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ge 8- ae r= 4 @. J. has F= 3. SUCH ACTIONS ARE UNPRECEDENTED. 199 waiting on them. Both of them were teachers of great virtue who lived in the monastery Shén-t'ung, built (A.D. 396) by the -Dhydna-master, (Séng-) Lang, a sage of the Chin-yii Valley of T'ai Shan. ‘Shan-yii was a native of Teh Chou, and Hui-hsi, of Pei Chou. Both thought that the solitary forest life, though good for one’s self, had little power to benefit others, and came to P'ing-lin, where, according to rule, they took up their abode in the temple of ‘ Earth-Cave’ (T'u-k‘u), overlooking the clear stream named ‘ Stooping Tiger?’ The temple is situated about forty Chinese miles west of the capital of Ch‘i Chou (in Shan-tung). They were in the habit of preparing an unlimited store of food, by which means they could freely supply the people or make offerings to the Buddhas. Whatever gifts they received, they gave away freely and willingly. It may be said of them that their Four Vows (Prazidhana)*® were limitless as heaven and earth, and the salvation they preached to the people by the Four Elements of Popularity (Sangraha-vastu *) was very liberal, and those who were saved by them were innumerable as the sand or dust. They dutifully built temples wherein to live, and did many meritorious deeds. Now I shall briefly state the seven virtues of my Upadhyaya, Shan-yii. : : 1, The Wide Learning of my Teacher. Besides his deep insight into the Tripizaka, he was well read in very many authors, He was equally learned in both Confucianism and Buddhism, and skilled in all the six arts of the Confucian school. He was well versed in the Sciences of Astronomy, Geography, and Mathe- matics, the Arts of Divination, and the Knowledge of the Calendar ; thus he could explore the secret of anything, had he cared to do so. How vast in him was the Ocean of Wisdom, with its ever-flowing tide! How brilliant was his garden of literature, with its ever-blooming flowers! “4B S& FE RH j## AX bhi ZR, lit. ‘The worldly connexions of these priests were respectively in the provinces Teh and Pei,’ which is another way of saying ‘they were born there.’ “Other editions except J. have an unintel- ligible reading here. Teh Chou is Chi-nan in Shan-tung. OFF SE TAP HB), bot J: has fo for pB. * PY Bl 2 a. * See Childers, Sahgaho ; Mahavyutp., § 31. 200 A RECORD OF BUDDHIST PRACTICES. XL, The works of his own production, the pronouncing dictionary of the Tripi¢aka, and several word-books have been handed down to later generations. He used to say, ‘There is no character 7x Chinese which I do not know’ (more lit. ‘It is not a character, if I do not know it’). 2. The Immense Ability of my Teacher. My teacher was skilled in writing according to the styles of the ‘Seal Character,” Chuan and Chou’, and also the styles of Chung and Chang’. He had a good ear for the musical notes of string- and wind- instruments, as in the case of Tziti Ch'i?, who could tell whether she Jute of Yii Po-ya expressed a peak or a stream. He could use the axe as skilfully as the artisan Shih removes a (little bit of) mud like a (fly’s) wing‘. Thus it may be said of him that a wise man is not a mere utensil > (as we should say, ‘he is not a one-stringed instrument’). 3. My Teacher’s Intelligence. When my teacher was studying the Sfitra of the Great Decease (Mahdparinirvava-stitra), he read it through in one day. When he re-read the same for the first time he finished the whole in four months, care- fully testing the hidden doctrine contained in it, and earnestly searching (1) KR, Chuan, the ‘ seal’ character, is said to have existed in two styles, the greater and the smaller. The ‘ greater seal’ is said to have been invented about B.c. 800 by Shih-chou, a.minister of the Chou dynasty, while the ‘smaller seal’ style is assigned to Li-ssii, the notorious minister of the first Ch'in emperor (z.c. 221-210). In this ‘smaller seal’ style is written the first Chinese dictionary, ae Bl, ‘Shuo-wén,’ published 4.p. 100. See p. 203, note 4, below. (2) aA, Chou, the ‘seal’ character, named after the inventor, is identical with the ‘ greater seal,’ above-mentioned. 2 (1) $a 4 of Wei (a.p. 220-260), who wrote the ‘Official Servant’s’ style well, ae (2) BR is fiz a who was skilled in the running hand. , pe -F- W (a connoisseur of music), name of a musical woodcutter in the story of R 44 F, a lute-player who lever played after the former’s death. * Shih once removed a little bit of mud on the top of the nose with his axe SUCH ACTJONS ARE UNPRECEDENTED. 201 for its deep meaning. In educating a little boy he was in the habit of beginning with half a character; one cannot imagine his having occasion to grasp his sword (on account of anger with his-pupil). He would instruct a man of great ability as if he were filling a perfect vessel, and the instructed would have the benefit of being beautified by precious gems. Some time ago, when people had become destitute of principle during the last period of the Sui dynasty (a.D. 589-617), my teacher removed to the town of Yang! in consequence of the disturbance. Many priests agreed, when they saw him there, that he was but a fool, as he was plain and rustic in personal appearance. They compelled the new- comer to read the Sitra of the Great Decease, and ordered two under- teachers to see it done sentence by sentence. His tone was grave and sorrowful as he raised his voice in reading. From sunrise till afternoon all the three cases of the Stra were read through. There was no one amongst those present who did not praise and congratulate him, and they bade him rest, greatly commending his wonderful powers. People know this incident full well, and this is not merely my own eulogy. 4. The Liberality of my Teacher. Here is an instance of his bargaining. Whatever price one demands, that he gives. Be the article dear or cheap, he does not mind, and never beats down the price. If some balance be due to him and the debtor bring the sum, he will not receive it at all. Men of his time -considered him a man of unsurpassed generosity. ; § The Loving-kindness of my Teacher. With him honesty had a greater weight than riches. He followed the practice of a Bodhisattva; when one begged from him, he never refused. His constant wish was to give away three small coins every day. Once during a cold winter month there came a travelling priest named Tao-an, who had walked a long way, braving a heavy snow- storm, and his feet were bitterly frozen. He was obliged to stay in the village for a few days ; his swollen feet were wounded and covered with sores. The villagers conveyed him in a carriage to the monastery 202 A RECORD OF BUDDHIST PRACTICES. XL. where my teacher dwelt. As soon as the latter came out to the gate and saw the poor man’s feet, without regard to himself he bound up the sores with his own garment. ‘The garment was one newly-made and worn that day for the first time. The bystanders would have hindered him, saying that he had better get an old garment so that he should not stain the new one. In reply he said: ‘When rendering help in a case of bitter suffering, what time have we to make use of anything but what is at hand.’ All those who saw or heard of this action praised him much. Although such a deed is not in itself very difficult to accomplish, nevertheless its like is not often practised. 6. My Teacher’s Devotion to Work. My teacher read through all the eight classes of the Prag#Aparamita- stitra a hundred times, and read the same again and again when he afterwards perused the whole of the Tripizaka. As regards the practice of the meritorious deeds necessary for entrance into the Pure Land (SukhAvati), he used to exert himself day and night, purifying the ground where the images of the Buddhas were kept, and where the priests abode. He was rarely seen idle during his life. He generally walked bare-footed, fearing lest he should injure any insects. Training his thought and directing his heart, as he did, he was hardly ever seen inactive and remiss. The stands of incense dusted and cleaned by him were beautiful, like the lotus-flowers of Sukhavatt that unfolded for the sake of the nine classes of the saved beings?, The sight of the hall of the Siitras, decked and adorned by him, was something like the sky above the Vulture Peak, showering down the Four Flowers. One could not but praise his religious merit when one saw his work in the sanctuary. He was personally never conscious of getting tired ; he expected the end of his life to be the end of his work. His leisure from reading he devoted to the worship of the Buddha Amitayus (= Amitabha). The four signs of dignity were never wanting in him. The sun’s shadow never fell upon him idle (i.e. ‘he never wasted a minute of time marked by the sun’s course’). The smallest grains of sand, * See my Amit4yur-dhyAna-sftra, iii, S. B.E.,, vol. xlix, p. 188 seq. SUCH ACKIONS ARE UNPRECEDENTED. 203 when accumulated, would fill up. heaven and earth. The deeds which make up salvation are of various kinds. 7. His Fore-knowledge of the Decrees of Heaven’, One year before his death, he collected all his own writings and other books in his possession, and heaping them up into a great pile, he tore them up and made them into mortar to be used (as material) for the two statues of the Vagra*, which were then in preparation. His pupils came forward and remonstrated with him, saying: ‘Our Honoured Master, if it be necessary to use papers, let us use blank papers instead.’ The Master replied: ‘I have long been entirely taken up with this literature, by which I have been led astray. Ought I to-day to allow it to mislead others? If I do, it is as bad as causing one to swallow a deadly poison or leading one into a dangerous path.