22. Shih Hui-mu
[OMITTED]
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].[64]
When she first read the Larger Perfection of Wisdom,[65] she was
able to chant from memory two chapters a day [each chapter having
more than ten thousand words].[66] 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.[67] 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[68] and the Rituals for Entering Monastic Life[69]
to the four Buddhist assemblies [of monk, nun, male, and female
householders].
[64]
Liang Commandery, in present-day Chiangsu Province, Tang-shan
County. See map.
[65]
Larger Perfection of Wisdom: this scripture is called the Ta-p'in in the
Lives. Therefore it is possible Kumārajīva'a translation, the Mo-ho-pan-jo polo-mi
ching or Mahā-prajãāpāramitā-sūtra, also known as the Ta-p'in. See
Répertoire, p. 33.
[66]
This scripture, too, was read with amazing speed. She would have had
to recite twenty thousand words per day, or approximately 833 per hour.
[67]
This implies that she transgressed the rule of not eating meat. The alternate
biography (22a), however, says that she transgressed the rule of not eating
after noon.
[68]
The Dharmaguptaka sect was one of four Disciples' Vehicle sects whose
books of monastic rules were being translated into Chinese at this time. The
texts of monastic rules were not translated so quickly as the scriptures, or
Buddha word, and, as a result, sound organizational foundation for the
monastic institutions was delayed for several centuries after the first appearance
of Buddhism in China.
[69]
Dharmaguptaka Monastic Rules in Four Divisions; and Rituals for
Entering Monastic Life. The exact text of the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya used by
the nuns cannot be pinpointed with certainty. See Répertoire, p. 122; Ssu fen
pi-ch'iu-ni chieh pen, trans. Buddhayashas, T. 22, no. 1431; and Ssu fen pich'iu-ni
chieh-mo fa, trans. Gunavarman, T. 22, no. 1434.
