Coming of Age

Biography of Ch'ang Ch'ing Hui Leng (864-932)

He was a man of Yen Kuan in Hang Chou; his lay surname was Tsun. As a child, he was of pure and peaceful nature. When he was thirteen years old he left home and received the precepts at T'ung Hsuan temple in Su Chou; then he traveled around visiting the Ch'an 'shops'. In 878 he went into Min and called on Hsi Yuan; then he visited Ling Yun, but he still had lingering doubts. Later he went to Hsueh Feng, and his feelings of doubt melted like ice.

According to the Tsu T'ang Chi (10),

... When he first went to study under Hsueh Feng, his tasks in the study were bitterly painful; he was not too brilliant. Hsueh Feng saw him going on like this and stopped him, saying, "I am giving you a prescription for medicine for a dead horse; do you find it sweet?" He said, "I will abide by the master's judgement." Hsueh Feng said, "You do not need to come up here three or five times every day: just know how to be like a wooden pillar in a blazing fire in the mountain; put your body and mind at rest, for maybe as many as ten years, perhaps seven, or at least three years, and you will surely have understanding." He followed Hsueh Feng's direction for two and half years; one night his mind was active and he could not sit still, so he went outside the temple building, walked three times around the tea garden, and sat down under a tree. Suddenly, as he was falling asleep, he awoke and returned to the temple. Going up from the eastern hall, the moment he entered the monks' hall he saw the lamp loom large and immediately had understanding. Thereupon he went to the Master Hsueh Feng's place, but before the master got up, he went away instead; leaning on the pillar of the teaching hall, he unconsciously let out a cry. The Great Teacher heard it and asked, "Who is it?" Hui Leng called out his name; the Great Teacher said, "What are you doing, coming here in the middle of the night?" He said, "I have had an extraordinary perception." The Great Teacher himself got up and opened the gate; he grabbed Hui Leng's hand and asked him about his inner condition. The latter, expressing his inner feeling, said in a verse,

Wonder of wonders! Rolling up a bamboo blind, I see the whole world If anyone asks me what sect I understand, I would lift up my whisk and hit them right in the mouth!

According to Wu Teng Hui Yuan (7),

... He asked Ling Yun, "What is the big idea of the Buddhist teaching?" Ling Yun said, "Before the business with the donkey is over with, a problem comes up with the horse." The master went back and forth between Hsueh Feng and Hsuan Sha like this for a period of twenty years, and wore out seven sitting mats, but still did not clearly understand this matter. Once day as he rolled up a bamboo blind, he was suddenly greatly awakened; thereupon he had a verse... (same as above). Hsueh Feng quoted this to Hsuan Sha and said, "This lad has finished." Hsuan Sha said, "Not yet; this is an expression of conscious knowledge. He should be tested again." In the evening, when the community of monks appeared to ask questions, Hsueh Feng said to the master, "Ascetic Pei (Hsuan Sha) does not approve of you. If you really have correct realization, bring it up before the community." The master again had a verse, saying,

Within myriad appearances, a solitary body is revealed: Only when a person experiences it personally can he be acquainted with it. In former times I wrongly looked to the road in search- Now I look upon it like ice in fire.

Hsueh Feng looked at Hsuan Sha and said, "This cannot still be an expression of conscious knowledge." The master asked Hsueh Feng, "All sages from antiquity have transmitted and received a single path; please point it out to me." Hsueh Feng remained silent; the master bowed and withdrew. Hsueh Feng smiled.

~

The master entered the abbot's quarters; Hsueh Feng said "What is it?" The master said, "Today the weather is clear, good for asking everyone to work." --- After this, his replies to questions were never out of accord with the mysterious meaning. Ch'ang Ch'ing became a distinguished teacher, producing twenty-six successors.

Submitted September 13, 2020 at 12:06PM by InstantEuphoria https://ift.tt/3bSlKbH