[Original Text of the Koan]

When Chan Master Fojian was first invited to serve as abbot of Taiping Monastery in Shuzhou, he went to bid farewell to Wuzu. Wuzu said, “In general, an abbot must observe four cautions in disciplining himself: First, do not exhaust your influence. Second, do not exhaust your blessings. Third, do not carry regulations to the limit. Fourth, do not say all the pleasing things there are to say. Why? If you say all the pleasing things, people will surely take you lightly. If you carry regulations to the limit, people will surely find them burdensome. If you exhaust your blessings, your affinities will surely become few. If you exhaust your influence, misfortune will surely come.” Fojian bowed again and again, took these words to heart, and withdrew.

Later, when Fojian took leave of Lingyuan, Lingyuan said, “An abbot should hang his staff, bundle, and hat on the wall of the abbot’s quarters, and be as light in coming and going as an ordinary patch-robed monk. That would be well.”

[Sawing Apart a Scale Weight]

According to the Compendium of the Five Lamps: “When Lingyuan of Taiping (Chan Master Lingyuan Weiqing of Huanglong, in Longxing Prefecture) went to Huanglong, his seat at Taiping became vacant. Lingyuan recommended the master (Fojian Huiqin) to Sun Dingchen, the prefect of Shuzhou, who then appointed him to fill the post.”

Chan Master Lingyuan Weiqing, the abbot of the Taiping practice center, was a successor in the Huanglong lineage. When he was invited to preside over the Huanglong practice center, he recommended Fojian Huiqin of the Yangqi lineage to the local authorities as his successor at Taiping. This reveals Chan Master Lingyuan Weiqing’s broad-mindedness: he valued only the correctness of one’s insight, not sectarian affiliation.

When Fojian took leave of his teacher, Chan Master Wuzu Fayan, Wuzu instructed him: “To serve as abbot, one must discipline oneself before one can guide others. There are four cautions that should be kept in mind: First, do not exhaust your influence. Second, do not exhaust your blessings. Third, do not carry regulations to the limit. Fourth, do not say all the pleasing things there are to say.”

Why? Because if one says all the pleasing things, students will look down on him and leave him. If one carries regulations to the limit, one falls into pedantry, causing students to remain anxious all day long. If one exhausts one’s blessings, one’s affinities diminish and one will inevitably become isolated. If one exhausts one’s influence, misfortune will come.” These are all words born of experience. Fojian gratefully received his teacher’s instruction, bowed repeatedly in thanks, and departed.

After Fojian arrived at Taiping Chan Monastery and the formal transfer had been completed, Chan Master Lingyuan Weiqing gave him these instructions as he took leave: “As abbot, you should be like an ordinary student monk: hang your everyday belongings on the wall, and come and go as lightly as an ordinary student monk. That is the proper way.”

The ancients disciplined themselves in this way and attached such importance to the principle that personal example outweighs verbal instruction. What, then, should we students do?

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“Personal example outweighs verbal instruction”—how wonderful! 99477 08:50:19 8/01/02 (no content)

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I pay homage to Mr. Nan Huaijin! Green 22:17:25 7/29/02 (no content)

I gratefully accept the instruction! Big Mouse 14:38:13 7/29/02 (no content)

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