A Son of Heaven

The National Teacher Hui Chung of Nan Yang

The following biography is from Tsu T'ang Chi 3

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Hui Chung, the National Teacher, succeeded to the Sixth Patriarch. His lay surname was Jan; he was a man of Chu Chow district in Yueh Chou. When he was a child at home, he never spoke, nor did he ever cross the bridge in front of his house, up until the time he was sixteen years old, when a certain Ch'an master came; as soon as the boy saw him from afar, he ran out and over the bridge to greet him and pay obeisance... His father, mother, relatives and neighbors from far and near all came and discussed this in amazement; they said, "How imponderable it is that since his infancy till his sixteenth year we have never once seen this boy speak, nor have we ever seen him cross the bridge in front of the house. But the moment he saw the monk, he acted like this. Perhaps this boy is different from ordinary people." The boy then asked the Ch'an master, "I beg the master's compassion, to receive and ordain one of the living. I earnestly wish to take refuge in meditation and leave home." The Ch'an master said, "The fact is that in the school of our sect, only the crown prince of a silver wheel-turning king, the grandson of a gold wheel-turning king, is able to continue the way of this school without letting it decline; you are a kid reared on a buffalo's back by a man and woman in a village of three families; how could you enter the gate of this sect? It is not something for which you are suited." The boy said, "I submit to the Ch'an master that this teaching is of equanimity; there is no high or low. How can you speak so as to hinder my good intention? I ask the master again to extend your compassion and admit me." The Ch'an master observed the boy's state, and said, "You shouldn't leave home like this to follow me." The boy said, "Then to whom should I resort to leave home? Ch'an teacher, direct me to a master of the sect." The Ch'an master said, "Have you ever heard of Ts'ao Ch'i?" The boy said, "I do not even know what region Ts'ao Ch'i is in." The Ch'an master said, "On Mt. Ts'ao Ch'i in Kuang Nan there is a Good Friend; he is called the Sixth Patriarch, and his community is as large as six hundred. You go there to leave home. I am traveling to Mt. T'ien T'ai; you just go by yourself." The boy then went into the bush and hid; avoiding his parents, he immediately went. Three days' journey he traveled in two days; when it rained, he made a day's journey in one day. When he reached T'sao Ch'i, he luckily came at a time when the Patriarch was just about to expound the teaching. Immediately he bowed to the Patriarch. The Patriarch asked him, "Where do you come from?" He replied, "I have just come near." The Patriarch said, "Where were you born?" The boy said, "Since having gotten the five skandhas, I have forgotten." The Patriarch said, "Come near." The boy approached. The Patriarch said, "Tell me truly where you are from." The boy said, "I am from Che Chung." The Patriarch said, "You have come a long way to get here; what did you come for?" The boy said, "For one thing, an enlightened teacher is difficult to encounter, and the true teaching is hard to hear. Secondly, I want to submit to you and abandon home. I beg the master's compassion to admit me." The Patriarch said, "I tell you, don't abandon home." The boy said, "Why do you say this?" The Patriarch said, "You are a Sovereign; without moving shield or spear, for sixty years the Son of Heaven will be you. Just become an Emperor, and Buddhism will be principal." The boy said, "I submit to the master that I would not want to be Son of Heaven for one hundred years, let alone sixty. I beg the master's compassion to accept me and let me abandon home." The master then touched his head and gave him a prediction; If you abandon home, you will be a Buddha standing alone in the world. Then he took him in and accepted him. He was on Mt. Pai Ya of Nan Yang cultivating his practice for forty years. In 761 on the sixteenth day of the first month, he obeyed the summons of Emperor Su Tsung calling him to the capital, where he stayed in the western meditation hall of the Temple of a Thousand Blessings. Later he returned to the Abode of Light Temple. Both emperors Su Tsung and Tai Tsung personally accepted the bodhisattva precepts from him, and respectfully entitled him National Teacher.

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Submitted September 03, 2020 at 12:04PM by InstantEuphoria https://ift.tt/2ESWqGr