景德傳燈錄 4.44

4.44

Chan Master Daoming of Mount Meng in Yuanzhou was a native of Poyang and a descendant of Emperor Xuan of the Chen. When the state fell, he dropped into common life; because he had previously received an appointment as a royal scion, he held the title of General. In his youth, he left home at Yongchang Temple, yearning very earnestly for the Way. He went to rely on the Fifth Patriarch's Dharma assembly, investigating and inquiring with the utmost effort, but at first had no awakening. When he heard that the Fifth Patriarch had secretly transmitted the robe and Dharma to Postulant Lu, he led several tens of men of like mind to follow the tracks in pursuit, reaching the Dayu Ridge. The Master saw him first, while the others had not yet caught up. Seeing the Master rushing up, Postulant Lu cast the robe and bowl onto a boulder, saying, "This robe represents faith; can it be contended for by force? Take it as you please." The Master then tried to lift it, but it was unmoving like a mountain. Hesitating and trembling in fear, he said, "I have come seeking the Dharma, not for the sake of the robe. I pray that the postulant will open and reveal it to me." The Patriarch said, "Not thinking of good, not thinking of evil—at this very moment, what is Superior Ming's original face?" The Master was immediately greatly awakened; sweat poured across his whole body. Weeping, he bowed several times and asked, "Beyond the secret words and secret meaning spoken just now, is there still any other essential purport?" The Patriarch said, "What I have spoken to you now is not secret. If you reflect back upon your own face, the secret is instead on your side." The Master said, "Although I was at Huangmei following the assembly, I truly had not realized my own face. Now that I have received your instruction on the place of entry, it is like a person drinking water: he knows for himself whether it is cold or warm. Now, Postulant, you are my master." The Patriarch said, "If you are like this, then you and I have the same master, Huangmei; guard and maintain it well." The Master asked further, "Where should I go in the future?" The Patriarch said, "When you encounter Yuan, you may halt; when you meet Meng, dwell there." The Master bowed in thanks and hurried back down to the foot of the ridge, saying to the crowd, "I just climbed the precipitous heights, looking far and wide, but there was not a trace; we should search along another path." They all agreed. Having returned, the Master went alone to the Bushuitai on Mount Lu for three years, and only later went to Mount Meng in Yuanzhou to broadly proclaim the profound transformation. He was originally named Huiming, but to avoid the upper character of his master's name, he was called Daoming. He sent all of his disciples across the southern ridges to pay homage to the Sixth Patriarch.