續傳燈錄 28.28

28.28

臨安府靈隱瞎堂遠禪師。生於眉山金流鎮彭氏。年十三投藥師院僧宗辨出家祝髮受具。即往成都習經論。還峨眉雲岩寺。時徽禪師住焉。徽黃龍南四世孫。知見甚高。師初入門。值徽飯罷。於庭廡間閑行。師纔見。即放包問曰。文殊為七佛祖師。未審什麼人為文殊之師。徽云。金沙溪畔馬郎婦。時有起銕拂者為首坐。師亦往親近。起嘗誘掖之兩歲未有所得。一日靜坐次有僧獨行自語云。假四大以為蓋覆。緣六塵而生心。忽遇六塵頓息。喚什麼作心。師聞之忽有省。遽起告首座。首座可之。上方丈告徽。徽亦可之。明日即告行。同志挽留。師不聽。曰吾師以為可。而我終未釋然也。時圓悟自雲居歸蜀住昭覺。師造焉。每問話請益辭旨峭硬。圓悟深器之。一日圓悟普說。舉龐居士問馬祖。不與萬法為侶者是什麼人。馬祖云。待汝一口吸盡西江水即向汝道。師聞舉。豁然大悟仆於眾中。眾以為中風共掖起之。師乃曰。吾夢覺矣。至夜圓悟小參。師出問曰。淨裸裸空無一物。赤骨律貧無一錢。戶破家殘乞師賑濟。答云。七珍八寶一時拏。師曰。爭奈賊不入謹家之門。答云。機不離位墮在毒海。師隨聲便喝。悟以拄杖擊禪床云。喫得棒也未。師又喝。圓悟連喝兩喝。師禮拜。悟大喜以偈贈師。有舊鐵舌轉關棙之語。眾目之為鐵舌遠。自此機鋒峻發無所抵捂矣。紹興乙卯春眉守延居象耳山不赴。是歲圓悟示寂。嘆曰。哲人云亡繼之者誰乎。乃扁舟下峽。初抵淮南住龍蟠八年。遶琅邪又移婺之普濟衢之定業。師自發明心要。即得游戲如風大自在三昧。嘗因開爐陞坐曰。天無門地無壁。葫蘆棚上種冬瓜。兩手扶犁水過膝。跳金圈吞栗棘氈。拍板對無孔笛。屈屈。獨脚山魈解雙趯。去年冬裏無炭燒。今年定是無火炙。飢時飢到眼睛黃。窮時窮到赤骨立。屈屈。且道屈箇什麼。尀奈監寺副寺維那典坐直歲等。却與泥水匠商量。放出兩頭鴟𩾲。咬殺佛殿脊。又上堂。舉真淨和尚示眾云。天地與我同根。萬物與我同體。脚頭脚底橫三竪四。北俱盧洲火發燒著帝釋眉毛。東海龍王忍痛不禁。轟一聲霹靂。直得傾湫倒嶽雲暗長空。十字街頭廖胡子。醉中驚覺起來拊掌呵呵大笑云。筠陽城中近來少賊。乃拈拄杖云。賊賊。師舉了曰。是則一場賣弄不少。爭奈鼻孔眼睛各有主在。何故葛藤堆裏作竊未當白拈。酒店門前捨遺不是正賊。時東廊下恰犬吠。師乃喚行者探。門前有甚官客。大眾皆回首。師曰。要見正賊麼。遂哨指一聲搖手下坐。其舉揚大率如此。時妙喜杲謫梅州。有傳師偈頌提唱以往者。妙喜駭云。老師暮年有子如是耶。因寓書通誠。并寄贈圜悟所付法衣。逮其得旨放歸。師以頌迎之相遇甚歡。妙喜極口稱譽。又題其真云。這川藞苴無真無假。一條白棒佛來也打。更有一般長處。解向鉢盂裏走馬。自此人益歸重。俄遷光孝。閱十年。安定郡王趙表之與師為世外交。侍郎曾開從師參叩。曾雖士大夫而飽參諸老。從妙喜遊甚久。而未甚頴脫。至見師始盡餘疑。後過南嶽遂住南臺。時龍王璉禪師方廣行禪師者。皆月菴高第道著湖湘間。私相語云。此間壁立萬仞。遠何所措足乎。因請陞座。設三十餘問。皆佛祖誵訛險節關棙。學者罕到之處。師隨機開答。辭旨深奧議論超詣。始大嘆服。璉即率其屬環拜云。此膝不屈於人久矣。未幾過天台歷住護國國清鴻福三寺。乾道丁亥尚書沈公德龢守平江以虎丘大道場比不得人。力邀師主之。至則接物無倦法令整肅。適丁荒歉雖齋粥不繼。而戶外之屨常滿。忘軀為法者集焉。道益顯著。遂奉詔住高亭山崇先寺。未幾與主者不合。退居迎照菴。再奉　詔住靈隱。開堂中使降香。祝聖罷。拈香曰。此一炷香天地莫能覆藏。佛眼莫能窺測。舉處滅胡種族。拈來鈍置殺人。累我三十年。荒草裏橫身。至令一平生作箇不唧𠺕漢。就中有些子謷訛。對眾也須說破。山僧二十年前。被業風吹到岷峨山下荊棘林中。撞著箇無孔鐵錘。被他一擊。半醉半醒。將謂啞却口一生開不得。二十年後又被業風吹去濯錦江頭。葛藤堆裏逢著箇焦尾白額。是時親遭一口。直無喪膽忘魂。開得口至今受用不盡。且道此香為二十年前見底知識即是。為二十年後見底知識即是。一鶴不棲雙木。一客不煩兩家。不見道。先行不到未後太過。而今賊身己露贓物現前。奉為前成都府昭覺先圓悟禪師大和尚。不重他對御談空橫行海上。只重他胸中無物肚裏無禪。爇向爐中用酬法乳。于時　孝宗皇帝留神空宗。屢詔入內。賜號佛海禪師。始妙喜贊師真。有解向鉢盂走馬之語。至師對　御歸以頌記之云。鉢盂走馬向天庭。慣踏天街馬不驚。回首飛來峯上望。白雲包盡帝都春。師說法格外作用不守規轍脫略窠臼。至於室中機緣尤為嶮峻不可湊泊。嘗指面前花問僧。喚作佛草料見成。喚作畜生口作人語。當恁麼時參學眼在什麼處。僧無語。師自代曰。五嶽四瀆名山大川。又問僧。三門前寸草不生。佛殿裏如何得入。僧無語。自代曰。光剃頭淨洗鉢。又問僧。一大藏教是惡口。如何是爾本身盧舍那。僧無語。自代曰。阿耨達池深四十丈闊四十丈。又問僧。有祖以來多少人錯會。錯則錯了也如何免得此過。僧無語。自代曰。罪不重科。又問僧。爾是甚院。僧云。天宮院僧。師曰。既是天宮院為甚却兩脚踏地。僧無語。自代曰。爭怪得我。又一日陞坐鳴鼓竟。師坐帳內。侍者尋師不見。師撥開帳曰。只在這裏因什麼不見。侍者無語。自代曰。大斧斫三門。又一日因書記維那相爭來投。師揭牓曰。書記維那行令不正。老僧罰油。行者喫棒。令二人下語。維那云。難逃智鑑。師曰。不是不是。書記無語。二人俱逐出。又因淨慈先馳至通書。師問。爾長老甚處人。先馳云。和尚大似不識。師曰。爾是甚處人。先馳云。越州。師曰。猛虎不食伏肉。又因在病有僧相看。師問僧。老僧昨夜火星出宮了。至今因甚痾屎不出。僧云。老老大大向東司裏作活計。師曰。承言雖會宗勿自立規矩。既不識如何亂統。即時逐出。自代曰。摩竭羅國親行此令。僧入身師起身問。更不著布裩相見。僧叉手近前云。今日親見瞎堂。師呵呵大笑。僧云。伎倆已盡。師撫掌一下。時有日本國僧覺阿。通天台教頗工書。能道諸國語。初來謁師氣甚銳。師徐以禪宗曉之。居三年頓有得。作投機五頌而去。語在覺阿傳。他日因海商傳其國圓城寺主者覺忠詩書來謝。而師宗旨遂分一派於日本國焉。淳熙二年𨳝九月旦上堂。說偈曰。淳熙二年𨳝。季秋九月旦。鬧處莫出頭。冷地著眼看。明暗不相干。彼此分一半。一種作貴人。教誰賣柴炭。向爾道。不可毀不可贊。體若虛空沒崖岸。相呼相喚歸去來。上元定是正月半。于時都下喧傳。頗疑師當以正月十五日遷化。遂達　上聽。至期無疾陞坐祝聖如常儀。又俗官詣寺修齋。再陞坐訖。即語知事頭首分伴官客。及施主齋。齊時侍者並赴堂。是日都下人競集　上亦密遣中使伺師起居。皆見師往來如常。時迭歸奏。齋罷侍者與俗官同上方丈。但見門扃閉甚密。師素蓄一黑猿。頗馴能知人意。因衣以布裰命之曰。猿行者。至是求師不見。因窺於窓隙中。但見猿手持一卷書人立於床前。遂亟從後路至榻前。撥開帳子而師已化矣。取猿手中書觀之。乃辭世頌曰。抝折秤鎚。掀翻露布。突出機先。鵶飛不度。留十日顏色不變。壽七十四。坐五十九夏。得法者了乘如本齊己慧冲皆住大剎。對　御語一卷。乾道七年正月二十日。有　旨令靈隱長老慧遠引見。晦日召至選德殿奏曰。臣本凡愚生於西蜀。早聞道於圓悟禪師。養拙山林幾四十年。仰聞　陛下即位以來。優䘏生靈護持宗教。所謂以佛心而治天下。臣夤緣慶幸。依近天顏不勝萬感。

Chan Master Xiatang Yuan of Lingyin in Lin'an Prefecture was born into the Peng family of Jinliu town in Meishan. At age thirteen, he went to Monk Zongbian of Yaoshi Cloister to leave home, tonsure his hair, and receive full ordination. He immediately went to Chengdu to study the sūtras and treatises. Later he returned to Yunyan Temple on Mount Emei. At that time, Chan Master Hui resided there. Hui was a fourth-generation descendant of Huanglong Nan, whose understanding was exceedingly high. When the master first entered the gate, it happened that Hui had finished his meal and was strolling leisurely in the courtyard corridors. As soon as the master saw him, he put down his pack and asked, “Mañjuśrī was the ancestral teacher of the seven Buddhas; I wonder, who was the teacher of Mañjuśrī?” Hui said, “The woman of the Ma family beside Jinsha Brook.” At that time, Qitiefo was head monk; the master also went to draw near to him. Qi often guided and helped him, but for two years he attained nothing. One day while sitting quietly, a monk walking alone said to himself, “Borrowing the four great elements as a cover, relying on the six sense-objects the mind is born. If the six sense-objects suddenly cease, what will you call mind?” Hearing this, the master suddenly had an awakening. He immediately rose and informed the head monk; the head monk approved him. He went up to the abbot's quarters to inform Hui; Hui also approved him. The next day he took his leave to depart. His fellow practitioners tried to hold him back, but the master would not listen, saying, “My master considers it acceptable, but I am still not completely at ease.” At that time, Yuanwu had returned from Yunju to Shu and was residing at Zhaojue. The master went there. Whenever he asked questions and requested instruction, his words and expressions were sharp and unyielding; Yuanwu held him in deep regard. One day Yuanwu gave a general sermon, citing Upāsaka Pang asking Mazu, “Who is the one that does not keep company with the ten thousand dharmas?” Mazu said, “Wait until you have swallowed all the water of the West River in a single gulp, and then I will tell you.” Hearing this cited, the master experienced a great awakening and collapsed into the assembly. The assembly thought he had suffered a stroke and together helped him up. The master then said, “I have awakened from a dream!” That night at Yuanwu's evening instruction, the master came forward and asked, “Stark naked, empty without a single thing; completely bare, poor without a single coin. With a broken door and a ruined home, I beg the master for relief.” Yuanwu replied, “Take hold of the seven treasures and eight jewels all at once.” The master said, “What if a thief does not enter the gate of a cautious house?” Yuanwu replied, “If the functional capacity does not leave its position, you fall into a sea of poison.” The master immediately gave a shout following his words. Yuanwu struck the meditation bench with his staff, saying, “Can you take a blow of the stick or not?” The master gave another shout. Yuanwu gave two shouts in succession. The master bowed. Yuanwu was overjoyed and presented the master with a verse containing the words: “The old iron tongue turns the trigger.” The assembly called him “Iron Tongue Yuan.” From this time on, his sharp dynamism erupted and met no obstruction. In the spring of the yimao year of the Shaoxing era, the governor of Mei invited him to reside at Mount Xiang'er, but he did not go. In that year Yuanwu entered nirvāṇa. The master sighed, “The wise man has passed away; who will succeed him?” Thereupon, he took a small skiff down the Gorges. He first arrived in Huainan and stayed at Longpan for eight years. He circled Langya, and then moved to Puji in Wu and Dingye in Qu. From the time the master illuminated his mind essentials, he attained the wind-like great self-mastery samādhi of playful sport. Once, on the occasion of opening the hearth, he ascended the seat and said: “Heaven has no gate, earth has no wall. On the calabash trellis winter melons are planted. With both hands holding the plough, the water rises above the knees. Leaping through the golden hoop, swallowing the spiky chestnut. Clappers face the holeless flute. What an injustice, what an injustice! The one-legged mountain demon knows how to kick with both feet. Last year in the winter there was no charcoal to burn; this year there will certainly be no fire to roast by. When hungry, one starves until the eyes turn yellow; when poor, one is reduced to stark bones. What an injustice, what an injustice! Now tell me, what is the injustice? Unbearable that the prior, the vice-prior, the rector, the chief cook, and the director of affairs have consulted with the plasterers and let loose two horned owls, biting off the ridge of the Buddha hall!” He also ascended the hall, citing Upādhyāya Zhenjing's instruction to the assembly: “Heaven and earth share the same root with me; the ten thousand things are of one body with me. Beneath the toes and under the heels, crossing three and standing four. In Uttarakuru a fire breaks out, burning the eyebrows of Śakra. The Dragon King of the Eastern Sea cannot bear the pain; with a crashing thunderclap, it empties ponds and overturns mountains, and clouds darken the vast sky. Old beard Liao at the crossroads, startled awake from his drunkenness, claps his hands and laughs heartily, saying: ‘In the city of Junyang there have recently been few thieves!’” Zhenjing then took up his staff and said, “Thief, thief!” The master, having cited this, said: “If so, that is no small display. Yet what can be done? The nostrils and eyes each have their master. Why steal amidst a pile of vine tangles, which does not count as daylight robbery? Dropping things before the tavern door is not a true thief.” Just then, under the eastern corridor, a dog happened to bark. The master then called to a postulant to inspect what official guest was at the gate. The assembly all turned their heads. The master said, “Do you want to see the true thief?” He then whistled through his fingers, waved his hand, and stepped down from the seat. His discourses were generally like this. At that time Miaoxi Gao was exiled to Meizhou. Someone conveyed the master's verses and instructional discourses to him. Miaoxi said in astonishment, “Did our old teacher have such a son in his twilight years?” Thereupon he sent a letter expressing his sincerity, together with the Dharma robe entrusted by Yuanwu as a gift. When an imperial decree granted Miaoxi permission to return, the master welcomed him with a verse, and they met with great joy. Miaoxi praised him to the utmost, and further inscribed his portrait: “This uncouth fellow of Chuan has neither real nor false; / With a single white stick, even if a Buddha comes he beats him. / He has yet another excellence: / He knows how to gallop a horse inside an alms-bowl.” From then on, people held him in even higher esteem. Soon he moved to Guangxiao, where ten years passed. King Zhao Biaozhi of Anding Commandery was his friend outside worldly ties. Vice Minister Zeng Kai visited the master to receive instruction. Although an official, Zeng had extensively studied under various elders and had associated with Miaoxi for a very long time, yet he had not fully attained breakthrough; only upon meeting the master were his remaining doubts exhausted. Later, passing through Nanyue, the master took up residence at Nantai. At that time, Chan Master Longwang Lian and Chan Master Fangguang Xing, both eminent disciples of Yue'an, were preaching in the Hu-Xiang region. They privately said to each other, “Here the cliff stands ten thousand cubits high; where can Yuan find a place to put his foot?” Thereupon, they asked him to ascend the seat and posed more than thirty questions, all of which concerned the Buddha and Patriarchs' obscure, perilous cruxes and triggers—places scholars rarely reach. The master responded according to capacity; his language was profound and his discourses transcendent. Only then were they greatly filled with admiration. Lian then led his subordinates to bow around him, saying, “These knees have not bent to anyone for a long time!” Before long, the master passed through Tiantai and successively resided at the three temples of Huguo, Guoqing, and Hongfu. In the dinghai year of the Qiandao era, Minister Shen Dehe, governing Pingjiang, felt that the great bodhimaṇḍa of Huqiu had not found the right person, and earnestly invited the master to preside over it. Upon arrival, he met people untiringly and kept the monastic regulations strict. Encountering a time of famine, though the morning porridge and midday meal were not continuous, the shoes outside the door were always full; those who forgot their bodies for the Dharma gathered there, and his teaching became even more illustrious. Thereupon he received an imperial decree to reside at Chongxian Temple on Mount Gaoting. Before long he disagreed with the patron and retired to Yingzhao Hermitage. Again he received an imperial decree to reside at Lingyin. When opening the hall, an imperial envoy delivered incense. After praying for the Emperor, the master held up the incense and said: “This single stick of incense cannot be covered or hidden by heaven and earth, nor can the Buddha's eye fathom it. Where it is raised, the barbarian lineage is wiped out; when held up, it dulls and embarrasses people to death. It has burdened me for thirty years, lying prone in the wild weeds, making me an incompetent fellow my entire life. Within it there is a slight contradiction; before the assembly it must be laid bare. Twenty years ago, the mountain monk was blown by karmic winds into the briar patch beneath Mount Min and Mount Emei, bumping into a holeless iron hammer; struck by it, half-drunk and half-awake, I thought my mouth would be struck dumb and unable to open my whole life. Twenty years later, I was blown again by karmic winds to the bank of the Zhuojin River; amidst the pile of vine tangles, I met a scorched-tail white-browed tiger. At that time, I was personally bitten once, which truly cost me neither courage nor soul, yet opened my mouth, and to this day its use is inexhaustible. Now tell me: is this incense for the spiritual friend seen twenty years ago, or for the spiritual friend seen twenty years later? A single crane does not roost in two trees; a single guest does not trouble two households. Have you not heard it said: ‘Going first, one does not arrive; trailing behind, it is excessive.’ Now the thief's body is already exposed and the stolen goods are right before us. Offered for the former abbot of Zhaojue in Chengdu Prefecture, the late Chan Master Yuanwu, the Great Upādhyāya. I do not revere his discussing emptiness before the throne or his striding across the seas; I only revere that he had nothing in his chest and no Chan in his belly. Burned in the brazier to repay his Dharma milk.” At that time, Emperor Xiaozong turned his mind to the school of emptiness and repeatedly summoned him into the palace, granting him the title Chan Master Fohai. Earlier, Miaoxi had praised the master's portrait with the words: “He knows how to gallop a horse inside an alms-bowl.” When the master returned from audience before the Emperor, he commemorated it with a verse: “Galloping a horse inside an alms-bowl toward the heavenly court, / Accustomed to treading the heavenly street, the horse takes no fright. / Turning my head to gaze from atop Feilai Peak, / White clouds completely envelop the spring of the imperial capital.” The master preached the Dharma with extraordinary function, not clinging to conventional rules and breaking free from set molds. As for the encounters in the abbot's room, they were especially precipitous and unapproachable. Once, pointing to a flower before him, he asked a monk, “If you call it Buddha, feed is right at hand; if you call it a beast, its mouth speaks human words. At such a time, where are the eyes of study?” The monk had no words. The master answered in his place: “The Five Sacred Peaks, the Four Great Rivers, famous mountains, and great streams.” He also asked a monk, “Before the triple gate not an inch of grass grows; how can you enter into the Buddha hall?” The monk had no words. The master answered in his place: “Shave the head clean, wash the bowl pure.” He also asked a monk, “The entire great canon of teachings is abusive speech; what is your own original body Vairocana?” The monk had no words. The master answered in his place: “Lake Anavatapta is forty zhang deep and forty zhang wide.” He also asked a monk, “Since the Patriarchs, how many people have misunderstood? Though mistaken, having erred, how can one avoid this fault?” The monk had no words. The master answered in his place: “A crime is not penalized twice.” He also asked a monk, “Which monastery are you from?” The monk said, “A monk of Tiangong (Heavenly Palace) Monastery.” The master said, “Since it is Heavenly Palace Monastery, why do both your feet tread on the ground?” The monk had no words. The master answered in his place: “How can you blame me?” Another day, having ascended the seat and after the drum had sounded, the master sat inside the curtain. The attendant searched for the master but did not see him. The master parted the curtain and said, “I am right here; why did you not see me?” The attendant had no words. The master answered in his place: “A great axe chops the triple gate.” Another day, when the recorder and the rector came to him in a dispute, the master posted a placard saying: “The recorder and rector have administered orders incorrectly; the old monk is fined oil, and the postulant receives a blow of the stick.” He ordered the two to present a turning word. The rector said, “Hard to escape the mirror of wisdom.” The master said, “Not so, not so.” The recorder had no words. Both were driven out. Once, an advance messenger from Jingci arrived to deliver a letter. The master asked, “Where is your senior elder from?” The messenger said, “The Upādhyāya seems not to know.” The master said, “Where are you from?” The messenger said, “Yuezhou.” The master said, “A fierce tiger does not eat meat that lies prostrate.” Once, when he was ill, a monk came to visit him. The master asked the monk, “Last night the fire star left the palace for this old monk; up to now, why can I not pass stool?” The monk said, “At such an advanced age, doing work toward the latrine!” The master said, “Though you understand the lineage through words, do not set up your own rules. Since you do not know, why make a mess?” He immediately drove him out, and answered in his place: “In the kingdom of Magadha, this decree was personally carried out.” A monk entered; the master stood up and asked, “Meeting without wearing cloth trousers?” The monk joined his hands, stepped forward, and said, “Today I have personally seen Xiatang.” The master laughed heartily. The monk said, “My tricks are already exhausted.” The master clapped his hands once. At that time, there was a monk from Japan named Jōa, who was versed in the Tiantai teachings, quite skilled in calligraphy, and able to speak the languages of various countries. When he first came to visit the master, his vigor was very sharp. The master gradually enlightened him with the Chan lineage. After staying three years, he suddenly had an attainment, composed five verses of mutual resonance, and departed. His words are recorded in Jōa's biography. Later, a sea merchant conveyed a letter and poem in gratitude from Kakuchō, the head of Enjō-ji in his country; thus, the master's lineage branch spread to Japan. On the first day of the ninth month in autumn of the second year of the Chunxi era, he ascended the hall and spoke a verse: “In autumn of the second year of Chunxi, / On the first day of the late-autumn ninth month: / In busy places do not stick out your head; / From a cool place look on with open eyes. / Light and dark do not concern each other; / Each divides half. / If all alike become nobles, / Who will be made to sell firewood and charcoal? / I say to you: / It cannot be reviled, it cannot be praised; / Its substance is like empty space, without cliff or shore. / Calling to each other, return home! / The Shangyuan Festival is surely the middle of the first month.” At that time, rumors spread throughout the capital, suspecting that the master would pass away on the fifteenth day of the first month; this eventually reached the ears of the Emperor. When the date arrived, free of illness, he ascended the seat to offer prayers for the Emperor as was customary. Moreover, secular officials visited the temple to hold a vegetarian feast. Having ascended the seat again, he instructed the administrators and head officers to accompany the official guests and the donors at the meal. At the mealtime, the attendants all went to the hall. On that day, people of the capital gathered eagerly, and the Emperor also secretly sent an imperial envoy to inquire after the master's daily activities; all saw that the master moved about as usual, and reports were sent back successively. When the meal ended, the attendants went up to the abbot's quarters with the secular officials, only to find the door locked tight. The master had long kept a black ape, which was quite tame and understood human intent; he had dressed it in a cloth robe and called it “Ape Postulant.” At this time, searching for the master without seeing him, they peeked through the window crack and saw only the ape holding a scroll of writing, standing upright like a man before the bed. Thereupon they hurried from the rear to the front of the bed and parted the curtains; the master had already transformed. Taking the writing from the ape's hand to view it, it was his verse of passing away: “Snapping the steelyard weight, / Overturning the hanging vines. / Leaping out before the functional trigger, / Even a crow cannot fly across.” His body was kept for ten days without its complexion changing. His age was seventy-four, and he had sat for fifty-nine rains retreats. Those who attained the Dharma—Liaocheng, Rubeng, Qiji, and Huichong—all resided in great monasteries. There was one volume of his Words in Audience before the Throne. On the twentieth day of the first month of the seventh year of the Qiandao era, an imperial decree ordered Elder Huiyuan of Lingyin to be granted an audience. On the last day of the month he was summoned to Xuande Hall and addressed the throne: “Your servant was originally ordinary and foolish, born in Western Shu. Early on, I heard the Dao from Chan Master Yuanwu, and I have nurtured my simplicity in the mountain forests for nearly forty years. I have respectfully heard that since Your Majesty ascended the throne, you have treated sentient beings with grace and compassion and protected the religion, governing the realm with the mind of a Buddha. By fortunate connection, your servant is privileged to draw near to the heavenly countenance, overwhelmed with myriad emotions.”