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多福淨啟 Duofu Jingqi (17th c.)

七十一世多福淨啟禪師
多福淨啟 Duofu ("Many Blessings") Jingqi ("Pure Revelation"), Patriarch of the Seventy-first Generation
佛祖道影白話解 Lives of the Patriarchs
宣化上人講 Commentary by the Venerable Master Hua (宣化 Xuanhua, 1918-1995)
國際譯經學院記錄 Translated by the International Translation Institute
金剛 菩提海 Vajra Bodhi Sea (VBS): A Monthly Journal of Orthodox Buddhism, Nos. 344-345.

http://www.drbachinese.org/vbs/publish/344/vbs344p013.htm
http://www.drbachinese.org/vbs/publish/345/vbs345p017.htm

Text: The Master was a native of Qiantang, Hangzhou. A son of the Chen family, he was descended from a line of scholars. He renounced the home-life under the Venerable Shiyu. Upon listening to the  Shurangama Sutra  to the line that says, "If one's seeing is the tree," he cast off his body and mind, and he understood that the mountains, rivers, and the great earth could not be split asunder by knives or scissors. Master Yu asked him, "Have you ended your retreat?" The Master said, "I have never done a retreat." Venerable Yu retired. He then went to study with the Elder Sanyi at Xian-sheng Monastery, who said to him, "There is an old saying, 'After the moon has set, come and see me.' Tell me how there could be a meeting after the moon has set." The Master took out a box of incense and said, "I thank the Teacher for certifying me." Master Yi said, "No matter what you say, you have only spoken eighty percent." The Master said, "Branches on the same tree all undergo the same early morning chill." Master Yi accepted it. The Master dwelt in seclusion for over twenty years on Feng Mountain. His virtue was lofty and ancient, and his place was cold and lonely. He did not descend in order to cause the Dharma to prosper. On the sixteenth day of the ninth month of the year  jiayin  (1674) in the Kangxi reign period, he manifested the stillness. His stupa is on the left shoulder of Feng Mountain, in a spot facing the sun. Commentary: This is Dhyana Master Duofu Jingqi of the seventy-first generation. The  Master was a native of Qiantang District,  Hangzhou.  He was  a son of the Chen family . His lay surname was Chen.  He was descended from a line of scholars. Generation after generation, his ancestors were scholars.  He renounced the home-life under the venerable Shiyu.  He entered the monastic life under Master Shiyu.  Upon listening to the  Shurangama Sutra  to the line that says, "If one's seeing is the tree"  To say that the seeing is a tree is wrong. The ability to see a tree is not the tree itself; the tree is only that which is seen. You cannot say that the seeing itself is the tree. At that point,  he cast off his body and mind.  Inside there was no body or mind, and outside there was no world. Body and mind both disappeared, and there was only emptiness. He became one with empty space.  And  right then,  he understood that the mountains, rivers, and the great earth could not be split asunder by knives or scissors.  The mountains, rivers, and the entire earth were like empty space, so they could not be cut by knives or scissors. Master  Yu, the Venerable Shiyu,  asked him, "Have you ended your retreat?"  This refers to the three-month summer rains retreat that monks traditionally observe from the fifteenth of the fourth lunar month to the fifteenth of the seventh month. During that time, boundaries are set up, and they dwell in one place and do not go out walking on the roads and begging for food. This is a custom of Indian Buddhism. From the fifteenth of the fourth month to the fifteenth of the seventh month, all the monks dwell together in one place to concentrate on their practice, and do not go out on almsrounds. Each year that they participate in a summer retreat, they gain one year in preceptage. The reason for this custom is that in India during those three months, the weather is extremely hot and there are bugs and insects all over the ground. The monks fear that they will kill these little creatures if they walk about, so they stay in one place and their food is brought to them. Venerable Shiyu asked if he had ended his summer retreat yet.  The Master said, "I have never done a retreat.  I have never been in a summer retreat before."  Venerable Yu retired.  This is not saying that Venerable Shiyu was unhappy with his answer, but he went to rest and also told the Master to go rest. He then went to study with the Elder Sanyi at Xian-sheng Monastery.  He became a student of Elder Master Sanyi,  who said to him, "There is an old saying, 'After the moon has set, come and see me.'"  In ancient times the Dharma transmission was an exclusive transmission to one person. It's said, "The Way is not transmitted when there are six ears." If there are six ears, the Way is not talked about. There can only be four ears, which means a one-to-one transmission.

When the Sixth Patriarch went to see the Fifth Patriarch, as you may have read in the  Sixth Patriarch's Platform Sutra , the Fifth Patriarch sent him to thresh rice in the threshing room. Later, the Fifth Patriarch visited him there and tapped the stone three times with his cane, then departed with his hands behind his back. The Sixth Patriarch got the message and knew the Fifth Patriarch was telling him to come to his room. When was he to go? After the moon had set. Hence the line, "After the moon has set, come and see me." Seeing the Fifth Patriarch tap the stone three times, he knew it meant to go to his room in the third watch of the night, which was also when the moon would have set. The Fifth Patriarch's putting his hands behind his back was a signal for him to go through the back door, not the front. And so, at the third watch, the Sixth Patriarch went into the Fifth Patriarch's room through the back door, which was unlocked. The Fifth Patriarch asked, "What on earth are you doing here? Why have you come to my room in the mid­dle of the night?" The Sixth Patriarch replied, "Patriarch, you told me to come in the third watch, and so here I am." "Who told you that?" asked the Fifth Patriarch. "Well, you hit the stone three times, telling me to come at the third watch. Then you left with your hands behind your back, ignalling me to come in through the back door." Hearing his words, the Fifth Patriarch said, "You understood my meaning." Then he transmitted the Mind-Ground Dharma door to him. The Elder Sanyi said,  "Tell me how there could be a meeting after the moon has set." The Master took out a box of incense and said, "I thank the Teacher for certifying me.  Thank you for certifying my enlightenment."  Master Yi said, "No matter what you say-- you can say whatever you want, but no matter what— you have only spoken eighty percent.  It's not yet perfect enough."  The Master said, "Branches on the same tree all undergo the same early morning chill."  Whether it's eighty percent or a hundred percent, it's all branches of the same tree and so when it's hot, it's hot all the same; and when it's cold, it's cold all the same.  Master Yi accepted it.  Venerable Master Sanyi certified him, saying, "That's right." The Master dwelt in seclusion for over twenty years on Feng Mountain.  This Dhyana Master did not want to leave the mountain, so he stayed in seclusion there for over twenty years, living quietly and unobstrusively.  His virtue was exceptionally  lofty and  exceptionally  ancient, and his place was cold and lonely.  He had very few disciples; there were not many people at his place.  He did not descend in order to cause the Dharma to prosper.  He did not wish to go down the mountain to propagate the Buddhadharma and make it flourish.  On the sixteenth day of the ninth month of the year  jiayin  (1674) in the Kangxi reign period, he manifested  perfecting  the stillness. His stupa is on the left shoulder of Feng Mountain, in a spot facing the sun.  It is on what looks like a shoulder, in an area that faces the sun. A verse in praise says: What is it that cannot be cut by knives or scissors? What is spoken is only eighty percent; Life was indeed conferred upon him. He went into seclusion at Feng Mountain. The Master's virtue was extraordinarily far-reaching. The rain and dew provided moisture, Universally nourishing the three levels of faculties. Commentary: What is it that cannot be cut by knives or scissors?  This is the Buddha nature inherent in all of us.  What is spoken is only eighty percent; life was indeed conferred upon him.  No matter what you say, you can only express eighty percent. And the Master really was certified.  He went into seclusion at Feng Mountain,  hiding his light and living quietly on the top of that hill.  The Master's virtue was extraordinarily far-reaching.  This Dhyana Master's virtue was not like that of ordinary people. He was exceptionally noble, and from ancient times till now, there has been no one who can match him. The rain and dew provided moisture.  He taught and transformed people in both apparent and imperceptible ways, nurturing the dispositions of all living beings, universally nourishing the three levels of faculties. Another verse says: Hangzhou, the land of Buddhas, has Many Blessings (Duofu). Heaven sent one of great virtue to rescue beings from suffering. The moon set and there was a meeting to transmit the Mind Seal. The sun came out and shined everywhere, beating the Dharma drum. Branches on the same tree suffered the same early morning chill . Clans of different names in the ten directions were all influenced. Dhyana Master Jingqi's character was lofty indeed. Beings in the Three Realms all honor him as the eye of humans. Commentary: Hangzhou, the land of has Many Blessings(Duofu).  Hangzhou is a land of Buddhas; the seven past Buddhas were born there. For that reason, the people there have a very honest and simple nature.  Heaven sent one of great virtue to rescue beings from suffering.  Heaven sent a High Master of great virtue to be born, so that he could save living beings. The moon set and there was a meeting to transmit the Mind Seal.  What happened when the moon had set? The Buddha's Mind Seal was transmitted.  The sun came out and shined everywhere, beating the Dharma drum.  The sun's il­lumination of the entire land is like the Dharma drum being struck to cause all living beings to awaken. Branches on the same tree suffered the same early morning chill.  It's just as cold in the morning for all of them.  Clans of different names in the ten directions were all influenced.  Although the text says that "his place was cold and lonely," I believe that many different ethnic groups were taught and transformed by him. Dhyana Master Jingqi's character was lofty indeed.  His virtue was very lofty.  Beings in the Three Realms all honor him as the eye of humans.  He is venerated by those in the desire realm, the form realm, and the formless realm, as the eye of humans and gods.