Shuangfeng Mountain Caoxi Baolin Zhuan (Fragmentary Scroll) (雙峰山曹侯溪寶林傳（殘卷）)

Chapter 5: The Evidence and Exposition of the Section on Pācā's Virtuous Governance

Stele of the Venerable Mahakashyapa's Portrait (Fifteen Signs, with Preface)

Court Grand Master, Acting Vice Director of the Bureau of Revenue and Population Affairs of the Department of State Affairs, Supreme Pillar of State, of Changshan, Zhang Dacheng, composed.

Thus have I heard: At the towering summit of Mount Sumeru, the sun palace shines upon the Heaven of Fragrant Accumulation. The waters of Lake Anavatapta encircle the vajra ground. Throughout millions of kalpas, there have been Tathagatas as numerous as dust motes; within the three thousand great thousand worlds, Bodhisattvas as countless as the sands of the Ganges. All of them, life after life, accumulated practice—those who dwell in the Ten Stages are called divine; thought after thought, diligently cultivating and attaining the Six Supernatural Powers are called sages. With hide for paper and bone for pen, nothing is greater than this精—mind; with brain for medicine and marrow for lamp—[text breaks here]—nothing is harder than disciplined practice. Renouncing passion and casting off desire, peerless in meditation, foremost in ascetic practices and precepts—whether offering his body to a deer, or giving his life to feed a tiger, or shedding his blood for a goose, or cutting his flesh to ransom a dove, or giving away his two eyes, or giving away a thousand heads, or offering his flesh to a yaksha, or sacrificing his body to a rakshasa—great compassion and ascetic practice are inconceivable. The Buddha's great retinue, the Pratyekabuddhas and noble ones—Mahakashyapa: in Chinese, "Great Tortoise Clan." He was a descendant of the Nigrodha brahmin of Magadha. He was also called Pippala, and also called Vasishtha. His family estate was abundant and prosperous, but at first he had no heir. He competed in wealth with King Bimbisara, yielding only a single plow; together with Magadha they vied in riches, surpassing him a thousandfold more. He accumulated a long elder's worth of jewels and treasures, praying and supplicating to the tree spirit, and obtained the poor woman's gold and pearls. He adorned stupas and images, and a golden-light child was born. He was joined in marriage to a golden-hued wife. The fruit matched the former cause, deeply confirming a past vow. Though he had a noble spouse, he had no desire or passion. Diligently and austerely he left home; with merit he cultivated and entered the path. He expounded the One Vehicle to benefit beings, and propagated the Two Teachings to convert people. Truly he attained knowledge of others' minds, and ultimately had no mark of self. Such was the manifestation of Mahakashyapa.

At that time, in the Pippala Cave, incense smoke curled from the medicine treasury. At Vulture Peak, in the bamboo grove, the water was clear. Auspicious beasts gathered and auspicious birds sang in harmony. It was a place well suited for cultivating concentration, truly a site for dwelling in meditation. He spread the Buddha's jeweled seat, facing the mosquitoes' whisk to discuss the profound; he exchanged the Buddha's precious robe, burning elephant-sandalwood to seek deeper understanding. The One Vehicle's true Dharma surpassed five years—a monks' assembly that once beheld the true countenance was transformed in eight days. The Arhat's protective precepts did not violate the disciplinary code; the way of keeping the alms bowl never involved abandonment. In stillness he calmed beings; sometimes he sealed his room and ceased speech. In quiescence he condensed his spirit; sometimes he closed his mouth and transmitted meaning. Throughout僧祇 kalpas, the first ground is smaller than a needle's tip; in an instant, the auspicious river is finer than a pore. Faith is easy to receive—meeting a Pratyekabuddha, one is drawn to the monastery. The stubborn and hard to tame—facing the gods, he did not speak. Such was Mahakashyapa's exposition of the teaching.

Early awakened to non-mark, seeing neither mark nor non-mark, empty, foreseeing without ignorance, awakening without remainder of ignorance. Sitting once in meditation, he held his bowl and circumambulated the heavens; with a hundred-patch robe, he threw a needle that sank into the earth. Sometimes at dawn he wandered among thorny graves, practicing the Four Foundations of Mindfulness; sometimes at night he lodged among hazel and sandalwood, worshipping at the six periods. Leopards and panthers pillowed behind him—his meditative mind was still and unstartled. A huge python coiled before him—his precepts and concentration were clear and undisturbed. Being cursed by the sister of Sthulapanthaka, he did not take it as an offense; being reviled by the needle-seller's son, he did not take it as an insult. He kept to the utterly poor and utterly lowly, dwelling in the most humble and most insignificant. He wished to be beneath ten thousand people, ashamed to be above a single thing. Three hundred bushels of gold grain he discarded as if it were dust; ninety kalpas of jade-hued countenance he cast off like a worn-out sandal. What cannot be done by others but he did well—this is called doing well. What cannot be endured but he endured—this is called being able to endure. Such was Mahakashyapa's ascetic rigor.

He cultivated the stage of non-retrogression and attained the supremely steadfast Shurangama concentration. His aspiration was to venerate and benefit others; his heart's purpose was to gather and nourish. On Veda Mountain he fully expounded good causes; in the Glorious Grove he conversed on true reality. Using smoke and fire as a metaphor, he spread the Dharma ever further. Riding a palace, he walked through space, truly without obstruction. The poor mother broadly manifested kindness and compassion; he was able to convert his former wife and manifest steadfast chastity and faith. Shakra miraculously transformed and offered food, filling the cup; Brahma rose into the air, and a flowing spring honored his feet. He served pure individuals with equal and impartial discipline. Hearing a kinnara play the lute, he calmly settled in meditation, deeply stirring those still in training. In the hermitage, self and other were empty and pure; without desire in almsgiving, form and sound were utterly transcended. The eight assemblies' diligence all attained the ox-cart; the thousand disciples' refuge all rode the deer-park. Such was Mahakashyapa's universal salvation.

Then the great earth quaked in six ways, and thunder rolled on four sides. Entering concentration to observe and reflect, he saw the Blessed One's passing. He beat the great Dharma drum, stirring hundreds of billions of gods and humans; he blew the great Dharma conch, gathering the assembly of the three thousand. He sighed: "The Dharma mountain has collapsed, the Dharma sea has dried up, the Dharma bridge has broken, the Dharma ship has split, the Dharma tree has fallen, the Dharma banner has been folded, the Dharma cloud has scattered, the Dharma torch has been extinguished." Thus Brahma twice entreated him, and he went forth to discuss the great matter. At the cremation, a youth's single word stopped Nirvana to wait for Kashyapa. Then the Buddha descended to the seven places, converted the six teachers, taught the four kinds of Buddha-nature, and opened the profound Dharma in the three virtues. Thereupon Chandaka suddenly—[text unclear]—Subhadra's mind was shattered. Some compared it to a turtle's hair, some to a bird's track. Seeking light at the bottom of the sea, the wise do not fathom right and wrong; observing the tree's shadow in the dark, the clear do not exhaust void and real. Compassionate conditions subtly moved; Nanda closed the door and it opened again. The power of vows secretly penetrated; [text unclear] had already blazed and was extinguished again. The four marks were complete, illuminating the Bodhisattva's five eyes; a thousand robes all opened, revealing the Tathagata's twin feet. On the day the Buddha set, his light shone in the ten directions; the heaven of heavens overspread the three realms. Formerly, with the One Vehicle's moon metaphor, he received the precepts from the words of Many Sons; now, with the five fingers' sunlight, he set the date at King Ashoka's stupa. Such was Mahakashyapa's spiritual penetration.

At that time, Upananda was dazed and, hearing of the Parinirvana, wailed in grief. Others, foolish and deluded, seeing the Nirvana, rejoiced. The Elder opened the silver coffin and brushed the golden casket with sandalwood and camphor, gathering incense to cover the body. Mandarava flowers were spread over it. Adding oil to the wick and fragrant fuel to the fire, yet the fire would not burn and the smoke would not rise. The Elder rebuked them: "The transcendent eternal body is vajra-solid; how can ordinary fierce flames consume it?" Bowing his head, he personally petitioned, and thus it was cremated. The Buddha's body was destroyed, yet remained amid fragrant ashes. The Buddha's shadow rode the air, sitting alone atop a lotus. Ashes produced four trees, representing the four Agamas. He vowed to serve four people and together propagate the four great elements. Such was Mahakashyapa's spiritual response.

Therefore, brushing aside the remaining embers and gathering the shattered body, each pore became a transformation Buddha, each bone joint transformed into a jewel. Thereupon, heaven displayed heavenly power, wishing to carry them back to the heavens; the gods relied on divine strength, wishing to seize and hold them beneath the sea. The Elder let them struggle, then cried out in a stern voice: "Heaven has power to descend to earth, but humans have no power to ascend to heaven. Gods have spirit-power to emerge from waves, but humans have no spirit-power to enter the sea. If the relics are taken to heaven or sea, humans will forever have no chance to see them. How can you wish to follow ordinary force and defy the Buddha's original vow, not sending them to benefit beings?" The gods and heaven then desisted, withdrew in shame and rage. Such was Mahakashyapa's sovereign ease.

The venerable one then gathered the relics and distributed them among humans and gods. For the complete body with its thirty-two marks, eighty-four thousand jeweled stupas were built. The assembled dragons immediately stilled themselves and bowed to the Buddha's image; the multitude all bowed their heads in reverence to the Buddha's