Manjusri Bodhisattva Nirmāṇakāya into a beggar and rescued the old monk Xuyun twice
2024-07-15
Zen Master Xuyun (1840~1959) taught Dharma in Caodong school, and also inherited the Linji school. He revitalized Yunmen school, assisted the Dharma Eyes, and continued Guiyang school. He is a great Zen master who connected five sects of Dharma lineage in one body. Zen Master Xuyun's life is extremely legendary, he has experienced numerous hardships and numerous legendary (miraculous) events.
It is said that Zen Master Xuyun made a three-step pilgrimage to Mount Wutai from Mount Putuo in order to repay his mother's kindness. He was twice in critical situations of life and death and was rescued by the Nirmāṇakāya of Manjushri Bodhisattva. This story was widely sung by future generations and was also recorded in works such as "The Deeds of Monk Xuyun" and "Chronology of Monk Xuyun".
Three steps, one bow, Pilgrimage to Mount Wutai
When about to die from hunger and cold, beggars come and save
The old monk left home and fled to Yongquan Temple in Fuzhou Gushan, in the eighth year of Xianfeng in the Qing Dynasty (The Chinese sexagenary cycle year : 戊午- the fifty-fifth, monk was nineteen years old). He worshiped old man Chang Kai, who shaved his head and put on monk's cassock for him (formally becoming a monk). The following year, he received the Upasampadā (ordination) from Monk Miaolian(妙蓮) in Gushan. Time flies so fast. The old monk gave up his love and said goodbye to his relatives. In a blink of an eye, more than 20 years had passed. He thought that he had not achieved anything in his Taoist career and was drifting in the wind all day long. He felt ashamed, so he decided to pay homage to Wutai to repay his parents for their hard work.
On the first day of the seventh month in the eighth year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty (The Chinese sexagenary cycle year: renwu壬午- the nineteenth, monk was forty-three years old), he started offering incense at Fahua Nunnery in Putuo, Zhejiang, and bowed in three steps. At that time, the four Zen masters who accompanied him on the pilgrimage were Benzhen(徧融), Qiuning, Shanya, and Juecheng. After crossing the sea, they did not travel much every day, stopping at Huzhou, Suzhou, Changzhou and other places. All four of them turned back midway, and the old monk went forward to worship alone. He went to Nanjing to pay homage to the Niutou Rong ancestral pagoda, crossed the river, and stopped at the Shizishan Temple in Pukou to celebrate the New Year.
The following year, he set off from Lion Rock and entered Henan Province from northern Jiangsu, passing through Fengyang, Haozhou, Haoling, Songshan, and Shaolin Temple, to the White Horse Temple in Luoyang. He walked at dawn and stayed overnight in the dark wind and rain. This is how he is and this is how he worships, chanted the holy name of Bodhisattva with all his heart, suffering, joy, hunger and fullness, didn't distract him at all.
In October, he went to Tiexidu of the Yellow River and passed Guangwu Mausoleum. He stayed in a hotel on the first day of the lunar month and crossed the river on the second day of the lunar month, mooring, it was already late at that time, and he did not dare to go. There was no one around, except for a hut with a stall on the roadside, and no one lived there. The old monk took a rest and sat down on his knees. It's snowing heavily at night and the chill is chilling. The next morning, he looked up and saw that the world had turned into a glazed world. The snow was several feet deep, there was no way to go, there was no one passing by, and he didn't know the direction. There was no shelter in the hut, so the old monk first sat there and chanted Buddha's name, suffering from hunger and cold, and then bent and huddled in a corner. The heavier the snow, the more severe the cold, the hungrier he became, and he was dying, but he never forgot Sati(mindfulness). For one, two, and three days, it was so snowy, so cold, and so hungry that he gradually fell into a coma. The snow stopped in the afternoon on the sixth day of the lunar month, and he could see a little shadow of the sun, but he was already ill and could not get up.
On the seventh day of the lunar month, a beggar came and saw the old monk lying sick in a snowdrift, unable to speak. The beggar knew that the old monk had frostbite. The beggar pushed the snow away and used the grass in the shed to cook yellow rice porridge. The old monk ate it. Finally, the heating came back on, otherwise he would freeze to death in the snow. The old monk asked the beggar for his name, and the beggar told him "Wenji."
Stayed in ruined temple, seriously ill and waiting to die
Bodhisattva Nirmāṇakāya again to save
On the second day of the first lunar month of the tenth year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty
(The Chinese sexagenary cycle year: Jiashen甲申- the twenty-first, the monk was forty-five years old at the time), the old monk began his worship from Hongfu Temple. When he arrived at Huaiqing Fu, it was not allowed to stay overnight in Xiaonanhai within the city, so he had no choice but left the city and slept on the roadside. That night, he had severe abdominal pain. On the morning of the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, he continued to worship and fell ill with cold in the evening. On the fifth day of the lunar month, he fell ill with dysentery and still managed to make pilgrimages every day. On the 13th, he arrived at Huangshaling. There was only a ruined temple on the top of the mountain with no shelter. At this point, he could no longer walk, rested, did not eat or drink, had diarrhea dozens of times day and night, was unable to move, and had no passers-by, so he could only close his eyes and wait for death.
Late at night on the 15th, he saw someone lighting a fire under the west wall. He suspected it was a gangster at first. After a closer look, he found that it was Wenji. He was overjoyed and called him "Mr. Wen." Wen Ji held a fire to shine and said to the old monk, "Master, why are you still here?" The old monk told Wen Ji everything that happened. That night Wenji sat next to the old monk and brought him another glass of water.
On the 16th, Wenji changed and washed the old monk's dirty clothes and gave him a cup of medicine. On the 17th, the monk recovered from his illness. After eating two bowls of yellow rice porridge, he sweated profusely and felt light inside and outside. On the 18th, the monk's condition improved a lot.
The old monk thanked Wenji and said, "Both times I was in danger, I received help from you sir. I am very grateful." Wen Ji said: "This is a trivial matter, don't mention it! I see that you have not traveled many pilgrimage routes from last year to now. I don't know when you will reach your destination. You are not in good health and it is difficult to carry on, it is not necessary to perform a pilgrimage, the same goes for worshiping." The old monk replied: "I appreciate your kindness, but I have not seen my mother since I was born. My mother died to give birth to me. My father only got a son, but I turned my back on him and ran away. My father resigned from his official position because of me and his life was short-lived. My parents' kindness to me is as vast, boundless, deep and vast as the sky. I have this thing in my heart, and it has been for decades. I made a special vow to go to the mountain and ask for blessings from Bodhisattva. I also wish that my parents would be freed from suffering and reborn in the Pure Land as soon as possible. No matter how many difficulties are faced, I will not dare to give up my wish even if I die until I reach the holy realm. "
Wenji said: "You are sincere and filial, which is rare. I have nothing urgent to do when I return to Wutai. I am willing to carry your luggage and accompany you on your journey. You can just go forward and worship. You will feel less tired and your mind will not be distracted." The old monk said: "If you can do this, your merits will be immeasurable. When I make my pilgrimage to Mount Wutai, I would like to dedicate half of this merit to my parents for early attainment of Bodhi, and give the other half to you to repay your kindness for helping me, okay? " Wenji said: "I dare not accept it. You are filial, I am just passing by, there is no need to express my gratitude." Wenji took care of him for four days, and the monk's illness had completely recovered.
This is the second time that Manjushri Bodhisattva appeared to visit and check the old monk's heart and save the old monk's difficulties.
Later, the old monk Xuyun finally arrived at Mount Wutai, but he couldn't find "Wenji" who claimed to be known by everyone. Later, an old monk listened carefully to the incident and told Xuyun: "This 'Wenji' is actually the Nirmāṇakāya of Manjushri Bodhisattva." From then on, Xuyun realized that it was the Bodhisattva's Nirmāṇakāya who came to rescue him twice.
