樟树神求受戒
壬午一百有三岁。春戒期中。有一男子。自称张氏子。世居曲江。年卅四岁。来出家求戒。问其剃度师是谁。曰无。问其有备三衣钵具否。曰无。公赐以法名为常辱缄默勤谨。三坛戒竟。失踪矣。次年入梦。索戒牒。公知其为樟树。
宣化偈曰:
老樟求戒亦奇缘。既无钵具少师傅。
公开方便赐法号。三坛受毕竟杳然。
Being aware that a camphor spirit sought the precepts
During the Spring Precept Period of 1942, the Master's one-hundred-and-third year, a man who called himself the Son of Chang, who was a native of Ch'u Chiang and thirty-four years old, came to seek transmission of the precepts. When asked under whom he had shaved his head, he said that he did not have a Master. When asked if he had the requisite three robes and bowl, he answered that he did not. The Master then supplied him with all of the requisite items and gave him the Dharma name Ch'ang Ju (Tolerating Insult). He was quiet, diligent, and attentive. After the Three Platforms of Precepts had been transmitted, he disappeared without a trace. The following year, the Master had a vision of him asking for his Precept Certificate and immediately knew that he was in reality the spirit of a camphor tree.
The gatha says:
The old camphor spirit sought the precepts by a strange affinity,
But since he had no bowl or robes, no teacher would accept him.
The Master opened the door of expedients and gave him a Dharma name.
All three groups of precepts once transmitted, he was gone mysteriously.