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So he didn't wait until he was old and had
already
married and had children and his spouse had passed on before he left home. He
became a monk when he was a child. He shaved his head and received the complete
precepts. When he cut his hair, everyone was delighted and congratulated him.
The "complete precepts" means that he took the 10 novice precepts,
the 10 major and 48 minor Bodhisattva precepts, and the 250 Bhiksu precepts.
He heard about Ch'an Master Fa Hua’s magnificent propagation of the T’ien T’ai
teachings, and went to study there. He set his will on the Dharma of Ch’an and
was absolutely vigorous day and night. The Three Contemplations are emptiness,
falseness, and the Middle Way. Emptiness is the actual truth. Falseness is the
common truth. The Middle Way represents the ultimate meaning of the Middle
Way, whereby one does not fall into emptiness nor does one fall into existence
or falseness. Many people in the T'ien T'ai School became enlightened from
cultivating these three contemplations. You regard all dharmas as emptiness;
regard alt dharmas as false, and regard all dharmas as the final meaning of the
Middle Way. So it just depends on how you look at them. If you understand, then
Coarse words and fine speech
All return to the primary meaning.
Before you understand, no matter what wonderful
Dharma is spoken, you still don't understand.
When people saw that he had
thoroughly entered the room of his Master Wei, they called him "Wei the
younger." After that he returned to Tung Yang and retired into a valley deep in
the mountains.
This reminds me of a story.
During the Ch'ing dynasty there was Vinaya Master Hung Yi and also Dharma
Master T'an Hsu. Dharma Master T'an Hsu was in constant contact with officials
and important people. One of the officials was named Shen Hung Lieh, and his
position in government was significant--something like mayor or governor. One
day he invited Dharma Master T'an Hsu to a vegetarian meal. Dharma Master T'an
Hsu particularly venerated Vinaya Master Hung Yi, whom the official included in
the invitation. Dharma Master T'an Hsu related the invitation to Vinaya Master
Hung Yi: "Upasaka Shen has invited us to lunch tomorrow, do you want to
go? If so, let me know."
The next day Vinaya Master
Hung Yi said to Elder Master T'an Hsu,
As to yesterday's
invitation to today's occasion
I sat on the bench in
meditation and quietly considered it.
He said, "Yesterday someone invited us to lunch today
so I sat in meditation to reflect upon it." He didn't meditate, he struck
up false thoughts; "Should I go or not? If we go there to eat, it is for
sure the vegetables will be delicious. And there'll be mock chicken, mock duck,
mock goose, mock abalone—all pretty tasty stuff. But then again, after I eat
it, then what? It's better not to go...I've decided. I'm not going." So
his concluding remarks were:
Members of the Sangha
should stay in the mountain valleys.
And be careful not to
accept invitations from important officials.
So I eat a little less, so what? That's what he
told Elder Master T'an Hsu. But when Shen Hung Lieh found out he wasn't coming,
that his invitation had been refused, it was embarrassing to him and he was
furious. "That monk is totally lacking in social grace. He won't even
accept my invitation to eat."
But when another official
named Chu Tse Ch'iao heard about the incident, he was delighted. "That's a
genuine left home person!" he exclaimed. "That's deportment fitting
of a great Vinaya Master, a great cultivator of the Way." So you see, both
of them were officials, and were Buddhists, and yet one praised his action and
the other flew into a rage. It just proves that there is no way to make all of
the people happy all of the time. It's impossible. It is difficult for the
Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to fulfill the wishes of living beings. He rarely got
involved with people. It's not that he never did; occasionally something came
up, but as a rule, he wasn't hospitable. After Master Fa Hua entered
extinction, those who sought the Way, an uncountable number of them, came to
him. But the only one who inherited the Dharma Transmission was Master Tso
Ch’i. In the T’ang dynasty he was given the name Virtuous Ch’ao San, one of the
four Great Masters honored. In the Sung dynasty he was given the posthumous
title Venerable Ch’uan Chen.
A Verse Reads:
The room of the Elder Wei
Was expansive and yet
esoteric.
Only the Master entered it.
And became a great Dharma
boat.
He retired forever to the
deep mountains.
And roamed among the deer
and boars.
He hid away ‘til the time
was right for spreading the word.
Then his teaching pervaded
quite naturally.
Another verse says:
He
left the home life to cultivate the Way.
And
end death and birth.
He
sought only for liberation--
To
escape the fiery pit.
Totally
concentrated on the Three Contemplations,
He
suddenly awoke.
Deeply
entering one door,
Eventually you’ll get
through.
He retired to the isolated
valleys
And ceased contact with the
mundane.
Greatly turning the Dharma
Wheel,
He saved a lot of beings.
He joined the Vinaya Master
To teach by compassion.
Of one substance with the
myriad things
His lofty conduct is to be
admired.
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