景德傳燈錄 4.53

4.53

Upādhyāya Pozhaoduo of Mount Song did not declare his name or surname. His words and actions were unfathomable, and he lived in seclusion on Mount Song. In a mountain ravine there was a shrine that was very efficacious. In the hall there was only an earthen stove installed. People from near and far offered continuous sacrifices, slaughtering a great many living creatures. One day, the Master led his attendant monks into the shrine. Striking the stove three times with his staff, he said: 'Tut! This stove is merely formed of clay and tiles. Whence comes the sacred? From where does the supernatural arise, that you so slaughter living beings?' He struck it three more times, and the stove thereupon collapsed and fell to pieces. (National Teacher [Hui]an gave him the title Pozhaoduo ['Destroyer of the Fallen Stove']). In an instant, a person in blue clothes and a high cap suddenly bowed before the Master. The Master said, 'What person are you?' He said, 'I was originally the stove spirit of this shrine. For a long time I suffered karmic retribution. Today, receiving the Master's preaching of the Dharma of non-arising, I have been released from this place and born in the heavens. I have come specially to offer thanks.' The Master said, 'It is your inherently existing nature; it was not my forceful preaching.' The spirit bowed again and vanished. Shortly afterward, the attendant monks asked the Master: 'We have long been at your side, Upādhyāya, but have not yet received your earnest, direct instruction for us. What direct essential did the stove spirit attain that he could be born in heaven?' The Master said, 'I only told him that it was formed of clay and tiles; there was no other principle for him.' The attendant monks stood without speaking. The Master said, 'Do you understand?' The director of affairs said, 'I do not understand.' The Master said, 'Why do you not understand the inherently existing nature?' The attendant monks then bowed. The Master said, 'Fallen, fallen! Broken, broken!' Later, Chan Master Yifeng related this to National Teacher An. The National Teacher sighed and said: 'This fellow has completely understood that things and self are one and the same. He may be called like the bright moon in the sky, with nothing unseen. It is hard to meet his train of words.' Chan Master Feng then bowed his head, folded his hands, and asked, 'May I ask what kind of person can meet his train of words?' The National Teacher said, 'One who does not know.' A monk also asked, 'What is it like when thing after thing is formless?' The Master said, 'If you bow, there is only you and not me. If you do not bow, there is only me and not you.' The monk then bowed in thanks. The Master said, 'The inherently existing thing is not a thing. Therefore it is said: When the mind can turn things, it is identical to the Tathāgata.' A monk also asked, 'What is a practitioner of good?' The Master said, 'Gripping a spear and wearing armor.' He asked, 'What is a practitioner of evil?' The Master said, 'Cultivating Chan and entering samādhi.' The monk said, 'My capacity is shallow; please give me direct instruction, Master.' The Master said, 'When you ask me about evil, evil does not come from good. When you ask me about good, good does not come from evil.' After a long pause, he added, 'Do you understand?' The monk said, 'I do not understand.' The Master said, 'An evil person has no good thoughts; a good person has no evil mind. Therefore it is said: Good and evil are like floating clouds; neither has a place of arising or ceasing.' From these words, that monk was greatly awakened. There was a monk who came from Niutou's place. The Master said, 'Whose Dharma assembly do you come from?' The monk stepped forward, folded his hands, circled the Master once, and went out. The Master said, 'There must not be such a person under Niutou's assembly.' The monk then returned, stood above the Master with folded hands. The Master said, 'Indeed, indeed.' The monk then asked, 'What is it like when responding to things does not depend on others?' The Master said, 'How could it not depend on others?' The monk said, 'In that case, one complies with the correct and returns to the source.' The Master said, 'Returning to the source—what is there to comply with?' The monk said, 'If not for the Upādhyāya, I would have nearly incurred fault.' The Master said, 'That is still the principle before meeting the Fourth Patriarch. After seeing him, let it be completely understood!' The monk then circled the Master once and went out. The Master said, 'The path of complying with the correct has always been so, past and present.' The monk bowed. Another monk stood in attendance for a long time. The Master said, 'The patriarchs and Buddhas only spoke of being like people. The fundamental nature and original mind have no other principle. Comprehend it! Comprehend it!' The monk bowed in thanks. The Master then struck him with his fly-whisk and said, 'One place is like this, and a thousand places are also like this.' The monk then folded his hands, stepped forward, and voiced assent. The Master said, 'Still not believing! Still not believing!' A monk asked, 'What is a great icchantika?' The Master said, 'Honoring and bowing.' He also asked, 'What is a person of great vigor?' The Master said, 'Slander, humiliation, and anger.' Later, no one knew where he ended his days.