續傳燈錄 36
English (machine translation) 36
- Language
- English
36.1
Table of Contents for Continued Record of the Transmission of the Lamp, Fascicle Thirty-Six
36.2
Twentieth Generation Under Dajian
One Dharma heir of Chan Master Daosheng of Jianfu:
Chan Master Daochong of Jingshan (recorded)
Three Dharma heirs of Chan Master Wen of Jingci:
Chan Master Miaogao of Jingshan (recorded)
Chan Master Zhihongjian of Tiantong
Chan Master Tiejingming of Heshan (the above two are unrecorded)
One Dharma heir of Chan Master Guan of Yuwang:
Chan Master Yuanxi of Jingshan (recorded)
Two Dharma heirs of Chan Master Shanzhen of Jingshan:
Chan Master Xingduan of Jingshan (recorded)
Chan Master Jue of Caoxi (unrecorded)
Three Dharma heirs of Chan Master Zhongying of Jingci:
Chan Master Liaowan of Jiangxin
Chan Master Yi of Yuelin (the above two are recorded)
Chan Master Yunwuxian of Shuanglin (one unrecorded)
One Dharma heir of Chan Master Peng of Shuanglin:
Chan Master Zuyan of Lingyin (recorded)
One Dharma heir of Chan Master Yunxiu of Tiantong:
Chan Master Dazheng of Xuedou (recorded)
Two Dharma heirs of Chan Master Xiu of Gufeng:
Chan Master Wanshangning of Gushan
Chan Master Yina Jie of Shuanglin (two unrecorded)
Three Dharma heirs of Chan Master Puji of Lingyin:
Chan Master Dongsou Kai of Jiangshan
Chan Master Yeweng Tong of Xuedou
Chan Master Shimen Lai of Tiantong (the above three are unrecorded)
Two Dharma heirs of Chan Master Zijian of Tiantong:
Chan Master Zhao of Songchuang
Chan Master Yuan of Yuechuang (the above two are unrecorded)
One Dharma heir of Chan Master Rujue of Jingshan:
Chan Master Kongyan You of Zhongzhu (unrecorded)
One Dharma heir of Chan Master Damengyin of Xuedou:
Chan Master Kongshan Zhong of Fengfan (unrecorded)
One Dharma heir of Chan Master Huikai of Huanglong:
Upādhyāya Xialü Jian (unrecorded)
One Dharma heir of Chan Master Jing of Chun'an:
Chan Master Xijiang Mou of Tiantong (unrecorded)
Twelve Dharma heirs of Chan Master Chongyue of Lingyin:
Chan Master Shankai of Jinshan
Chan Master Puyang of Daochang
Chan Master Juetong of Huazang
Chan Master Xilian of Longxiang
Chan Master Guangmu of Ruiyan
Chan Master Wenli of Tianmu (the above six are recorded)
Chan Master Daxiexian of Xuedou
Chan Master Guyuandao of Jingci
Chan Master Yunchaoyan of Ruiyan
Chan Master Jilitan of Huqiu
Chan Master Beihai Xin
Chan Master Nuo'an Zhao
36.3
Table of Contents of Fascicle Thirty-Six of the Continued Record of the Transmission of the Lamp (End)
36.4
Twentieth Generation Under Dajian
36.5
Dharma Heir of Chan Master Daosheng of Jianfu
36.6
Chan Master Chijue of Jingshan was named Daochong. He was a son of the Xun family of Changjiang in Wuxin; his mother was of the Guo family. When born, he had a broad upper body and short legs, and his natural disposition surpassed other men. As he grew up, he sat for the imperial examination in the jinshi curriculum, but was unsuccessful. He took up the Buddhist teachings at Miaoyin Cloister in Zizhou, bowing to Xiuzheng as the master who tonsured him. He traveled to Chengdu to study the sūtras and treatises. In the renshen year of the Shaoxi era (1192), he went out through the Gorges, roaming about the region of Jing and Chu. At that time, Songyuan [Chong]yue was promulgating the path of Mi'an at Jianfu in Raozhou; the Master went straight to his lodging, but because of a famine that year, he was not accepted. It happened that Caoyuan [Dao]sheng was appearing in the world at Miaoguo; hearing his words upon entering the gate, the Master had an awakening. He entered the hall and was made an incense attendant. Following him from morning to evening, old fists and painful blows were not spared at all; his lifelong knowledge and views were from then on largely left without a trace. Caoyuan moved to Guifeng, and the Master accompanied him as attendant. After three more years, he took his leave with a verse to travel through Zhejiang, in which he said: "I still have a pair of impoverished hands; / I want to scratch where it itches in all quarters." When he arrived at the capital, Songyuan was presiding over Lingyin, and the Master took refuge with him. In the jimao year of the Jiading era, while serving as the foremost seat at Jingshan, he accepted an invitation from Guangxiao in Jiahe to succeed Caoyuan. At that time, Wuyuan of Miaozhi, Xiji of Yuhu, Wuxiang of Yuanwu, and Shixi of Wanshou were all in the assembly; his renown reached the court. The Senior Grand Preceptor and Prince of Wei [Shi Miyuan], by an official departmental directive, appointed him to Jiangshan. Near the river, it was prone to flooding, and the low-lying fields mostly produced no autumn harvest; the Master endured hunger, sounded the Dharma, and went begging on foot to sustain the scholars. Living there for thirteen years, he showed no weariness. In the jihai year of the Jiaxi era, the Vice Minister of East Qu, Master Cao Bin, became military commissioner of Min; hearing of the Master’s spiritual reputation, he sent an invitation to him to take Gushan. Before he set off, a dispatch from Xuefeng arrived; after he had managed its affairs for half a year, an imperial edict summoned him to Tiantong. The congregation gathered like an ocean, and the monastic regulations were polished and clear; even in the flourishing days of Hongzhi, it was hardly surpassed. When the seat at Yuwang fell vacant, he also took charge of its abbotship. Moving back and forth to preach the Dharma between the two mountains, he ascended the hall and said: "What is applied at Tiantong cannot be applied when brought to Yuwang; what is applied at Yuwang cannot be applied when returning to Tiantong. Even though it is like this, in the place where it cannot be applied, there is application to spare: with one arrow, two eagles fall to hand." He also ascended the hall at the summer retreat and said: "In the monastery of perfect awakening, every dust mote has a road; cutting off coming and going, it suddenly empties past and present. That side thirteen, this side fifteen—before and after they do not differ by a hair’s breadth. How laughable that yellow-faced Gautama, who even today does not know where it drops." In the second year, the jiachen year of the Chunyou era (1244), an imperial decree ordered him to move to Lingyin. But when some worldly affairs did not satisfy his wishes, he beat the drum, announced it to the assembly, and retired into seclusion in Jinling. The Prefect of the Capital sent a subordinate officer to pursue and detain him as far as Sutai, but he refused. An imperial order assigned him to Huqiu to care for his old age, but he did not accept; the Regent of the Capital, Master Zhao Xuzhai, tried to call him back to Jiangshan, but he did not respond. In the spring of the wushen year, Xiaoweng [Fa]kan of Yuwang dismissed his assembly; the imperial court, considering that the lineage home of Dajue should not be lightly entrusted, summoned the Master from his seclusion. The envoy went back and forth three times, but in the end he did not comply with the edict. The following year, he ascended Jingshan. Before long, an illness developed in his diaphragm, and through the spring it did not heal; yet his ascending the hall to preach the Dharma was not abandoned. It was only at the end of the second month that he stopped coming out; yet his reciting verses, writing eulogies, and laughing and chatting were just as usual. The attendant monks asked for his farewell verse; he waved them away and paid no heed. Soon after, he smiled and said to his attendant: "As for the very last sentence, / there is nothing to discuss; / one only needs a person / to directly take it on." From then on, he pushed aside medicine and declined external matters. In the middle of the night on the fourteenth, he sat up for a short while and passed away. He was buried back in the mountains of Jinling.
36.7
Dharma Heir of Chan Master Wen of Jingci
36.8
Chan Master Yunfeng of Jingshan in Hangzhou was named Miaogao. He was a man of Changxi in Fuzhou. His family had been literati for generations. His mother, Ruan, dreamed of an infant above a pond sitting with palms joined within the core of a lotus flower, holding it with both hands; upon awakening, she gave birth to the Master, hence he was named Mengchi. His spirit was elegant and clear-sighted; he was fond of reading, exerted himself in learning, and was especially immersed in the Buddhist scriptures. He earnestly requested to study the world-transcending Dharma, and relied upon Master Ze of Yunmeng in the Wu region to receive the full ordination precepts. The Master was keen in his quest for the Way; first he visited Chijue, and next he saw Wuzhun. Wuzhun especially esteemed and cherished him. Thereupon he went to Yuwang to see Yanxi; he entered the room and was put in charge of the sūtra treasury keys. One day, Yanxi brought up: "It is like a cow passing through a latticed window: head, horns, and four hooves have all passed through—why can the tail not pass through?" The Master had an immediate awakening and answered: "The whale swallows the seawater dry, / exposing the coral branches." Yanxi approved of him. When Yanxi moved to Nanping, the Master accompanied him. Later he appeared in the world to reside at Dalu in Xuanxing, thereby becoming his true Dharma heir. Moving to Quanzhong in Jiangyin and Heshan in Zhichuan, patch-robed cloud-wanderers came from all directions. The seat at Jiangshan fell vacant, and the Master received an imperial decree to reside there; across thirteen years, the congregation numbered over five thousand fingers. In the yihai year of the Dexiu era, the monastery was beset by soldiers; some soldiers pressed the Master demanding gold, and presently brandished a blade at the Master. The Master extended his neck and said: "If you wish to kill me, kill me right away. My head is not for your whetstone blade to kill!" His words and expression were completely free from fear. Moved, the soldier threw down the blade and left. When Prime Minister Lord Bayan met the Master, he showed increased reverence, donating one hundred oxen and five hundred measures of vegetarian grain, by which the monastery was saved. In the gengchen year of the Zhiyuan era, he moved to Jingshan. The monastery had suffered a fire, and its rough reconstruction was barely one-tenth complete; the Master devoted his mind to rebuilding it, and within ten years it was completely restored to its old appearance. In the spring of the wuzi year, demonic disturbances suddenly arose; there were those who slandered and denounced the Chan school. The Master sighed and said: "This is a great matter of the school; I must endure death to dispute it." He thereupon hastened to the capital. There was an imperial decree assembling the adherents of various schools to debate at court. The Emperor asked: "What does Chan take as its principle?" The Master memorialized: "Pure wisdom is wondrously round, its essence originally empty and tranquil; it is not something that seeing, hearing, perceiving, knowing, or deliberative discrimination can reach." The Emperor inquired repeatedly. The Master cited the various patriarchs of the Western Heavens and the Eastern Land one by one, up to the stick-and-shout nidānas of Deshan and Linji; generally, Chan is the treasury of the true Dharma eye and the wondrous mind of nirvāṇa, tending toward the supreme vehicle—what could surpass Chan? His words and intentions were distinct and clear, totaling more than two thousand words. He was also summoned before the imperial couch to argue and debate back and forth with the slanderers; the slanderers ran out of words. The Emperor was greatly pleased, and the Chan school remained secure as before. Bidding farewell at the throne, he returned south. He addressed the assembly, saying: "I originally hid deep in rock caves, living in seclusion to pass the time; I never expected that the sun shining and heaven looking down would make it difficult to evade supreme transformation." He also said: "Covering the head with a patch-robe, the myriad affairs cease; / at this moment, this mountain monk understands nothing at all." Jingshan suffered another disaster, and the Master said to the assembly: "I merely owe this mountain a debt from previous lives." He then exerted all his strength to rebuild it once more, transforming the slope of the hall into a pond; the other buildings were completed one after another. On the seventeenth day of the sixth month of the guisi year, he wrote a verse and passed away. The Master was born on the seventeenth day of the second month of the jimao year of the Jiading era; his age was seventy-five, and his monastic age was fifty-nine. He was buried on the western slope of the monastery.
36.9
Dharma Heir of Chan Master Guan of Yuwang
36.10
Chan Master Huiji Yuanxi of Jingshan, [bestowed the title] Foyuan, was from the Tang family of Yuzhang; his family had been literati for generations. Master Ming of the Mingjue Cloister on Xishan was the Master's clan uncle. His father gathered the youths of the clan and taught them the worldly classics. The Master and his elder brother, Yuanling, both pursued the jinshi examination curriculum. After Yuanling passed the examination, the Master, at age nineteen, followed Master Ming to shave his head. When he was about to set out on itinerant pilgrimage, his mother felt pity for him and secretly prepared silver as travel funds. The Master considered that when wealth is abundant, one loses one's aspiration; he immediately took proper leave of his mother, traveling without carrying a single coin. When he arrived in Wu, the renowned elders of the time all wanted him to emerge from beneath their seats, but he paid them no heed. Hearing that Chan Master Wuchu Guan was propagating the teachings at Yuji, he went to take refuge with him. Wuchu conversed with him and was greatly astonished, keeping him by his side as an attendant; morning and evening he inquired and probed, revealing all his secrets. He gave him the courtesy name Huiji and composed a verse to encourage him. Later he arrived in Qiantang and paid his respects to Master Dongsou [Zhong]ying at Nanping, who invited the Master to serve as recorder. During the Zhiyuan era, the Chief of Buddhist Affairs, Yanglian Zhenjia, received an imperial decree to retrieve the relics pagoda of Yuwang and bring it forward for offerings; he personally visited the Master to request an account of the origins and circumstances of the relics, and thereupon invited him to go along. The Master declined, saying: "I have an elderly mother; after the war, whether she lives or has perished is unknown." He then returned to Jiangxi; Yuanling had previously died as vice-prefect of Linjiang following Chancellor Wen [Tianxiang] to raise troops, and his mother alone remained at home. The Master attended to her, renowned for his filial piety. He lived in seclusion at Qian Mountain in his native village. In the second year of the Yuanzhen era (1296), he appeared in the world to accept an invitation to Baizhang; he resided there for twelve years, and the Dharma seat was revived. At the beginning of the Zhida era, he accepted an invitation to Jingci. On the day he entered the monastery, the officials and subordinates of the Branch Secretariat and the Branch Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs prostrated to welcome and invite him to elucidate the lineage tenets; the outstanding patch-robed monks of the four quarters gathered like spokes at a hub. Ascending the hall, he said: "Yunmen said: 'As for the single word "universal," the people of the whole earth can do nothing about it.' Little did he realize that Yunmen had collapsed flat to the earth on all four sides. If at that time one had given him a thunderous shout, waited for this old fellow's fury to erupt, and slowly bowed with hands clasped, saying: 'Please do not take offense at my transgression,' not only would one have supported this old fellow, but one would certainly have made the story circulate throughout the world!" After residing there for seven years, he returned to Jingshan. After three months had passed, the Master leaned on his staff and returned to the foot of Nanshan; when they tried to raise him up again, he would not go. When students from Jiangxi heard that the Master had retired to leisure, they all inclined their sincerity toward the Dharma flavor to summon him; the disciples of Baizhang and Dayang competed to invite the Master. The Master had no choice but to decline, and returned to Yangshan. After residing there for three years, he was about to show nirvana; he personally wrote farewell letters to his correspondents, composed a verse to show the assembly, threw down the brush, and passed away. It was the seventeenth day of the intercalary eighth month of the sixth year of the Yanyou era (1319); his age was eighty-two. Beneath Dayang there is a Golden Rooster Rock; corresponding to Great Master Ma's prophecy, he was buried there. His disciples who were in Hangzhou also erected a stūpa at the Xiyin of Jingci as a place to preserve their reverence. Among those who inherited his Dharma were Xiaoyin Xin, Shishi Ying, and Zhongfang Lun.
36.11
Dharma Heir of Chan Master Shanzhen of Jingshan
36.12
Chan Master Yuansou Xingduan of Mount Jing in Hangzhou was surnamed He and hailed from Linhai; his family had been Confucian scholars for generations. His mother was of the Chen clan. The Master was remarkably gifted from birth, and as a child he did not consume meat or pungent roots. At age twelve, he was ordained by his clan uncle, the Venerable Mao, at Huacheng Cloister in Yuhang. At eighteen, he took the full ordination vows. He understood all forms of literature naturally, without needing instruction from a teacher. He first called upon Upādhyāya Zangsou at Mount Jing. Sou asked, 'Where are you from?' The Master said, 'Taizhou.' Sou gave a shout; the Master spread his sitting mat. Sou shouted again; the Master folded up his sitting mat. Sou said, 'I spare you thirty blows of the stick; go to the assembly hall.' Upon hearing these words, the Master had a sudden, thorough awakening. He was immediately invited into the attendants' quarters. Sou passed away into quiescence, and the Master went to Jingci to rely on Gong of Shilin, who appointed him as recorder. Soon after, because the scenery of Lingyin was fresh and picturesque, he went there to hang up his staff. The Master once referred to himself as Han[shan] and Shi[de]. His fellow countryman, Venerable Hengchuan Gong at Yuwang, beckoned him with a verse: 'Vast and solitary between heaven and earth, / There is only the Master of Cold Mountain.' In the end the Master did not cross the river, but instead visited Venerable Jue'an Zhen at Chengtian. Next he studied under Venerable Xueyan Qin at Yangshan. Yan asked, 'Where have you come from?' The Master said, 'Liangzhe.' Yan said, 'Why is your accent different?' The Master said, 'Close your foul mouth.' Yan said, 'Lanjing Bridge is high, Jiyun Peak is steep; you still don't know the recorder is here.' The Master clapped his hands and said, 'A duck swallows a snail—its eyes pop out.' Yan smiled, turned to an attendant, and said, 'Brew some fine tea.' The Master said, 'There is no need for that either.' After three years, Yan passed away. The Master then returned to Zheyou. Mount Jing invited the Master to occupy the first seat. In the gengzi year of Dade [1300], he began his public teaching at Zifu in Huzhou. Students gathered in swarms, and his fame reached the capital. By special imperial decree, he was granted the title Chan Master Huiwen Zhengdian ('Wisdom-Literature Correct-Discernment'). Zhang Lü, Chancellor of the Secretariat, served as Chief Commissioner for Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs. He first recommended the Master to assume the abbacy of Zhongtianzhu. On the day the hall was opened, Lord Zhang led his subordinates to attend in person. In the renzi year of Huangqing [1312], he was transferred to Lingyin. An imperial order was issued to hold a Great Water and Land Assembly at Jinshan, and the Master was ordered to ascend the seat and preach the Dharma. After concluding the event, he had an imperial audience, and was additionally granted the title Fori Puzhao ('Buddha-Sun Shining Everywhere'). Having taken his leave from the throne, he returned south to cultivate his virtue in retirement at Xi'an in Liangzhu. In the renxu year of Zhizhi [1322], the seat at Mount Jing became vacant. The Branch Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs invited the Master to fill the position. By this time, the Master had been bestowed the golden-brocade kāṣāya three times in total. For twenty years his feet did not cross the threshold, yet those who admired his Path gathered in schools like fish, until there was no room to hold them. A monk asked, 'What is the treasury of the true Dharma eye?' The Master said, 'The stone warding tablet at the crossroads.' The monk said, 'Isn't this it, then?' The Master said, 'The moon is like a bent bow: little rain and much wind.' Ascending the hall, he cited: 'A monk asked Zhaozhou, "Does a dog have Buddha-nature or not?" Zhou said, "No." Another monk asked, "Does a dog have Buddha-nature or not?" Zhou said, "Yes."' The Master said, 'If you take "no" as definitive, why did he later say "yes"? If you take "yes" as certain, why did he previously say "no"? If you can catch Zhaozhou out here, I grant that you are supreme in heaven and earth.' Ascending the hall: 'The autumn wind is cool, the autumn nights are long; / A traveler yet to return longs for his old home.' He struck the meditation bench: 'It is simply that you do not return; if you return, you arrive. / Over the mist-veiled scenery of the Five Lakes, who contends?' The Master once examined a newly arrived monk, saying, 'A sage from which quarter? A spirit from where?' The monk said, 'Linchuan stone-block.' The Master said, 'Fabricating Chan monks are as numerous as hemp and millet; go to the assembly hall!' He also examined a monk, saying, 'The chessboard rock splits open your crown; the alms-bowl pool soaks and rots the soles of your feet.' The monk prepared to reply; the Master shouted. He examined another monk, saying, '"Splitting open Mount Hua, its elegance touches heaven; / Releasing the Yellow River, it is clear to the bottom." Setting that aside for a moment, say a phrase on level, solid ground!' The monk prepared to open his mouth; the Master struck him. The Master used scolding, rebukes, and harsh reprimands as compassionate and earnest instruction for his disciples; with an aloof, uncompromising demeanor, he practiced the great, impartial Way of the world. All the benefits he brought to others were performed in secret, never spoken of throughout his life. The Master was born in the yimao year of Baoyou under the Song [1255]. On the fourth day of the eighth month in the xin-si year of Zhizheng [1341], he wrote a verse to bid farewell to the assembly: 'Originally there is no arising or ceasing; / How could there be going or coming? / Flames erupt from the icy river; / Flowers blossom on the iron tree.' Dropping his brush, he let one leg hang down and passed away. His worldly age was eighty-eight; his monk's age was seventy-six. On the eleventh day of that month, his whole body was interred in the Jizhao Stūpa Cloister. His disciples—Zhuquan Lin, Guding Ming, Mengtang E, Chushi Qi, Yizhong Ji, and others—were all fully capable of upholding his lineage.
36.13
Dharma heirs of Chan Master Zhongying of Jingci
36.14
Chan Master Yishan Liaowan of Jiangxin in Wenzhou was surnamed Jin and came from Linchuan. His appearance was emaciated and frail. At age fifteen, his examination essays gained renown, yet his longstanding aspiration to renounce worldly life could not be shaken. He went to follow Siren at Changle Cloister in Jinxi to shave his head. Soon, a spiritual fungus sprouted on the door pivot; a diviner said, 'This is an auspicious sign.' When he went on itinerant pilgrimage, he called upon Yanxi Wen, Jingsou Jue, and Jian'weng Jing; his conversations with all of them were in accord. When Dongsou took charge of Nanping, he chose the Master as recorder. The Master happened to pass by a spirit shrine and saw paper ashes swirling up with the wind; suddenly, he forgot what he had realized. He hurried to inform Dongsou. Dongsou questioned him closely, and in the end there was no doubt or hesitation. He thereupon received the seal of approval. Later, he traveled to Tiantai, and upon reaching the border, the community requested him to open the Dharma hall at Hanyan; ultimately, he became the Dharma heir of Dongsou. After three years, he moved to Zituo in Xianju. After ten years, he moved to Shushan. When his views did not accord with the local officials, he beat the drum to retire. Before long, the Commander of Jianghuai convened the various mountains at the Zhizhi Hall of Lingyin, deliberating to welcome him to reside at Kaixian. When the Master took charge, the monastic community was completely renewed. Another ten years later, he was promoted to reside at Jiangxin. At the slightest dissatisfaction, he would abandon his post and leave. Several hundred members of the monastery earnestly begged him to stay, following him all the way to Mount Pinggong. He did not yield; they wept, parted, and dispersed. The Master was tranquil, as though having slipped off shackles. It happened that Yuejian Ming of Mount Lu sent a boat to welcome him back to Dongxi. When Ming passed away into quiescence, the assembly of Kaixian again came to invite him. The Master firmly declined. The assembly earnestly pressed him four times, saying they wished not to burden the Master with monastery affairs, but only begged him to instruct the disciples. On the twenty-sixth day of the eleventh month in the first year of Huangqing [1312], he fell ill, sat upright, and would not touch medicine. After seven days, he ordered a bath, changed his clothes, sat at the table in his room, wrote parting words to the assembly, and passed away while sitting. During the cremation, five-colored śarīra like beans were collected beyond count. Both his pupils were not consumed by the fire; melted in the fierce flames, they became even more crystalline and bright. His teeth and cranial bone clanged with a ringing sound. At that time, the Wuzhe Stūpa of Yuzhang was being renovated; Woqi, Chancellor of the Jiangxi Branch Secretariat, ordered that the previously enshrined śarīra of Śākyamuni Buddha be placed in its center, and dispatched an envoy to obtain a portion of Yishan's eye-pupil śarīra, storing them in a silver box to be entombed alongside. His remaining bones and śarīra were buried at Dongxi.
36.15
Chan Master Yutang Yi of Yuelin in Fenghua was a native of Wenzhou. He opened the Dharma hall at Tianning in Wu, and moved to Jianfu. Later he presided over Taiping in Ming, and was promoted from Zhangsheng to Yuelin. He ascended the hall and said, 'The ancients said, "Here I have no Dharma to give people; I merely conclude the case based on the confession." Here at Zhangsheng, there is likewise no Dharma to give people, nor do I conclude the case based on a confession.' Holding up his staff, he said, 'What is Buddha? Bare feet treading on a lotus flower. What is the matter beyond Buddha? Carved beams and painted rafters.' Throwing down his staff, he returned to the abbot's quarters. On the fifteenth day of the second month, he ascended the hall and struck with the whisk once: 'Today Zhangsheng takes the black bean that popped out of the cold ashes thirty years ago, and swaps away the eyes of the old barbarian.' He gave a shout and said, 'Even if there were a Dharma surpassing nirvāṇa, this shout of mine would not function as a single shout.'
36.16
Dharma heirs of Chan Master Peng of Shuanglin
36.17
Chan Master Yuetang Yin of Lingyin in Hangzhou was a son of the Zhou clan of Nankang. He was born on the first day of the eighth month in the first year of Duanping under the Song [1234]. At age thirteen, with his parents' permission, he left household life at Jiarui Temple in the same commandery. He took Yanyi as his teacher, had his head shaved, and received the full ordination. One day, while reading the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, he reached the passage: 'Only the single firm and dense body manifests in all dust-particles,' and suddenly had an awakening. He immediately went to see Bieshan Zhi at Mount Jiang. Zhi asked, 'Where have you come from recently?' The Master said, 'Jiangxi.' Zhi said, 'Is Great Master Ma at peace and well?' The Master folded his hands, stepped forward, and said, 'Greetings, Upādhyāya.' Zhi ordered him to serve as incense attendant. Before long, he reached Hangzhou and saw Duanqiao Lun at Jingci. Lun asked, 'Did Linji receive Huangbo's painful blows of the stick three times or not?' The Master said, 'He did.' He asked again, 'Why did he plant three fists under Dayu's ribs?' The Master said, 'Receiving an ox from someone, one repays them with a horse.' Lun nodded. Lun passed away, and Jieshi of Baishan just happened to come to fill his place. One day in the room, Jieshi raised the topic of the cypress tree. The Master hesitated; Jieshi said in a raised voice, 'Why not say: Before the Yellow Crane Tower lies Parrot Island?' At these words, the Master had a sudden awakening. Jieshi immediately ordered him to serve as incense attendant. After a long while, he returned to Dongyan on Mount Lu. When Master Ri resided at Yuantong, he invited the Master to share the seat. Qian Zhenxun, the governor of Jiujiang, invited the Master to begin his public teaching at Xilin as Jieshi's Dharma heir. In the twenty-fifth year of Zhiyuan [1288], he moved to Kaixian, and was also selected for Donglin. At the beginning of Yuanzhen, he went to the palace by imperial summons, and his responses pleased the emperor. He was granted an imperial decree with the title Chan Master Tonghui ('Pervasive Wisdom') along with a gold-brocade Dharma robe. In the ninth year of Dade [1305], he was promoted to reside at Lingyin. He once examined a monk, saying, 'The Buddhas as numerous as fine dust are on your tongue; the sacred teachings of the Tripiṭaka are under your feet. Why do you not see it in a flash?' The monk was at a loss; the Master gave a shout. He also examined another monk, saying, 'Śākyamuni and Maitreya are his servants; who is he?' The monk prepared to answer; the Master struck him. A monk newly arrived; the Master asked, 'Where have you come from?' The monk said, 'Minzhong.' The Master said, 'How is the Buddha Dharma maintained there?' The monk said, 'When hungry, one eats; when tired, one sleeps.' The Master said, 'Wrong.' The monk said, 'I wonder, how does the Upādhyāya maintain it here?' The Master flicked his sleeves and returned to the abbot's quarters. The monk let the matter rest. After four years, he passed away. His verse bidding farewell to the assembly said: 'Coming as conditions gather, / Leaving as conditions disperse. / Sumeru is knocked down, / Empty space stands alone and exposed.' His worldly age was seventy-five; his monk's age was fifty-two.
36.18
Dharma heirs of Chan Master Yunwai of Tiantong
36.19
Chan Master Wuyin Dazheng of Mount Xuedou in Mingzhou was a son of the Shi family of Panyang. He was born on the twenty-fourth day of the first month in the dingyou year of the Dade era. In his youth he was singularly gifted, and his parents, knowing he could not be kept at home, sent him to study the world-transcending Dharma under Zhijie at Changguo Monastery in that prefecture. At the age of fourteen, he shaved his head and took full ordination. Going forth on pilgrimage, he visited Venerable Jingshi Wan at Yuantong on Mount Lu, but their dynamic words did not harmonize. At that time, Venerable Si'an Rui lived in a private room there, and the Master drew close to him daily for tempering. Venerable Yunwai Xiu was just then propagating the Caodong way at Tiantong, so the Master went to rely upon him. One day, as he entered the room, Xiu said, 'Today Tiantong has died the great death. How will you save him?' The Master said, 'I ask the Upādhyāya to eat his meal.' Xiu said again, 'Today Tiantong has died the great death. You do not need to save him.' The Master said, 'Why save him?' Xiu said again, 'Today Tiantong has died the great death. Who will walk with me?' The Master said, 'Let the Upādhyāya go first, and I will follow behind.' Xiu burst into hearty laughter. From this time their rapport was like fish and water, just like Guishan and Zizi; he then appointed him to oversee the canon of teachings. Afterwards, the Master visited Venerable Zhongfeng Ben at Mount Tianmu, who held him in great esteem. During the Zhizhi era, an imperial decree summoned the empire's skilled calligraphers to transcribe the Tripiṭaka in gold, and together with National Preceptor Miaogong, he went north to court. When the work was complete, he was granted gold-woven quxun robes. At the beginning of the Taiding era, he returned south to Jiangzhe. The Chancellor Tuohuan, administering the Commission for Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs, summoned the Master to take charge of Nanshan in Quzhou and preach the Dharma as the heir of Yunwai. Yunwai was the heir of Zhiweng Ju; Zhiweng was the heir of Donggu Guang; Donggu was the heir of Mingji Zuo; Mingji was the heir of Zide Hui—they were of the sixth generation of the ancient Buddha of Xizhou. Next he had charge of Guangxiao, and moved to Xiangfu in Xinzhou. Thereafter, Cuiyan in Hongzhou and Zhishan in Raozhou both sent directives from the provincial branch commission inviting him, but the Master firmly declined due to illness. In the seventh year of the Zhizheng era, he took charge of Dingshui in Qingyuan; after nine years, he transferred to Xuedou. Ascending the hall, he said: 'A thousand words and ten thousand explanations are not as good as meeting face-to-face. Yesterday was the twenty-ninth; this morning is the first of the seventh month. I announce to you who study the mystery: time flies swift as an arrow! The two eyes born of your mother are each as black as lacquer. Hurry, hurry, turn your head at once, and behold the naturally real Buddha!' After a long pause, he said, 'What face is this?' He descended from the seat, walked through the hall, and took tea. Again he ascended the hall: 'Wondrous or not wondrous? The patch-robed monk's nostrils mostly have no holes. Mysterious or not mysterious? Above the monastery flagpole there is no blue sky. How could an accomplished man tolerate folding his hands in his sleeves? How could a fine horse wait for the whip to crack? Completely transcending blows and shouts, not caught in the snare or trap: the hundred birds do not come, and spring passes away once more; in the cliff chamber, one gains only deep sleep until the sun is high.' Having resided there for four years, he retired to Yuanming Hermitage at Dingshui. The next year, on the twenty-first day of the ninth month of the xinhai year, he manifested nirvāṇa, having reached the age of sixty-five. His casket was cremated; of the remnants, his teeth and prayer beads were intact, and the relic grains were bright and glistening. His disciples, Jingyun and others, gathered the indestructible remains and erected a stupa behind Yuanming Hermitage.
36.20
Dharma Heirs of Chan Master Chongyue of Lingyin
36.21
Chan Master Shankai of Mount Jin in Zhenjiang was styled Yanshi. Ascending the hall, he cited Mi'an's phrase about the broken basin, making a verse: 'When Fayan brought it forth, he had already deceived himself; / For no reason, he faced the broken basin in error. / Now, throughout the whole world, it is hard to cover or hide; / It brings calamity upon the monasteries, entangling descendants.'
36.22
Chan Master Yunan Puyam of Daochang in Huzhou, wrote a verse inscribed on an image of Zhaozhou: 'For no reason he lifted up the seven-pound hemp robe; / How many Chan practitioners have applied their minds to investigate it! / All of them make their nests toward Qingzhou, / Not knowing that the spring colors are south of the river.' His succession was continued by Xukong Yu and Shifan Yan.
36.23
Chan Master Juetong of Huazang was styled Wude. Ascending the hall at the green-sprout assembly, he said: 'Cracking a single dust mote releases the great scripture; / The kite flying and the fish leaping become even clearer. / Looking not with the eyes, but with the mind, / Is already to strike ice within the fire once more. / To soak black beans is to obscure a lifetime; / Directly outside the kalpa, one must speak of the harvest abundance. / Spun into white snow, the mulberries turn green again; / Reaped of all yellow clouds, the rice fields are truly verdant.' He had Xuzhou Du and others as Dharma heirs.
36.24
Chan Master Shiyan Xilian of Longxiang in Wenzhou was a son of the Ma family of Chaoyang. In the abbot's room, a monk asked: 'In former days, Chan Master Fozhao Guang was questioned by Emperor Xiaozong of the Song: "Śākyamuni Buddha entered the mountains for six years; what did he accomplish?" Guang said, "I had thought Your Majesty had forgotten." [How do you respond?]' The Master answered with a verse: 'With great roots, great capacity, and great cultivation, / In a flash he turned the dynamic pivot upward. / For ten thousand times a hundred million years, there is only one Buddha; / The Snow Mountains originally were never separated from the Dragon Tower.'
36.25
Chan Master Guangmu of Shaoshi on Mount Ruiyan ascended the hall and brought up the following: When a monk was standing in attendance on Caoshan Xia, Shan said, 'Practitioner, it is terribly hot.' The monk said, 'Yes.' Shan said, 'Just so; where will you avoid the heat?' The monk said, 'I will avoid it in the cauldron of boiling water and the furnace of burning coals.' Shan said, 'Just so; in the cauldron of boiling water and the furnace of burning coals, how will you avoid it?' The monk said, 'The multitude of sufferings cannot reach there.' The Master made a verse: 'Blinding the three eyes on the crown of the head, / One wanders at ease inside the boiling cauldron and furnace coals. / If you say that the multitude of sufferings cannot reach there, / In reality, where could such a place ever be?'
36.26
Chan Master Tianmu of Mount Tiantong in Mingzhou was named Wenli and styled Mieweng. He was a native of Lin'an in Hangzhou, from the Ruan family. His home was at the foot of Mount Tianmu, hence he was also styled Tianmu. When the Master was six years old, carrying a basket and following his mother to pick mulberry leaves, he suddenly had an awakening and thought: 'Who is this carrying it?' Thereupon he had the aspiration to leave home. At the age of sixteen, he shaved his head under the monk Zhiyue at Zhenxiang Monastery in his home district. He went to Jingci to study under Hunyuan. Hunyuan brought up the phrase, 'The ready-made gong'an releases you with thirty blows,' which did not resonate with him. He visited Chan Master Fozhao Guang at Yuwang. Guang asked, 'You who come thus—which one is your master?' The Master had a flash of insight and grasped the meaning. Another day, Guang asked again: 'Is it the wind moving, or is it the banner moving? How about this monk?' The Master said, 'When the object sees its master, the eyes stand bolt upright.' Guang asked again, 'It is not the wind moving; it is not the banner moving. Where do you see the Patriarch?' The Master said, 'Peel off the skull.' Guang, pleased by his preeminence, recruited him to be the recorder. After a long time, he returned to western Zhe, and listened to the tenets of the threefold contemplation in a single mind at Upper Tianzhu. Chan Master Songyuan Yue was preaching the way at Jianfu in Raozhou. In the abbot's room, he would ask monks, 'It is not the wind moving; it is not the banner moving'—if they hesitated, he would drive them out with blows of his stick. Hearing this, the Master suddenly forgot all intellectual understanding. He then went to study under him, received his seal of approval, and fully attained his tenets. Bidding farewell to Songyuan, he went on a pilgrimage to the ancestral stupas in the Jiang and Huai regions. At that time, Venerable Zheweng Yan presided over Mount Jiang, and recruited the Master to serve as standing monk and head monk. You Yu, a gentleman of Jinling, came to the mountain several times, chanted the Master's instructional discourses, and was won over in admiration. In the fifth year of the Jiading era, Upāsaka Zhang Zi, styled Yuezhai, invited the Master to open the Dharma hall at Huiyun in Lin'an, offering a stick of incense as Songyuan's heir. Soon after, he moved to Nengren in Wenzhou. Before long, he resigned and returned to Xiqiu. At that time, Duke Zhao, styled Jiezhai, admired the Master's lofty conduct, and dressed in plain clothes to visit Xiqiu. Without asking his name, the Master spoke with him all day until he left. The next day, Duke Zhao petitioned the throne to appoint the Master as abbot of Jingci. In the abbot's room, the Master would frequently bring up the phrases of 'the bamboo shoots of South Mountain' and 'the cuttlefish of the Eastern Sea.' When students hesitated, the Master would always click his teeth three times, and none could come near it. Afterwards, he moved to Fuquan and then ascended to preside over Tiantong. Once, ascending the hall, the Master cited the Śūraṅgama Sūtra: 'Everything that can be returned naturally is not you; that which cannot be returned to you—if it is not you, what is it?' The Master gave a verse: 'That which is not returned to you—what is it again? / Residual blossoms drift onto the fishing rock. / The sun slants, the wind subsides, and no one sweeps; / Swallows hold them in their beaks and fly along the water's edge.' Ascending the hall at the winter solstice, he said: 'Just as the yellow bell begins to sound, / Count the nine periods from the very start. / Soon, in the secluded valleys, warblers sing; / In turn, on carved rafters, swallows chatter. / The farmer offers sacrifice to Goumang; / At the village shrine, the earth-altar drums are beaten. / The herdsman jokes with the cowherd; / The village maiden teaches the silkworm women. / Time ages everyone in the world; / From the winter solstice to the Cold Food Festival is one hundred and five days.' Ascending the hall on the memorial day of Chan Master Hongzhi, he said: 'Outside the night-shining screen, before the hall of the precious mirror: / Originally there is no dual carrying; how could there be partial or complete? / At just such a moment, who, after all, occupies the upright position? / At the ancient ferry no one is present, and the frosted moon is cold; / The wind among the reed flowers is still, and the egret sleeps.' An elder named Lai went straight into the abbot's quarters and said, 'I have an accusation to present to the Upādhyāya.' The Master said, 'Where is your opponent?' Lai said, 'It is the Upādhyāya himself.' The Master said, 'What enmity is there between this old monk and you?' Lai was speechless. The Master grabbed him and said, 'Enemy! Enemy!' When a newly arrived monk came for an audience, the Master asked, 'What is your name?' The monk said, 'Zhihu (Wise Tiger).' The Master drew back, pretending to be afraid. As the monk hesitated, the Master immediately returned to the abbot's quarters. Moreover, Master Fazhao of Foguang first relied upon the Master at Liangzhu; the Master sent him to Lower Tianzhu to study under Venerable Beifeng Yin, presenting him with two verses: 'I send you off to seek on Vulture Peak; / In most places they fall into the first three. / Since the diverse was opened and brought back to unity, / Even the perfect tenet is now spoken of with weariness. / Clearly distinguish the realms—a wonderful medicine formula; / Other discriminations must all the more be forgotten. / The evening wind blows down residual red petals; / Do not seek their former fragrance upon the branch.' Throughout the monasteries, these verses have been recited continuously down to the present day. The Master was especially profound in the Book of Changes. When the scholars of the Qiandao and Chunxi eras widely expounded Neo-Confucian learning, the Master associated with them, directly showing them the mind Dharma, never pandering to them with worldly discourse. When Zhu Huian asked about 'never being disrespectful,' the Master joined his palms to show him. When Yang Cihu asked about the 'power of not deceiving,' the Master replied with a verse: 'This power is clearly found in not deceiving; / How many people understand not deceiving? / If you wish to clarify the phrase that fully brings forth the elephant and the hare, / Observe the moment of ascending the steps and holding the tablet upright.' His enlightenment of people was generally like this. Across the five monasteries he oversaw, his tenure totaled no more than eight or nine years, and most of his leisure years were spent wandering at ease in Xiqiu of Liangzhu. When crowds of patch-robed monks came to inquire and study, it was no different from when he led assemblies. In character he was lofty and archaic, simple and frugal, and never smiled or joked lightly. When he was about to enter nirvāṇa and was ill, he asked his attendant, 'Who will build a seamless stupa for me?' The attendant said, 'Please, Master, provide a blueprint of the stupa.' The Master said, 'Exerting all my strength, I cannot draw it.' Then he peacefully passed away. Disciples cremated his body, collected his relics and remaining bones, and interred them beside the stupa of Ying'an at Tiantong on its left. He lived eighty-four years, with sixty-eight years in the monastic order. Those who succeeded to his transmission included Hengchuan Gong and Shilin Gong, who were called the two sweet dew gates.
36.27
Continued Record of the Transmission of the Lamp, Fascicle Thirty-Six (End)
Linked texts (1)
- 續傳燈錄 — Classical Chinese