited you thrice to come and occupy Guangsheng Bodhimaṇḍa. I wonder, to which quarter do you, upādhyāya, belong as a Dharma heir?" The Master said, "One beat of the drum, and myriad households peer out at once." [The monk] said, "If so, then you have personally received the marvelous purport of Tiantai at Guangsheng." The Master said, "Do not speak nonsense." A monk asked, "The student has newly entered the monastic grove; regarding the marvelous key of the coming from the west, I beg the Master for instruction." The Master said, "Before you entered the monastic grove, I had already instructed you." [The monk] said, "How am I to comprehend it?" The Master said, "There is no need to comprehend it."