204.念祖公重建古剎 Mindful of the Patriarchs merit, reestablishing an ancient shrine
念祖公重建古剎
旋離京。赴武昌。源成師請于寶通。主禪七兩期畢。至盧山。住東林寺。六月有數禪人。自永修云居來拜。言日寇時。將真如寺焚毀。僅存毗盧遮那佛。銅像巍然坐于荒煙漫草中。公淒然念。自唐元和。道容祖師開山。倍出宗匠。當重興之。
宣化偈曰：
云居真如云公居。慈悲三昧慈母悲。 祖師道場誓重建。菩薩行願無已時。
Mindful of the Patriarch’s merit, reestablishing an ancient shrine
After leaving the capital, the Master traveled to Wu Ch’ang, where Dharma Master Yuan Ch’eng (Source Formation) invited him to head a two-week Ch’an meditation session in Pao T’ung (Jeweled Penetration) Monastery. When it was over, the Master visited Lu Shan Mountain, staying in Tung Lin (Eastern Grove) Monastery. In the sixth lunar month, several Dhyana monks from Yun (Cloud Abode) Mountain in Yung Hsiu came to bow in reverence to the Master. They told him that, during the invasion, the Japanese had burned and destroyed Chen Ju (True Suchness) Monastery, leaving only a bronze image of Vairochana Buddha majestically sitting amidst the waste of ashes and overgrown grass. The Master sadly recalled how, during the Yuan Ho Reign of the T’ang Dynasty (806 A.D.), the Patriarch Tao Jung (Acceptance of the Way) had established the monastic community there. So the Master craftsman of Buddhism undertook yet another renovation.
The gatha says: The Master Yun dwelt on Yun Chu34 Mountain at Chen Ju35 The compassion of his lucid samadhi was like a mothers deep concern, As he once again vowed to restore the Patriarch’s Bodhimanda. The practice and vows of a Bodhisattva never end!
- Cloud Adobe
- True Suchness Monastery