Back <<

Entry: Baozhi (Chan Master) (418*-514)

Chinese char: Ä_»x(ÁI®v)

Explanation:

Why should I look for treasure abroad?
Within yourself you have a bright pearl.
(quoted in Watson, tr. Cold Mountain, p. 73n)
Founder of the Pi-lu lineage of Chan Buddhism.

"In Nanking a woman named Ju heard the sound of a small child's cries coming from an eagle's nest, went searching, and got him out. At age seven he left home. Later he went to Wan Mountain in the province of Dz??chuan at Jianshui ("Sword Water"), a treacherous area of the Yangtse River. He was commonly known as Zhigong ("Noble Zhi"). His face was rectangular and gleamed like a mirror, reflecting the faces of those who came before him. His hands and feet looked like birds' claws, and he ate minced fish. He would spit the fish meat back into the water where it would once again become living fish.

"Emperor Wu instructed a monk named Sengyou to paint the Master's portrait. The Venerable One scratched open his face with his talons, and from the gashes, one after another, emerged the twelve faces of Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara-too extremely beautiful to paint!

"In the 13th year of the reign period Tianzhen (515 AD), he went unexpectedly to the emperor to announce his departure. The emperor was alarmed and asked, "How long will I live?" Zhigong smiled and did not reply. He merely drew his finger across his throat and left. [Note: This ominous gesture was probably the Master's prophecy of the emperor's subsequent death by starvation. In a past life Emperor Wu had been a cultivator. Annoyed by a pesky monkey, he locked it in a cave. After a time he forgot about it, and the monkey died of starvation. In a later life, the cultivator had accumulated blessings enough to become emperor, but bandits, with the monkey reborn as their leader, locked him in a tower and left him to starve.] Returning to his temple, he lit one candle and gave it to a secretary named Wuching. Wuching made this known to the emperor, who lamented, 'Does the great Master have nothing further to leave? Inform me of his death as soon as it happens.' Afterwards the emperor sponsored the construction of a five-story pagoda (stupa). On the day of his burial, the Master was seen standing among the clouds.

"His eulogy says:

Come forth from an eagle's nest,
He made strange tracks, impossible to fathom.
Ripping open his face,
A Body was disclosed.
There remains an image of purple sandalwood,
And, what is more, a standard of rules.
He stood alone above the clouds,
Leaving his traces in the void!"
(VBS #25, pp. 1-2)

*Estimates of the date of his birth vary from 417 to 421.

Pinyin: Bao Zhi

Sanskrit:

Pali:

Alternative:

See Also:

BTTS Ref:

Last Updated: 12/26/2001 1:29:11 PM EST

Updated by: 63.205.169.13

Back <<