景德傳燈錄 5.5

5.5

Tripiṭaka Master Quduo of the Western Regions was an Indian. He traveled east to Shaoyang and met the Sixth Patriarch, attaining awakening upon his words. Later, he traveled to Mount Wutai and arrived at Li Village in Dingxiang County, where he saw a monk sitting in a built hut. The Tripiṭaka Master asked: "What are you doing sitting alone?" The monk said: "Contemplating stillness." The Tripiṭaka Master said: "Who is the one contemplating, and what thing is stillness?" The monk bowed and asked: "What is this principle?" The Tripiṭaka Master said: "Why do you not contemplate yourself and still yourself?" That monk was bewildered and did not know how to respond. The Tripiṭaka Master asked: "From whose school do you come?" He said: "Great Master Shenxiu." The Tripiṭaka Master said: "In my Western Regions, even the dullest adherents of external paths do not fall into such a view. Sitting blankly in vain—what benefit is there to the Way?" The monk then asked the Tripiṭaka Master: "Whom do you take as your master?" The Tripiṭaka Master said: "My master is the Sixth Patriarch. Why do you not quickly go to Caoxi to determine the true essentials?" The monk immediately abandoned his hut and went to call on the Sixth Patriarch, relating the previous matter in detail. The Sixth Patriarch's instruction coincided with the Tripiṭaka Master's words, and the monk attained faithful entry. Later, the Tripiṭaka Master's whereabouts were unknown.