續傳燈錄 32.37

32.37

臨安徑山了明禪師。妙喜杲會中龍象。叢林所謂明大禪也。身長八尺腹大十圍。所至人必聚觀之。始妙喜謫梅州。州縣防送甚嚴。或以為禍在不測。師為荷枷以行間關辛苦未曾少怠。既至貶所衲子追隨。問道者率不下二三百人。杲以齋飯不給。且慮禍嘗勉之令去。師輒不肯以身任齋粥。每自肩栲栳行乞。至晚即數十人為之荷米麵薪蔬食用之屬成列以歸。衲子雖多無不具足。如是者十七年如一日。杲法嗣之盛在貶所接者居其半。師之力也。杲被旨復僧衣。自便繼被旨住育王。師嘗在座下。師為人豪邁機鋒敏速。妙喜室中不許衲子下喝。師每入室必振聲一喝而退。妙喜一日榜方丈前云。下喝者罰一貫錢。師見之乃密具千錢於袖中。至室中先頓於地高聲一喝便出。如是者數矣。妙喜無如之何。再榜曰。下喝者罰當日堂供一中。師見即驟步往庫司語曰。和尚要十兩金。主事者不疑即與之。乃遣行者隨往方丈。師袖之以入。復頓於地高聲一喝。而妙喜大駭。入室罷徐問知其然為之一笑。每語師云。爾這肥漢如是會禪驢年也未夢見在。然念其勤勞之久。舉令出世舒州之投子。先是投子諸庄牛遭疾疫死斃幾盡比歲不登。師以大願力化二百隻牛以實之。連歲大稔倍常。頗有異跡。遷住長蘆。衲子輻湊叢林改觀。及妙喜住徑山。師來供施及飯大眾。洎歸長蘆。妙喜送以偈云。人言棒頭出孝子。我道憐兒不覺醜。長蘆長老恁麼來。妙喜空費一張口。從教四海妄流傳。野干能作師子吼。孰云無物贈伊行。喝下鐵圍山倒走。後奉詔住徑山道望愈著。先是楊和王夢一異僧。長大皤腹緩行言。欲化蘇州一庄。覺而異之未言也。翌旦師忽杖屨徒步而至。門者呵不止。以白和王。和王出見之。遙望師奇偉與夢中見者無異。遽呼其眷屬出觀之。眷屬並炷香作禮。茶罷師首言。大王庄田至多。可施蘇州一庄以為徑山供佛齋僧無窮之利。和王未有可否。因令辦齋。師飯罷便出更無他語。時內外鬨然傳言。和王以蘇州庄施徑山長老。遂達孝宗聖聽。會和王入朝。上為言。聞卿捨蘇州一庄施徑山。朕當為蠲免稅賦。和王謝恩歸。次日以書至徑山請師入城。而師二日前先已遷化矣。自是和王宴居寤寐之際。或少倦交睫即見師在前。語曰。六度之大施度為先。善始善終斯為究竟。和王即以庄隷本山。北庄歲出十萬犁牛舟車。解庫應用百事具足。復有蠲賦之恩至今蒙其利。師於緇素有大因緣。所在施供雲委衲子臻萃佛事殊勝。江淛兩湖皆號之為布袋和尚再出焉。

Chan Master Liaoming of Jingshan in Lin'an was a dragon and elephant in the assembly of Miaoxi Gao, and was what the monastic community called "Great Chan Ming." He was eight feet tall and ten spans around the belly; wherever he went, people invariably gathered to watch him. At the beginning, when Miaoxi was banished to Meizhou, the state and county guards escorted him very strictly, and some thought disaster was unpredictable. The Master carried the cangue for him, traveling through hardship and toil without ever being negligent. After they arrived at the place of banishment, patch-robed monks followed in pursuit; those who inquired about the Way were generally no fewer than two or three hundred people. Because there was not enough food, and furthermore fearing disaster, Gao once exhorted them to leave. The Master persistently refused and took upon himself the duty of providing food and gruel. He regularly carried a wicker basket on his shoulder to go begging; by evening, several tens of people would carry for him grains, flour, firewood, vegetables, and articles for daily use, returning in a line. Even though there were many patch-robed monks, there was nothing lacking. In this way it went on for seventeen years like a single day. Among the flourishing Dharma heirs of Gao, half were those received at the place of banishment; this was due to the Master's strength. Gao received an imperial decree restoring his monk's robes, and following his convenience, he successively received an imperial decree to reside at Yuwang; the Master was constantly in his assembly. The Master was by nature heroic and bold, and his dynamic encounters were sharp and quick. In Miaoxi's room, patch-robed monks were not permitted to give a shout. Every time the Master entered the room, he invariably raised his voice in a shout and withdrew. One day Miaoxi posted a notice before the abbot's quarters, stating: "Whoever gives a shout will be fined one string of cash." When the Master saw it, he secretly prepared a thousand cash in his sleeve; arriving in the room, he first set it down on the floor, gave a loud shout, and immediately went out. This happened several times; Miaoxi had no way of dealing with it. He posted another notice, stating: "Whoever gives a shout will be fined one midday meal's hall offering for the day." Seeing this, the Master quickly strode to the storehouse office and said, "The Upādhyāya needs ten liang of gold." The duty officer did not doubt him and immediately gave it to him, then sent a postulant to follow him to the abbot's quarters. The Master put it in his sleeve and entered, set it down on the floor again, and gave a loud shout; Miaoxi was greatly astonished. When the room interviews finished, he slowly asked and learned the truth, breaking into a smile over it. He often said to the Master, "You fat fellow, understanding Chan in such a way, you haven't even dreamed of it in the Year of the Donkey!" However, mindful of his long diligence, he recommended him to appear in the world at Touzi in Shuzhou. Before this, the cattle of all the manors of Touzi had contracted an epidemic disease and almost all died, and for years there had been no harvest. With his great vow-power, the Master gathered two hundred cattle to replenish them; for successive years there were bountiful harvests, double the normal, and quite a few miraculous events. He moved to reside at Changlu; patch-robed monks gathered like spokes at a hub, and the monastery took on a new look. When Miaoxi resided at Jingshan, the Master came to make offerings and fed the great assembly. When he was about to return to Changlu, Miaoxi saw him off with a verse, saying:
"People say a filial son comes from the stick's end;
I say when one dotes on a child, one does not notice ugliness.
The Elder of Changlu comes in just such a way;
Miaoxi squanders a mouth in vain.
Let it spread falsely through the four seas as it will:
A jackal can make a lion's roar!
Who says there is no object to bestow on his journey?
Under his shout, the Iron Enclosing Mountains run upside down!"
Later, he received an imperial order to reside at Jingshan, and his reputation for the Way became even more prominent. Prior to this, Prince Yang He dreamed of an extraordinary monk, tall, with a pot-belly, walking slowly and saying that he wished to transform a manor in Suzhou. Waking, he marveled at it but did not speak of it. The next morning, the Master suddenly arrived on foot with staff and sandals. The gatekeepers shouted at him, but he would not stop, so they reported it to Prince He. Prince He came out to see him; looking at the Master from afar, his extraordinary grandeur was no different from the one seen in the dream. He hurriedly called his family members to come out and look at him; the family members all burned incense and paid homage. When the tea was finished, the Master spoke first: "Great Prince, your manor lands are exceedingly abundant; you may bestow a manor in Suzhou to serve as an inexhaustible benefit for offering to the Buddha and providing vegetarian food to the sangha at Jingshan." Prince He had not yet assented or refused, and thereupon ordered a vegetarian meal to be prepared. When the meal was finished, the Master immediately left without another word. At that time, inside and outside, rumors clamored that Prince He had bestowed a Suzhou manor upon the Elder of Jingshan, and it reached the sagely ears of Emperor Xiaozong. When it happened that Prince He entered the court, the Emperor said to him, "We hear that you gave a manor in Suzhou to bestow it upon Jingshan; We shall grant an exemption from taxes for it." Prince He expressed his gratitude for the favor and returned. The next day, he sent a letter to Jingshan inviting the Master to enter the city; but the Master had already passed away two days prior. From then on, whenever Prince He was at leisure, asleep or awake, or whenever he felt slightly tired and closed his eyes, he immediately saw the Master before him, saying, "Of the six perfections, the perfection of giving is foremost; a good beginning and a good end—this is the ultimate." Prince He thereupon attached the manor to the mountain monastery. The North Manor yielded an annual output of one hundred thousand, with plowing cattle, boats, carts, pawnbrokers' shops, and every required item fully provided; moreover, there was the grace of tax exemption, and to this day they receive its benefit. The Master had great affinity with monks and laity; wherever he was, offerings accumulated like clouds, patch-robed monks gathered, and Buddhist events were extraordinary. In Jiangzhe and the Two Lakes, all called him the Second Coming of the Cloth-Bag Monk.