A Monk from the Ming Dynasty
Came to Visit during the Republic
明朝和尚 民國來訪
He waited till a little past ten and saw a monk wearing a tattered robe and carrying a stick with a bundle attached that held his clothing and bedding. The monk put down his bundle and spoke to him. Now, Filial Son Wong wasn”t talking, but he mentally asked the monk, "Where did you come from
" He spoke with his mind, not his mouth.
等著，大約到十點多，就看見一個穿破衣服的和尚，挑著一個挑子；這個挑子就是擔子，擔著他用的衣服和棉被之類的。挑到這兒來，這個人就把挑子放下，和他談話。王孝子是不講話的，所以就在心裏問這人說：“你從什麼地方來？”心裏講，口沒講出來。
The monk answered, saying, "I come from Mount Guangning."
這個人就說：“喔！我從廣甯山來的。”
Filial Son Wong asked, "What is your name
What are you called
"
王孝子說：“那麼你姓什麼？叫什麼？”
他說：“我的名字呀，你知道明朝嗎？我是明朝的一個將軍，以後出家修道了，直到現在。我覺得和你很有緣，今天特來見一見。”
他又說：“我知道你要到廣甯山去修道。廣甯山那個地方，是獨善其身的人修道的地方；你呢，應該兼善天下。你在這一方，與這一方的人非常有緣，所以你不要到廣甯山去修道了；等守完孝後，就在這地方造一座廟，在這兒弘揚佛法好了。”和王孝子說完這幾句話，這個人就走了。
The monk replied, "My name
Well, are you familiar with the Ming Dynasty
I was a general during the Ming Dynasty. Later, I left home and started cultivating the Way. Recently, I have felt that I have some affinities with you, so I have come here today to see you." He also said, "I know you are thinking of going to Mount Guangning to cultivate. That is a place for people who only take care of their own virtue in solitude. As for you, you should take care of the whole world. Your affinity with people in this place is very strong. Don”t go to Mount Guangning. After you finish your period of filial mourning, stay here and build a monastery. It would be best to propagate the Buddhadharma here." After saying those few sentences to Filial Son Wong, the monk left.
這個人自己說是明朝的人，由什麼證明他是真的？因爲王孝子在心裏問他話，他就可以知道王孝子問他什麼，足見這個人是已經得到他心通──五眼六通這種境界了。王孝子這個時候是民國時代，由明朝到民國，已經有叁百多年了；叁百多年，這個人還沒有死，來見王孝子。由這一點證明，達摩祖師入滅後，過了幾百年，有人在印度見到他，和方辯所說傳授衣缽的情形，這是很平常，不足爲奇的。所以達摩祖師這種不可思議的境界，是令人永遠都不能忘的，中國人對達摩祖師也是永遠地懷念。
That monk claimed that he was from the Ming Dynasty. How can we prove what he said was true
The fact that he knew the question asked in Filial Son Wong”s mind proved that he was a person who had already attained the penetration of knowing others” thoughts--a state associated with the Five Eyes and Six Spiritual Powers. However, Filial Son Wong lived during the Republic, about three hundred years after the Ming Dynasty. Over three hundred years had passed, and yet this monk was still alive and came to visit Filial Son Wong. This incident proves that the claim that someone saw Patriarch Bodhidharma in India a few hundred years after he entered the stillness, and that the situation described by Fang Bian regarding the transmission of the sash, are not that unusual. Those incidences were, in fact, rather ordinary occurrences; not all that strange. The inconceivable states of Patriarch Bodhidharma will never be forgotten. The Chinese people will forever remember Patriarch Bodhidharma.