The world of Tzu Chi September 2020 (Vol.126)

TZU CHI 126 51 been living on the mountain for so many years. The worst thing was that they had allowed him to live in such terrible conditions. They decided to become his supporters, and they also informed the lord of this mountain, Elder Min. Min was a devout Buddhist. When he learnt that there was an eminent monk living on the mountain, he was delighted. He went to visit him at once. When he saw that the monk lived in a cave, he felt very sorry and, with the help of the poets, built a simple house for him. Min had also wanted to offer food to 100 monks every day, but strangely, no matter what he did, there were always 99 monks. He invited Chin to make a total of 100, and the old monk often went to Min’s home to receive these meals. When Chin had been provided with everything he needed, he was able to study much harder. His supporters turned to him to learn the Buddhist teachings. Min respected Chin very much, so he allowed his son to train as a monk with him. One day, the lord of the mountain talked to the old monk about enlarging his house. “More and more devotees are coming to see you. In the future, others will live and study here too. Do you want to enlarge your house?” “If there’s enough space, then I’ll do it.” “The whole mountain is mine, so you can have as much space as you want.” “All I need is an area about as big as my robe.” “That isn’t big enough!” Min retorted. “The ground covered by the shadow of this robe will be sufficient.” The elder agreed, so Chin took off his robe and threw it into the air. It was like a dark cloud blocking the sun and turning the whole mountain black, as though the mountain was covered by the robe. The elder was overwhelmed, and he happily presented the whole mountain to the monk. His friends the poets then began to consider what to call the mountain. Because the mountain looked like nine petals of the lotus flower, it was named Chiuhua (“nine flower”). More devotees gradually came and the temple expanded successfully. The monk helped many people, and many Korean monks also came to live and study there. The number of monks increased year after year. Because there were so many monks, there was once a shortage of food. Chin encouraged some monks to go elsewhere, but everyone enjoyed living there, and although their lives were difficult, they still wanted to follow Chin. No one was willing to leave the mountain. Chin was called a transformation of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. Ksitigarbha is also known as the Great Vow Bodhisattva, because he vowed not to be Enlightened until he had redeemed all living beings from the suffering of the world. Even now, he still preaches the Dharma in Hell to rescue souls from their punishment. Why was Chin thought to be Ksitigarbha? In the daytime, he would preach to the public, but in the evening he would meditate. It is said that at night on the mountain, people could hear the sounds of the tools of torture used in the Hells. The rumour started that Chin preached in the Hells every night, just like Ksitigarbha. * This article is extracted from the book “The Master Tells Stories”.