121.自耕自食自修 Personally ploughing, personally eating, and personally cultivating

自耕自食自修

青山師湘人。眾尊之。與公住較近。來往自種。次年八月。復成。月霞。了塵三師至。詫曰幾年不知你消息。竟睡在這里。公笑曰。這里且置。如何是那里。眾吃芋畢。住破石山。云。法老厭煩欲來此。

宣化偈曰：

化城引月復戒師。翠微山上相地回。 公謂無靠向白虎。多凶少吉後果然。

Personally ploughing, personally eating, and personally cultivating

Dharma Master Ch’ing Shan (Blue Mountain) was a native of Hu Nan Province, and those in the mountains all respected him. Since he lived relatively close to the Master, they were naturally in contact. The Master planted his own vegetables. In the eighth lunar month of the following year, Dharma Masters Fu Ch’eng (Restored to Success), Yueh Hsia (Moon Mist), and Liao Ch’en (Finished with the Dust) arrived. They were all surprised and said to the Master, “We had no news of you for several years. We never expected that you’d be sleeping here!” The Master laughed and said, “Never mind about here; where is there?!” After a meal of taro, the Master joined the group and stayed at P’o Shih (Broken Rock) Mountain. It was said that Elder Master Fa Jen (Dharma Patience) had been troubled lately and wanted to come to the area.

The gatha says: The Transformation City enticed Dharma Masters “Moon Mist” and Fu Ch’eng, Who congregated on this stretch of green mountain area. But the Master said it lacked support since it faced a white tiger9. Quite adverse and not propitious - the result was just that way.