景德傳燈錄 27.2

27.2

Chan Master Baozhi was a native of Jincheng. His surname was Zhu. Leaving home young, he stayed at Daolin Temple to practice Chan meditation. At the beginning of the Taishe era of the Song dynasty, his dwelling suddenly became unfixed and his eating had no regular hours. His hair was several inches long, and he walked barefoot carrying a monk's staff. Around his head he wore scissors, a ruler, and a bronze mirror, or hung one or two feet of silk cloth. For days he did not eat, yet showed no signs of hunger. From time to time he would sing verses whose words were like prophetic prognostications. Scholars and commoners alike all served him. In the seventh year of the Yongming era of the Qi dynasty, Emperor Wu deemed that the master was deluding the multitude, had him arrested, and committed him to the prison in Jiankang. At dawn, people saw him entering the marketplace, but when inspecting the prison, he was there as before. The magistrate of Jiankang reported the matter, and the Emperor invited him to the rear hall of the palace. While the master was in Hualin Garden, one day he suddenly wore three cloth caps layered together, none knowing where he obtained them. Soon, King of Yuzhang and Crown Prince Wenhui died one after another; Emperor Wu soon passed away, and the Qi dynasty entered its decline. Because of this, the master was forbidden to come and go. When Emperor Gaozu of the Liang dynasty ascended the throne, he issued an edict saying: "Master Zhi's traces are confined in dust and defilement, yet his spirit roams in the profound and quiescent. Water and fire cannot burn or wet him; snakes and tigers cannot attack or terrify him. Speaking of his Buddhist principle, he is above the Śrāvakas; talking of his reclusion, he is higher than the escaping immortals. How could one use the ordinary sentiment of commoners to futilely restrain him? How did it become as vulgar as this? From now on, let him no longer be restricted." One day the Emperor asked the master: "How should this disciple cure his afflictions and delusions?" The master said: "Twelve." Those who understood took it that the twelve causal conditions are the medicine for curing delusions. He also asked about the purport of twelve. The master said: "The purport lies in the characters of the hours of the water clock." Those who understood took it that it was written in the twelve double-hours. He further asked: "When may this disciple attain a quiet mind to cultivate practice?" The master said: "Peaceful happiness, restraint." Those who understood took it that restraint in cultivation means stopping; only when one reaches peaceful happiness does one stop. He also composed twenty-four verses of "Praise of the Mahāyāna," which circulated widely in the world. (Other words and verses which secretly harmonized with the purport of the Chan school, ten verses and the "Hymns on the Twelve Hours" composed by the master, are briefly recorded and compiled in another fascicle.) In the winter of the thirteenth year of the Tianjian era, on the verge of passing away, he suddenly told the monks to move the temple's Vajra spirit statue outside, and secretly said to someone: "The Bodhisattva is about to depart." Within ten days, he died without illness, his whole body fragrant and soft. Prior to his demise, he lit a candle and gave it to Wu Qing, the Gentleman of the Rear Chamber. Qing reported the matter, and the Emperor sighed, saying: "The Great Master will not stay any longer! Does the candle mean he entrusts the future affairs to me?" Thereupon he buried him with lavish rites on Dulong Mound at Mount Zhong, and also established Kaishan Hermitage. He ordered Lu Chui to compose an epitaph inside the tomb, and Wang Yun to carve a stele at the temple gate. His remaining likeness was transmitted everywhere. When the master first revealed his traces, his age seemed around fifty or sixty, and at his end he was not aged either; no one could fathom his years. There was a certain Xu Jiedao, aged ninety-three, who said he was Zhi's maternal younger cousin, four years younger than Zhi. Calculating thus, when the master died, he was probably ninety-seven. He was imperially bestowed the posthumous title of Great Master Miaojue.