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CHINESE SUPERSTITIONS - University of Oregon

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— 490 —<br />

ARTICLE XXVIII.<br />

THE BUDDHIST MOXK YUEN-KWE1<br />

YUEN-KWEI SHEX-SHI 7C S f9 (SB •<br />

This Buddhist monk was born at I-h'ai \f §| . His family<br />

name was Li ^. In early life he entered a monaster}', and applied<br />

himself to the study <strong>of</strong> the Law. The famous teacher Ngan-kwoh<br />

4£ gj, whom he met later on, completed his education. The<br />

disciple imbibed his doctrine with extraordinary facility.<br />

Yuen-kwei x J| spent some years in the Tung-yen monastery,<br />

Tung-yen-sze % % ^p,<br />

built at the foot <strong>of</strong> the Central Sacred<br />

Mountain, Sung-shan ^ [Jj , in Honan jpf ]g (1).<br />

One day, he encountered a person who seemed to be a high<br />

<strong>of</strong>ficial. He was quaintly dressed, and attended by a numerous<br />

retinue.<br />

"Whence do you come, inquired the monk?" — How is it you<br />

don't know me, replied the stranger? — "I place Buddhas and mortals<br />

on the same level, said Yuen-kwei j£ ^ ;<br />

1<br />

same — '. thing<br />

"Are you unaware that I am the God who presides<br />

with regard to you,<br />

over the Central Sacred Mountain, Sung-shan ^ [jj , and<br />

it is the<br />

that I<br />

hold in my hands the destiny <strong>of</strong> mortals, either to grant them long<br />

years, or cut short the span <strong>of</strong> their days?" — "I have never been<br />

born (2), replied the monk, how can you shorten the span <strong>of</strong> my<br />

(1) Ancient China had 5 Sacred Mountains, Mu-yoh J£, %$.. The T'ai-<br />

shan ^ I_h , in Shantung; Hang-shan ']g iJj in Shansi , ; Sung-shan ^ |i|, in<br />

Honan Rwa-shan ; §!j§ lij, in Shensi and ; Heng-shan % jil in Hunan.<br />

,<br />

(2) According to Buddhist Ontology, nothing really exists but the Universal,<br />

Impersonal Spirit, with which the whole world is identified. Man's<br />

spirit, deluded into a temporary idea <strong>of</strong> separate, independent, personal<br />

existence, is an illusion <strong>of</strong> ignorance. He is identified with the great Imper-<br />

sonal Spirit, and will be ultimately merged into it. This is rank Pantheism,<br />

and denies the existence <strong>of</strong> any human soul or spirit. Monier Williams.<br />

Buddhism, p. 105-106.

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