景德傳燈錄 9.8

9.8

Chan Master Huanzhong of Mount Daci in Hangzhou was a native of Puban. His family name was Lu. The crown of his head was round and prominent, and his voice was like a bell. In his youth, mourning the death of his mother, he built a hut by her grave. When the mourning period ended, wishing to repay her boundless benevolence, he went forth from household life at Tongzi Monastery in Bingzhou. He received the precepts on Mount Song and studied various vinaya teachings. Later, he visited Baizhang and received the mind-seal. Taking his leave, he went to Changle Monastery on the Southern Peak and thatched a hut atop the mountain. One day Nanquan arrived and asked, "Who is the master inside the hermitage?" The Master said, "Blue heaven! Blue heaven!" Nanquan said, "Set aside blue heaven; who is the master inside the hermitage?" The Master said, "If you understand, understand immediately; do not prattle on!" Nanquan flicked his sleeves and left. Later, he resided at Mount Daci north of the Zhejiang River. Ascending the hall, he said, "This mountain monk does not know how to answer questions; he can only diagnose illnesses." At that time a monk came forward and stood before the Master. The Master immediately descended from his seat and returned to the abbot's quarters. (Fayan said, "In the assembly they call it: 'The illness is right before one's eyes, yet one does not recognize it.' Xuanjue said, 'Tell me, did Daci recognize the illness or not? Did this monk's coming forward constitute illness or not illness? If you say it was illness, his daily walking and standing cannot all be illness. If you say it was not illness, why did he come forward?'") Zhaozhou asked, "What does prajñā take as its essence?" The Master said, "What does prajñā take as its essence?" Zhaozhou laughed loudly and went out. The next day, the Master saw Zhaozhou sweeping the ground and asked, "What does prajñā take as its essence?" Zhaozhou put down the broom, clapped his hands, and laughed loudly. The Master then returned to the abbot's quarters. A monk was taking his leave. The Master said, "Where are you going?" The monk said, "Temporarily going to Jiangxi." The Master said, "May I trouble you with a matter?" The monk said, "What matter does the Venerable have?" The Master said, "Take this old monk along." The monk said, "Even if there were someone surpassing the Venerable, I still could not take him along." The Master then rested the matter. The monk later cited this to Dongshan. Dongshan said, "Ācārya, how could you speak like that?" The monk said, "How would the Venerable speak?" Dongshan said, "Take him along!" (Fayan offered an alternative: "If the Venerable goes, I will carry your bamboo hat.") Dongshan also asked the monk, "What other words did Daci have?" The monk said, "Sometimes he instructed the assembly, saying: 'To speak a zhang is not as good as to practice a chi; to speak a chi is not as good as to practice a cun.'" Dongshan said, "I would not speak thus." The monk said, "How would you speak?" Dongshan said, "Speak of what cannot be practiced; practice what cannot be spoken." (Yunju said, "When practicing, there is no path for speaking; when speaking, there is no path for practicing. When neither speaking nor practicing, what path should one practice?" Lepu said, "When practice and speech both reach, the fundamental matter is absent; when practice and speech both do not reach, the fundamental matter is present.") Later, during the suppression of the teaching by Tang Emperor Wuzong, the Master lived in seclusion wearing coarse garments. In the renshen year of Dazhong, he shaved his head and dyed his robes again, greatly proclaiming the tenets of the school. On the fifteenth day of the second month in the third year of Xiantong, he passed away without illness at the age of eighty-three, with fifty-four years in the monastic order. Emperor Xizong bestowed the posthumous title "Great Master Xingkong" (Nature of Emptiness) and named his stūpa Dinghui (Meditation and Wisdom).