Editing Xuyun (section)

==Middle Age and Enlightenment==

During his years as a [[hermit]], Xuyun made some of his most profound discoveries. He visited the old master Yong-jing, who encouraged him to abandon his extreme asceticism in favor of temperance. He instructed the young monk in the sutras and told him to be mindful of the [[Hua Tou]]. In his thirty-sixth year, with the encouragement of Yong-jing, Xuyun went on a seven-year pilgrimage to [[Mount Putuo]] off the coast of [[Ningbo]], a place regarded by Buddhists as the [[bodhimaṇḍa]] of [[Avalokiteśvara]]. He went on to visit the [[Temple of King Ashoka]] and various Chan holy places. By age forty-three, Xuyun had left home life for more than twenty years, but had not yet completed his practice in the Path. He had not repaid his parents' kindness, and so he vowed to again make a pilgrimage to Nan Hai. From Fa Hua Temple all the way to Qingliang Peak at [[Mount Wutai]] of the northwest, the bodhimaṇḍa of [[Manjushri]], he made one full prostration every three steps.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.drbachinese.org/online_reading/sf_others/VM_HsuYun_Bio_01/page41.htm |title=虛雲老和尚畫傳集 上宣下化老和尚著述 A Pictorial Biography of the Venerable Master Hsu Yun composed by the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua |publisher=Drbachinese.org |access-date=2012-02-27}}</ref> He prayed for the [[reincarnation|rebirth]] of his parents in the [[Pure Land]]. Along the way, Xuyun is said to have met a beggar called Wen Ji, who twice saved his life. After talking with the monks at Mount Wutai, Xuyun came to believe that the beggar had been an incarnation of Manjushri.

Having achieved singleness of mind, Xuyun traveled west and south, making his way through [[Tibet]]. He visited many monasteries and holy places, including Sichuan's [[Mount Emei]], the bodhimaṇḍa of [[Samantabhadra Bodhisattva|Samantabhadra]] Bodhisattva, the [[Potala Palace]], the seat of the [[Dalai Lama]], and [[Tashilhunpo Monastery]], the seat of the [[Panchen Lama]]. He traveled through [[India]] and [[Ceylon]], and then across the sea to [[Burma]]. During this time of wandering, he felt his mind clearing and his health growing stronger. Xuyun composed a large number of poems during this period.

After returning to China at age fifty-three, Xuyun joined with other Venerable Masters Pu Zhao, Yue Xia, and Yin Lian (Lotus Seal) to study together. They climbed [[Mount Jiuhua]] (bodhimaṇḍa of [[Ksitigarbha]] Bodhisattva) and repaired the huts on Cui Feng Summit, where Dharma Master Pu Zhao expounded the Mahavaipulyabuddha Avatamsaka (Flower Adornment) Sutra.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.drbachinese.org/online_reading/sf_others/VM_HsuYun_Bio_01/page97.htm |title=虛雲老和尚畫傳集 上宣下化老和尚著述 A Pictorial Biography of the Venerable Master Hsu Yun composed by the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua |publisher=Drbachinese.org |access-date=2012-02-27}}</ref>

When Xuyun was fifty-six, the Abbot Yue Lang of [[Gaomin Temple]] in [[Yangzhou]] was going to convene a twelve-week session of continuous dhyana meditation. Preparing to leave, the group asked Xuyun to go first. After reaching Di Gang, he had to cross the water, but the ferry left without him as he had no money. As he walked along the river's edge, he suddenly lost his footing and fell into the rushing water, where he bobbed helplessly for a day and night <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.drbachinese.org/online_reading/sf_others/VM_HsuYun_Bio_01/page98.htm |title=虛雲老和尚畫傳集 上宣下化老和尚著述 A Pictorial Biography of the Venerable Master Hsu Yun composed by the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua |publisher=Drbachinese.org |access-date=2012-02-27}}</ref> before being caught in a fisherman's net. He was carried to a nearby temple, where he was revived and treated for his injuries. Feeling ill, he nevertheless returned to Yangzhou. When asked by Yue Lang whether he would participate in the upcoming weeks of meditation, he politely declined, without revealing his illness. The temple had rules that those who were invited had to attend or else face punishment. In the end, Yue Lang had Xuyun beaten with a [[keisaku]]. He willingly accepted this punishment, although it worsened his condition.

For the next several days, Xuyun sat in continuous meditation. In his autobiography, he wrote: "[in] the purity of my singleness of mind, I forgot all about my body. Twenty days later, my illness vanished completely. From that moment, with all my thoughts entirely wiped out, my practice took effect throughout the day and night. My steps were as swift as if I was flying in the air. One evening, after meditation, I opened my eyes and suddenly saw I was in brightness similar to broad daylight in which I could see everything inside and outside the monastery..." But he knew that this occurrence was only a mental state, and that it was not at all rare. He did not become attached to this achievement, but continued his single-minded investigation of the question, "who is mindful of the Buddha?" He delved into this topic without interruption.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.drbachinese.org/online_reading/sf_others/VM_HsuYun_Bio_01/page103.htm |title=虛雲老和尚畫傳集 上宣下化老和尚著述 A Pictorial Biography of the Venerable Master Hsu Yun composed by the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua |publisher=Drbachinese.org |access-date=2012-02-27}}</ref>

Xuyun composed a commemorative verse for the oft-cited moment of profound insight, which was galvanized by the sound of a breaking teacup in the Chan Hall:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.drbachinese.org/online_reading/sf_others/VM_HsuYun_Bio_01/page104.htm |title=虛雲老和尚畫傳集 上宣下化老和尚著述 A Pictorial Biography of the Venerable Master Hsu Yun composed by the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua |publisher=Drbachinese.org |access-date=2012-02-27}}</ref>

{{Poemquote|
A cup fell to the ground
With a sound clearly heard.
As space was pulverised,
The mad mind came to a stop.
}}