Venerable Master Hsu Yun [Empty Cloud]

(pin yin: Xu Yun)

(08-26-1840 ~ 10-13-1959)

坐閱五帝四朝不覺滄桑幾度

受盡九磨十難了知世事無常

Onto the top of a lone peak, with a straight

  hook he angles for a carp;
Into the great ocean on its bed, stoking a fire he fries a bubble.

向孤峰頂直鉤釣鯉

入大海底撥火煎漚

中流砥柱挽狂瀾　僕僕風塵救倒懸
為法忘軀無自己　恆順眾生有人緣
黑暗明燈光普照　苦海慈航度大千
雲居真如留聖蹟　源遠澤長法界寬

宣化上人主編的《虛雲老和尚涅槃專刊》圖像版

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The Story of the Venerable Master Hsu Yun's Enlightenment: 

 

(Please note:  These events leading up to the Venerable Master Hsu Yun's enlightenment correspond to #98-104 of A Pictotrial Biography of Venerable Master Hsu Yun.  See below.)

A Pictorial Biography of Venerable Master Hsu Yun Bilingual Chinese-English, 2 volumes. 

To order >> BTTSOnline or fajye.com.tw

1, 2

Preface

 

The Life Story of Shakymuni Buddha has long been circulating in the world, and it is considered a masterpiece within the Teachings, a precious raft upon which living beings can pass beyond this realm. Everybody likes to read it; one and all are delighted by the pictures that accompany the text. The book is easy to understand, truly a magnificent work that responds to potentials, a wondrous exposition that tallies with principle.

 

The author has long cherished a deep admiration for his teacher, Venerable Hsu Yun. This admiration extends to the Master's Way virtue, precept conduct, erudition wisdom, ascetic discipline, vow power and actual practice. It includes the Master's kindness, compassion, joy, and renunciation, his equanimity, giving, patience, vigor, Dhyana samadhi, as well as all the other Paramita doors. The numerous events that happened throughout his life can certainly act as a compass for those in the Dharma-ending Age, a saving force for this century.

 

Therefore, the author found an especially talented artist in Buddhist subjects, in preparing 200 scrolls, and after several years of careful planning and deliberation, this book has now been published. It is my hope that the Venerable Yun's virtuous conduct will be made known to the entire world. May many people through reading his life story be encouraged to bring forth the Bodhi resolve and accomplish the unsurpassed Way, and then, may they reverse the boast of compassion to come back and teach and transform living beings, so that together we attain irreversibility from the position of enlightenment.

 

Written respectfully by mountain monk Tu Lun, (Hsuan Hua)
In the Flower Adornment Study at the Buddhist Lecture Hall, Hong Kong,
On the Birthday of Maitreya Bodhisattva,
The first day of the Lunar New Year, in the year 1960

 

《虛雲老和尚畫傳》序

 

《釋迦如來應化事迹》一書問世久矣，為教門中之偉作，眾生界之寶筏，人人樂讀，個個願觀，容易明瞭；誠對機之善本，契理之妙論。

 

今為仰慕上虛下雲老人道德、戒行、學問、智慧、苦行、願力、實行、慈悲、喜捨、平等、布施、忍辱、精進、禪定諸波羅密門，一生之奇特事蹟，堪為末法之指南，斯世紀之救星。故而不惜重資，聘專家繪畫佛教人材，精美國畫二百餘幅。竭數寒暑之精思設計，今始告成問世。藉此將老人道德，推行於全世界。人手一編，家喻戶曉，以此而發菩提心，以此而成無上道，以此而倒駕慈航，教化眾生，皆得不退轉於菩提覺位矣。

 

歲次庚子年元月彌勒聖誕日
山僧度輪拜序於香島佛教講堂之華嚴座室

 

- Volume 1:

#5: He entered the world in a caul, a state had only by eighth stage Bodhisattvas, which caused his mother alarm. Thinking that there was no hope of her ever bearing children again, she died in grief.  公出世為一肉團〈八地菩薩方有此境界〉。母駭且慟。以為無復舉子望。即氣壅死。Witnessing the birth of a Bodhisattva into the world 菩薩誕生於世

#17: Settling in a cliff cave and cultivating in seclusion 置身巖穴潛修

#27: Approaching the Orthodox Way 就有道而正焉

#41: Embarking on his 3-steps-1-bow pilgrimage:  Making serious vows to go on a pilgrimage to Ch'ing Liang Mountain bowing once every three steps 發大願朝清涼山

#50~71: The beggar Wen Chi who turned out to be...  His enduring of cold and hunger prompts the appearance of Wen Chi 忍凍餓感文吉

#98  Ecountering difficulty while crossing the river at Ti Kang 荻港渡水遇難:

#99  Being caught in a net at Ts'ai Shih Jetty 采石磯獲網救:

#100  Remaining thus, thus unmoving he accepts adversity 逆來順受如如:

#101 Gaining self- mastery, he sees through everything and puts it all down 看破放下自在:

#102  Being permeated by light inside and out 洞澈內外光明:

#103  Asking the Verger a question 詢問香燈西單師:

#104  When a cup fell...emptiness was pulverized; the mad mind stopped....

#104: When a cup falls to the floor, he severs the root of doubt

During the twelfth lunar month, on the third evening of the eighth week of the session, after six hours of sitting meditation, the attendant made his rounds, filling up the tea cups. The Master's hand was burned by spilling boiling water, and his cup fell to the floor. At the sound of the crash, the root of his doubt was instantly severed. He was joyous beyond words at having fulfilled his lifelong ambition. It was as if he had just awakened from a dream, and he observed how the conditions of the past unravel. If he had not fallen into the river and become gravely ill, if he had not met good advisors who plied him with both adversity and felicity, how would this present experience have been possible?The Master's verse explanation says:

When a cup fell down and struck the floor,
The sound of the crash was distinctly heard;
Emptiness was pulverized
And the mad mind stopped on the spot.

Another verse by the Venerable Master Hsu Yun says:

The hand let go; the cup was shattered.
Family broken up; people have died: 

  there's no way to talk about such things.
Spring arrives; flowers are fragrant:  

  everywhere is infused with splendor.

The mountains, rivers, and great earth itself 

  are just the Tathagatas.

 

104) 杯落地頓斷疑根

臘月八七第三晚。六枝香開靜。當值斟開水。濺公手。茶杯落地。一聲破碎。頓斷疑根。慶快平生。如從夢醒。自念往緣依稀。若不墮水大病。順逆知識攝化。那有今朝。因述偈曰：

杯子撲落地。響聲明歷歷。
虛空粉碎也。狂心當下歇。

又曰：

燙著手。打碎杯。家破人亡語難開。
春到花香處處秀。山河大地是如來。

 

宣化曰：大丈夫能事畢矣。

- Volume 2:

#105  Bowing again to the Sharira to repay his mother's kindness 重禮舍利報恩

#106  Riding a golden dragon and seeing his mother 騎金龍見生母:

#145-189:  Various Accounts of Efficacious Responses

#145  Helping an ox gain deliverance, and a butcher changes profession 牛求救屠改業:

#150  Continuing the lamp of the Patriarchs and holding a dhyana session 繼祖燈打禪七:

#174 Transmitting the jeweled precepts to an old dragon spirit 老龍神受寶戒:

#176  Seeing the Sixth Patriarch arrive three times to summon him 三夢六祖來召:

#190 Certifying the monk An Tzu (Ven. Master Hsuan Hua); storing away the vessel until the time was ripe:  Receiving the monk An Tz'u who had traveled ten thousand li to pay his respects 安慈萬里拜雲公:

#193  Being attacked by hoodlums:  As Yun Men suddenly changes, undergoing cruel punishment 雲門驟變受奇刑:

#194  Seeing Maitreya Bodhisattva in the Tushita Heaven and then returning Seeing "the Kindly One" and then returning 見慈氏歸去來 :

#207  His Parinirvana at age 120:  His Parinirvana: Certification to Non-Production 大般涅槃證無生:

A shrimp on land, covered with ants, does not jump back into the water.
As I wish to make water creatures happy, toss me into the river.
I would be pleased if they would receive my body as an offering,
So that together they'll be certified to Bodhi and save living beings.

 

*  *  *

 

Companions and friends in the Dharma, please do not worry, set your minds at ease.
Life and death arise from karma just as the silkworm is trapped in its own cocoon.
If you do not lessen greed and confusion, then you are imprisoned by worry and joy,
If you want to get out of this tribulation, work very hard at our own cultivation.
Wonderfully mesh with non-production; with bright understanding, penetrate to the mind-ground.
Cutting off feelings of love and of hate, Escape from the wheel before it's too late.
The triple non-outflow study must be attained, And the Four Applications of Mindfulness strictly maintained.
Vow to protect the precepts, too, Even though all is illusory lightning and dew.
Be certified as enlightened to true emptiness, and the ten thousand dharmas' oneness.
The sorrow and joy of coming and going, are just causes flowing, like bubbles shifting on water.

 

After my death, have my body cremated. Take the ashes of my bones and grind them into a fine powder. Add oil, sugar, flour, and mix. Please form them into pellets and deposit them in the rivers as an offering for the creatures therein. This will fulfill my vow, and towards all of you I will feel unlimited gratitude.

Hsu Yun, one who repays his debts,
bows in reverence.

「螞恤蟻命不投水。吾慰水族身擲江。析諸受我身願供。同證菩提度眾生。請各法侶不必憂慮。生死循業。如蠶縛繭。貪迷不休。囚閒憂喜。欲除此患。努力修煉。妙契無生。明通心地。斷愛憎情。脫輪迴險。參淨三學。堅持四念。誓願圓成。質幻露電。證悟真空。萬法一體。離合悲歡。隨緣泡水。吾死後。化身畢。請各位將吾骨灰。碾成細末。以油糖麥共骨灰和好。做成丸果。請送放河中。以供水族。滿吾所願。感謝無盡。還債人虛雲頂禮。」

#208  The Paranirvana Dharma Assembly  建大般若法會迴向: