景德傳燈錄 6.13

6.13

Chan Master Daotong of Mount Ziyu in Tangzhou was a native of Lujiang. His surname was He. In his youth, he followed his father, who was serving as an official in Nan'an County, Quanzhou, and left household life because of this. In the early Tianbao era of the Tang, when Mazu was propagating the transformation in Jianyang and residing at Buddha-Footprint Cliff (Fojiyan), the master went to call upon him. Soon [Mazu] moved to Mount Gonggong in Nankang, and the master also followed him. At the beginning of the second month of the fourth year of Zhenyuan, when Mazu was about to pass away, he said to the master, "Now, jade stones moisten a mountain, and fine elegance benefits your undertaking of the Way; when you encounter it, you may reside there." The master did not comprehend his words. That autumn, he traveled together with Chan Master Zizai of Mount Funiu to Luoyang. Returning west to Tangzhou, he saw a mountain steep and precipitous on all four sides, with wonderfully extraordinary peaks. He then inquired of the locals, who said it was Mount Ziyu (Purple Jade). The master then climbed to the mountain summit and saw a stone that was square, correct, and lustrous with a purple color. He sighed and said, "This is indeed 'purple jade.' Only now do I recall the late master's words, which were a prophetic prediction." Thereupon he cut reeds, built a hut, and dwelt there. Later, students gathered from the four directions. A monk asked, "How to get out of the three realms?" The master said, "How much time have you spent in there?" The monk said, "How to escape?" The master said, "The blue mountain does not obstruct the flight of white clouds." Chancellor Yu Di asked, "What is 'a black gale blowing one's ship, drifting and falling into the realm of the rākṣasa demons'?" The master said, "Yu Di, you hired labourer! Why do you ask about such things?" Master Yu lost his composure. The master then pointed and said, "This is 'drifting and falling into the realm of the rākṣasa demons.'" Yu asked again, "What is the Buddha?" The master called out, "Yu Di!" Di responded, "Yes?" The master said, "Do not seek anywhere else." (A monk cited this to Yaoshan. Yaoshan said, "This fellow has been bound to death!" The monk said, "What about the upādhyāya?" Yaoshan also called out, "So-and-so!" The monk responded, "Yes?" Yaoshan said, "What is it?") In the eighth year of Yuanhe, his disciple Jinzang returned from visiting Baizhang and paid obeisance. The master said, "You have come; this mountain has an owner." Thereupon, having finished transmitting the entrustment to Jinzang, he took his staff and went directly to Xiangzhou, where clergy and laity welcomed him. On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, he passed away without illness. His age was eighty-three.