北山錄 4.2.9

4.2.9

Because teachers provide instruction, [disciples] can master their will. They show reverence to the utmost and practice it; they demonstrate faith to the utmost and act upon it. Therefore, the Great Sages summoned only sons of good families and encouraged them (regarding appearance, those of lowly status are barred by the vinaya from ordination)—this is not something that those of "rope pivots and jar windows" are capable of (in poor families, cords tie the door-pivots and broken jars serve as windows). Alas, among modern disciples, rarely is there one who does not heed the words of a teacher and model. The disciple arrives because ritual etiquette is distant, and departs because kindness is meager (the disciple is already estranged from the teacher, and the teacher in turn shows scant benevolence, so the disciple does not stay but leaves). However, it is like snatching a man's ox because he led it across a field (in the Chunqiu, leading an ox across a field was an offense, yet taking his ox was punishing him too severely; this illustrates how, while a teacher's lack of kindness is wrong, abandoning him and no longer serving him is as excessive as snatching the ox). The root is slight, yet the branch is heavy (the teacher's lack of kindness is the slight root; the disciple's lack of reverence is the heavy branch). If a senior fails in righteousness, does a junior then claim [the same conduct] as a pretext (even if a father does not act as a father, a son cannot fail to act as a son)? The Classic of Rites says: "If parents love them, [the children] rejoice and do not forget it; if parents dislike them, they are fearful but feel no resentment" (for one who is a son, he worries not about lacking a station, but about being unfilial; what constancy is there in reverently obeying a father's command?). If one can transfer this attitude to one's teacher, how could transgressions ever reach one's own person (transferring the way of serving a father without forgetting or resenting to serving a teacher, one will surely be free of fault)?

Thus, there are those who borrow the teacher's name while mocking the teacher's meager virtue (liang means meager; jia means borrow; because the teacher's virtue is thin, they lack any decorum of reverence and obedience, merely borrowing the teacher's renown). When about to ascend the hall, their muscles and bones fall slack; when made to attend the seated master, their hands and feet become indolent (yu means a gourd lying in a hollow, lying down without getting up; a lazy person is sluggish, like a gourd in a hole that never rises). This is sometimes a case of the tail being too large to wag (the Zuozhuan states: "The tail is too large to wag"; here it means disciples surpassing their master and thus acting arrogant and scornful toward him). Hence chastisement does not reach them; or it is like the solitary wasp and the caterpillar, where kinds draw their own kind (the wasp takes a caterpillar and chants over it: "Be like me!"; before long the caterpillar transforms into a wasp; here, a disciple born of another is taken and taught, made to be one's student). When authority cannot even keep their demeanor vigilant, how could virtue subdue their hearts (if an official possessing the terrifying power of penal law still cannot make them respect his majesty, how can a teacher by mere virtue subjugate their minds)?

Now, in the manners of a decadent age, the teacher seeks disciples, rather than disciples seeking a teacher. The master begins with this, and the disciples end with this. Alas, on what day has this path not been followed? The former master of the state of Lu had Ran You as groom and Fan Chi as charioteer; Zigong bought grain and Yan Hui cooked (Ran Qiu was courtesy-named Ziyou; Fan Xu was courtesy-named Zichi; Duanmu Ci was courtesy-named Zigong; Yan Hui was courtesy-named Ziyuan; formerly when the Master was in Chen, Ci bought grain while Hui cooked). How did it ever come to this? It was because his virtue was abundant and worthy of admiration, and the disciples truly admired that virtue.

Under the Liang, Huibu was a supreme man of the three fruits. He profoundly grasped the Three Treatises, and in his day was called "Bu who grasps the intent." Seeing those who delighted in rebirth in the Pure Land, he said to them: "A pure land of that direction is not my wish. Why spend ten kalpas inside a lotus flower enjoying bliss? That is not as good as rescuing the suffering in the three destinies (those born in the middle rank of the lower grade in the Western Land remain in the flower for six kalpas; those in the lowest rank of the lower grade remain for twelve kalpas; only when the flower opens do they see the Buddha; this is not as good as rescuing suffering sentient beings in the three destinies—this is a bodhisattva whose compassion is increased)." Whenever there was an assembly for the Dharma, he went before the crowd, and those who were clamoring grew silent and subdued as if gagged—such was the height of his virtue (he ascended the hall and went first; the juniors feared him and became quiet). After his death, three of his fingers remained bent, and the earth shook for seven days. The court historian memorialized that a star representing a man who had attained the Way had been extinguished (the Biographies of Eminent Monks states that Huibu vowed to be born in the three destinies to save suffering sentient beings). Formerly, Xuangao of the Wei vowed to be born in the three evil destinies, and Sengjing of the Qi did likewise. Only sages with sages can attain this.

Huisi of Mt. Heng in the Chen (Mt. Heng is Nanyue; it is in Hunan, present-day Yuezhou) realized the Lotus Samādhi and was able to know his past lives. On the crown of his head was a fleshy uṣṇīṣa. He thoroughly understood the minds of men. Poison could not harm him, and resentment could not shake him. When Zhiyi first delighted in his reputation and went to see him, Huisi said: "In the past on Vulture Peak, we listened together to the Lotus Sūtra. Driven by past karmic ties, you have now come again!" He then showed him the Samantabhadra sanctuary and the four peaceful practices. Zhiyi practiced the Way for three times seven nights; reciting up to the "Chapter on the Medicine King," his mind meditated on the ascetic deeds, and reaching the phrase "This is true diligence," he saw himself together with Huisi on Vulture Peak listening to the Buddha preach the Dharma. Huisi said: "Had it not been for you, this spiritual sign could not have been evoked; had it not been for me, no one could have recognized it. This is the preliminary expedient of the Lotus Samādhi." Huisi transmitted the doctrine of the Three Contemplations to Zhiyi, and Zhiyi supplemented it with the doctrine of the Four Teachings. The core tenets of the Three Contemplations and Four Teachings began with Mt. Heng and Tiantai.

Under the Liang, Caotang Yue was called "the Wise One" (Dharma Master Huiyue). The Chen and Sui regarded Zhiyi as "the Wise One" (he is the one who founded the temple where General Guan established 玉泉寺 in Jiangling today). Indeed, worthy ones who possess the Way hear empty praise and deem it not beautiful; they look upon hollow vessels and deem them not important. Their minds are like floating clouds, their traces like passing feathers (only vessels and titles cannot be falsely lent to men, but exalted scholars of the Way look upon floating fame and do not consider it precious). And as for those who rule the empire, making a teacher of the sage and a friend of the worthy—this is surely natural (those under the Liang, Chen, and Sui who held the empire in high esteem had to revere the holy and befriend the worthy). When someone asked Huisi about his stage of realization, he replied: "I am merely a person within the stage of the Iron Wheel-Turning King (bodhisattvas in the four stages of expedited preparation are kings of the four continents; the Iron Wheel King would correspond to the stage of warmth)." When someone asked Tiantai [Zhiyi] about his stage, he replied: "Had I not led assemblies of disciples, I should have purified the six sense faculties (one theory says the purification of the six sense faculties belongs to the eighth bhūmi and above; another says the first bhūmi and above; a third says it belongs to the stage of provisions and preparation; now for Zhiyi and Huisi, both were probably at the pre-bhūmi stage of provisions and preparation). Damaging myself for the sake of others, I am only a person within the five grades [of disciples]."

When Jiaxiang [Jizang] first heard of Tiantai, he thought rather lightly of him (the eminent monk Huijiao resided at Jiaxiang Temple). But once they met face to face, he submitted from the heart and became his disciple. Furthermore, he distinguished himself throughout the realm by using the "Three Wheels" to analyze sūtras and establish prevailing treatises. His disciple Zhikai's specialized expertise did not completely equal his master's, yet in death he was praised. In the four southern dynasties, the profound principle was highly esteemed (Song, Qi, Liang, and Chen), relying on Nāgārjuna and Āryadeva for irrefutable treatises. Although Paramārtha translated the Abhidharma and Vijñaptimātra corpora (Tripiṭaka Master Paramārtha arrived during the Chen dynasty), the royal house met with many perils.