眞丹第二祖大祖正宗普覺大師は、神鬼ともに嚮慕す、道俗おなじく尊重せし高徳の師なり、曠達の士なり。伊洛に久居して群書を博覽す。くにのまれなりとするところ、人のあひがたきなり。法高徳重のゆゑに、神物倏見して、祖にかたりていふ、將欲受果、何滯此耶。大道匪遠、汝其南矣(將に受果を欲はば、何ぞ此に滯るや。大道遠きに匪ず、汝其れ南へゆくべし)。
あくる日、にはかに頭痛すること刺がごとし。其師洛陽龍門香山寶靜禪師、これを治せんとするときに、空中有聲曰、此乃換骨、非常痛也(空中に聲有りて曰く、此れ乃ち骨を換ふるなり、常の痛みに非ず)。
祖遂以見神事、白于師。師視其頂骨、即如五峰秀出矣。乃曰、神汝相吉祥、當有所證。汝南者、斯則少林寺達磨大士、必汝之師也(祖遂に見神の事を以て、師に白す、師その頂骨を視るに、即ち五峰の秀出せるが如し。乃ち曰く、汝が相、吉祥なり、當に所證有るべし。神の汝南へゆけといふは、斯れ則ち少林寺の達磨大士、必ず汝が師なり)。
この教をききて、祖すなはち少室峰に參ず。神はみづからの久遠修道の守道神。このとき窮臈寒天なり。十二月初九夜といふ。天大雨雪ならずとも、深山高峰の冬夜は、おもひやるに、人物の窓前に立地すべきにあらず。竹節なほ破す、おそれつべき時候なり。しかあるに、大雪匝地、埋山沒峰なり。破雪して道をもとむ、いくばくの嶮難なりとかせん。つひに祖室にとづくといへども、入室ゆるされず、顧眄せざるがごとし。この夜、ねぶらず、坐せず、やすむことなし。堅立不動にしてあくるをまつに、夜雪なさけなきがごとし。ややつもりて腰をうづむあひだ、おつるなみだ滴滴こほる。なみだをみるになみだをかさぬ、身をかへりみて身をかへりみる。
自惟すらく、
昔人求道、敲骨取髓、刺血濟饑。布髪淹泥、投崖飼虎。古尚若此、我又何人(昔の人、道を求むるに、骨を敲ちて髓を取り、血を刺して饑ゑたるを濟ふ。髪を布きて泥を淹ひ、崖に投げて虎に飼ふ。古尚此の若し、我又何人ぞ)。
かくのごとくおもふに、志氣いよいよ勵志あり。
いまいふ古尚若此、我又何人を、晩進もわすれざるべきなり。しばらくこれをわするるとき、永劫の沈溺あるなり。
かくのごとく自惟して、法をもとめ道をもとむる志氣のみかさなる。澡雪の操を操とせざるによりて、しかありけるなるべし。遲明のよるの消息、はからんとするに肝膽もくだけぬるがごとし。ただ身毛の寒怕せらるるのみなり。(http://www.shomonji.or.jp/soroku/genzou16b/index.html)
Our great Ancestor Eka, the Second Chinese Ancestor, was of lofty virtue.
He was a magnanimous and cultured person, adored by deities and daemons, both
of whom were drawn to him. He was esteemed alike by followers of the Way and
by the worldly. He resided for a long time between the rivers Ii and Lo, where he
read extensively on a wide variety of subjects. He was considered to be a person
rare in any country, one who is seldom encountered. Because of the loftiness of his Dharma and the dignity of his virtuous ways, a strange and wondrous being
suddenly appeared and said to him, “If you really desire to receive the fruits of
your endeavors, why do you tarry here? The Great Way is not far off. Just go to the
south.”
The following day, the Ancestor suddenly had a stabbing headache. His
teacher at the time, a teacher of meditation named Kōzan Hōjō of Dragon Gate
Mountain in Loyang, was about to treat his condition when a voice from out of the
blue said, “This is due to an altering of the skull and is not an ordinary headache.”
Our Ancestor then told his teacher about his encounter with the strange and
wondrous being. When the teacher looked at the top of Eka’s head, it was as if five peaks had blossomed forth, whereupon he said, “This feature of yours is an
auspicious sign, and you will surely have an awakening to the Truth. This
wondrous being’s telling you to go south is because Great Master Bodhidharma of
Shōrin-ji Temple is undoubtedly to be your Master.” Heeding these instructions,
our Ancestor Eka then left in order to train with Bodhidharma, who was residing
atop a remote mountain peak. As for the wondrous being, he was a guardian deity
who, for a long time, had been doing his own training in the Way.
The mid-winter weather was cold, for it is said to have been the night of the
ninth day of the twelfth lunar month. Even if there had not been any great snowfall,
a winter’s night deep in the mountains atop a high peak is not the time or place to
be standing outside someone’s window, as you can well imagine, for it was that
time of year which is so dreadfully cold that the joints of bamboo would split open.
Notwithstanding that, a deep snow did indeed cover the earth, burying the
mountains and concealing the peaks, as Eka sought his way, plowing through the
drifts. How dangerous it must have been! He ultimately reached the Ancestor’s
quarters, but the Ancestor did not give him permission to enter. Indeed, he did not
even bother to turn around and look at him. That night, Eka never dozed off, or sat
down, or took a respite. He stood firm, without moving, waiting for the dawn to
break, as the night snow continued mercilessly on, piling up layer upon layer until
it buried his waist. His tears froze upon his cheeks as they fell, drop by drop.
Catching sight of his tears only led him to shed more tears, and reflecting upon
himself only led him to reflect more deeply upon himself. He thought to himself,
“In the past, some of those who sought the Way would break their bones to get at
the Marrow, or prick open their Blood that they might succor those who hungered for It, or spread out their Hair to cover the mud, or throw themselves off cliffs to
feed the Tiger.51 Those of old were just like this. So what kind of person am I?”
Thinking in this way encouraged him to be more and more resolute. We
trainees of today must not disregard his remark, “Those of old were just like this.
So what kind of person am I?” The moment we lose sight of this, we sink into eon
upon eon of delusion. By thinking in this way, his resolve to search for the Dharma
and to seek the Way only intensified. In that he did not treat the purity that resulted from his cleansing himself in this way as ‘my being pure’, it was possible for him to be pure. To surmise what that night of slow dawning was like is enough to break one’s innermost heart. The hairs on one’s body simply bristle with cold fear
(https://www.shastaabbey.org/pdf/shoboAll.pdf)