by Ilyon
This appears to be the same phase as that attained by throwing the wheel in the Book of Divination. We can therefore understand Chinp'yo's obtaining the sticks after making his confession and receiving the Buddhist law. Had this been false Maitreya would not have conferred the sticks on him in person. If the Book of Divination is condemned then the Questions of Sarina Buddha should be condemned also. Yen-tsung and his fellow monks were blinded to man by gold.
Song in Praise of Chinp'yo
Born in a corrupt generation, he aroused the deaf and the idle;
Holy mountains and fairy streams responded to his inspiration.
He spread the Pagoda Confession far and wide in earnest;
The converted fish and turtles of the eastern sea made a bridge for him to tread.
107. The Stone Monument at Ponyon Temple in Kwantong-P'ung-ak (Maple Mountain)
(This is a variant account of the life of Chinp'yo. A note at the beginning says it is based on an inscription composed by Yongcham, the abbot of Ponyon Temple, for a stone monument erected in the fourth year of Chen-an (1199). Kwantong is Kangwon Province on the East Coast and P'ung-ak is a poetic name for Kumgang-san, the Diamond Mountains.)
Chinp'yo Yulsa was a native of Taejong-ni, Nasanch'on, Pyokkol-gun, Chonju. At the age of twelve, with his father's consent, he went to Sunche Popsa the abbot of Kumsan Temple and became a monk. The abbot gave him the Sami (Sanskrit Sramanera, a catechism used by novices) together with one volume on the secret sacrificial offerings and two volumes of the Book of Divination on good and evil and the law of causation, saying “Go to Maitreya and Chijang with these laws and confess your sins to the two Buddhas. When they have taught you a further law you must spread it over the world.” Chinp'yo departed and visited all the famous temples at the age of twenty-seven.
In the first year of Shang-yuan (760), at the age of twenty-seven, Chinp'yo entered a hermitage called Pulsaui-bang (Room of Wonder) in Pyonsan, Poan-hyon (North Cholla Province) with twenty mal (five bushels) of steamed and dried rice for his food. He ate five hop (about a handful) daily and gave one hop to the rats. He prostrated himself before the image of Maitreya and prayed for three years to be blessed with the holy commandments, but the Buddha gave no sign. In shame and remorse he tried to kill himself by leaping from a tall cliff, but a blue boy caught him with both hands in midair before he could be crushed in the valley below and seated him on a rock.
Filled with new resolution, Chinp'yo resumed his self-torturing confession on a twenty-one-day program, striking his body against a rock. By the third day his hands and arms had been torn from his body, but on the night of the seventh day Chijang Bodhisattva waved a golden wand over the monk's head and his hands and arms grew back and his body was restored to its normal condition. The Bodhisattva gave him a robe and a bowl (signifying his full admission to the order of monks) and his heart was filled with a deep and holy inspiration.
When the twenty-one-day period was fully over his heavenly eyes were opened (he achieved the insight into reality which is the goal of Buddhist meditation) and he saw a host of saints coming toward him from the Tosol heaven. Chijang and Maitreya smoothed his brow and said, “Well done, strong monk! Your earnest confession and self-sacrifice have made you worthy to receive Buddha's commandments.” Chijang gave him a copy of the commandments and also two wooden tablets, one inscribed Kuja (nine men) and the other Palja (eight men).
“These,” Chijang said, “are the finger bones of my two hands, bespeaking my two previous awakenings. Nine laws and eight are my reborn seeds, and you shall understand all retributions by looking on them. You shall cast off your flesh and fly up to the Tosol heaven in the body of a great king.” And with these words the two Buddhas disappeared. It was the twenty-seventh day of the fourth moon in the year of the tiger.
Chinp'yo Yulsa decided to found Komsan Temple. When he had descended the mountain (from his hermitage) as far as Taeyon Pool, a King dragon emerged from the water and presented him with a robe of jade, and guided him to Kumsan Forest with an escort of 80,000 dragons. Men and women gathered from all directions to help him, and within a few days the temple was completed in perfect beauty. Maitreya descended from the Tosol heaven on a cloud to accompany Chinp'yo as he received Buddha's commandments. Chinp'yo Yulsa was filled with a heavenly spirit. He had a sixteen-foot image of Maitreya cast in iron and enshrined in the Golden Hall, while a picture (showing the descent of Maitreya and the monk's reception of Buddha's commands, Ilyon says) adorned the southern wall. Both of these were the work of an artist who also donated building materials to the temple. The image was begun on June 9 in the year of the dragon (764) and was enshrined on May I in the year of the horse (766). This was the first year of the Tali era of T'ang Tai-tsung.
While Chinp'yo Yulsa was climbing down Kumsan, he met a man riding at the head of a long train of ox-carts. (When he appeared) the lead ox suddenly knelt before him, bellowing and shedding tears, and all the other oxen followed suit. The man jumped down from his cart in surprise. “Who are you and where are you coming from, my good monk?” he asked. “Why do my oxen bellow at the sight of you?”
“I am Chinp'yo, a monk from the forest of the Golden Mountain,” the other explained. “I entered the Room of Wonder at Pyonsan, where I received the Buddha's commandments in the presence of Maitreya and Chijang, who also gave me two sacred tablets. After building a temple in the forest, I have started on a journey to seek a quieter place to live out my days. Though foolish in outward appearance, these oxen are wise in their inward souls. They know that I have received the laws of Buddha and so they worship him, weeping for joy.”
“If even the beasts of burden have faith, how much more should a man!” exclaimed the ox-driver. “I cannot remain unfeeling and idle.” And he took up his scythe and began to shave his head. Deeply moved, Yulsa shaved the man's head for him and helped him to receive the Buddha's commandments.
Arriving at Mt. Songni, Chinp'yo came upon a host of emerald clover, or Kilsang-ch'o (emblem of heavenly beauty). He marked the spot and continued his journey along the coast of Myongju. An army of fish and turtles appeared on the seashore and formed a bridge from the earth to the sea. He passed over this bridge into the depths, and there he recited the Buddhist commandments. Emerging from the waves, he traveled on through Kosong county and reached Kaegol-san, the mountains of all bones (another name for the Diamond Mountains), where he founded temples in the Ponyon Forest and held seminars on the land of divination.
After Chinp'yo had lived seven years in the forest the crops failed in Myongju and there was a great famine. He preached a sermon on the law of the Buddha of mercy to a large audience of believers in the Three Treasures. Suddenly fish all along the seacoast leaped ashore and died in countless numbers. The people danced for joy and collected the fish for food, thus escaping starvation.
It was not until he returned to his old hermitage (the Room of Wonder) at Pyonsan that he visited his parents at his childhood home and stayed in the house of Chinmun, a famous monk.
At this time Yongsim, Yungjong and Pult'a came to him and said. “We have walked a thousand li to receive the laws of Buddha from you.” Chinp'yo remained silent. The three thereupon climbed a tall tree nearby and dashed themselves to the ground head first, with a courageous confession of their sins. Then Chinp'yo Yulsa consented to teach them. He anointed their brows and gave them robes and bowls (that is, initiated them into the order of monks). He also gave them a book on the secret sacrifices, two books on the daily divination of rewards and punishments, 189 inscribed tablets of Buddha, and the “eight-man" and “nine-man” tablets of Maitreya, representing the laws of Buddha and his rebirths. He gave them this instruction: “I have given you these sacred treasures. Take them with you to Mt. Songni, where you will find a hill of emerald clover which I have marked conspicuously. Build a temple on that hill in order to spread Buddhism according to the Lord's teachings for ages to come.” Chinp'yo held regular meetings there on the law of divination.
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br /> Chinp'yo Yulsa returned to Ponyon with his father late in life to worship Buddha and honor his parents. When his life was drawing to a close he climbed a tall rock to the east of Ponyon Temple, and there he fell dead.
His disciples offered sacrifices for his soul but did not move his body until his bones lay scattered on the ground. When at last the bones were conveyed to the dark regions under ground, a pine tree suddenly shot up nearby and quickly grew high into the sky. As the years passed this tree withered, and a young tree grew from the same root. This happened several times, and even today twin pines stand near the grave and lucky pilgrims find fragments of Chinp'yo's bones under it.
I feared that these sacred bones might be lost altogether, and so in the ninth moon of the year of the snake (1197) I filled a tube with three hop of his relics. I built a stone monument under the twin pine on the tall rock where Chinp'yo died and enshrined his sari under it.
The history of Chinp'yo Yulsa in this record is somewhat different from that in the inscription on the stone monument at Ponyon Temple, so I have here summarized the record of Yongcham for the information of our wise readers.
—Muguk
(It appears from the above statement that this entire section is the work of Ilyon's chief disciple. As before, the date given is about a century too early.)
108. The Monk Sungchon Preaches to Stone Skeletons
Little is known about the monk Sungchon except some adventures in China. Early in life he sailed to the Middle Kingdom and studied under Hsien-shou until he had penetrated the depths of esoteric Buddhist doctrine. Hsien-shou had been a fellow student of Uisang when they both received instruction from Chih-yen Hoshang in Changan.
Hsien-shou wrote a letter to Uisang and entrusted it to Sungchon, who was returning to Silla. (The two frequently corresponded in this way, Ilyon says.) Enclosed in the letter were some essays on righteousness, written in his own hand and based on the teachings of his master. Under separate cover he sent a parcel of manuscripts which he had copied out of the Buddhist scriptures, including twenty volumes of the Search for Mystery (of which two were unfinished, Hyon says), three volumes of the Teachings of Buddha, one volume of the Mystical Definitions, one Hwaom text in Sanskrit, two on the beliefs, one on the Twelve Gates and one on non-discrimination in the World of Buddha.
The letter read as follows: ”... The other day Hyoch'ung, a Silla monk, brought me nine pun of gold and said it was your gift to me. Thank you very much. In return I send you an Indian water-bottle (for purification of the hands) through the kindness of Sungchon Popsa to express my sincere wishes for your good health. If you accept it I shall be very happy.”
When Uisang received these manuscripts he felt as if he were again receiving instruction from his old teacher Chih-yen. He finished reading them in a month and gave them to his disciples to use in teaching these subjects throughout the kingdom. Thanks to the good monk Sungchon the perfect teachings of Buddha spread in the East.
Later another monk named Pomsu brought a second series of Hwaom scriptures from China to Silla and lectured on it in the year of Chen-yuan (799).
Sungchon founded a temple on the borders of Kaenyong county in the Sangju territory and gave lectures on Hwaom doctrine to a large audience of government officials represented by stone skeletons. Kagwi, an intelligent Silla monk and Sungchon's successor as a Buddhist teacher, wrote a book called Fountain of Thought in which he described these lectures of his master and the various topics he discussed with his stone audience at Kalgyong-sa Temple. According to his account, about eighty of the stone skeletons are still at the temple working wonders. Other tales of Sungchon, the uncommon monk who did uncommon things, are inscribed on his stone monument, and this inscription is identical with the account given in the Authentic Record of Taegak Kuksa, the National Priest of the Great Awakening.
(This business of the stone skeletons is extremely mysterious. There are two possible explanations, but these are only speculative. First, it was the custom to place inscribed stone tablets in lines before the audience hall of a royal palace to mark the places where officials were to stand during court ceremonies. This would have Sungchon lecturing before the royal court, which is quite possible. Second, a double row of stone statues of officials and various animals often leads up to a royal grave. This would have Sungchon lecturing at a king's tomb, which is less likely.)
109. Simji and the Bamboo Sticks
The monk Simji was a son of King Hondok (809-826). He was intelligent, good-natured, filial to his royal parents and affectionate to his brothers and sisters from his childhood. At the age of fifteen he shaved his head and entered Chung-ak (Kong-san) to become a monk.
Simji heard that Yongsim had received the sticks representing Buddha's finger bones from Chinp'yo Yulsa and was holding confession meetings on Mt. Songni. He therefore went to the mountain to participate, but being late arriving he was not admitted into the lecture hall. Simji sat on the ground and beat his breast as he confessed with the monks within.
After seven days there was a heavy snow which covered the courtyard, but not a single flake fell within ten feet of Simji's seat. Then finally the wonder-struck audience invited him into the hall. Simji, however, pretended illness and retired into a guest room where he worshipped Buddha with his eyes fixed on the lecture hall. Blood flowed from his brow and arms just as Chinp'yo had bled on Son'gye-san. The Chijang Bodhisattva came to comfort him every day.
When the confession meeting was over Simji started his return journey, but on the way he found two bamboo sticks (the ones mentioned at the beginning of this section) caught in the hem of his robe. He retraced his steps and gave the sticks to Yongsim, who exclaimed, “Impossible! I keep them in a sealed box.” But when the box was opened it was empty. Wonderingly Yongsim wrapped the sticks carefully and put them away under lock and key.
Simji set off again, but again he found the bamboo sticks in the hem of his robe and brought them back. Admiring the great virtue of the royal monk, Yongsim said, “It is the will of Buddha. You had better take them with you.”
Carrying the two sticks on his head, Simji returned to Chung-ak. There the Mountain Spirit and two fairies came to meet him. The Spirit led Simji to a high rock and prostrated himself beneath it with the fairies until he had received the commandments of Buddha from the royal monk. Then Simji said to him. “Now we must enshrine these divine treasures in an appropriate place. Let us throw the bamboo sticks from the highest peak of this mountain and mark the spot where they fall.” They climbed the peak and threw the sticks high into the air toward the west. As they flew into the blue sky, the Mountain Spirit sang a song:
Rugged rocks become smooth floors;
Scattered leaves sweep the ground.
We find the Buddha-bone sticks wherever they fall;
We enshrine them on a clean spot and worship them. As the Spirit sang, the sticks fell into a well in the forest. A hall was duly built over the well to enshrine the sticks. Even today this well is found to the north of the Hall of Divination at Tonghwa-sa (Temple of the Paulownia Flowers).
King Yejong of Koryo (1078-1122) received these bamboo sticks into his palace and worshipped them as divine treasures, but he lost one and replaced it with a tooth of the Buddha before he sent them back to the temple. Now it has turned a different color, appearing to be neither bone nor jade.
According to the first volume of the Book of Divination there are 189 methods of fortune-telling, of which the ten most important indicate 1) Seeking the highest and deepest place in the Kingdom of Buddha; 2) Demonstrating the results obtained from this seeking; 3, 4) Seeking the middle and low places in the Kingdom of Buddha; 5) Achieving the end through spiritual power; 6) Achieving the end through mercy and charity; 7) Achieving the end through the power of divine beings; 8) Choosing what is to be received and what is to be given; 9) Keeping what has been received; 10) Seeking the lowest place in the Kingdom of Buddha without strongly rooted belief. The next is seeking the middle place in the Ki
ngdom of Buddha without a strongly rooted belief. (Uyon notes after 9 that this explains the saying of Maitreya that new commandments are given in this life, old commandments were given in former lives, and further commandments will be given in the future, but these old and new commandments have nothing to do with the old and new commandments inherent in the minds of monks and nuns.)
The first 172 steps are concerned with good and evil, gain and loss in the past and present world. The 173rd step is abandoning oneself and going to hell. These are all retributions in the coming world. The 174th step is becoming a beast in one's next life. The 189 classes include demon (Preta), cutthroat, Herculean wrestler (Asura), man, king, heaven, heavenly king (Deva), hearing Buddha, monk, sage monk, living in Tosol, living in paradise, seeing Buddha, low rider, high rider, middle rider (on the ship of souls) and deliverance of soul, which means ascending from lower to higher and entering paradise without retrogression.
These things show the differences between the rewards and punishments of three lives. If we apply them we obtain the following results: When a man's mind is equal to his deeds, Buddha works wonders through him; if this is not so his mind will collapse in error. The two bamboo sticks inscribed with the figures “eight” and “nine” are among the 189 sticks. The Seng-chuan (Biographies of Monks) mentions 108 sticks of divination, for unknown reasons. Perhaps this refers to the 108 annoyances of worldly passion rather than to the Buddhist scriptures.
In the two volumes of royal chronology compiled by Kim Kwan-Gi of Koryo it is written “Ch'ung, a great monk of Silla in the closing days of that kingdom, presented the robe of Chinp'yo Yulsa and 189 bamboo sticks of Buddha's commandments to T'aejo (Wang Kon) of Koryo.” It is doubtful, however, whether these are identical with those presently preserved at Tonghwa-sa.
Song in Praise of Simji
Born in the golden palace, he left the cage of worldly glory;