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上
二○ ○四年十二月十一日 |
利○汝更勿言○著槽廠去○惠能退至後院○有 | 福田○未審和尙敎作何務○祖云這獦獠根性大 | 和尙常○弟子自性常生智慧○不離自性○卽是 | 徒衆總在左右○乃令隨衆作務○惠能曰惠能啓 | 尙不同○佛性有何差別○五祖更欲與語○且見 | 能曰人雖有南北○佛性本無南北○獦獠身與和 | 祖言汝是嶺南人○又是獦獠○若為堪作佛○惠 | 南新州百姓○遠來禮師○惟求作佛○不求餘物 | 問曰汝何方人○欲求何物○惠能對曰弟子是嶺 | 辭違○不經三十餘日便至黃梅○禮拜五祖○祖 | ○敎便往黃梅參禮五祖○惠能安置母畢○卽便 | 緣○乃蒙一客取銀十兩與惠能○令充老母衣糧 | 剛經○卽自見性直了成佛○惠能聞說○宿昔有 | 彼中禮拜○聽受此經○大師常勸僧俗○但持金 | 寺是五祖忍大師彼主化○門人一千有餘○我到 | 持此經典○客云我從蘄州黃梅縣東禪寺來○其 | ○遂問客誦何經○客曰金剛經○復問從何所來 | 門外○見一客誦經○惠能一聞經語○心卽開悟 | 柴○使令送至客店○客收去○惠能得錢○却出 | 移來南海○艱辛貧乏○於市賣柴○時有一客買 | 新州百姓○此身不幸○父又早亡○老母孤遺○ | 事意○惠能嚴父本貫范陽○左降流於嶺南○作 | 此心○直了成佛○善知識○且聽惠能行由得法 | 告衆曰○善知識○菩提自性○本來淸淨○但用 | 尼道俗一千餘人○同時作禮○願聞法要○大師 | ○刺史官僚三十餘人○儒宗學士三十餘人○僧 | ○於城中大梵寺講堂為衆開緣說法○師升座次 | 時大師至寶林○韶州韋刺史與官僚入山請師出 | 行由品第一 | 六祖大師法寶壇經 |
| 緣○若言不堪○自是我迷○宿業障重○不合得 | ○秀復思惟○五祖明日見偈歡喜○卽我與法有 | 勿使惹塵埃○秀書偈了○便却歸房○人總不知 | 曰○身是菩提樹○心如明鏡臺○時時勤拂拭 | 人知○自執燈書偈於南廊壁間○呈心所見○偈 | 中數年○受人禮拜○更修何道○是夜三更不使 | 道好○卽出禮拜云是秀作○若道不堪○枉向山 | 思惟○不如向廊下書著○從他和尙看見○忽若 | 呈不得○前後經四日一十三度呈偈不得○秀乃 | 度欲呈○行至堂前○心中恍惚○遍身汗流○擬 | 及五祖血脈圖○流傳供養○神秀作偈成已○數 | 祖堂前有歩廊三間○擬請供奉盧珍畫棱伽變相 | 位奚別○若不呈偈○終不得法○大難大難○五 | 偈意○求法卽善○覓祖卽惡○却同凡心奪其聖 | 若不呈偈○和尙如何知我心中見解深淺○我呈 | 者○為我與他為敎授師○我須作偈將呈和尙○ | 依止秀師○何煩作偈○神秀思惟○諸人不呈偈 | 用心力○諸人聞語○總皆息心○咸言我等已後 | 座現為敎授師○必是他得○我輩謾作偈頌○枉 | 澄心用意作偈○將呈和尙○有何所益○神秀上 | ○衆得處分○退而遞相謂曰○我等衆人○不須 | ○言下須見○若如此者○輪刀上陣○亦得見之 | 六代祖○火急速去○不得遲滯○思量卽不中用 | 各作一偈來呈吾看○若悟大意○付汝衣法為第 | 救○汝等各去自看智慧○取自本心般若之性 | 福田○不求出離生死苦海○自性若迷○福何可 | 來○吾向汝說○世人生死事大○汝等終日只求 | 不敢行至堂前○令人不覺○祖一日喚諸門人總 | 遂不與汝言○汝知之否○惠能曰弟子亦知師意 | 忽見惠能曰○吾思汝之見可用○恐有惡人害汝 | 一行者○差惠能破柴踏碓○經八月餘○祖一日 |
| 偈○望別駕為書○別駕言○汝亦作偈○其事希 | 張名日用○使高聲讀○惠能聞已○遂言亦有一 | 曰惠能不識字○請上人為讀○時有江州別駕姓 | 上人引至偈前禮拜○童子引至偈前禮拜○惠能 | ○上人○我此踏碓八個餘月未曾行到堂前○望 | 偈修有大利益○惠能曰我亦要誦此○結來生緣 | 偈○大師令人皆誦○依此偈修免墮惡道○依此 | 付衣法為第六祖○神秀上座於南廊壁上書無相 | 得傳付衣法○令門人作偈來看○若悟大意○卽 | 子曰爾這獦獠不知○大師言世人生死事大○欲 | 蒙敎授○早識大意○遂問童子曰誦者何偈○童 | 誦其偈○惠能一聞○使知此偈未見本性○雖未 | 中○行坐不樂○復兩日有一童子於碓坊過○唱 | 數日作偈不成○心中恍惚○神秀不安○猶如夢 | 偈若入得門○付汝衣法○神秀作禮而出○又經 | ○汝且去一兩日思惟○更作一偈將來吾看○汝 | 卽是眞實○若如是見○卽是無上菩提之自性也 | 無滯○一眞一切眞○萬境自如如○如如之心○ | 本性不生不滅○於一切時中○念念自見○萬法 | 不可得○無上菩提○須得言下識自本心○見自 | 門外○未入門內○如此見解○覓無上菩提○了 | 有少智慧否○祖曰汝作此偈○未見本性○只到 | 是秀作○不敢妄求祖位○望和尙慈悲○看弟子 | 祖三更喚秀入堂問曰○偈是汝作否○秀言實 | 盡誦此偈○卽得見性○門人誦偈○皆歎善哉○ | 墮惡道○依此偈修有大利益○令門人炷香禮敬 | 相皆是虛妄○但留此偈與人誦持○依此偈修免 | ○報言供奉却不用畫○勞爾遠來○經云凡所有 | 喚盧供奉來○向南廊壁間繪畫圖相○忽見其偈 | 更○祖已知神秀入門未得○不見自性○天明祖 | 法○聖意難測○房中思想○坐臥不安○直至五 |
| 知此山路○如何出得江口○五祖言○汝不須憂 | ○惠能三更領得衣鉢○云能本是南中人○素不 | 能啓曰○向甚處去○祖云逢懐則止○遇會則藏 | 傳此衣○命如懸絲○汝須速去○恐人害汝○惠 | 體○師師密付本心○衣為爭端○止汝勿傳○若 | 則以心傳心○皆令自悟自解○自古佛佛惟傳本 | 人未之信○故傳此衣以為信體○代代相承○法 | ○無性亦無生○祖復曰○昔達磨大師初來此土 | 偈曰○有情來下種○因地果還生○無情亦無種 | 護念○廣度有情○流布將來○無令斷絕○聽吾 | 知○便傳頓敎及衣鉢○云汝為第六代祖○善自 | 本性○卽名丈夫天人師佛○三更受法○人盡不 | 曰○不識本心○學法無益○若識自本心○見自 | 搖○何期自性能生萬法○祖知悟本性○謂惠能 | 不生滅○何期自性本自具足○何期自性本無動 | ○遂啓祖言○何期自性本自淸淨○何期自性本 | 生其心○惠能言下大悟○一切萬法不離自性 | 遮圍○不令人見○為說金剛經○至應無所住而 | 下而去○惠能卽會祖意○三豉入室○祖以袈裟 | ○惠能曰米熟久矣○猶欠篩在○祖以杖擊碓三 | 人○為法忘軀○當如是乎○乃問曰米熟也未 | 日祖濳至碓坊○見能腰石舂米○語曰○求道之 | ○遂將鞋擦了偈○曰亦未見性○衆以為然○次 | 時使他肉身菩薩○祖見衆人驚怪○恐人損害 | 嗟訝○各相謂言○奇哉不得以貎取人○何得多 | 物○何處惹塵埃○書此偈已○徒衆總驚○無不 | 能偈曰○菩提本無樹○明鏡亦非臺○本來無一 | 為汝書○汝若得法○先須度吾○勿忘此言○惠 | 輕人卽有無量無邊罪○別駕言○汝但誦偈○吾 | 初學○下下人有上上智○上上人有沒意智○若 | 有○惠能向別駕言○欲學無上菩提○不可輕於 |
| 經○時有風吹旛動○一僧曰風動○一僧曰旛動 | 終遯○遂出至廣州法性寺○值印宗法師講涅槃 | 曰○但喫肉邊菜○一日思惟○時當弘法○不可 | 盡放之○每至飯時○以菜寄煑肉鍋○或問則對 | 時與獵人隨宜說法○獵人常令守網○每見生命 | 逐○乃於四會避難獵人隊中○凡經一十五載○ | 蒙則居○明禮辭○惠能後至曹溪○又被惡人尋 | 問○惠明今後向甚處去○惠能曰逢哀則止○遇 | 汝若如是○吾與汝同師黃梅○善自護持○明又 | 飲水○冷暖自知○今行者卽惠明師也○惠能曰 | 雖在黃梅○實未省自己面目○今蒙指示○如人 | 者卽非密也○汝若返照○密在汝邊○明曰惠明 | 來密語密意外○還更有密意否○惠能云與汝說 | 是明上座本來面目○惠明言下大悟○復問云上 | 良久○惠能云○不思善不思惡○正與麽時那個 | 而來○可屛息諸緣○勿生一念○吾為汝說○明 | 作禮云○望行者為我說法○惠能云○汝旣為法 | 法來○不為衣來○惠能遂出○盤坐石上○惠明 | 惠明至○提掇不動○乃喚云○行者行者○我為 | 石上○曰此衣表信○可力爭耶○能隱草莽中○ | 參尋○為衆人先○趁及惠能○惠能擲下衣鉢於 | 姓陳名惠明○先是四品將軍○性行麤糙○極意 | 至大庾嶺○遂後數百人來○欲奪衣鉢○一僧俗 | 難起○惠能辭違祖已○發足南行○兩月中間○ | 方逝世○汝今好去努力向南○不宜速說○佛法 | 云如是如是○以後佛法由汝大行○汝去三年吾 | 正○蒙師傳法○今已得悟○只合自性自度○祖 | 度名雖一○用處不同○惠能生在邊方○語音不 | 祖云合是吾渡汝○惠能曰迷時師度○悟了自度 | 祖把艣自搖○惠能言○請和尙坐○弟子合搖艣 | 吾自送汝○祖相送直至九江驛○祖今上船○五 |
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上
二○ ○四年十二月十一日 |
如先代聖人無別○一衆聞法○歡喜作禮而退○ | 智○願聞先聖敎者各令淨心○聞了各自除疑○ | 頓敎○得法之因○敎是先聖所傳○不是惠能自 | 過去生中供養諸佛○同種善根○方始得聞如上 | 官僚僧尼道俗同此一會○莫非累劫之緣○亦是 | 山得法○辛苦受盡○命似懸絲○今日得與使君 | 師○惠能遂於菩提樹下開東山法門○惠能於東 | 者論義○猶如眞金○於是為惠能薙髮○願事為 | 聞說○歡喜合掌○言某甲講經○猶如瓦礫○仁 | 者了達○其性無二○無二之性卽是佛性○印宗 | 非不善○是名不二○藴之與界○凡夫見二○智 | 斷○名為不二○一者善○二者不善○佛性非善 | 一者常○二者非常○佛性非常非無常○是故不 | 一闡提等○當斷善根佛性否○佛言善根有二○ | 貴德王菩薩白佛言○犯四重禁○作五逆罪○及 | 法師講涅槃經○明佛性是佛法不二之法○如高 | 二之法○宗又問如何是佛法不二之法○惠能曰 | 定解脱○惠曰為是二法○不是佛法○佛法是不 | 無○惟論見性○不論禪定解脱○宗曰何不論禪 | 宗復問曰○黃梅付囑如何指授○惠能曰指授卽 | 不敢○宗於是作禮○告請傳來衣鉢○出示大衆 | 人○久聞黃梅衣法南來○莫是行者否○惠能曰 | 見惠能言簡理當○不由文字○宗云行者定非常 | 仁者心動○一衆駭然○印宗延上席○徵詰奧義 | 議論不已○惠能進曰○不是風動○不是旛動○ |
Before I start I want to say something first. Hui Neng received the bowl and robe when he was still a lay man. Buddhist discipline is strict, but why the exception for him. This is to say law is man made so can be broken. God has no law. Hui Neng cannot read and write. Therefore our status is not important when we want to achieve enlightenment.
Chapter 1--Autobiography
Once, when the Patriach had arrived at Pao Lam Monastery, Prefect Wai of Shiu Chow and other officials went there to ask him to deliver public lectures on Buddhism in the hall of Tai Fan Temple in the City (of Canton).
In due course, there were assembled (in the lecture hall) Prefect Wai, government officials and Confucian scholars, about thirty each, and Bhikkhus, Bhikkhunis, Taoist and laymen, to the number of about one thousand. After the Patriarch had taken his seat, the congregation in a body paid him homage and asked him to preach on the fundamental laws of Buddhism. Whereupon, His Holiness delivered the following address:--
Learned Audience, our Essence of Mind (literally, self-nature) which is the seed or kernel of enlightenment (Bodhi) is pure by nature, and by making use of this mind alone we can reach Buddha-hood directly. [(Compare this with Visualizing Sutra's - Because the body of the Buddha is the Body of the Universe, and it is within the mind of all beings. Therefore, when you think of that Buddha, your mind is the One who has the thirty-two Magnificent Figures and the eighty Virtues. It is the mind that is to become a Buddha; and it is the mind that is a Buddha. Buddhist term for the One is our mind. It is a bit confusing when explaining this Buddhist reasoning. Even in Bhagavad Gita there are more terms to confuse readers. If we stick to one let say our soul or spirit, then we can understand all scriptures. The statement said Mind is a Buddha, so why must the Buddhists pray to Buddha made of paper, cloth, wood, metals, stones etc? Is not this stupid of you?)]
Now let me tell you something about my own life and how I came into possession of the esoteric teaching of the Dhyana (or the Zen) School.
My father, a native of Fan Yang, was dismissed from his official post and banished to be a commoner in Sun Chow in Kwangtung. I was unlucky in that my father died when I was very young, leaving my mother poor and miserable. We moved to Kwang Chow (Canton) and were then in very bad circumstances.
I was selling firewood in the market one day, when one of my customers ordered some to be brought to his shop. Upon delivery being made and payment received, I left the shop, outside of which I found a man reciting a Sutra. As soon as I heard the text of this Sutra my mind at once became enlightened. Thereupon I asked the man the name of the book he was reciting and was told that it was the Diamond Sutra (Vajracchedika or Diamond Cutter). I further enquired whence he came and why he recited this particular Sutra. He replied that he came from Tung Tsan Monastery in the Wong Mui District of Kee Chow; that the Abbot in charge of this temple was Hwang Yan, the Fifth Patriarch; he attended lectures on this Sutra. He further told me that His Holiness used to encourage the laity as well as the monks to recite this scripture, as by doing so they might realize their own Essence of Mind, and thereby reach Buddha-hood directly.
It must be due to my good karma in past lives that I heard about this, and that I was given ten taels for the maintenance of my mother by a man who advised me to go to Wong Mui to interview the fifth Patriarch. After arrangements had been made for her, I left for Wong Mui, which took me less than thirty days to reach.
I then went to pay homage to the Patriarch, and was asked where I came from and what I expected to get from him. I replied, "I am a commoner from sun Chow of Kwangtung. I have traveled far to pay you respect and I ask for nothing but Buddhahood." "You are a native of Kwangtung, a barbarian? (I call some people idiot is not wrong) How can you expect to be a Buddha?" asked the Patriarch. I replied, "Although there are northern men and southern men, north and south make no different to their Buddha-nature. A barbarian is different from Your Holiness physically, but there is no difference in our Buddha-nature." (Tao is in everything.) He was going to speak further to me, but the presence of other disciples made him stop short. He then ordered me to join the crowd to work.
"May I tell Your Holiness," said I, "that Prajna (transcendental Wisdom) often rises in my mind. When one does not go astray from one's own Essence of Mind, one may be called the 'field of merits.' I do not know what work Your Holiness would ask me to do?"
"This barbarian is too bright," he remarked. "Go to the stable and speak no more." I then withdrew myself to the backyard and was told by a lay brother to split firewood and to pound rice.
More than eight months after, the Patriarch saw me one day and said, 'I know your knowledge of Buddhism is very sound; but I have to refrain from speaking to you, lest evil doers should do you harm. Do you understand?" "Yes Sir, I do," I replied. "To avoid people taking notice of me, I dare not go near your hall."
The Patriarch one day assembled all his disciples and said to them, "The question of incessant rebirth is a momentous one. Day after day, instead of trying to free yourselves from this bitter sea o life and death, you seem to go after tainted merits only (ie merits which will cause rebirth). Yet merits will be of no help, if your Essence of Mind is obscured. Go and seek for Prajna (wisdom) in your own mind and then write me a stanza about it. He who understands what the Essence of Mind is will be given the robe (the insignia of the Patriarchate) and the Dharma (ie the esoteric teaching of the Dhyana School), (sealing on the mark on the forehead) and I shall make him the sixth Patriarch. Go away quickly. Delay not in writing the stanza, as deliberation is quite unnecessary and of no use. The man who has realized the Essence of Mind can speak of it at once, as soon as he is spoken to about it; and he cannot lose sight of it, even when engaged in battle."
Having received this instruction, the disciples withdrew and said to one another, "It is of no use for us to concentrate our mind to write the stanza and submit it to His Holiness, since the Patriarchate is bound to be won by Shin Shau, our instructor. And if we write perfunctorily, it will only be a waste of energy." Upon hearing this, all of them made up their minds not to write and said, "Why should we take the trouble? Here after, we will simply follow our instructor, Shin Shau, wherever he goes, and look to him for guidance."
Meanwhile, Shin Shau reasoned thus with himself. "Considering that I am their teacher, none of them will take part in the competition. I wonder whether I should write stanza and submit it to His Holiness. If I do not, how can the Patriarch know how deep or superficial my knowledge is? If my object is to get the Dharma, my motive is a pure. If I were after the Patriarchate, then it would be bad. In that case, my mind would be that of a world-ling and my action would amount to robbing the Patriarch's holy seat. But if I do not submit the stanza, I shall never have a chance of getting the Dharma. A very difficult point to decide, indeed!"
In front of the Patriarch's hall there were three corridors, the walls of which were to be painted by a court artist, named Lo Chun, with pictures from the Lankavatara (Sutra) depicting the transfiguration of the assembly, and with scenes showing the genealogy of the five Patriarchs for the information and veneration of the public.
When Shin Shau had composed his stanza he made several attempts to submit it to the Patriarch; but as soon as he went near the hall his mind was so perturbed that he sweated all over. He could not screw up courage to submit it, although in the course of four days he made altogether thirteen attempts to do so.
Then he suggested to himself, "It would be better for me to write it on the wall of the corridor and let the Patriarch see it for himself. If he approves it, I shall come out to pay homage, and tell him that it is done by me; but if he disapproves it, then I shall have wasted several years in this mountain in receiving homage from others which I by no means deserve! In that case, what progress have I made in learning Buddhism?"
At 12 O'clock that night he went secretly with a lamp to write the stanza on the wall of the south corridor, so that the Patriarch might know what spiritual insight he had attained. The stanza read:-- 'Our body is the Bodhi-tree, And our mind a mirror bright. Carefully we wipe them hour by hour, And let no dust alight.'
As soon as he had written it he left at once for his room; so nobody knew what he had done. In his room he again pondered: "When the Patriarch sees my stanza tomorrow and is pleased with it, I shall be ready for the Dharma; but if he says that it is badly done, it will mean that I am unfit for the Dharma, owing to the misdeeds in previous lives which thickly becloud my mind. It is difficult to know what the Patriarch will say about it!" In this vein he kept on thinking until dawn, as he could neither sleep nor sit at ease.
But the Patriarch knew already that Shin Shau had not entered the door of enlightenment, and that he had not known the Essence of Mind.
In the morning, he sent for Mr. Lo, the court artist, and went with him to the south corridor to have the walls there painted with pictures. By chance, he saw the stanza. "I am sorry to have troubled you to come so far," he said to the artist. "The walls need not be painted now, as the Sutra says, 'All forms or phenomena are transient and illusive.' It will be better to leave the stanza here, so that people may study it and recite it. If they put its teaching into actual practice, they will be saved from the misery of being born in these evil realms of existence. The merit gained by one who practices it will be great indeed!"
He then ordered incense to be burnt, and all his disciples to pay homage to it and to recite it, so that they might realize the Essence of Mind. After they had recited it, all of them exclaimed, "Well done!"
At midnight, the Patriarch sent for Shin Shau to come to the hall, and asked him whether the stanza was written by him or not. "It was, Sir," replied Shin Shau. "I dare not be so vain as to expect to get the Patriarchate, but I wish Your Holiness would kindly tell me whether my stanza shows the least grain of wisdom."
"Your stanza," replied the Patriarch, "shows that you have not yet realized the Essence of Mind. So far you have reached the 'door of enlightenment,' but you have not yet entered it. To seek for supreme enlightenment with such an understanding as yours can hardly by successful. To attain supreme enlightenment, one must be able to know spontaneously one's own nature or Essence of Mind, which is neither created nor can it be annihilated. From Ksana to Ksana (momentary sensations), one should be able to realize the Essence of Mind all the time. All things will then be free from restraint (emancipated). Once the Tathata (Such-ness, another name for the Essence of Mind) is known, one will be free from delusion for ever; and in all circumstances, one's mind will be in a state of 'Thus-ness.' Such a state of mind is absolute truth. If you can see things in such a frame of mind, you will have known the Essence of Mind, which is supreme enlightenment.
"You had better go back to think it over again for a couple of days, and then submit me another stanza. If your stanza shows that you have entered the 'door of enlightenment,' I will transmit you the robe and the Dharma."
Shin Shau made obeisance to the Patriarch and left. For several days, he tried in vain to write another stanza. This upset his mind so much that he was ill at ease as if he were in a nightmare, and he could find comfort neither in sitting nor in walking.
Two days after, it happened that a young boy who was passing by the room where I was pounding rice recited loudly the stanza written by Shin Shau. As soon as I heard it, I knew at once that the composer of it had not yet realized the Essence of Mind. For although I had not been taught about it at that time, I already had a general idea of it.
"What stanza is this?" I asked the boy. "You barbarian," he replied, "don't you know about it? The Patriarch told his disciples that the question of incessant rebirth was a momentous one, that those who wished to inherit his robe and Dharma should write him a stanza, and that the one who had an understanding of the Essence of mind would get them and be made the Sixth Patriarch. Elder Shin Shau wrote this 'Formless ' Stanza on the wall of the south corridor and the Patriarch told us to recite it. He also said that those who put its teaching into actual practice would attain great merit, and be saved from the misery of being born in the evil realms of existence."
I told the boy that I wished to recite the stanza too, so that I might have an affinity with its teaching in future life. I also told him that although I had been pounding rice there for eight months, I had never been to the hall, and that he would have to show me where the stanza was to unable me to make obeisance to it.
The boy took me there and I asked him to read it to me, as I am illiterate. A petty officer of the Kong Chau District named Chang Tat Yung, who happened to be there, read it out to me. When he had finished reading I told him that I also had composed a stanza, and asked him to write it for me. "Extraordinary indeed," he exclaimed "that you also can compose a stanza!"
"Don't despise a beginner," said I, "if you are a seeker of supreme enlightenment. You should know that the lowest class may have the sharpest wit, while the highest may be in want of intelligence. If you slight others, you commit a very great sin."
"Dictate your stanza," said he. "I'll take it down for you. But do not forget to deliver me, should you succeed in getting the Dharma!"
My stanza read:-- 'There is no Bodhi-tree, nor stand of a mirror bright. Since all is void, where can the dust alight?' (The mark on the forehead is a void, so everything is void. What there to think about?.)
When he had written this, all disciples and others who were present were greatly surprised. Filled with admiration, they said to one another, "How wonderful! No doubt we should not judge people by appearance. How can it be that for so long we have made a Bodhisattva incarnate work for us?"
Seeing that the crowd was overwhelmed with amazement, the Patriarch rubbed off the stanza with his shoe, lest jealous ones should do me harm. He expressed the opinion, which they took for granted, that the author of this stanza had also not yet realized the Essence of Mind.
Next day the Patriarch came secretly to the room where the rice was pounded. Seeing that I was working there with a stone pestle, he said to me, "A seeker of the Path risks his life for the Dharma. Should he not do so?" Then he asked, "Is the rice ready?" "Ready long ago," I replied, "only waiting for the sieve." He knocked the mortar thrice with his stick and left.
Knowing what his message meant, in the third watch of the night I went to his room. Using the robe as a screen so that none could see us, he expounded the Diamond Sutra to me. When he came to the sentence, "One should use one's mind in such a way that it will be free from any attachment," I at once became thoroughly enlightened, and realized that all things in the universe are the Essence of Mind itself. (Tao is in everything.)
"Who would have thought," I said to the Patriarch, "that the Essence of Mind is intrinsic pure! Who would have thought that the Essence of Mind is intrinsically free from becoming or annihilation! (eternal) Who would have thought that the Essence of Mind is intrinsic self-sufficient! Who would have thought that the Essence of Mind is intrinsic free from change! Who would have thought that all things are the manifestation of the Essence of Mind!" (Bodhi is translated here into Essence of Mind. It is actually our soul or spirit and named Tao in Taoism.)
Knowing that I had realized the Essence of Mind, the Patriarch said, "For him who does not know his own mind, there is no use learning Buddhism. On the other hand, if he knows his own mind and see intuitively his own nature, he is a Hero, a 'Teacher of gods and men,' 'Buddha'." (Hui Neng was a lay man and had no Buddhist teaching from any one and he cannot read or write. A person who is fated to be an enlightened person will achieve his goal no matter how. Gautama Buddha was predicted to be a holy man when he was just born as a baby and some wrote that he pointed one index to the sky and the other index to the earth. Also Jesus when still a baby wealthy merchants visited him. This is a PLAN by the mysterious One. We are only actors and actresses. Once you are handed a role of a beggar, you have to act a beggar, a king, act as a king and an enlightened man as a Buddha, Saint, prophet etc. act as one of them.)
Thus, to the knowledge of no one, the Dharma was transmitted to me at midnight (sealing the mark on the forehead), and consequently I became the inheritor of the teaching of the 'Sudden' School as well as of the robe and the begging bowl.
"You are now the Sixth Patriarch," said he. "Take good care of yourself, and deliver as many sentient beings as possible. Spread and preserve the teaching, and don't let it come to an end. Take note of my stanza:-- 'Sentient beings who sow the seeds of enlightenment, in the field of Causation will reap the fruit of Buddha-hood. Inanimate objects void of Buddha-nature, sow not and reap not.'
He further said, "When the Patriarch Bodhidharma first came to China, most Chinese had no confidence in him, and so this robe was handed down as a testimony from one Patriarch to another. As to the Dharma, this is transmitted from heart to heart, and the recipient must realize it by his own efforts. From time immemorial it has been the practice for one Buddha to pass to his successor the quintessence of the Dharma, and for one Patriarch to transmit to another the esoteric teaching from heart to heart. As the robe may give cause for dispute, you are the last one to inherit it. Should you hand it down to your successor, your life would be in imminent danger. (a change of order to transmit Dharma to many) Now leave this place as quickly as you can, lest some one should do you harm."
"Whither should I go?" I asked. "At Wei you stop and at Wui you seclude yourself," he replied.
Upon receiving the robe and the begging bowl in the middle of the night, I told the Patriarch that, being a Southerner, I did not know the mountain tracks, and that it was impossible for me to get to the mouth of the river (to catch a boat). "You need not worry," said he. "I will go with you."
He then accompanied me to Kiukiang, and there ordered me into a boat. As he did the rowing himself, I asked him to sit down and let me handle the oar. "It is only right for me to carry you across," he said, (an allusion to the sea of birth and death which one has to go across before the shore of Nirvana can be reached). To this I replied, "While I am under illusion, it is for you to get me across; but after enlightenment, I should cross it by myself. Although the term 'to go across' is the same, it is used differently in each case.) As I happen to be born on the frontier, even my speaking is incorrect in pronunciation, (but in spite of this) I have had the honor to inherit the Dharma from you. Since i am now enlightened, it is only right for me to cross the sea of birth and death myself by realizing my own Essence of Mind."
"Quite so, quite so," he agreed. "Beginning from you, Buddhism (meaning the Dhyana School) will become very popular. Three years after your departure from me I shall leave this world. You may start on your journey now. Go as fast as you can towards the South. Do not preach too soon, as Buddhism (of the Dhyana School) is not so easily spread."
After saying good-bye, I left him and walked towards the South. In about two months' time, I reached the Tai Yu Mountain. There I noticed that several hundred men were in pursuit of me with the intention of robbing me of my robe and begging bowl.
Among them there was a monk named Wei Ming whose lay surname was Chen. He was a general of the fourth rank in lay life. His manner was rough and his temper hot. Of all the pursuers, he was the most vigilant in search of me. When he was about to overtake me, I threw the robe and the begging bowl on a rock, saying, "This robe is nothing but a symbol. What is the use of taking it away by force?" (I then hid myself.) When he got to the rock, he tried to pick them up, but found he could not. Then he shouted out, "Lay Brother, Lay Brother, (for the Patriarch had not yet formally joined the Order) I come for the Dharma, not the robe."
Whereupon I came out from my hiding place and squatted on the rock. He made obeisance and said "Lay Brother, preach to me, please."
"Since the object of your coming is the Dharma," said I, "refrain from thinking of anything and keep your mind blank. I will then teach you." When he had done this for a considerable time, I said "When you are thinking of neither good nor evil what is at that particular moment, Venerable Sir, your real nature (literally, original face)?" (When you think of nothing, your mind is a void, that is the true self.)
As soon as he heard this he at once became enlightened. But he further asked, "Apart from those esoteric sayings and esoteric ideas handed down by the Patriarch from generation to generation, are there any other esoteric teaching?" "What I can tell you is not esoteric," I replied. "If you turn your light inwardly, you will find what is esoteric within you." [Turning your light inwardly by turning the eye-balls inward (like nasal gaze), the mark on the forehead will gives you certain sensations.]
"In spite of my staying in Wong Mui," said he, "I did not realize my self-nature. Now, thanks to your guidance, I know it as a water-drinker knows how hot or how cold the water is. Lay Brother, you are now my teacher."
I replied, "If that is so, then you and I are fellow disciples of the Fifth Patriarch. Take good care of yourself."
In answering his question whither he should go thereafter, I told him to stop at Yuen and to take up his abode in Mong. He paid homage and departed.
Sometime after I reached Tso Kai. There the evil-doers again persecuted me and I has to take refuge in Sze Wui, where I stayed with a party of hunters for a period as long as fifteen years. (For me since 1981 until now 1999, it is 18 years. It is high time my struggle will come to an end.)
Occasionally I preached to them in a way that befitted their understanding. They used to put me to watch their nets, but whenever I found living creatures therein I set them free. At meal times I put vegetables in the pan in which they cooked their meat. Some of them questioned me, and I explained to them that I would eat the vegetables only, after they had been cooked with the meat. (This eating of vegetables shows the difference in Buddhism of China as against Sri Lanka, Thailand etc.)
One day I bethought myself that I ought not to pass a secluded life all the time, and that it was high time for me to propagate the Law. Accordingly I left there and went to the Fat Shing Temple in Canton.
At that time Bhikkhu Yen Chung, Master of the dharma, was lecturing on the Maha Parinirvana Sutra in the Temple. It happened on that day, when a pennant was blown about by the wind, two Bhikkhus entered into a dispute as to what it was that was in motion, the wind or the pennant. As they could not settle their difference I submitted to them that it was neither, and that what actually moved was their own mind. The whole assembly was startled by what I said, and Bhikkhu Yen Chung invited me to take a seat of honor and questioned me about various knotty points in the Sutra.
Seeing that my answers were precise and accurate, and that they showed something more than book-knowledge, he said to me, "Lay Brother, you must be an extraordinary man. I was told long ago that the inheritor of the Fifth Patriarch's robe and Dharma had come to the South. Very likely you are the man."
To this I politely assented. He immediately made obeisance and asked me to show the assembly the robe and the begging bowl which I had inherited.
he further asked what instructions I had when the Fifth Patriarch transmitted me the Dharma. "Apart from a discussion on the realization of the Essence of Mind," I replied, "he gave me no other instruction, nor did he refer to Dhyana and Emancipation." "Why not?" he asked. "Because that would mean two ways," I replied. "And there cannot be two ways in Buddhism. There is one way only."
He asked what was the only way. I replied, "The Maha Parinirvana Sutra which you expound explains that Buddha-nature is the only way. For example, in the Sutra King Ko Kwai Tak, a Bodhisattva, asked Buddha whether or not those who commit the four paragika (acts of gross misconduct), or the five deadly sins, and those who are icchantika (heretics), etc., would eradicate their 'element of goodness' and their Buddha-nature. Buddha replied, "There are two kinds of 'element of goodness,' the eternal and non-eternal. Since Buddha-nature is neither eternal nor non-eternal, (something like void-ness, but it is better to refer to as eternal) therefore their 'element of goodness' is not eradicated. Now Buddhism is known as having no two ways. There are good ways and evil ways, but since Buddha-nature is neither, therefore Buddhism is known as having no two ways. From the point of view of ordinary folks, the component parts of a personality (skhandhas) and factors of consciousness (Dhatus) are two separate things; but enlightened men understand that they are not dual in nature. Buddha-nature is non-duality."
Bhikkhu Yen Chung was highly pleased with my answer. Putting his two palms together as a sign of respect, he said, "My interpretation of the Sutra is as worthless as a heap of debris, while your discourse is as valuable as genuine gold." Subsequently he conducted the ceremony of hair-cutting for me (ie the ceremony of Initiation into the Order) (this means even as lay men you can be enlightened, and even as monks you may not be enlightened) and asked me to accept him as my pupil.
Thenceforth, under the Bodhi-tree I preached the teaching of the Tung Shan School (the School of the Fourth and fifth Patriarchs, who lived in Tung Shan).
Since the time when the Dharma was transmitted to me in Tung Shan, I have gone through many hardships and my life often seemed to be hanging by a thread. Today, I have had the honor of meeting you in this assembly, and I must ascribe this to our good connection in previous kalpas, as well as to our common accumulated merits in making offerings to various Buddha in our past incarnations; otherwise, we should have had no chance of hearing the above teaching of the 'Sudden' School, and thereby laying the foundation of our future success in understanding the Dharma.
This teaching was handed down from the past Patriarchs, and it is not a system of my own invention. Those who wish to hear the teaching should first purify their own mind, (how to purify the mind? by meditation) and after hearing it they should each clear up their own doubts in the same way as the Sages did in the past."
At the end of the address, the assembly felt rejoiced, made obeisance and departed.
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Edited on 6th June 2008