景德傳燈錄 4.49

4.49

Chan Master Daoshu of Shouzhou was a native of Tangzhou. His secular surname was Wen. In his youth, he explored the scriptures and classics. When he was approaching fifty years of age, through an encounter with an eminent monk who guided and instructed him, he vowed to leave home. He bowed to Huiwen of Mingyue Mountain in his home commandery as his teacher. The Master was ashamed that he was advanced in years and had been dilatory in seeking the Dharma, so he resolved to wander far and wide, leaving no place unvisited. Later, returning to the eastern capital [Luoyang], he met Chan Master Shenxiu. Upon hearing his words, he comprehended the subtle truth, becoming a Dharma vessel late in life. He then divined a site on Mount Sanfeng in Shouzhou, thatched a hut, and dwelt there. There was often a wild man whose clothes were plain and simple, and whose words and discourse were uncanny. Apart from chatting and laughing, he would magically transform into the forms of Buddhas, bodhisattvas, arhats, and heavenly immortals, or emit divine radiance, or produce sounds. The Master's disciples saw this and could not fathom it. This continued for ten years, after which the apparitions vanished without form or shadow. The Master announced to the assembly, saying: 'The wild man displayed many kinds of tricks to bewitch people. It only required this old monk not to see and not to hear. His tricks had an end, but my not seeing and not hearing are endless.' In the first year of the Baoli reign of the Tang, he showed signs of illness and passed away. His age was ninety-two. In the first month of the following year, a stupa was erected.