by Ilyon
When he wrote a commentary on the Hwaom scripture he stopped at the fortieth chapter, and when he lived at Punhwang temple in early life he was constantly occupied with public affairs. For these reasons he never rose above the lowest ranks of the monks. Guided by a sea dragon, he received a commandment from Buddha to write while traveling a song about Sammae-gyong. He put his ink-stone and his writing brush on the two horns of the ox he rode, and therefore people called him Kaksung (Horn Rider). The two horns represented the awakening of his inner self and of the inner selves of others. He met Taean Popsa, another famous monk, who presented Wonhyo with writing paper, and they chanted the song together.
When Wonhyo died his bones were crushed and incorporated into a lifelike image of him which his son Sol Ch'ong enshrined in Pun-hwang-sa, where he held a memorial service and chanted a dirge in his father's memory. As Sol Ch'ong prostrated himself to one side of the image, it suddenly turned its head toward him This image is still to be seen, with its head turned to one side. Legend says that Sol Ch'ong lived in a cottage near a cave where his father had once lived. The ruins of this cottage are still there.
Song of Praise to Wonhyo
His Ox-horns unveiled the mystery of Sammae-gyong;
His gourd dance awoke the underworld to holy things.
In the moonlit Jade Palace he enjoyed a spring dream and was gone;
Over the closed Punhwang Temple his shadow dances alone.
104. Uisang Transmits the Hwaom Sutra to the Cardinal Temples
Uisang's father was Han-sin and his family name was Kim. At the age of twenty-nine he shaved his head and became a monk, residing at Hwangpok Temple. Soon afterward he decided to go to China to study Buddhist doctrine, and set out on his journey with Wonhyo. But when he reached Liaotung he was arrested by Koguryo border guards and detained for ten days, after which he was allowed to return home. (Ilyon says this account is found in Ch'oe Hu's Chronicles and in Wonhyo's Autobiography.)
In the first year of Ying-hui (650) he joined the party of a T'ang envoy returning to China and entered the Middle Kingdom. When he arrived at Yangchow, the Chinese military commander there gave him a luxurious reception and provided him with living quarters in the government headquarters. After a few days he visited the monk Chih-yen on the South Mountain of Changan. Chih-yen had had a dream the night before in which he had seen a great tree growing in Haedong (Silla) whose boughs and leaves covered the whole of Shenchow (Land of God, i.e. China) and in the top of which was a phoenix nest. He climbed the tree, and his eyes were dazzled by Manipao (jewels said to have been emitted from the brain of a king dragon) whose light radiated far and wide. Waking in wonder and surprise, he tidied his house and waited until Uisang knocked at his door. After receiving his guest with special ceremony he said, “In a dream last night I saw signs of your coming.” The two sat facing each other and discussed the mysteries of the Hwaom Sutra to the profoundest depths. Chih-yen was glad to hear the intelligent words of Uisang, and declared that his visitor outshone, him on many points of Buddhist scripture.
At this time the Silla ministers Kim Hum-sun (another book says Kim In-mun, Ilyon notes) and Yang-to were detained in Changan by T'ang Emperor Kao-tsung, who was planning to attack Silla with a large army. Uisang was informed of this by Hum-sun, who urged him to return home at once and warn the court. Therefore, in the first year of Hsien-heng (670), Uisang returned to Silla and told King Munmu of the imminent danger. At the same time he ordered Myongnang, a clever monk, to improvise a secret Buddhist altar to deceive a Chinese envoy who had come to Kyongju for purposes of espionage. Thus the King was able to surmount the crisis.
Hsuan-shou Fa-tsang, a Chinese monk and fellow student of Uisang at Chih-yen's monastery, sent Uisang a copy of his Selections from Sou-hsuan-shu and a personal letter in the most cordial terms which read as follows:
“Fa-tsang, a monk at Ch'ungfu Temple in the Western Capital (Changan) presents this letter to the attendant of Hwaom Popsa in Silla. Since we two parted twenty years ago you have been ever in my mind, but the wide seas have kept us ten thousand li apart, separated by the sailing clouds and rolling waves. My longing to see you knows no bounds. By Karma (Sanskrit; the accumulation of merits and demerits by which future incarnations are determined) we have often been acquainted, and we studied under the same teacher who, by divine ordinance, transmitted to us his knowledge of the great mysteries of the Buddhist scriptures.
“I have learned with great joy that after your return you held seminars on the Hwaom Sutra in order to enhance the glories of Buddha. You have reflected the heavenly jewels of the Chesok Palace in your Buddhist nation to share the blessings of Buddha with all people. This, news shows me that it is you who have brought Buddha's sunlight and turned the Wheel of the Law to propagate his gospel on earth since Sakyamuni entered the Lotus Paradise.
“I, Fa-tsang, have made few achievements in my studies. I am ashamed when with my inward eye I see you and our textbook, the Hwaom Sutra. The statements of Hwasang (a Buddhist priest) in the Sou-hsuan-shu have rich meanings, but are too brief, so that the younger generation will find it difficult to understand their full significance. I have therefore recorded his dark sayings and added commentaries for novices to read. Sungchon Popsa will soon finish copying my manuscript and deliver it to you. I will be fortunate if you will read it and correct the errors I have made.
“In our next incarnations, when together we receive the supreme, inexhaustible law of Buddha in the universally illumined kingdom of Nosana and perform the precepts of Pohyon, my sins will be redeemed. Please do not forget our long acquaintance and continue to lead me on the righteous path. Hoping to hear from you through messengers or correspondence from time to time....”
(Ilyon says this letter is included in the Taemun-nyu, the Collection of Great Men's Letters.)
Uisang ordered the ten cardinal temples, including Pusok-sa on Mt. T'aebaek, Pimara-sa in Wonju, Haein-sa on Mt. Kaya, Okch'on-sa in Pistil, Pomo-sa in Kumjong and Hwaom-sa in Namak, to propagate Buddhism on the principles of the Hwaom Sutra. In addition, he made a schematic chart of Buddhist doctrine (Mandala) for the temples to keep for the instruction of monks for a thousand years. He left no other writings, but one piece of meat is enough to flavor the soup. This chart and explanation, his only literary work, were made in the first year of Tsung-chang (668, the year that Chih-yen died), just as Confucius wrote the final chapter of his book after receiving the gift of a Kirin. (Confucius is said to have composed the final chapter of the Ch'unchiu (Spring and Autumn Annals) after receiving the gift of a Kirin (Giraffe), a fabulous monster said to symbolize benevolence.)
Legend says that Uisang was an incarnation of the Bodhisattva on the Jeweled Throne. His ten disciples were Ochin, Chit'ong, P'yohun, Chinjong, Chinjang, Toyung, Yangto, Sangwon, Nungin and Uijok. They are all known as sages of the second rank and each has a biography.
Ochin lived at Koram Temple on Mt. Haga, from which he stretched his arm each night to light the lamp at Pusok Temple. Chit'ong wrote the book Ch'udong-gi (The Village of Gimlets) in which he told many interesting stories in clever phrases. P'yohun lived at Pulguk Temple and traveled to and from the heavenly palace.
When Uisang was at Hwangpok Temple he used to mount the pagoda and turn around in the air, without touching the steps. When the other monks followed him, all floating three feet off the ground, he looked back and said, “If the commoners should see us flying this way they would think us monsters, so we had better not teach them this heavenly art.”
Song of Praise to Uisang
He pushed through brambles and war-dust,
Sailing on and on till the Chihshang Temple door opened;
When he planted Hwaom's flowering trees in his own garden,
Nanshan (China) and Mt. T'aebaek (Silla) sang the same spring.
105. The Widow and her Dumb Son
In a remote village called Manson-Pungni in the vicinity of Kyong-ju a widow conceived without sleeping with a man and bore a son. Un
til the age of twelve he did not speak a word or walk a step, and people called him Sapok or Sadong (Snake Boy) because he wriggled about on his belly. His mother died while the great monk Wonhyo was living at Koson Temple. Sadong appeared in a vision to Wonhyo, who rose to meet him with palms pressed together in a Buddhist salute. The young visitor did not return the courtesy but addressed him in a dignified voice.
“The cow (meaning his mother) on which you and I loaded our Buddhist scriptures long ago is now dead. Let us go together and hold a funeral service for her.”
“Let us do so,” Wonhyo replied.
When they came to the place where the dead woman was, Wonhyo recited an Uposatta (Sanskrit prayer for the dead): “Do not be reborn, for death is pain; do not die, for birth is pain.”
But Sadong interrupted: “Your prayer is too clumsy. It should be, 'Both life and death are pain.'“ They carried the coffin to the eastern hill called Hwalli-san.
“Would it not be fitting,” Wonhyo said, “to bury the Chihye-ho (Tigress of Wisdom, the dead woman's Buddhist name) in the Chihye-rim (Forest of Wisdom)?”
“You are right,” Sadong replied. “I will sing an elegy (Gatha) in praise of the Buddha: As Sakyamuni Buddha entered Nirvana under the Sala tree long ago, so now his kindred goes to the magnificent palace in the lotus paradise of Nirvana.”
As he spoke he pulled up grass by the roots. Beneath these roots there opened a bright, clean empty world with a seven-treasure bridge leading to dazzling pavilions of gold and jewels such as are not to be found in this world. Sadong took his mother's body on his back and descended this subterranean staircase, whereupon the earth closed above his head as waves rush together, leaving Wonhyo in darkness on the quivering ground.
Long afterward devout Buddhists erected a temple called Tojang-sa on the eastern side of Mt. Kumgang in Kyongju in honor of Sadong and his mother. On the fourteenth day of the third month each year they held memorial services for the two human Buddhas who returned to eternity.
Song in Praise of the Snake Boy
A sleeping dragon in the depths cannot be idle:
When he wakes and twists his body the womb of earth opens and closes.
The pains of both life and death are lasting grief;
There is floating rest in the lotus paradise of eternal peace.
(This is plainly a tale of reincarnation, though of whom is not clear. Uposatta and Gatha are Sanskrit ritual texts, and the lotus paradise is, of course, one of the many Buddhist heavens.)
106. Chinp'yo Receives Divination Sticks from Maitreya
The monk Chinp'yo was a native of Mangyong-hyon in Wansan-ju (Chonju) who lived at Kumsan Temple. His father was Chinnaemal, his mother was Kilborang and his family name was Chong. He became a monk at the age of twelve and was a disciple of Sungche Popsa, who had studied under Shantao Santsang in China and later gone to Wutaishan, where he saw the living Munsu Bodhisattva and received from him the Five Commandments.
One day Chinp'yo asked his master, “When can I receive the Buddha's commandments?”
“If your devotion is sincere, you can receive them within a year,” was the reply. Encouraged by his master's words, Chinp'yo made a pilgrimage to various famous mountains and then settled at Pulsaui-am (Wonder Hermitage) on Mt. Son'gye. There he underwent various ordeals for the confession of his sins. First he struck his head and his four limbs against a rock for seven nights, with earnest prayers. His arms and legs were torn and his blood rained on the rock, but no sign came. He continued this practice for another week, until the end of the fortnight's prayer, and the Chijang Bodhisattva (a spirit of mercy and protector of children) appeared and gave him his commandments of purification. This happened in the hour of the dragon and the year of the dragon, on the fifteenth of the third moon in the twenty-eighth year of Kai-yuan, when Chinp'yo was twenty-three years old.
Wishing to see Maitreya, he moved to Yongsan Temple, also known as Pyonsan or T'ongga san. There, after further ordeals, Maitreya appeared to him and gave him the two volumes of the Chomch'al-gyong, the Buddhist book of divination. (Ilyon says this was a Chinese version compiled toward the beginning of the Sui dynasty, whose rule began in 589.) Maitreya also gave him 189 divination sticks, saying “The eighth and ninth sticks are my fingerbones and the rest are made of aloewood and sandalwood. They will predict the annoyances of the mortal world. You are to use them as rafts of salvation by the gospel of Buddha" Chinp'yo thereafter held annual divination services on a newly built altar before large multitudes of Buddhist believers.
(Divination with sticks was not originally a Buddhist practice. It is mentioned in some of the earliest Chinese documents and was associated in China mainly with Taoism.)
When Chinp'yo arrived at Asullaju, the fish and turtles of the sea formed a long bridge between the islands and conducted him to the dragon palace at the bottom, where he delivered the commandments of Buddha to the dragons in a sermon. This was in the eleventh year of T'ien-pao (752).
King Kyongdok of Silla heard of Chinp'yo's fame and summoned him to the palace. The King received the commandments of the Bodhisattvas from the monk and gave him 77,000 large bags of rice. The Queen and her family received the same commandments and presented him with 500 rolls of silk and 50 yang of gold. Chinp'yo distributed all these gifts to various temples for the support of Buddhist services.
When Chinp'yo died his bones were enshrined in Pohyon Temple-on the seacoast, near the place where he had given the Buddha's commandments to the fish and turtles. His chief disciples were Yong-sim, Pojong, Sinpang, Ch'ejin, Chinhae, Chinson and Ch'ung, who all founded temples in the deep mountains. He left the divination sticks to Yongsim, who took them to Mt. Songni to continue the services at the Buddhist altar, upon which were the six wheels of divination. (A mandala is indicated here, but again there is some confusion. A mandate is a sort of cosmic diagram connected with the esoteric doctrines of certain Buddhist sects. Its original purpose was not divination.)
According to the T'ang Seng-chuan (Biographies of Monks) in the thirteenth year of Kai-huang (593) there lived at Kwangchow (Canton) a monk who performed confession ceremonies for Buddhist devotees. He made two leather tablets inscribed respectively with the-Chinese characters for good and evil. People would toss them into the-air, and those for whom the “good” character turned up were declared! lucky. Furthermore this monk claimed to be able to redeem the sins of all people by a self-torturing method of confession. Crowds of fanatics, men and women, gathered around him to have their fortunes told.
In time this custom spread as far north as Tsingchow (in Shantung). The government authorities condemned it as witchcraft, but the Buddhist believers said it was based on the Book of Divination and that the “pagoda” method of confession was described in another scripture which said that striking the head and four limbs on the ground made a thundering noise like the crumbling of a mountain.
The Emperor heard about this matter and sent an official named Li Yuan-shan to Tahsing Temple to seek an explanation from the monks. Two of them, Fa-ching and Yen-tsung, replied that there were two volumes of the Book of Divination and that the first chapter, on the “Lantern of Bodhi” (enlightenment) had been translated from Sanskrit into Chinese in a foreign country, but that the real title of the book, the name of the translator and the place where it had been translated were all unknown. They said that the “pagoda” confession was different in performance from other confessions. The Emperor prohibited the practice by imperial decree.
The account given by the monks of Tsingchow somewhat resembles the story told by some Confucian scholars, who say that the Shih Ching and the Shu Ching (the Book of Odes and the Book of Kings, two of the Confucian Classics) were discovered in an old tomb. (Chinese documents do allude to such a discovery.) But this comparison is like trying to draw a tiger and producing a dog, and is exactly what Buddha forbids. If people doubt the authenticity of the Book of Divination because its translator and place of translation are unknown, they are like a magician w
ho picks up a coil of hemp and calls it a gold ring.
To do it justice, the Book of Divination expounds the mysteries of the Bodhisattva altar (Mandala), and nothing excels it in expunging all flaws and unclean things from the thoughts of idle fellows. It is therefore called Taesung-ch'am (Great Ferry Confession, i.e. a conveyor of the soul to paradise) dealing with the six roots (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind). In the Buddhist document of Kai-yuan and Chen-yuan it is called Chongjang, to indicate Buddha's presence if not his nature. It must not be compared to the T'ap-pak-i-ch'am (pagoda confession and self-torture confession).
In the book, Questions of Sarina Buddha it is written, “Buddha said to Changjajapunya-Dala, 'You should confess your sins for seven days and seven nights to cleanse all evil from your heart.' Dala performed the confession ceremony with devotion, and on the fifth night many things such as towels, dusters, brooms, knives, gimlets and axes fell like rain into his room. Joyfully he asked Buddha what this signified, and Buddha answered 'These cutting and wiping instruments signify the phase of departure from worldly dust.' ”