The Master belonged to the Dharma Lineage of the Northern Peak.[56] Formerly, at the end of the Silla dynasty, there were two Hwaŏm leaders at Haein Monastery on Mount Kaya.[57] One was called Kwanhye, and he was under the patronage of Kyŏn Hwŏn, the rebel chief of Paekche; the other was called Hŭirang, and he was under the patronage of our great King Taejo.[58]
Both men had received the (same) faith, and had undertaken the (same) solemn vows, but since their aspirations had so diverged, how could their hearts be one? The conflict spread and involved their respective disciples, who became like fire and water. Moreover, it (led to disputes) with regard to the essential flavour of the Dharma, [59] so that one would claim that it was sour and the other that it was salty. This evil was hard to eradicate, and was already of long standing. Contemporaries referred to Kwanhye’s teaching as that of the Southern Peak and to Hŭirang’s as that of the Northern Peak.
The Master consistently deplored the emergence of the Southern and Northern schools with their incessant disputes. Accordingly, with a view to halting (these) manifold divergences and showing the way back to the traditional path,[60] he travelled around to the leading monasteries in company with the Venerable Inyu, [61] who was of the same mind. They employed all their eloquence in sounding the great drum and raising the great banner of the Dharma, and caused all the young novices to look up to and follow them.
A monk from those earlier times also copied down more than thirty of the Master’s discourses on Hwaŏm teachings, with the following titles:[62]
The Reason for the Essential Identity of the Three Teachings[63]
Emptiness and Existence[64]
Cessation and Non-Cessation[65]
The Provisional and the True Teaching[66]
On the Lotus World[67]
The Ocean of Scriptures[68]
Difficulties Elucidated
Praise and Blame[69]
Apprehending the Truth within Three Lifetimes[70]
Appointment to Office[71]
The Six Aspects[72]
Reality as Guide and Ground[73]
Eliminating Subtle Obstacles[74]
The Bodhisattva in the Tushita Heaven[75]
Five Ways to Buddhahood[76]
Buddhahood Through Understanding and Practice[77]
Distinguishing the One and the Three Vehicles[78]
Wandering Eye and Unstable Mind[79]
The Six Stages[80]
The Eight Assemblies[81]
The One Hundred and Six Cities[82]
Pure Lands[83]
The Bodhi-Tree
Absolute Origination[84]
The Five Karmic Consequences[85]
The Four Logical Possibilities[86]
Making Extensive Offerings[87]
Principal and Subordinate[88]
and so forth.
The Master believed that a great deal of confusion and disagreement had arisen on account of divergences from a common source. So, where writings were prolix, he pruned them, extracting the essentials; where ideas were abstruse, he examined them carefully, and made their meaning clearer. In every case, he quoted the Buddhist sūtras and the discourses of the bodhisattvas[89] as the basis of his editing; and thus a whole generation was able to drink its fill of the Holy Teaching.
Thus, when the State began recruitment examinations[90] at Wangnyun Monastery, the candidates who were successful in being selected to become monks (were the ones who) regarded our Master’s path of truth as the right one, and the other (paths) as heterodox. And how, indeed, could anyone with a reputation for talent do other than follow this road?
The more eminent of these graduates became Royal Preceptors or State Preceptors, and the lesser ones attained the rank of Great Preceptor or Great Worthy, while countless others pursued their own individual careers.