2.9 (Tsai no.22) Shih Hui-mu
The nun Shih Hui-mu (Tree of
Wisdom) (in the lineage of Shākyamuni) of Chu-ko Village Convent in Liang
Commandery
Hui-mu's secular surname was Fu. Her family was
originally from Pei-ti [in northwest China, north of the old capital of
Ch'ang-an].
Hui-mu left the household life at age 11 and
undertook the ten obligatory rules [of a novice] under the instruction of
Hui-ch'ao, living in Chu-ko Village Convent of Liang Commandery [in the Huai
River valley some distance west of the capital of the Sung dynasty].
When she first read the Larger
Perfection of Wisdom, she was able to chant from
memory two chapters a day [each chapter having more than ten thousand words].
She was also able to understand the
meaning of a variety of other scriptures.
Hui-mu's mother was old and sick. Because her
mother had no teeth, Hui-mu first chewed the meat she gave her mother to eat.
As a result, however, Hui-mu's mouth was impure.
Therefore she did not take on herself the obligation to observe all the
monastic rules and become a full-fledged nun [as she would have liked to do]
but instead continued her zealous devotions and confession of her faults while
still garbed in the dress of a householder.
Unexpectedly one day she saw that the ceremonial
platform for the ritual of accepting the monastic rules and the space around it
were a golden color. Raising her head and looking toward the south, she saw a
man wearing a trimmed robe that was also golden in color. Appearing sometimes
near and sometimes far, he said to Hui-mu, "I have already bestowed the
monastic obligations on you," and thereafter he disappeared. Hui-mu told no one
about this, which was like many of the other unusual things that happened to
her.
Because Hui-mu's elder brother heard rumor of some
of these experiences and wanted to know more about them, he tricked her,
saying, "You have followed the way of religion for a number of years, but in
the end it has been of no benefit to you. Because that is the case, you might
as well let your hair grow, and I shall find a husband for you." When Hui-mu
heard these words her heart was sorely grieved, so she revealed to him what she
had seen.
Shortly thereafter Hui-mu received full admission
into the Assembly of Nuns. One night not long before the ceremony was to take
place she dreamed that she saw a person who recited the book of the monastic
rules. After her full admission to the assembly she read that same book only
twice before being able to chant it from memory.
During the yüan-chia
reign period (424-453) of the Sung dynasty she had images of the Buddhas of the
ten directions made and presented them together with copies of the
Dharmaguptaka Monastic Rules in Four Divisions and
the Rituals for Entering Monastic Life to the four Buddhist assemblies [of monk, nun, male, and
female householders].
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