by Ilyon
Diligence, intelligence and civility were his heaven-sent virtues.
In snowdrifts in the courtyard the divine bamboo sticks flew into his robe,
And came to rest on the top of the Paulownia-Flower Temple.
110. Taehyon and Pophae and Their Doctrines
Taehyon, the founder of the Yuga sect (in Korea) lived at Yong-jang Temple on Namsan in Kyongju. It was his regular practice to circumambulate a sixteen-foot stone image of Maitreya in the courtyard of the temple, and the image would always turn its head to face the monk. The doctrines of the Yuga sect (Fa-shang-tsung in Chinese) were so difficult to understand that Pai Chu-i (a famous T'ang poet) and other Chinese scholars gave up its study, saying that they were unable to follow the labyrinth of its reasoning. But Taehyon, by his superhuman wisdom and intelligence, easily mastered it, and soon his mind was enlightened concerning its obscurities, enabling him to perceive what was wicked and corrupt in the light of its revelations. For this reason all his juniors in the East followed his teachings and many scholars in the Middle Kingdom took him as a model.
When rain did not fall as usual during the twelfth year of T'ien-pao (753) King Kyongdok summoned Taehyon to the inner palace to chant the Kumgwang-gyong (Golden Light Sutra) and to pray for rain. As he was chanting the scripture and offering sacrifices to Buddha one day, he uncovered his wooden bowl so that it could be filled with water for purification. But the King's servant was late in bringing the water, and a palace official rebuked him. The servant excused himself, saying “The palace well is drained to the bottom, and I had to go to a spring deep in the mountains.”
When Taehyon heard this, he raised the burning censer in his hands, and fresh, cool water leaped from the palace well seventy feet into the sky in a solid jet like the flagpole at a temple, to the amazement of the King and the palace officials. From that time the well was known as Kumgwang-jong (Well of the Golden Light).
Taehyon adopted the nickname Ch'onggu Samun (Monk of the Blue Hill. Samun—Sramana in Sanskrit—means monk).
Song in Praise of Taehyon
Round the Buddha image he walked on South Mountain
And the image turned its head to follow him;
In the sky above the Blue Hill the Buddha's sun hangs high.
People saw him command the palace well to spout water;
Well he knew the mystery in a plume of smoke from the censer. In the summer of the following year, the year of the horse (754), the King summoned the monk Pophae (Sea of Buddha) to Hwangnyong-sa to chant the Hwaom Sutra and pray for rain. His Majesty in person burned incense on the altar and said to the monk. “Last summer Taehyon Popsa chanted the Kumgwang-gyong and the dry well at the palace spouted cool, fresh water seventy feet into the sky. What can you do today?”
“That is a small miracle and nothing to be wondered at,” replied the monk. “It would be easy for me to cause the blue sea to overflow the East Mountain and sweep away the whole capital city.”
The King laughed this off as a pleasantry but that afternoon, as the monk continued to chant the scripture and burn incense, loud weeping was heard from the inner palace and a servant of the Queen ran into the Golden Hall of Hwangnyong-sa and announced, “The East Pool has overflowed and washed away fifty rooms of the palace!”
The King was astonished and at a loss what to do, but Pophae smiled and said, “This is only the beginning of the deluge. I have just opened the water valve on land in order to pour the sea into it, and the valve leaked a little.” The King was awed by this remark.
On the following day the abbot of Kamun-sa on the eastern seacoast reported to the King, “Early yesterday afternoon the sea rose and flooded the temple courtyard up to the stone steps of Buddha's palace and did not subside until nightfall.” The King honored Pophae and worshipped Buddha with deeper devotion.
Song of Praise to Pophae
The tide of Pophae filled the Buddha's world:
The four seas rose and fell at his will.
Do not say ten billion Sumi Mountains are high—
When our master's finger moves, the sea will cover the highest
peaks. (The Sumi Mountains or Snow Mountains are the Himalayas.)
Footnotes to Book Four
(1). The story of Chigwi will be found in the translator's Folk Tales of Old Korea. Korean Cultural Series Vol. VI, in the chapter “The Queen and the Beggar.”
(2). Only aristocrats could fill important official posts in Silla.
(3). Wonhyo's love-story is told in detail also in the translator's Folk Tales of Old Korea.
BOOK FIVE
VI. Miracles
111. Milbon the Exorcist
Queen Sondok (Tok-man, 632-647) fell seriously ill. Popch'ok, a monk from Hungnyun-sa, was summoned to attend her, but his treatment had no effect, and so the courtiers called on Milbon Popsa, a monk of great virtue.
Milbon stood at the door of the Queen's chamber and read aloud from the Yaksa-gyong, the Book of Bhechadjagura (the Buddha of Healing). Then he cast his magical staff with its six metal rings into the room, and it pierced the hearts of an old fox and of Popch'ok and hurled the two monsters into the courtyard. The Queen was cured of her malady from that moment. A five-colored light flashed from the forehead of Milbon as he retired, saying “Long live the Queen!”
Once when Kim Yang-to, who later became a high official at court, was a small boy, he suddenly lost the powers of speech and motion at the sight of a large ghost followed by a train of smaller ones, which sampled all the food in the house and showered curses on the sorceress who danced and screamed in an effort to chase them away. The father summoned a monk from Popnyu-sa to read from an exorcist text, but the large ghost commanded the others to strike the monk on the head with heavy iron hammers. This they did, and the monk fell dead, swimming in blood.
A few days later Milbon was sent for. When the servant who had been sent to fetch him returned to announce his coming the smaller ghosts trembled with fear and said, “When Milbon Popsa comes we must escape.”
“You little cowards,” said their leader, “don't you have your iron hammers to hit him on the head and send him to hell?”
Suddenly gigantic spirits wearing golden armor and brandishing long spears appeared and bound the ghosts hand and foot with red cords. Then a host of warriors descended from heaven and stood at attention as an honor guard for Milbon, who now entered the sick boy's room. Even before the monk had finished reading from his mysterious book, the lad rose from his bed restored and told the story of his adventure with the ghosts.
From that time until the end of his life he worshipped Buddha, and in later years had images representing Gautama Buddha, Maitreya and a Bodhisattva placed in Hungnyun-sa and a golden mural painted in the main hall of the temple in honor of Milbon Popsa, who had saved his life.
When Milbon lived at Kumgok-sa General Kim Yu-sin, the famous Silla soldier, had a friend, a hermit whose name has been lost. Once the general asked the hermit to come and care for his kinsman Such'on, who had been suffering for some time from a malignant disease. When Inhyesa, a monk friend of Such'on who had come a long journey from Chung-ak (P'algong-san near Taegu) to treat the sick man, saw this hermit, he spoke to him contemptuously. “You look like a cunning fox,” he said. “How can you cure a man's disease?”
“I am a poor doctor indeed,” the hermit replied, “but I have been obliged to come at the special request of the general.”
“Never mind, fellow,” said Inhyesa. “Stand aside and observe my magic power of communication with the spirits.” And he held up an incense-burner and chanted a spell, at which five-colored clouds gathered and heavenly flowers fell about the head of the patient.
“The power of your spell is wonderful,” the hermit said, “but I also have a little magic art which I will show you. Stand up!” The hermit made a ring with the thumb and forefinger of his left hand and flicked the forefinger against the proud monk's forehead. The monk instantly rose ten feet in the air, turned a somersault a
nd crashed to earth with his head stuck like a peg in the ground and his trembling feet stretching heavenward. The people in the house rushed out and tried to free the monk but he was as stiff as a post, as if fixed in cement, with his feet in the air.
The hermit laughed and went away, leaving the arrogant monk to spend the whole night in this position. The next day Suchon sent an errand-boy with a request that the hermit relieve his magical punishment. He returned and said “Upside down!” whereupon the monk rose in another somersault and fell at the hermit's feet.
“I swear upon my honor,” the monk said, “that I will never boast of my small magic again. I swear in the name of Buddha. Namuami Tabul!”
Song in Praise of Milbon
Deep red and purple mixed are confused with vermilion;
Fish eyes delude foolish men and women.
Had the hermit not flicked his finger lightly,
All the people would have put pretty stones into their jade boxes.
(Fish eyes look like pearls and people are easily deceived by their luster.)
112. Hyet'ong Conquers the Evil Dragon
Nobody knows the family name of Hyet'ong. When he was still wearing white clothes (before he put on the robe of a monk) he lived in a village on the bank of a stream called Unch'on (Silver Stream) which flows along the western side of Namsan near Kyongju. One day while playing in this stream he killed an otter. After stripping off its soft pelt he threw the body into his garden.
The next morning the body was missing and there was a trail of blood leading to the stream. Hyet'ong followed it and found that the skinless otter had returned to her den and stood guarding her five young ones. As he beheld this mysterious spectacle he was awakened. He forsook his home and adopted the Buddhist name Hyet'ong (Awakened Wisdom). He then went to China and asked a famous monk named Wuwei San-tsang to be his teacher.
“How can a man from Wu-i (the Eastern Barbarian Land) expect to be a disciple of Buddha?” San-tsang asked. The young Silla monk was hurt, but he did not give up. However, though he served the haughty Chinese monk for three years he was still not allowed to attend the lectures on esoteric Buddhist doctrine.
Finally Hyet'ong decided to resolve matters. He went and stood erect before the Chinese monk with a burning charcoal brazier on his head. After a time the crown of his head burst with a thunderous sound. San-tsang came and removed the brazier of glowing coals. Touching the wound with his fingers he chanted a spell, and it healed, leaving a scar in the shape of the character “wang” (king)—three horizontal strokes joined by a vertical one. The great priest nicknamed Hyet'ong Wang Hoshang (King Monk), and cherished him thereafter and taught him all the esoteric Buddhist doctrines.
At that time the favorite daughter of the T'ang Emperor Kao-tsung fell sick, and the Emperor asked Wuwei San-tsang to cure her. But he recommended Hyet'ong in his place, and so Hyet'ong was received in audience by the Emperor and ordered to cure the princess.
He poured a bushel of white beans into a silver bowl, and immediately they changed into white-armored heavenly warriors and attacked the devil which was tormenting the princess, but fell back without victory. Then he poured a bushel of black beans into a golden bowl and they became black-armored heavenly warriors, whom he ordered to join the white army in the attack. When this was done a monstrous dragon suddenly flew out of the princess' bedchamber, and her royal body was freed of its monstrous affliction.
Resentful of being driven out of its luxurious home near the beautiful princess, the dragon went to live in a forest (Muning-nim) in Silla, where it did much harm and preyed upon human lives for revenge.
When Hyet'ong heard of this from Chong Kong, who had come to China as an envoy, he returned to Silla in the second year of Lin-te (665) and again defeated the monster. The dragon was now angry at Chong Kong for having reported it to Hyet'ong, and entered a big willow tree that stood at the gate of Chong Kong's house. Chong Kong, who loved the thick foliage and the slender branches swinging in the breeze, was unaware that a resentful dragon was hiding in their shade.
About this time King Sinmun died (692) and was succeeded by King Hyoso. The new king ordered the willow tree cut down, for it stood in the way of a road that was being built to accommodate processions between the palace and the royal tombs. Chong Kong was very angry, and shouted at the workmen from the palace, “Cut off my head rather than cut down my willow tree.”
Enraged at this news, the King said, “Chong Kong, relying on the magic art of Wang Hoshang, dares to disobey the King's command and even asks to have his head cut off. Very well, he shall have his wish.” So they cut off his head and destroyed his house. The courtiers advised that Wang Hoshang should also be executed because of his close association with Chong Kong. The King ordered a company of soldiers to arrest Hyet'ong at Wangmang Temple.
When the great monk saw his enemies approaching he went up to the roof of the temple, taking with him a white bottle and an ink-stone with vermilion ink and a brush. When the soldiers drew near he said to them, “Look what I am doing. I draw a red line around the neck of my white bottle; now let every man look at his neck.” The soldiers looked, and indeed each man had a red line around his neck. As they paused in alarm, Hyet'ong shouted, “If I break the neck of this bottle all of your necks will be instantly broken.”
The soldiers retreated with cries of alarm and returned to the King. When they had showed their red-lined necks to him, he sighed deeply and said, “Wang Hoshang possesses the power of spirits. Human strength is no match for it. Let him be.”
Not long after this event the King's daughter was stricken by a mysterious malady and Hyet'ong was summoned to the palace to effect a remedy. The monk approached her bed and uttered a spell, and she rose as if she were awakening from sleep, to the great joy of the King.
Hyet'ong explained to the King that Chong Kong had perished because of the dragon's resentment. The King repented a d cancelled the sentence of execution against Chong Kong's wife and children. He also promoted Hyet'ong to the rank of Royal Monk. (In Chinese legal practice the family of a condemned criminal was punished with him.)
The dragon, having avenged himself on Chong Kong, retreated to a forest in Kijang-san, where he changed to a giant bear and did more harm to human creatures. Hyet'ong entered forest, found the bear and commanded, “Kill no more,” From that time there were no more bear-bites in that forest.
Before this, King Sinmun had an ulcer on his back and asked Hyet'ong to cure him. The monk uttered a short spell and the King was healed immediately. Then Hyet'ong said, “Your Majesty, in a previous incarnation you were the grand vizier of a king. By mistake you employed a man of good family named Sin-ch'ung as a slave and held him in bondage too long. Whenever this resentful soul is reborn into this world he brings mischief on you in retaliation. I suggest that you build a temple and pray for the repose of his soul, which now wanders in the nether regions.”
The King followed Hyet'ong's advice and immediately had a temple built, calling it Sinch'ung Pongsong-sa. On the day of its dedication, as a large table of sacrifice was being offered to the slave's departed spirit, a voice was heard from the sky—
“The King has built a new temple for me;
I can escape from the hell of pain.
Now my soul is free—my enmity has melted away.”
A hall named Cholwon-tang (Enmity Melting Shrine) was built where this song was heard. The temple and the shrine, weather-beaten and overgrown with moss, still stand on the mountain.
After Milbon, a high monk named Myongnang entered the dragon palace to receive a holy seal (Munduru in Sanskrit) and founded a temple in Sinyurim (God's Forest, now Ch'onwang-sa, the Deva Temple) to pray for the repulse of frequent invasions from neighboring nations. (This paragraph is probably out of place as it refers to the previous section.)
Hyet'ong the Wang Hoshang traveled throughout the country exorcising devils and building temples to mollify the grudges of oppressed souls. He preached the spirit of Wu-wei (No Fear,
the name of his Chinese mentor) and brought moral reform to the corrupt world. Buddhist institutions such as Ch'ongji-am on Ch'onma-san and Chusogwon in Mo-ak all belonged to the school handed down from Milbon (by Hyet'ong, presumably.)
Some people say that Hyet'ong was Chonsung Kakkan, a prime minister of Silla, but his actual services to the court were not seen or heard (i.e. were of a spiritual nature). Others say that he killed a wolf and a jackal by shooting them, but that is an unreliable story.
Song in Praise of Hyet'ong
The mountain peach and the brook apricot reflect on the hedge—
Spring is deep on the hilly paths and flowers are red on both banks.
Fortunately our young lord caught the otter by his strength,
And chased the devil dragon far away from the King's capital.
113. Myongnang and the Holy Seal
According to an antique record at Kumgwang-sa (Temple of the Golden Light). Myongnang was born in Silla and went to China for Buddhist studies. During his return voyage he was invited to enter the palace of the King Dragon of the Sea, and instructed the dragon in esoteric Buddhist prayers. The dragon gave him 1,000 yang (pounds) of gold and escorted him through a submarine tunnel which ended under a well from which he sprang into his home garden. He then donated his home for conversion into a temple and decorated its pagoda with the gold given him by the dragon. The glittering gold shone far and wide to the four directions, and so the temple was named Kumgwang-sa, the Temple of Golden Light. The biographies of the Monks erroneously calls it Kumu-sa (Temple of the Golden Feather).
Myongnang was the son of Chae-ryang, a Sagan official of Silla. His mother was Lady Namgan, otherwise called Popsungnang (Maid of the Buddha Boat), a daughter of Sopan Murim, Kim-ssi and a sister of the great monk Chajang. Chae-ryang had three sons—Kukkyo, Uian and Myongnang—who all became monks. Myongnang was the youngest. His mother dreamed that she swallowed a blue jewel when she conceived him.