- The chronicle Master Empty Clouds personal account My first year I was born into the privileged Hsiao

o Mandarin family [in the old Chinese Empire a member of any of the nine senior grades of the bureaucracy, entered by examinations and usually indicating a person of standing and influence, as in literary or intellectual circles], at QuanZhou Prefectures headquarters on the 26th August, 1840, on the last day of the seventh mouth of the year Geng Zi, the 20th of the Dao Guang reign; our ancestors were descendants of Liang Dynasty Emperor Wu. My Father Hsiao Yu Tang was a high ranking Mandarin in the Ching Dynasty government. I was born in a caul [ amniotic sac which clings to a baby as it's born] and the anguish of such a birth caused my mother to grieve to death. She had longed for a child and had tried for many years to provide an heir for my father and our family. The next day an old Bare Foot Doctor, who sold medicines, came to our house and cut open the skin bag- caul and handed me to my stepmother for my care. She was from a Wong family. My 11th year I was been adopted by my uncle as his heir, and it was then that my grandmother chose two girl brides to continue our family linages. That was just before she died in the winter of 1851. The girls were also from Mandarin class Hunan families, one named Tian and the other Tan; we had all known each other for generations. My 13th year On here death grandmothers coffin was taken back to XiangXiang for burial, I went too, with my father, and Buddhist monks conducted the funeral. Straight away, I found that I had a natural affinity with the monks and their ways. After returning home to our house which had a good collection of books, I found the story of Incense Mountain and read about Avolokitsevara Bodhisattva or Kwan Yin Pu Sa. I was very impressed. Then, in August, together with my uncle, we visited some of the monasteries around Nan-yue on Heng Mountain. I did not want to return home though I hid my feelings.

My 14th year I had already decided to become a Home Leaver as a monk was called, and before long my father found this out. A private Taoist teacher was employed for my further education and I learnt the breathing exercises of Taoist yoga, and thus I was educated. By winter, the traditional three year period of Confucian-style mourning was over and my father left for his work in Fujian, leaving my uncle in charge. My 17th year I had been studying with my teacher at home for 3 years, but I could sense that his teaching was not really as deep as that of the Buddha Dharma. I played a game of pretend to keep my uncle happy. However, one day when he went out I quickly packed a bag and left, to return to Nan Yue. It was a difficult, confusing journey, and I had only got half-way when I was caught by the fellow sent by my uncle to bring me back. Myself and my cousin Fu Go were then taken to QuanZhou. Not long after this my two fiancs were carried over on Sudan chairs, draped in red, and we were married. I had no choice as I was living under the house arrest imposed by my own family. There was a pure-minded platonic relationship with my two wives. I taught them the Buddha Dharma, they had an affinity with the teaching, and understood. Fu Guo, my cousin, also taught them the Buddha Dharma. We were like brothers and sisters in the Dharma together My 19th year Fu Guo and I made a vow to run away from home together. We made secret enquiries about how to get to Drum Mountain (Gu Shan) in Fuzhou. I also wrote the Skin Bag Song and I left this for a memory for the two girls, before fleeing with my cousin to the Bubbling Spring (Yung Kuang) Monastery on Drum Mountain. There Old Master Eternally Open or Chang Kai shaved my head as a novice. (The samanera ordination or tonsure.) My 20th year At Drum Mountain, I received the higher ordination from Master Wonderful Lotus or Miao Lian. I was given the Dharma name Gu Yan, also Yan Che, and then Pure Virtue or De Ching. After our ordination Fu Go my cousin went off in a search to find enlightened Masters, and that was the last time saw him.

My Father had sent Quangzhou men to find me as he had returned their to work. I hid in a cave around the back of the Cloud Mountain. There I studied the text Wakening of Faith in the Mahayana, practiced repentance and reform and made offerings to all the Buddhas. I was very concerned about being discovered and did not venture out. At times tigers and wolves would visit my abode but I was not scared. My 23rd year I lived in that cave for three years and completed the rules for repentance and reform. One day a monk arrived to tell me that my father had now retired and gone back to his home in XaingXiang. He informed me that: Master Miao Lian says you can now return to the monastery, where you will be given certain tasks as further aspects of your cultivation. My 25th year I heard that my father had died at home in XiangXiang. After that I did not ask or hear about my family. I carried on with my duties at the monastery. My 27th Year One day a messenger arrived and told me that Stepmother Wang and my two wives had become Home Leavers, nuns. My stepmother took the Dharma Name of Miao Jing (Profound Purity), my Tian wife became Chun Jie (true cleanness), and the Tan wife Qing Jie (Clear chastity). For four years I did a variety of jobs whilst on Gu Shan (Drum Mountain) at the Monastery. I worked as waterman, gardener, hall keeper, and verger. In the monastery, at certain times of the tear, donations were shared around but I always refused my share. Every day I ate only one bowl of rice porridge (congee). My health was excellent. During my stay there, whenever I had the chance, I had many lengthy conversations with Master Gu Yue (Old Moon) who maintained the most austere type of practice there. I thought to myself, The jobs that I have been doing here have not helped my practice develop. I considered the case of Master Xuang Zang who went to India in search of sutras and who had trained himself by first walking up to 60 miles a day. He also learnt to manage without eating cereals and by cutting back on food and water to mimic harsh desert conditions. I thought, Why cant I follow the ancients example? So, I resigned from my work, gave away my robes,

and set out with what clothes were on my back, a straw raincoat and a sitting mat. I returned to the cave. My 28, 29, & 30th years For the next three years I ate grass and pine needles [meaning led an austere life] and I drunk water from the mountain streams. After a while my shoes wore out as did my trousers. I was left with only a tattered robe. As my beard and hair had grown over a foot in length, I tied them up in a knot. I did not speak to anybody as they were frightened by my piercing bright eyes. They ran off thinking I was a kind of mountain spirit I experienced many unusual things during the first and second years there. Whilst single-mindedly reciting the Buddhas name, I was able to just observe and not get caught up in false thinking. Deep in the marshes and mountainous areas, neither insects nor snakes bit me. Nor was I attacked by wolves or tigers. I ate only raw food and did not need human company. I lay on the ground under the stars, feeling a oneness with the universe. Feeling free from my body I lived in bliss. It seemed to me that to have a body and a mouth was a disaster. It was said by Master Han Shan that even the smallest attachment even to a begging bowl causes more trouble to the mind than a thousand ringing bells! I did not even have my monks begging bowl; I was totally free from such attachments. With a clear and clean mind I got stronger every day. My eyes and ears became highly focused and deep. I walked very quickly; I felt like I was flying. I really could not explain how I had got like that. During the third year I just wandered about on the mountains eating wild herbs; time had slipped away from my mind. My 31st year. Arriving in Wenzhou, I stayed in a mountain grotto, One day I was visited by a Chan monk and he said, For a long time I have heard of your high virtue and now I beg some instruction from you. I was humbled and replied, I have only shallow knowledge, having had no opportunity to go to any great masters for teachings, perhaps you can teach the Dharma to me? How long have you lived like this, he asked me? I told him my story to which he replied, I also, like you, have not had the opportunity to get teachings, but if you go to Dharma Master Yang Jing on Mount Tai on

the Hua Ding summit you will find him at Long Guan Temple. He is a Tian Tai style teacher. So I set off and climbed up to the Hua Ding summit where I saw a monk outside a thatched roof temple. I asked him where the master was and he replied, The one in the patched robe over there, and pointed him out. I went over and prostrated before him. He ignored me so I said, Please be kind enough to teach me. He stared at me for a time then asked, Are you a monk, a layman or a Taoist? I replied that I was a monk, to which he replied, Have you had your ordination? I told him that I had received full ordination. He asked, How long have you been like this? I told him my story and he asked who had told me to practice like this. I said Because enlightenment was reached using these methods amongst the ancients so I followed. Next he said, You know how they discipline the body, but how about the mind? He continued, You have wasted ten years training; you are completely on the wrong path. If you think that living on spring water in caves enables you to live like an immortal you actually have fallen into one of the false states as told in the last chapter of the Surangama Sutra, far away from the real Tao or Way. Even if you improve you would only be at the stage of Stream Entry, the first fruit of Enlightenment. But on the Bodhisattva path the idea is to help others, going to the other shore without leaving the ordinary world. If your method is only not eating rice and the extraordinary idea of not even wearing trousers, you cannot expect to realise the final fruit of enlightenment. Master Yang Ying had seen right through me. I prostrated again and pleaded for his teaching. He replied that he would only teach me if I did everything I was told, or I must leave. I said, I will not disobey you instructions as I came here to receive them. I was given new clothes and sent to the bath house to get cleaned up and shave my head. The master gave me jobs and taught me how to enquire into the Gong Gan (Koan): Who drags this corpse around? I started to eat rice and porridge again and practiced using the Tian Tai meditation system. The master praised me for working hard at the practices. My 32nd year.

I stayed on at Long Quan Temple, serving the abbot, who showed me how to uncover the concealed wisdom that we all share deep down. He was a master of the Buddhist Sutras as well as a Chan meditation teacher. He was also a strict disciplinarian, sticking to the Buddhist Vinaya closely as his guide; he was then over 80 years old. Soon after my arrival, when visitors came, he put me on the lecturers seat to explain the Dharma to those visitors. My 33rd year Master Yang Jing then sent me to Gao Jing Monastery to study the rules for Chan practice, then on to Fang Guang Monastery to study the teaching of the Lotus Sutra. My 34th & 35th years I continued to study the Lotus Sutra at Guo Qing Monastery combined with trips back to Master Yang Jing at the thatched Bubbling Spring monastery. My 36th year Next, I walked to the High Bright Chan Monastery [This is the Gao Ming Monastery where Empty Cloud became enlightened later, aged 56 - see the photo album. The Abbot and Master Dr Lin was one of Empty Clouds students according to the notes given by Dr David Brown that we personally received in 1985 in our pilgrimage there] to hear more lectures on the Lotus Sutra from Master Ming Xi. With sadness I had to say good bye to Master Yang Ying after spending a few evenings talking together. Having wished each other good luck I then descended Tian Tai or Heavenly Terrace Mountain. Walking on through Xue Tou and got to Yue Lin Monastery, there I listened to the teachings of the Amida Sutra. After that I went to Pu To Mountain [actually an island dedicated to Kuan Yin or Avalokitesavara Bodhisattva near Ningbo] where I stayed at the Hou Si Temple over the New Year. My 37th year Leaving Pu To mountain, I went to King Ashoka Monastery in Ningbo. There they agreed to feed me for 3 yuan a month. I spent my time prostrating to the Buddhas finger bone relic, and the reciting from among the Mahayana and Hinayana sutra collections. My purpose at that time was to make merit to transfer to my parents. Then I went to

Tian Tong, Heavenly Child Monastery [Where the Japanese Zen Master Dogen, 1200- 1253, was enlightened under Chan Master Ru Jing - this was in the Song dynasty - see the photos page]. Whilst there I attended lectures on the Surangama Sutra My 38th year After Ningbo I took a boat to Hangzhou starting on pilgrimage to San Tien Chu among other places. On board the boat, which was overcrowded and was quite small for the number of passengers who were largely sleeping on deck, there were many young women. One night, while everybody slept, I was woken up feeling somebody touching me. It was a girl next to me, taking her clothes off and offering herself to me I said nothing, got up sat in meditation posture, then recited the Surangama mantra. She did nothing more. Had I made the wrong move I would probably have been seduced, losing my precious vow of celibacy. It is because of this I warn monks and nuns to be very careful in similar situations. My 39th year I went back to Heavenly Child, Tian Tong monastery, where I prostrated to the Abbot Qing Guang, Pure Light, staying for the winter. My 40th year Climbing Jiao Mountain I prostrated myself to Da Shu, Great Water, the abbot. Peng Yu Lin also staying there [he was a director in the police force] and he asked me to teach him the Buddha Dharma quite a few times. I was treated with respect, courtesy and trust. My 41st year I sat in meditation for the winter with Masters Guan In , In Lin, and Da Ding, at Jie Shan Chan Monastery in Zhenjiang. My 42nd year 1882. Returning to Tall Bright Monastery, Gao Ming, at Yangzhou I prostrated to the Abbot Yue Lang. Made progress with my practice right through the winter that included a meditation retreat. Chronicle chapter 1 Chronicle Chapter Two (2)-edited