Niaoke Daolin

Life

Niaoke Daolin, also known as Master Bird's Nest, was a Chan Buddhist monk born in 741 in Fuyang, Hangzhou. His family name was Pan, and his mother, whose maiden name was Zhu, conceived after dreaming of sun rays entering her mouth. At his birth, a strange fragrance filled the room, so he was called Fragrant Light. He left home at nine and received full precepts at Guoyuan Temple in Jingling, Hubei, when he was twenty-one.

He then studied the Avataṃsaka Sūtra and the Śāstra on the Arising of Faith at Ximing Monastery in Chang'an under Dharma teacher Fuli, who also taught him the Song of the Real and Unreal and meditation practices. Niaoke once asked Fuli how to meditate and exercise the heart; Fuli stayed silent for a long time, so Niaoke bowed three times and left. Around then, Emperor Taizong summoned Jingshan Daoqin, the empire's first teacher, to the palace. Niaoke visited him and received the True Dharma.

Returning south, he stopped at Yongfu Temple on Mount Gu, where a stupa was dedicated to Pratyekabuddhas. During a Dharma talk, he entered the hall with a clicking walking stick. Taoguang, a teacher from Lingyin Temple, asked why he made noise; Niaoke replied that without sound, no one would know it was a Dharma meeting. Later, on Qinwang Mountain, he settled in an old pine tree with branches shaped like a lid, earning the name Chan Master Niaoke, or Bird's Nest.

Magpies nested beside him and became tame, so he was also called the Magpie Nest Monk. One day, his attendant Huitong wanted to leave, saying he had received no instruction. Niaoke said if there was such a thing as Buddha-dharma, he had a little here, then plucked a hair from his robe and blew it away; Huitong understood the profound meaning. On the tenth day of the second month in 824, Niaoke told his attendant his time was up, sat on his cushion, and died peacefully at age eighty-four, having been a monk for sixty-three years.

Notable dialogues with Bai Juyi

Bai Juyi, a famous poet and government official, was a student of Niaoke Daolin and once visited him while he meditated in a tree. Bai asked if it was not dangerous up there; the master replied that Bai's position was more dangerous. Later, Bai asked about the essence of the teaching. The master said: not to commit evils, to practise all good, and to keep the heart pure. Bai noted that even a three-year-old child knows this concept. The master responded that a three-year-old can say it, but an eighty-year-old man cannot do it.

Journey to the West

In the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West, a figure called Zen Master Wuchao appears, thought to be inspired by Niaoke Daolin. He is an enlightened monk who lives in a firewood nest on Futu Mountain. After Tang Sanzang gains Zhu Bajie as a follower, the group travels for roughly a month through rugged terrain before reaching Futu Mountain. Bajie recognizes the place and tells Sanzang that Master Wuchao lives there and once wanted to take him as a student, but Bajie had already promised Guanyin Bodhisattva to serve Sanzang instead.

When they arrive, they spot the nest in a fragrant juniper tree, with elk holding flowers and apes offering fruit nearby. Sanzang approaches the tree, and the master comes down to greet him. Though they have never met, Wuchao instantly knows Sanzang. Interestingly, he does not recognize the famous Monkey King but does identify Bajie.

Wuchao then teaches Sanzang the Prajñāpāramitāhṛdaya, or Heart Sūtra, which Sanzang hears once and never forgets. This sutra is recited by Sanzang in later chapters, including Chapters 20, 32, and 43. A separate novel, Seven Great Sages, offers an origin story for Wuchao: he is said to be the last three-legged golden crow that remained after Hou Yi shot down nine of the ten suns.