北山錄 8.4.2

8.4.2

Damo sighed deeply (saying that he let out a sigh), 'Since you have asked, what would I conceal? What I reflect upon is that over accumulated kalpas I suffered the torments of birth and death, perilous and protracted. Even when for five hundred lifetimes I was a dog, I was sated with only two meals, not to mention the other evil destinies. If my head could be burned, I would burn it along with the rest; why then begrudge burning this fire and the rest of my limbs?' During the Yao Qin period in central China, half of the households abandoned the secular life. When Kumārajīva entered the Pass, disciples carried food baskets (a basket being a type of hamper) and, not considering a thousand li too far, three thousand came. Thereupon Daoqi was appointed as Sangha Director (sengzheng), Huiyuan as rector (karmadāna), and Faqin and Huibin were placed in charge of the Sangha Registry (managing the registers and records, like today's monastic administrators), and they were provided with carriages and clerks. The rank of the Sangha Director was equal to that of a Palace Attendant, and the others had their respective distinctions. The existence of monastic officials in China began with the Qin. The Wei dynasty established the Bureau for Overseeing Blessings, which was later renamed the Office of Illuminating the Arcane, complete with official subordinates, to adjudicate monastic affairs. The Zhou and Qi reformed it into the Office for Venerating the Arcane (in the Northern Qi and Later Zhou, it was like the Commissioner of Merit and Virtue). The Eastern Wei and Northern Qi esteemed its superintendents (tong), while the Song, Qi, Liang, and Chen esteemed its directors (zheng). Furthermore, the three officers of a monastery (like the three directors of today) were subordinate to these superintendents and directors. When the Sui changed the Zhou mandate, the propagation of the Dharma became especially flourishing: the Tripiṭaka masters of the realm were divided among ten superintendents. Now the state has abolished the superintendents and established two registries, administering them in the capital (the monastic registries manage the capital, while outside prefectures separately establish Sangha Directors); their three directors, in particular, are sought among men of moral prestige. The stūpa of the country of Rāmagrāma was originally built when it received a share of the relics along with other kingdoms. With the passage of long years, the grounds became desolate; only wild elephants held fragrant offerings in their trunks and presented fruits, cleared the overgrowth with their tusks, and sprinkled the ground with their trunks. A traveling śramaṇa was deeply moved by this; he thereupon renounced the full precepts to become an earnest postulant (ceqin), diligently repaired the old site, and took all the labors upon his own person (renouncing the precepts means giving up the full ordination; as for an earnest postulant śramaṇa, why was it done? Because holding the precepts made digging the earth, felling trees, and burning fires in the open air violations of the precepts; therefore, he could not carry out the work of renovation). In the Jin, Daojing, the great-grandson of General of the Right Wang [Xizhi], resided in Mount Ruoye and established the Xuanniu Hermitage, renouncing the precepts just as in the affair of Rāmagrāma. Thus, when a benevolent person does good, it is identical throughout the realm; when an unbenevolent person does evil, it is also identical throughout the realm (for an auspicious person doing good, only the day is insufficient; for a baneful person doing evil, only the day is also insufficient). Cui Huiyuan built a monastery in Wuling. After he died, someone saw him at the foot of Mount Wudang, his expression and bearing utterly serene; he sent a message to the monastery's monks, saying: 'Do not allow the monastery's estate to fall into neglect.' From then on, the sound of a stone chime was heard in mid-air at the regular times (now at Mount Wuzhong in Qiongzhou of Shu, and at Jinge Monastery in Pengzhou, sounds of hymns, stone chimes, and the like are all heard in the sky). Faxian of Guangzhou founded a monastery on Mount Cangwei. Two youths arrived hand in hand and sang: 'Cangwei possesses the Dao and virtue, / Joy and bliss have not yet reached their end' (Weiyang was a Qin palace). When the song ended, they suddenly vanished. Indeed, spirits are moved by sincerity, and the Dao is assisted by the spirits. Without sincerity, what virtue is there? Without spirits, what reliance is there? Therefore, when auspicious omens soar, they ought to encourage those who have not yet soared. Zhou Yong of the Qi established Caotang Monastery at the former residence of Lei Cizong on Mount Zhong, which some called Shanci; he sought Huiyue to serve as its abbot. Huiyue, feeling that although it was close to urban dwellings, it was secluded beyond worldly matters and a silent appreciation of pure sincerity, entrusted his final years to it. Zhou Yong sighed, saying: 'The prior Yue of Shanci: his pure emptiness fills the age.' Emperor Wu of Liang built Guangzhai Monastery and decreed that Fayun serve as its abbot; he established monastic regulations, which set a noble standard for posterity. Fayun possessed filial virtue, and furthermore, through his practice and conduct, he received heaven's blessing and bore the country's favor and glory. Now, filial piety consists in serving the dead as one serves the living, and yearning for one's parents as if wishing not to live oneself. Zengzi was renowned for serving his parents; when he observed his parents' mourning, neither water nor broth entered his mouth for seven days. Gao Chai, in yearning for his parents, wept blood for three years and was never seen to show his teeth (this means he wept without voice, as if bleeding; his smiles were so faint that his teeth were not seen). Had Fayun not received the remonstrance of Sengmin, he would nearly have been broken by grief (Fayun observed mourning for his mother almost unto physical destruction; Sengmin urged him, and only then did he take food). When Fayun was a novice, he pondered the Lotus Sūtra deeply for years. He once went to a secluded crag, erected stones to serve as his audience, held a pine branch, and expounded it alone. Hence, later he stood foremost in this scripture, and though there were crowds of masters, it was hard to equal him. Once, when he concluded a lecture at a monastery, he moved heavenly flowers to drift through the hall like snow filling the sky; only when he stepped down from his seat did they cease. At that time, there was a monk who wished to equal Fayun; in a dream, a divine being admonished him, saying: 'Dharma Master Yun already expounded this scripture in the time of the Buddha Dīpaṅkara. You should promptly dismiss your intention (to dismiss means to cease) and not plot for what cannot be hoped for.' Now, in the final age of the Dharma gate, people pursue their own caprices (each turns toward his own intentions); as for the legacy and records left by former sages, how do the later-born regard them? Turning their backs on virtue, they head toward profit; they advance easily but retreat with difficulty. Constantly coveting the monastery's permanent property, if it is rich and fertile, they use bribes to seek its office (to spy means to steal a glance; using wealth to seek the principal duties). Once they obtain it and grasp those official tallies, swaggering in their position, they end up acting wilfully and blindly, behaving rashly without revering monastic ordinances, disrupting the order of the Six Harmonies, and leveling the accomplishment of nine fathoms. When the granaries and stores are empty and the weed-covered fields have turned green (this clarifies that handling the affairs of the monastery's permanent property in reverse brings ruin, causing estates and fields to become barren, whereupon they plot to retire and be relieved), they either contrive claims of old age or resign claiming illness. The prefectural offices do not investigate their failures and merits, nor scrutinize their corruption and uprightness (the commentary on the Hanshu states: superior merit is called zui; inferior merit is called dian; jian means evil; zhi means upright), but hastily grant their resignations and transfers, thereby allowing crafty fellows to succeed in their schemes to an extreme degree. Moreover, those petty and insignificant persons (cuier means small, base fellows) still require human governance even when dwelling among the secular; how could donning black robes suddenly enable them to bring order to things? But the authorities initially select them through wealth, and when they bear guilt, they also in the end evade it through wealth. Or, when the community does not conceal it and reports their crimes, those who examine the case conversely frame the accusers against all principle (to conceal means to cover up; biased means partial; initially seeking abbotship, they seek it with wealth, and after encroaching and misusing it, they use wealth to seek immunity; or when monks sue them before officials, officials also, through favoritism and luck, instead impose penalties on the accusers; this is all because wrongdoing is fostered in the officialdom); this has never been understood by the prefectures and cities.