景德傳燈錄 4.28

4.28

Chan Master Chonghui of Mount Tianzhu in Shuzhou was a native of Pengzhou surnamed Chen. At the beginning of the Qianyuan era of the Tang, he went to Mount Tianzhu in Shuzhou and founded a monastery. In the first year of the Yongtai era, an imperial decree conferred the name Tianzhu Monastery. A monk asked, "What is the environment of Tianzhu?" The Master said, "Zhubu Mountain is high, so the sun is hard to see; before Jade Mirror Peak, dawn comes easily to people." [The monk] asked, "Before Bodhidharma came to this land, was there still Buddha-Dharma or not?" The Master said, "Set aside the time before he came; what is the matter of right now?" [The monk] said, "I do not understand; I beg the Master's instruction." The Master said, "Ten thousand eons of boundless sky, one morning of wind and moon." After a good while, he further said, "Ācārya, do you understand? How is it from your own part? What does it have to do with whether Bodhidharma came or did not come? That fellow's coming was very much like a fortune-teller: seeing that you do not understand, he pierced the divinatory lines with an awl for you, and only then did good and bad fortune arise. As for your own part, see everything for yourself." A monk asked, "What kind of person is one who understands divination?" The Master said, "The moment you step out the door, it will not hit the mark." [A monk] asked, "What is the house style of Tianzhu?" The Master said, "From time to time white clouds come to close the gate; no more do wind and moon flow through the four mountains." [A monk] asked, "Where has the deceased monk who passed away gone?" The Master said, "The peak of Mount Qian is high, ever gathering emerald-green; the bright moon over the Shu River shines with radiant light." [A monk] asked, "Who is the Buddha Supreme Omniscient Conquering (Mahābhijñā-jñānābhibhū)?" The Master said, "Throughout vast eons he has never been obstructed; if not the Buddha Supreme Omniscient Conquering, who is he?" [The monk] said, "Why does the Buddha-Dharma not appear before us?" The Master said, "It is solely because you do not understand that it becomes unmanifest. If you were to understand, there would also be no Buddha path to accomplish." [A monk] asked, "What is the Way?" The Master said, "White clouds cover the green cliffs; bees and birds pace among the courtyard flowers." [A monk] asked, "What speech was there from the successive sages?" The Master said, "What speech do you see me have right now?" [A monk] asked, "Regarding the lineage school, I request the Master to present and proclaim it." The Master said, "The stone ox bellows long beyond true emptiness; when the wooden horse neighs, the moon hides in the mountains." [A monk] asked, "What is the Upādhyāya's way of benefiting people?" The Master said, "A single rain universally nourishes the thousand mountains' scenic beauty." [A monk] asked, "Who is the person within Mount Tianzhu?" The Master said, "Stepping alone on the peaks of a thousand summits, roaming freely by the Nine Bends Spring." [A monk] asked, "What is the meaning of the [Patriarch's] coming from the West?" The Master said, "A white gibbon embracing its child comes to the green cliff; bees and butterflies hold flowers between green stamens." The Master dwelt in the mountain expounding the Way for a total of twenty-two years. On the twenty-second day of the seventh month of the fourteenth year of the Dali era, he returned to stillness. A stūpa was erected north of the monastery; his true body is still present.