續傳燈錄 7.31

7.31

江州歸宗可宣禪師漢州人也。壯為僧即出峽依琅邪。一語忽投群疑頓息。琅邪可之。未幾令分座。淨空。居士郭功甫過門問道與厚。及師領歸宗。時功甫任南昌尉。俄郡守恚師不為禮捃甚。遂作書寄功甫曰。某世緣尚有六年。奈州主抑逼。當棄餘喘託生公家。願無見阻。功甫閱書驚喜且頷之。中夜其妻夢間見師入其寢。失聲曰。此不是和尚來處。功甫撼而問之。妻詳以告。呼燈取書示之相笑不已。遂孕及生乃名宣老。朞年記問如昔。至三歲白雲端禪師抵其家。始見之曰。吾侄來也。雲曰。與和尚相別幾年。宣倒指曰。四年矣。蓋與相別一年方死。雲曰。甚處相別。曰白蓮莊上。雲曰。以何為驗。曰爹爹媽媽明日請和尚齋。忽聞推車聲。雲問。門外是甚麼聲。宣以手作推車勢。雲曰。過後如何。曰平地兩條溝。果六周無疾而逝。

Chan Master Kexuan of Guizong in Jiangzhou was a native of Hanzhou. When he reached adulthood, he became a monk, exited the Gorges, and relied on Langya. With a single word, he suddenly chimed, and his many doubts ceased all at once. Langya approved him. Before long, he ordered him to share the seat. Upāsaka Jingkong, Guo Gongfu, passed by his gate, inquired about the Way, and formed a close bond with him. When the Master took charge of Guizong, Gongfu was serving as Sheriff of Nanchang. Soon the prefect grew furious that the Master did not pay him respects and harassed him severely. The Master thereupon wrote a letter and sent it to Gongfu, saying, "This person's worldly conditions still have six years left; but pressed and harassed by the prefectural governor, I shall abandon my remaining breath and be reborn into your house. I hope you will not obstruct this." Gongfu read the letter with surprise and delight, and nodded in agreement. In the middle of the night, his wife saw the Master enter her bedroom in a dream and cried out involuntarily, "This is not a place for the Upādhyāya to come!" Gongfu shook her awake and asked her about it; his wife told him in detail. Calling for a lamp, he took out the letter and showed it to her, and they laughed endlessly together. She then conceived, and when the child was born, he was named Xuanlao. After one year, his memory and inquiry were as of old. When he was three years old, Chan Master Baiyun Duan arrived at their house. Upon first seeing him, he said, "My nephew has arrived!" Duan said, "How many years have we been separated from the Upādhyāya?" Xuan counted backwards on his fingers and said, "Four years." This was because it was one year after their parting that he had died. Duan said, "Where did we part?" He said, "At White Lotus Manor." Duan said, "What can prove it?" He said, "Tomorrow Father and Mother will invite the Upādhyāya to a meal." Suddenly the sound of a cart being pushed was heard. Duan asked, "What sound is that outside the gate?" Xuan made the gesture of pushing a cart with his hands. Duan said, "What about after it passes?" He said, "On level ground, two ruts." Indeed, after six full years, he passed away without illness.