by Ilyon
The young men who had been accompanying the two princes on the excursion could not find them anywhere, and so returned to Kyong-ju in disappointment.
When the two princes were deep in the mountains, suddenly a graceful blue lotus appeared from the ground and opened its golden heart in the fragrant air. The elder prince built a hermitage near this lotus, calling it Poch'on-am. About six hundred foot-spans further to the northeast another blue lotus bloomed at the southern foot of the North Terrace, and here Hyo-myong, the younger prince, lived in a hermitage which he built with his own hands.
Living thus solitary, they both became engrossed in the study of the deep truths proclaimed by Buddha. One day the two princes made a pilgrimage to Obong (Five Peaks) high in the mountains. Here they beheld a vision of Buddhas through the unveiling clouds: ten thousand Kwanums on Manwol-san (Full Moon Mountain) above the Eastern Terrace; ten thousand Chijang (earth gods) headed by the eight great Bodhisattvas on Kirin-san (mountain of the Giraffe, a fabulous monster) above the Southern Terrace; ten thousand Seji gods led by Buddhas of everlasting life on Changnyong-san (Mountain of the Long Pass) above the Western Terrace; five hundred Nahan (disciples of Sakyamuni) led by their master on Sangwang-san (Mountain of the King Elephant) above the Northern Terrace; and ten thousand Munsu Buddhas led by Piro Ch'ana on P'ungno-san (Mountain of the Wind Furnace) otherwise called Chiro-san (Mountain of the Earth Furnace) above the Central Terrace.
With wondering eyes the two princes worshipped the fifty thousand Buddhas who thus appeared in their real persons. But the greatest wonder was that every morning at daybreak the great Buddha of Munsu descended to Chinyowon (now Sangwon) and appeared in thirty-six different shapes, changing from one to another: jewels, Buddha's face, Buddha's eyes, Buddha's hands, Buddha's feet, ten thousand Buddha heads, ten thousand lanterns, treasure pagodas, golden bridges, golden drums, golden bells, golden castles, golden wheels, golden barrels, golden hairpins, diamond pestles, five-colored lights, five-colored coronas, auspicious grass, blue lotus flowers, gold and silver farms, lightning, gushing Buddhas, gushing earth-gods, a golden phoenix, golden crows, magpies, horse-born lions, cow-born lions, a chicken-born phoenix, blue dragons, white elephants, running wild boars and twisting blue snakes.
Every morning the two princes drew water from a mountain stream and made tea to offer to the Buddhas, and in the evening they meditated on the spiritual world.
At this time the younger brother of King Chongsin (Sinmun) quarreled with the King over the succession to the throne. The people of Silla deposed the King and sent four generals into the mountains to bring back the two princes. The generals approached the hermitage of Hyomyong first, and shouted, “Mansei!” (long live the prince!) upon which five-colored clouds veiled the mountains for seven days-Seeing these auspicious clouds, a large multitude gathered in the mountains with palanquins and horses to escort the royal brothers back to the palace. Poch'on wept and refused to go, so they placed Hyomyong in a carriage and returned to Kyongju, where they seated him on the throne.
(Lyon notes here a record that says this King ruled twenty years, and points out that this is a mistake, since he only ruled ten years and died at twenty-six. The same record, he notes, says that the younger brother of King Sinmun tried to take the throne for himself, but there is no mention of this in the Samguk Sagi.)
A few years later, in the first year of Shen-lung, when King Song-dok had ruled for four years (705) on the fourth of March the King and his courtiers civil and military ascended the mountain and had a Buddhist palace called Chinyowon built there with a statue of Munsu Buddha seated in its Golden Hall. Moreover, the King ordered five learned monks to transcribe the Hwaom Sutra and to organize the Hwaom sect. (This was a syncretic sect that attempted to harmonize various conflicting Buddhist doctrines.) To pay the expenses of perpetual offerings to Buddha, he ordered the magistrates of the neighboring prefectures to contribute one hundred large bags of rice and one large barrel of purified oil regularly each spring and autumn. The King also established a large manor of fifteen kyol (unit of land measure) plus six kyol of forest land and two kyol of farmland, yielding firewood, chestnuts and grain. This land extended over Monijom and Koi-hyon, 6,000 foot-spans to the west of Chinyowon, and these supplies were sufficient to maintain the Buddhist palace.
Prince Poch'on drank from the sacred springs in the mountains, so that later in life he flew through the air and landed at Changch'on-kul (Cave of the Heavenly Palm) in Uljinkuk beyond the Yusa River (Yonghae in North Kyongsang Province). There he made it a daily practice to recite Dharani (Buddhist spells) which enabled him to accomplish his every wish.
The god of the cave appeared before the Prince and said, “I have lived in this cave for two thousand years, but today I have heard the truth of Dharani for the first time in my life. I wish you to tell me the commandments of the Bodhisattvas.” The Prince expounded the law to him as he desired, and on the following day the cave disappeared, leaving neither form nor shadow. Prince Poch'on was surprised. He stayed in a wonderland for twenty days and then moved to another holy cave on Mt. Odae. There he pursued the truth for fifty years, during which time the gods of the Torich'on heaven listened to his sermons three times a day. The heavenly hosts served him hot tea, the forty sages flew ten feet above his head to protect him day and night, and his metal staff spun in his chamber like a top, with a musical sound, revolving three times a day so that he used it as a clock to mark the time during his studies. From time to time Munsu Buddha poured water on his brow and gave him esoteric scriptures for his spiritual enlightenment.
At last the days of Prince Poch'on drew to a close. On his death he left behind a list of annual events to be observed in the mountains for the benefit of the country. It contained the following passage.
“This mountain (Odae-san) is part of the great mountain range that extends down from Paektu-san (The Ever-White Mountain in north Korea) and each of its peaks and terraces is an abode of Buddhas. Blue is the color of the eastern terrace below its northern peak and the northern terrace at its southern foot. Here you shall build a hall for Kwanum Buddha with a sculptured image seated in the hall. Decorate the hall with ten thousand portraits of Kwanum painted on blue backgrounds and station here five charity farm overseers to read aloud eight volumes of the Golden Scriptures and the Inwang and Panya Sutras by day and to chant the Kwanum Ceremonial Repentance by night. You shall call this hall Wont'ong-sa (Shrine of Awakening).
“Red is the color of the Southern Terrace facing south, Here you shall build a hall for the Chijang (earth god) with a sculptured image seated in the hall. Decorate the hall with ten thousand portraits of Chijang led by eight Bodhisattvas on red backgrounds and station here five charity farm overseers to read aloud the Chijang Sutra and the Kumgang-Panya Sutra by day and to chant the Fortune-Telling Ceremonial Repentance by night. You shall call this hall Kumgang-sa (Diamond Shrine).
“White is the color of the Western Terrace facing south. Here you shall erect a hall for Maitreya, with a sculptured image of the Buddha of Everlasting Life seated in it. Decorate this hall with ten thousand portraits of Seji gods led by the Buddha of Everlasting Life on white backgrounds and station here five charity farm overseers to read aloud eight volumes of the Pophwa Sutra by day and to chant the Maitreya Ceremonial Repentance by night. You shall call this hall Sujong-sa (Crystal Water Shrine).
“Black is the color of the Northern Terrace facing south. Here you shall build a hall for the Nahan with a sculptured image of Sakyamuni seated in it. Decorate the hall with five hundred portraits of Nahan led by Sakyamuni Buddha on black backgrounds and station here five charity farm overseers to read aloud the Pul-Poun-gyong (Sutra of Buddha's Favor) and the Yolban-gyong (Nirvana Sutra) by day and to chant the Nirvana Ceremonial Repentance by night. You shall call this hall Paeknyon-sa (White Lotus Shrine).
“Yellow is the color of the Central Terrace at Chinyowon. Here you shall build a hall for the unmoving Buddha of Munsu with his statue seated in i
t. Decorate the hall with pictures of the thirty-six changing forms of Munsu led by Piro-ch'ana and station here five charity farm overseers to read aloud the Hwaom Sutra and the six hundred Panya by day and to chant the Munsu Ceremonial Repentance by night. You shall call this hall Hwaom Shrine.
“You shall also found Poch'on Hermitage, calling it Hwajang-sa, with three sculptured figures of Piro-Ch'ana seated in the hall and the Taejang-gyong (Buddhist scriptures) preserved therein and station there five charity farm overseers to read aloud the Changmunjang-gyong by day and to chant the Hwaom-Sinjung (myriad gods of Hwaom) by night. You shall see to it that a Hwaom meeting is held here for a hundred days each year and call this temple Popnyun-sa (Shrine of the Sacred Wheel).
“You shall make Hwajang-sa the cathedral of these five Buddhist halls. If you keep incense burning in it day and night through the services of purified overseers of charity farms, the King will enjoy long life, the people will have peace and happiness, civil and military officials will work together in harmony and all the food grains will be abundant in their seasons.
“You shall add Munsu-Kapsa in Hawon, and order seven charity farm overseers to chant the Ceremonial Repentance of Hwaom-Sinjung. The funds for the offerings by these thirty-seven charity farm overseers shall be supplied from taxes in kind collected in the eight prefectures of Haso-pu (Kangnung, Kangwon-do). If my words are observed the successive Kings will have good fortune without fail.”
88. Crown Prince Pojilto on Myongju-Odae Mountain
(This is mainly a retelling of the previous section, perhaps because Ilyon found it in a different source.)
Pojilto, the crown prince of King Chongsin of Silla, accompanied by his younger brother Prince Hyo-myong, traveled to the north and stopped overnight at the house of Sehon Kakkan. On the following day, each accompanied by a thousand youths, they crossed the high mountain pass called Tae-ryong and arrived at Song-o-p'yong, where they paused to enjoy the scenic beauty of the mountains for several days. On the fifth of August in T'aehwa the two princes hid themselves in a forest on Mt. Odae. Their astonished escort searched but could not find them, and so returned to Kyongju without their royal chiefs.
The crown prince, seeing a blue lotus blooming on the mountainside at Chinyowon to the south of the Central Terrace, built a grass-roofed hermitage there with his own hands. Prince Hyo-myong saw another blue lotus opening on the mountainside to the south of the Northern Terrace and settled there in a separate hermitage of his own building.
The two princes studied the scriptures daily and performed regular Buddhist ceremonies. They also visited various places in the mountains where they saw the thousands of Buddhas who lived there: ten thousand Kwamim Buddhas above the Hill of the Full Moon on the blue Eastern Terrace; ten thousand Chijang led by eighty thousand Bodhisattvas above the Hill of the Kirin on the red Southern Terrace; ten thousand Seji Bodhisattvas led by the Buddha of Everlasting Life above the Hill of the Long Pass on the white Western Terrace; five hundred Nahan led by Sakyamuni above the Hill of the King Elephant on the black Northern Terrace; and ten thousand Munsu Buddhas led by Piro-Ch'ana above the Hill of the Wind Furnace (or Earth Furnace) on the yellow Central Terrace. And wonder of wonders, the great Munsu Buddha appeared at dawn in the mountains around Chinyowon with a myriad of faces and in thirty-six forms. (These are described in the previous section.)25 The two princes worshipped these forms and every morning they drew water from a fountain to make tea, which they offered to the ten thousand Munsu Buddhas.
At this time the younger brother of King Chongsin of Silla quarreled with the King over the succession to the throne and was put to death. The people of Silla sent four generals to Mt. Odae to bring back the two princes. The generals approached the hermitage of Hyo-myong and shouted “Long live the prince!” whereupon all at once clouds of five colors veiled the mountaintops and their radiance shone all over Silla.
The generals followed these auspicious clouds up the mountains until they found the two princes, and asked them to return to Kyongju. But Crown Prince Pojilto (Poch'on) wept and refused to go, so they brought Hyo-myong alone to the capital and elevated him to the throne. On the eighth of March in the first year of T'ang Shen-lung (705) when the King had been on the throne for twenty years, a monastery was built at Chinyowon. (This is a chronological error. King Hyoso ruled for only ten years, and the date referred to is in the fourth year of King Songdok's reign.)
Pojilto drank regularly from a holy fountain for a long time, after which he flew high into the blue sky and landed at the Cave of the Heavenly Palm in Uljin-Taeguk after flying over the Yusa River. After meditating in this cave for some days, he returned to Mt. Odae and lived in another cave where he studied the scriptures for fifty years. Odae-san (the Mountain of Five Terraces) rises in the great mountain range stretching down from Paektu-san (Ever-White Mountain) and on each terrace of this mountain living Buddhas have their permanent abodes.
89. The Five Saints of Woljong Temple on Mt. Odae
According to an antique record of Woljong Temple, Chajang Popsa once said he had visited Odae-san and lived under a thatched roof at the foot of the mountain in order to see the holy image of the living Buddha. When it had not appeared to him after seven days he went to Myopom-san, where he built a new temple called Chongam-sa.
Some years later a hermit named Sinhyo-Kosa (who was believed to have been an incarnation of Yudong Bodhisattva)26 lived in Kyongju, where he dutifully cared for his old mother. Since his mother had to have meat with her meals or she would not eat, Kosa often went out hunting in the mountains and fields. One day he saw five cranes alighting on a rice paddy near a mountain path. He shot an arrow at them, but the startled birds flew quickly away, leaving a single feather behind. Kosa picked up the feather and covered his eyes with it, whereupon all the people he saw seemed to be birds and beasts. Without saying a word he cut a pound of flesh from his thigh and gave it to his mother to eat. He soon became a monk and made his house a temple which is now called Hyoga-won (Temple of the Dutiful Son.)
(This story combines the Confucian virtue of filial piety with the Buddhist prohibition against taking life. It was believed that the souls of the dead were reborn as various creatures according to the degree of their virtue, which is why Kosa saw people as birds and animals when he looked through the feather. This was, in effect, an admonition against his killing animals to feed his mother.)
When Kosa came to Hasol (Kangnung) from Kyongju and looked at people through the feather, they all seemed to be dolls. He saw an old woman and asked her where he could find a good place to settle down. She pointed to Soryong (West Pass) and said, “If you cross the mountain pass, you will come to a village facing north. There you will find a cozy cottage to live in.” And with these words she vanished like a mist. Kosa thought she must have been an incarnation of Kwanum who had come to guide him.
With a light heart he went on his way through Song-o-p'yong and came to the thatched cottage, which he made his home. One day five strange monks came up to him and one of them said, “You tore a piece from the train of my robe, didn't you? Where do you keep it?” Kosa was dumbfounded. “You picked it up and looked at people through it all the time,” the monk went on.
“Oh, I see!” nodded Kosa. He fumbled in his sleeve and brought out the feather.
The monk fixed it between the torn seams of his robe, exclaiming, “This is exactly what I had lost and was looking for!” When Kosa looked at the feather again he saw that it was a piece of hemp cloth, but it was not until he had said farewell to the monks that he realized that they were five incarnate saints.
Woljong-sa was first built with a thatched roof by Chajang and then inhabited by Sinhyo-Kosa. Sinui Dut'a (Dhuta in Sanskrit, which means friar) then built a hermitage over its ruins, and finally Yuyon, the abbot of Suta-sa, made it a famous temple. The nine-storeyed stone pagoda in its precincts is a relic of the five saints. Many distinguished geomancers have admired the site of Woljong-sa, saying that it is the most auspiciou
s of the nation's mountains, where Buddha rose to power and glory for ages to come.
90. Kamsan Temple on Namwol-san (South Moon Mountain)
Kamsan-sa is situated approximately twenty li to the southeast of Kyongju. In an antique record (Postscript to the Firelight of the Master of the Golden Hall Maitreya Image) we read as follows:
“On the fifteenth of February in the year of the goat, the seventieth year of Kaiyuan of Hsuan-tsung of T'ang (719) Chon Mang-song built Kamsan-sa and placed a stone image of Maitreya in its Golden Hall. It was dedicated to the spirits of his father Inchang Ilkilkan, his mother Lady Kwanch'ori Kaewon Ich'an, his two brothers Kansong-Sosa and Hyonto (a monk), his two sisters Kopari and Supunmae, his two wives Korori and Ahori, and his relatives by illicit unions Makil-Kilch'an, Iltang-Salch'an and Ch'ongmin-Taesa. The ashes of his mother Lady Ch'ori were scattered over the eastern sea.”
In the postscript to the Firelight of Maitreya it is written, “Chung Ach'an Kim Chi-chon (a mistake for Kim Chi-song) attended the King as Sang-ui (a title) and was later promoted to Chipsa Sirang (an official post). At the age of sixty-seven he retired from court and contributed his manor in Kamsan to a temple in memory of Kukju-Taewang and Ich'an-Kaewon, Inchang Ilkilkan (his father), his mother, Yang-song and Hyonto the monk (his brothers), Korori (his wife) and Kopari (his sister), and also that of Ahori (his second wife). In addition he placed a stone image of Maitreya in this temple, dedicated to the spirit of Inchang Ilkilkan his father, whose ashes were scattered over the eastern sea.
“According to the royal geneology of Silla, Prince Kaewon Kakkan was T'aejong Kim Ch'un-ch'u's younger son born of Queen Munhui. Kim Chi-chon seems to be a mistake for Kim Chi-song, the son of Inchang Ilkilkan. 'Scattering ashes' probably refers to the funeral at sea of Popmin (King Munmu) in the Eastern Sea.” (Kim Ch'un-ch'u was King Muryol, 654-660, the predecessor of King Munmu.)