南嶽總勝集 3.27

3.27

先生呂志真。不知何許人也。廣成先生之弟子。內潔而外和。終日而閴坐。似不能言者。居南嶽隱真嵓十餘年。此後每歲一至京師。遊瀟湘。謁諸門人之家。常荷二大瓢。藥物服飾經籙道具皆貯之。善以藥術救人。入林谷間。虎豹馴之。人問其道。則默無所對。出商山道中忽失色不前。人皆訝之且曰。前有剽掠者來。果見兵刃至。志真謂賊曰。此行皆吾弟子無得于之。其徒斂衽避路不復敢前。又至一谷口曰。此有害人之物。同行欲見之。遂石金山自中夜達旦而止。翌日往訪之皆同。或曰。採藥而聞仙樂。豈非得道之兆耶。後遊南嶽。禮青玉光天二壇。寓招仙觀。辟穀七日。入洞靈源。訪彭蔡真人舊隱山行抵。晚溪上見一樵人坐。問師道子獨何往。對曰。聞彭蔡真人隱此。願一禮謁。樵人曰。蔡真人所居不可到。日將暮矣。且行過此山東。有人家可宿。言訖。荷樵人溪去水甚淺。師道往則深矣。樵人回顧曰。五十年方得過此。師道遂東行十餘里至草舍一所籬落雞犬見一人狀貌類農者。年可三十許。謂師道曰。此來何求。對曰。尋彭蔡真人。曰路上見樵者否。曰然。曰此乃蔡真人也。師道驚歎曰。遇仙人而不識。豈非命也。因留宿。榻下有鑪。中有湯鼎存焉。後有數磁盒環列。謂師道曰。置米未回。盒中物可以喫。從意取之。師道曰。遊山尋訪。不以飲食為念。於是揭一盒視之乃茶也。以湯點喫。甘香異常。再揭則不復開。諸盒亦然。師道不敢言。因就寢日高。主人未興。師道訝而潛行約十數里。逢一老人邀坐石上問之。具以對。老人曰。蔡真人父子俱隱此山。昨夜所宿之處。即其子也。又曰。汝道炁但濃。而骨未就。因折草一莖與師道。莖若薑苗。長尺餘。味甘味。復令飲泉。水舉頭忽失所在。自是喫草茶。復覺炁力輕健。愈於來時。復招仙觀道眾驚駭異曰。去已月餘。何如是之久耶。山中無居宿處。師道自驚曰。才經一宿。具以所見白之。道眾復歎曰。吾輩居此觀。徒為學道。子一入山三逢仙人。一宿已經月餘矣。老人乃彭真人也。既見蔡真人父子。又遇彭真人。得非修習之至耶。久之以省親歸問政山每採樵斫藥皆以虎豹負歸母喜曰。汝以孝養。我以道資。我亦幸為汝母已。而復遊玉笥清虛。訪梅蕭二真人。三遊郁木杭冀一見之山行。或逢一布衣烏帽顏若平十許人。師道問以梅蕭二真所在。且曰。吾乃謝修通也。吾居南嶽洞靈源溪彭蔡同隱二百餘年。知汝嘗遊南嶽。我適被東華君所命。為玉笥山地仙。兼管清虛館。爾與我素有道緣。故得相見。言訖忽不見。師道復洞靈源已五十年矣。相衛之間有僧。自少博習經論善講說。每有講筵。自謂超絕然而聽者稀少。財利寡薄。如此積年。真僧不憤。遂將經論。遍歷名山。以訪知者。後遊湖外至南嶽衡嶽寺。憩洎月餘。常於寺閑齋獨坐。尋譯經論。又自咎曰。所曉義理。無乃乖於聖意乎。沈思之次。忽舉頭見一老僧。杖錫而入曰。師習讀何經論。究何義理。僧疑是異人。乃述其由。兼自咎曰。若遇智者分別此事。即鉗口結舌無復開演耳。老僧笑曰。師識至廣。豈不知此義。大聖猶不度無緣之人。況其初心乎。師只是與眾人無緣耳。僧曰。若然者豈終世如此乎。老僧曰。吾試為汝結緣。因問師今有機資糧。僧曰。自徂南方。歷行萬里。糧食所費。皆已竭矣。昨抵南岳。只有大衣七條而已。老師曰。只此可矣。可賣之。以所得值。皆作磨餅油食之物。僧如言作之。約數十人食相與。持之平野之中散掇此物。焚香長跪呪曰。今日食我施者。願當來之世與我為弟子。我當教之。得至菩提。言訖。烏鳥亂下啄食。地下螻螘復不知數。老師謂曰。爾後三十年。方可歸開法席。今且周遊不用講說也。言訖而去。僧如其言。後二十年却歸河北開講。聽徒動即千萬人。皆年二十已下。其老壯十無一二焉。

Master Lü Zhizhen: it is not known where he was from. He was a disciple of Master Guangcheng. Inwardly pure and outwardly harmonious, he would sit silently all day, as if unable to speak. He resided at Yinzhen Cliff on Nanyue for more than ten years. Thereafter, once each year he would go to the capital, wander through Xiaoxiang, and visit the homes of his various disciples. He regularly carried two large gourds, storing inside them medicines, clothing, scriptures, registers, and ritual implements. He was skilled at saving people with medicinal arts. When he entered forests and valleys, tigers and leopards were tamed by him. When people asked him about the Dao, he would remain silent without replying. When setting out on the Shangshan road, he suddenly turned pale and would not proceed. Everyone marveled at this, and he said, 'Robbers are coming ahead.' Indeed, they saw armed soldiers arrive. Zhizhen said to the bandits, 'Those on this journey are all my disciples; do not trouble them.' His followers tucked in their lapels and cleared the road, no longer daring to advance. He also arrived at the mouth of a valley and said, 'Here is something that harms people.' His travelling companions wished to see it, so they spent the night at Shijin Mountain, remaining from midnight until dawn. The next day, when they went to investigate, everything was as he had said. Someone said, 'While gathering herbs, one hears immortal music—could this not be a sign of attaining the Dao?' Later, [Zhang] Shidao travelled to Nanyue, paid homage to the two altars of Qingyu and Guangtian, lodged at the Zhaoxian Abbey, and abstained from grains for seven days. He entered Donglingyuan to visit the former hermitage of the Realized Beings Peng and Cai. Travelling through the mountains, toward evening he saw a woodcutter sitting by a stream. The woodcutter asked, 'Where are you going alone, Master Da? [Zhang Shidao]' He replied, 'I heard that the Realized Beings Peng and Cai dwell in seclusion here, and I wish to pay my respects to them.' The woodcutter said, 'The dwelling of Realized Being Cai cannot be reached. The sun is setting. Just walk past the east of this mountain; there is a household where you can lodge.' Having spoken, the woodcutter shouldered his firewood and entered the stream; the water was very shallow. But when Shidao went, it was deep. The woodcutter looked back and said, 'Only after fifty years will you be able to cross this.' Shidao then walked east for more than ten li, arriving at a thatched cottage with a brushwood fence and chickens and dogs. He saw a person whose appearance resembled a farmer, about thirty years of age, who said to Shidao, 'What do you seek by coming here?' He replied, 'I am looking for the Realized Beings Peng and Cai.' The man asked, 'Did you see a woodcutter on the road?' He said, 'Yes.' The man said, 'That was Realized Being Cai.' Shidao was amazed and sighed, 'To meet an immortal and not recognize him—how could this not be fate?' He was therefore kept for the night. Beneath the couch was a stove, in which was a soup cauldron. Behind it were several porcelain boxes arranged in a circle. The host said to Shidao, 'The rice I ordered has not yet arrived, but the things in the boxes may be eaten. Take as you please.' Shidao said, 'I wander the mountains searching and visiting; I do not give thought to food and drink.' Thereupon he uncovered one box and looked inside: it was tea. He infused it with hot water and drank it; its sweetness and fragrance were extraordinary. When he tried to uncover it again, it would not open; so it was with the other boxes as well. Shidao did not dare speak. He then went to sleep. When the sun rose high, the host had not yet arisen. Shidao was perplexed and quietly walked on for about ten-odd li. He met an old man who invited him to sit on a rock and questioned him, and he answered in full. The old man said, 'The Realized Being Cai, father and son, both live in seclusion in this mountain. The place where you lodged last night was the son.' He also said, 'Your qi of the Dao is rich, but your bones are not yet formed.' He then snapped a stalk of herb and gave it to Shidao. The stalk was like a ginger sprout, more than a foot long, with a sweet taste. He also bade him drink from a spring. When Shidao lifted his head, the old man suddenly vanished. From then on, having consumed the herb and tea, he again felt his qi and strength light and vigorous, even more so than when he had arrived. When he returned to the Zhaoxian Abbey, the Daoist congregation was shocked and marveled, saying, 'You have been gone for more than a month—how could you stay away so long? There is no lodging place in the mountains.' Shidao was startled himself, saying, 'I only spent a single night,' and related all that he had seen. The Daoist congregation sighed again, saying, 'We reside in this abbey merely studying the Dao. You entered the mountain once and met immortals three times; a single night has already been more than a month! The old man was Realized Being Peng. Having seen Realized Being Cai and his son, and having met Realized Being Peng as well, could this be anything other than the culmination of your cultivation?' Later, to visit his parents, he returned to Wenzheng Mountain. Whenever he gathered firewood or cut medicinal herbs, tigers and leopards would carry them home for him. His mother was pleased and said, 'You support me with filial piety, and I assist you with the Dao; I am truly fortunate to be your mother.' Afterwards, he travelled again to Yusi and Qingxu to visit the two Realized Beings Mei and Xiao. Travelling three times to Yumu, Hang, and Ji, he met one of them during a mountain trek. He chanced upon a man in plain clothes and a black cap, with the countenance of a man of about thirty. Shidao asked him about the whereabouts of the two Realized Ones, Mei and Xiao. The man said, 'I am Xie Xiutong. I have dwelt in seclusion by the stream of Donglingyuan on Nanyue together with Peng and Cai for more than two hundred years. I know that you once travelled to Nanyue. I have just been appointed by the Lord of Donghua to be the Earth Immortal of Mount Yusi and concurrently supervise the Qingxu Hostel. You and I have long had a karmic connection in the Dao, and that is why we could meet.' Having spoken, he suddenly vanished. It had already been fifty years since Shidao returned to Donglingyuan. Between Xiang and Wei, there was a monk who, from his youth, had broadly studied the scriptures and treatises and was skilled at lecturing. Whenever there was a lecture seat, he considered himself peerless; yet his listeners were few, and his material gains meager. After many years like this, the monk was not indignant. He then took his scriptures and treatises and traveled everywhere to famous mountains to seek out those who understood him. Later, wandering south of the lakes, he arrived at Hengyue Monastery on Nanyue, where he rested for more than a month. He often sat alone in a quiet room of the monastery, studying and interpreting scriptures and treatises. He also reproached himself, saying, 'Could the principles I have comprehended be contrary to the intention of the Sage?' In the midst of deep contemplation, he suddenly raised his head and saw an old monk entering with a tin staff, who said, 'Master, what scriptures and treatises do you study and read? What principles do you investigate?' The monk suspected he was an extraordinary person, so he related the background, and also reproached himself, saying, 'If I meet a wise person who can distinguish this matter, I will clamp my mouth, knot my tongue, and never expound again.' The old monk smiled and said, 'Master, your knowledge is exceedingly broad—how could you not know this principle? Even the Great Sage does not liberate those without karmic affinity, not to mention someone of initial resolve! Master, you simply lack karmic affinity with the multitudes.' The monk said, 'If so, will it be like this for the rest of my life?' The old monk said, 'Let me try to create karmic affinity for you.' He then asked, 'Master, what provisions and funds do you have now?' The monk said, 'Since departing for the south, I have traveled ten thousand li; my provisions and expenses are completely exhausted. When I arrived at Nanyue yesterday, I had only a seven-strip robe.' The old master said, 'This alone will do. You may sell it, and with the price obtained, make ground-flour cakes and oily food items.' The monk made them as instructed, enough for several tens of people. Together they carried them into the open wilderness, scattering and offering these items. Burning incense and kneeling long, he prayed, 'May those who eat my offering today become my disciples in future ages; I shall teach them so that they attain bodhi.' When he finished speaking, crows and birds flew down in confusion to peck and eat, and the mole crickets and ants on the ground were beyond count. The old master said to him, 'Thirty years from now, you may return and open a Dharma seat; for now, travel around and do not lecture.' Having spoken, he departed. The monk acted according to his words. Twenty years later, he returned to Hebei to lecture; his audience invariably numbered in the thousands and tens of thousands, all of them under twenty years of age, while the old and middle-aged did not account for even one or two out of ten.