南嶽總勝集 3.27

3.27

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.