景德傳燈錄 27.8

27.8

Chan Master Huisi of Mount Heng was a native of Wujin, whose secular surname was Li. He had a fleshly uṣṇīṣa on his crown, walked like an ox, and gazed like an elephant. In his youth, he was known in his village for his kindness and forbearance. Once, he dreamed that an Indian monk urged him to leave secular life; he then bid farewell to his parents and entered the Way. Upon receiving full ordination, he constantly practiced seated meditation, eating only one meal a day. He recited sūtras such as the Lotus Sūtra a full thousand times. Furthermore, reading the Sūtra of the Wondrous and Supreme Samādhi, he praised the virtues of dhyāna, and thereupon resolved to seek out spiritual companions. At that time, Chan Master Huiwen had several hundred disciples. (Master Wen had initially reached behind his back to draw from the canon, obtaining the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā, which clarified the Chan principles. This treatise was composed by the fourteenth patriarch of the Western Heavens, the Mahāsattva Nāgārjuna; thus he took Nāgārjuna as his distant master.) [Huisi] then went to receive the Dharma from him, restraining his mind day and night during the summer retreat. After three weeks, he attained the supernormal power of knowing past lives, and doubled his vigor. Soon an obstacle arose: his four limbs became weak and frail, unable to walk. He reflected to himself: "Illness arises from karma, and karma is produced from the mind. When the source of the mind does not arise, what appearance can external objects have? Illness, karma, and the body are all like the shadows of clouds." Having contemplated thus, his deluded thoughts ceased, and he felt as light and at ease as before. When the summer retreat ended, he had still attained nothing. Feeling deep shame, he let his body lean against the wall. Before his back had even reached it, he suddenly attained awakening. The Lotus samādhi, the gate of the supreme vehicle, was clearly understood in a single thought. The longer he tempered and cultivated it, the more his former contemplation increased. His reputation and practice spread far and wide, and students arrived daily. Inspiring them without weariness, his resonant encounters were truly numerous. He then used the Hinayana and Mahayana dharmas of meditation, wisdom, and so forth to offer analogies according to their faculties, causing them to practice compassion and forbearance and to uphold the bodhisattva's three pure precepts. His clothing generally consisted of coarse cloth, supplemented with mugwort against the cold. In the Tianbao era of the Northern Qi, he led his disciples south. Encountering the turmoil of Emperor Xiaoyuan of Liang, he temporarily stayed at Mount Dasu. Those who made light of life and prized the Dharma braved dangers together to arrive, filling the mountain forests. The master instructed the assembly, saying: "The source of the Way is not far; the ocean of nature is not distant. Only seek within yourself; do not look to others. If you search outside, you will not find it; even if you find it, it will not be real." He spoke a gāthā, saying: