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ONCE, WHEN the patriarch had arrived at the Pao Lin Monastery, prefect Wei of Shao
Chou and other officials went there to ask him to deliver public lectures on Buddhism in the
hall of Ta Fan Temple in the City of Canton.
In due course there were assembled in the lecture hall prefect Wei, government
officials and Confucian scholars, about thirty each, and bhikkhus, bhikkhunis, Taoists 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. Upon this he delivered the following address:
"Good friends [1], 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 buddhahood directly. 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.
[1] Shan-chich-shih. It is used here as a term of address.
My father, a native of Fan Yang, was dismissed from his official post and banished
to be a commoner in Hsin Chou in Kwangtung. I was unlucky in that my father died when I was
very young, leaving my mother poor and miserable. We moved to 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. Next I asked the man the name of the book he was
reciting and was told that it was the Diamond Sutra. I further enquired where he
came from and why he recited this particular sutra. He replied that he came from the Tung
Ch'an Monastery in the Huang Mei District of Ch'i Chou. The abbot in charge of that temple
was Hung Yen, the fifth patriarch. There were about one thousand disciples under him. When
the man I talked with went there to pay homage to the 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 realise their own essence of mind,
and by that reach buddhahood directly.
I was also given ten taels for the maintenance of my mother by a man who advised me
to go to Huang Mei to interview the fifth patriarch. After arrangements had been made for
her, I left for Huang Mei. [2]
[2] "Later works see to it that Hui-neng provides properly for his mother before
taking leave of her." Tun 127n]
It took me less than thirty days to reach the place. 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 Hsin Chou of Kwangtung. I have travelled far [800 km] to pay
you respect and I ask for nothing but buddhahood."
"You are a native of Kwangtung, a barbarian? 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
difference to their buddha-nature. A barbarian is different from Your Holiness physically,
but there is no difference in our buddha-nature."
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 to the back yard 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 of life and death, you seem to go after
tainted merits only (i.e. 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 (gatha) about it. He who understands what the essence of mind is
will be given the robe (the insignia of the patriarchate) and the dharma (law, here: the
esoteric teaching of the Zen school), 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 realised 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 Shen Hsiu, 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? Hereafter, we will simply follow our instructor,
Shen Hsiu, wherever he goes, and look to him for guidance."
Meanwhile, Shen Hsiu 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 a 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 one. If I were after the patriarchate, then it would be
bad. In that case, my mind would be that of a worldling 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!" [3]
[3] "If I don't offer my mind then I can't learn the dharma," is yet another
version. [Cf Tun 129]
In front of the patriarch's hall there were three corridors, the walls of which were
to be painted by a court artist, named Lu Chen, 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 Shen Hsiu 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 twelve 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.
Or, hopefully better: "The mind is the stand of a bright mirror. . . .
Do not allow it to become dusty."
As soon as he had written it he left 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 Shen Hsiu had not entered the door of
enlightenment, and that he had not known the essence of mind. In the morning, he sent for
Mr. Lu, 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 indeed be great!"
He then ordered incense to be burnt, and all his disciples to pay homage to it and
to recite it, so that they might realise the essence of mind. After they had recited it, all
of them exclaimed,
"Well done!"
At midnight, the patriarch sent for Shen Hsiu to come to the hall, and asked him
whether the stanza was written by him or not.
"It was, Sir," replied Shen Hsiu. "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 realised 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
be 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 (thought-moment to thought-moment), one should be able to realise the essence of mind
all the time. All things will then be free from restraint (i.e., emancipated). Once the
Tathata (suchness, another name for the essence of mind) is known, one will be free from
delusion forever; and in all circumstances one's mind will be in a state of 'thusness'. 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 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."
Shen Hsiu 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 as 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 Shen Hsiu. As soon as I heard it, I knew
at once that the composer of it has not yet realised 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
Shen Hsiu 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 enable 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 Chiang Chou District named Chang Tih-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 will take it down for you. But do not forget to
deliver me, should you succeed in getting the Dharma!"
My stanza read:
"Buddha-nature is forever clear and pure,
Where is there any dust?"
The Platform Sutra was subjected to some editing, revision
and emendations in the course of time. [Cf. Tun 94, 132]
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 injury. He expressed the opinion, which
they took for granted, that the author of this stanza had also not yet realised 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
realised that all things in the universe are the essence of mind itself.
"Who would have thought," I said to the patriarch, "that the essence of mind is
intrinsically pure! Who would have thought that the essence of mind is intrinsically
free from becoming or annihilation! Who would have thought that the essence of mind
is intrinsically self-sufficient! Who would have thought that the essence of mind is
intrinsically free from change! Who would have thought that all things are the
manifestation of the essence of mind!"
Knowing that I had realised 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 sees intuitively his own nature, he is a hero, a
'teacher of gods and men', 'Buddha'."
Thus, to the knowledge of no one, the dharma was transmitted to me at midnight, 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 buddhahood.
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 realise 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. Now leave this place as quickly as you
can, lest someone should do you harm."
"Where should I go?" I asked.
"At Huai you stop and at Hui 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, alluding 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 honour 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 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 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 Ta 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 Hui Ming, whose lay surname was Ch'en. 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 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 for 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)?" [5]
[5] The original face means the mind's essence. Sitting in a good contemplation pose,
gradually train yourself, and the original face will appear - nameless, but indicated by
such terms as original face, the Buddha nature. "The seventeen hundred koans or themes to
which Zen students devote themselves are all only for making them see their original face."
True enlightenment is called seeing the original face. So ancients that had a great
realization, or a major breakthrough, saw the original face.
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 teachings?"
"What I can tell you is not esoteric," I replied. "If you turn your light
inwardly, you will find what is esoteric within you."
"In spite of my staying in Huang Mei," said he, "I did not realise 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 where he should go after that, I told him to stop at Yuan
and to take up his abode in Meng. He paid homage and departed.
Some time after I reached Ts'ao Ch'i. There the evildoers again persecuted me and I
had to take refuge in Szu Hui, where I stayed with a party of hunters for a period as long
as fifteen years.
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 in them 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.
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 Fa Hsin Temple in Canton.
At that time Bhikkhu Yin Tsung, master of the dharma, was lecturing on the Maha
Parinirvana Sutra in the temple. It happened that one 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 Yin Tsang invited me to
take a seat of honour and questioned me about various knotty points in the sutras.
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. At once he 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 that sutra King Kao Kuei-Teh, a Bodhisattva, asked Buddha whether
or not those who commit the four acts of gross misconduct [killing, stealing, carnality and
lying] or the five deadly sins [patricide, matricide, setting the Buddhist Order in discord,
killing an Arhat, and causing blood to flow from the body of a buddha], 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 the
non-eternal. Since buddha-nature is neither eternal nor non-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 (skandhas) 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 Yin Tsung 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 (i.e., the ceremony of initiation into the order) and asked me to accept
him as my pupil.
From then on, under the bodhi-tree I preached the teaching of the Tung Shan school
(the school of the fourth and the 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 honour of meeting you in this assembly, and I must ascribe this to our
good connection in previous kalpas (cyclic periods), as well as to our common accumulated
merits in making offerings to various buddhas in our past reincarnations; 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, 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.
NEXT DAY prefect Wei asked the patriarch to give another address.
Thereupon, having taken his seat and asked the assembly to purify their mind
collectively, and to recite the Maha Prajnaparamita Sutra, he gave the following
address:
Good friends, the wisdom of enlightenment (bodhiprajna) is inherent in everyone of
us. It is because of the delusion under which our mind works that we fail to realise it
ourselves, and that we have to seek the advice and the guidance of enlightened ones before
we can know our own essence of mind. You should know that so far as buddha-nature is
concerned, there is no difference between an enlightened man and an ignorant one.
What makes the difference is that one realises it, while the other is ignorant of it. Now,
let me talk to you about Maha Prajnaparamita, so that each of you can attain
wisdom.
Good friends, those who recite the word 'prajna' [wisdom] the whole day long do not
seem to know that wisdom is inherent in their own nature. But mere talking on food will not
appease hunger, and this is exactly the case with these people. We might talk on
essensialism [blissful "void" some call it] for myriads of kalpas, but talking alone
will not enable us to realise the essence of mind, and it serves no purpose in the
end.
The word 'Mahaprajnaparamita' is Sanskrit, and means 'great wisdom to reach the
opposite shore' (of the sea of existence). What we have to do is to put it into practice
with our mind; whether we recite it or not does not matter. Mere reciting it without mental
practice may be likened to a phantasm, a magical delusion, a flash of lightning or a
dewdrop. On the other hand, if we do both, then our mind will be in accord with what we
repeat orally.
Our very nature is Buddha, and apart from this nature there is no other
buddha.
What is maha? It means 'great'. The capacity of the mind is as great as that of
space. It is infinite, neither round nor square, neither great nor small, neither green nor
yellow, neither red nor white, neither above nor below, neither long nor short, neither
angry nor happy, neither right nor wrong, neither good nor evil, neither first nor last. All
buddha ksetras (lands) are as void as space. Intrinsically our transcendental nature is void
and not a single dharma (thing) can be attained. It is the same with the essence of mind,
which is a state of 'absolute void' (i.e., the voidness of non-void).
Good friends, when you hear me talk about essensialism, do not at once fall into the
idea of vacuity, (because this involves the heresy of the doctrine of annihilation). It is
of the utmost importance that we should not fall into this idea, because when a man sits
quietly and keeps his mind blank he will abide in a state of 'voidness of
indifference'.
Good friends, the illimitable [blissful] essence [sunyata] of the universe is
capable of holding myriads of things of various shape and form, such as the sun, the moon,
stars, mountains, rivers, men, dharmas pertaining to goodness or badness, deva planes,
hells, great oceans, and all the mountains of the Mahameru.
Space takes in all of these, and so does the voidness of our nature. We say that the
essence of mind is great because it embraces all things, since all things are within our
nature. When we see the goodness or the badness of other people we are not attracted by it,
nor repelled by it, nor attached to it; so that our attitude of mind is as void as space. In
this way, we say our mind is great. Therefore we call it 'maha'.
Good friends, what the ignorant merely talk about, wise men put into actual practice
with their mind. There is also a class of foolish people who sit quietly and try to keep
their mind blank.
They refrain from thinking of anything and call themselves 'great'.
On account of their heretical view we can hardly talk to them.
Good friends, you should know that the mind is very great in capacity, since it
pervades the whole dharmadhatu (the sphere of the Law, i.e., the universe). When we use it,
we can know something of everything, and when we use it to its full capacity we shall know
all. All in one and one in all.
When our mind works without hindrance, and is at liberty to 'come' or to 'go', then
it is in a state of 'prajna'.
Good friends, all wisdom comes from the essence of mind and not from an exterior
source. Have no mistaken notion about that. This is called 'self-use of the true nature'.
Once the tathata (suchness, the essence of mind) is known, one will be free from delusion
forever.
Since the scope of the mind is for great objects, we should not practice such
trivial acts (as sitting quietly with a blank mind).
Do not talk about the 'void' all day without practicing it in the mind. One who does
this may be likened to a self-styled king who is really a commoner.
Wisdom can never be attained in this way, and those who behave like this are not my
disciples.
Good friends, what is wisdom [prajna]? If at all times and at all places we steadily
keep our thought free from foolish desire, and act wisely on all occasions, then we are
practicing wisdom. One foolish notion is enough to shut off wisdom, while one wise thought
will bring it forth again.
People in ignorance or under delusion do not see it; they talk about it with their
tongues, but in their mind they remain ignorant. They are always saying that they practice
wisdom, and they talk incessantly on 'voidness'; but they do not know the 'absolute void'.
'The heart of wisdom' is wisdom which has neither form nor characteristic. If we interpret
it in this way, then indeed it is the wisdom of wisdom.
What is paramita? It is a Sanskrit word, meaning 'to the opposite shore'.
Figuratively, it means 'above existence and non-existence'. By clinging to sense
objects, existence or not-yet-existence [most often called non-existence] arises like the up
and down of the billowy sea, and such a state is called metaphorically 'this shore'; while
by non-attachment a state above existence and non-existence, like smoothly running water is
attained, and this is called 'the opposite shore'. This is why it is called
'paramita'.
Good friends, people under illusion recite the 'Mahaprajnaparamita' with their
tongues, and while they are reciting it, erroneous and evil thoughts arise. But if they put
it into practice unremittingly, they realise its 'true nature'. To know this dharma is to
know the dharma of wisdom, and to practice this is to practice wisdom. He who does not
practice it is an ordinary man. He who directs his mind to practice it even for one moment
is the equal of Buddha.
For ordinary man is Buddha, and klesa (defilement) is bodhi (enlightenment). A
foolish passing thought makes one an ordinary man, while an enlightened second thought makes
one a Buddha. A passing thought that clings to sense-objects is klesa, while a second
thought that frees one from attachment is bodhi.
Good friends, the Mahaprajnaparamita is the most exalted, the supreme, and the
foremost. It neither stays, nor goes, nor comes.
By means of it Buddhas of the present, the past, and the future generations attain
buddhahood. We should use this great wisdom to break up the five skandhas [material
qualities - matter, sensation, perception, dispositions or tendencies, and consciousness],
for to follow such practice ensures the attainment of buddhahood. The three poisonous
elements (greed, hatred and illusion) will then be turned into sila (good conduct), union
[highest consciousness] and wisdom.
Good friends, in this system of mine one wisdom produces eight-four thousand ways of
wisdom, since there are that number of 'defilements' for us to cope with; but when one is
free from defilements, wisdom reveals itself, and will not be separated from the essence of
mind. Those who understand this dharma will be free from idle thoughts. To be free from
being infatuated by one particular thought, from clinging to desire, and from falsehood; to
put one's own essence of Tathata into operation; to use wisdom for contemplation, and to
take an attitude of neither indifference nor attachment towards all things - this is what is
meant by realizing one's own mind’s essence for the attainment of buddhahood.
Good friends, if you wish to penetrate the deepest mystery of the dharmadhatu and
the union [highest consciousness] of wisdom, you should practice wisdom by reciting and
studying the Diamond Sutra, which will enable you to realise the essence of mind. You should
know that the merit for studying this Sutra, as distinctly set forth in the text, is
immeasurable and illimitable, and can’t be enumerated in details. This Sutra belongs to the
highest school of Buddhism, and Buddha delivered it specially for the very wise and
quick-witted. If the less wise and the slow-witted should hear about it they would doubt its
credibility. Why? For example, if it rained in Jambudvipa (the Southern Continent), through
the miracle of the celestial Naga, cities, towns, and villages would drift about in the
flood as if they were only leaves of the date tree. But should it rain in the great ocean
the level of the sea as a whole would not be affected by it. When Mahayanists hear about the
Diamond Sutra their minds become enlightened; they know that wisdom is immanent in their
mind’s essence and that they need not rely on scriptural authority, since they can make use
of their own wisdom by constant practice of contemplation.
The wisdom immanent in the essence of mind of everyone may be likened to the rain,
the moisture of which refreshes every living thing, trees and plants as well as sentient
beings. When rivers and streams reach the sea, the water carried by them merges into one
body; this is another analogy.
Good friends, when rain comes in a deluge, plants which are not deep rooted are
washed away, and eventually they succumb. This is the case with the slow-witted when they
hear about the teaching of the 'Sudden' School.
The wisdom immanent in them is exactly the same as that in the very wise man, but
they fail to enlighten themselves when the dharma is made known to them. Why? Because they
are thickly veiled by erroneous views and deep rooted defilements, in the same way as the
sun may be thickly veiled by a cloud and unable to show his light until the wind blows the
cloud away.
Wisdom does not vary with different persons; what makes the difference is whether
one's mind is enlightened or deluded. He who does not know his own mind’s essence, and is
under the delusion that buddhahood can be attained by outward religious rites is called the
slow-witted. He who knows the teaching of the ‘Sudden’ School and attaches no importance to
rituals, and whose mind functions always under right views, so that he is absolutely free
from defilements or contaminations, is said to have known his mind’s essence.
Good friends, the mind should be framed in such a way that it will be independent of
external or internal objects, at liberty to come or go, free from attachment and thoroughly
enlightened without the least beclouding.
He who is able to do this is of the same standard required by the Sutras of the
wisdom School.
Good friends, all sutras and scriptures of the Mahayana and Hinayana schools, as
well as the twelve sections of the canonical writings, were provided to suit the different
needs and temperaments of various people. It is upon the principle that wisdom is latent in
every man that the doctrines expounded in these books are established. If there were no
human beings, there would be no dharmas; hence we know that all dharmas are made for men,
and that all Sutras owe their existence to the preachers. Since some men are wise, the
so-called superior men, and some are ignorant, the socalled inferior men, the wise preach to
the ignorant when the latter ask them to do so. Through this the ignorant may attain sudden
enlightenment, and their mind thereby becomes illuminated.
Then they are no longer different from the wise men.
Good friends, without enlightenment there would be no difference between a Buddha
and other living beings; while a gleam of enlightenment is enough to make any living being
the equal of a Buddha. Since all dharmas are immanent in our mind there is no reason why we
should not realise intuitively the real nature of Tathata (suchness).
The Bodhisattva Sila Sutra says, "Our mind’s essence is intrinsically pure, and if
we knew our mind and realised what our nature is, all of us would attain
buddhahood."
As the Vimalakirti Nirdesa Sutra says, "At once they become enlightened and regain
their own mind."
Good friends, when the fifth patriarch preached to me I became enlightened
immediately after he had spoken, and spontaneously realised the real nature of Tathata. For
this reason it is my particular object to propagate the teaching of this ‘Sudden’ School, so
that learners may find bodhi at once and realise their true nature by introspection of
mind.
Should they fail to enlighten themselves, they should ask the pious and learned
Buddhists who understand the teaching of the highest school to show them the right way. It
is an exalted position, the office of a pious and learned Buddhist who guides others to
realise the essence of mind. Through his assistance one may be initiated into all
meritorious dharmas. The wisdom of the past, the present and the future Buddhas as well as
the teachings of the twelve sections of the canon are immanent in our mind; but in case we
fail to enlighten ourselves, we have to seek the guidance of the pious and learned ones. On
the other hand, those who enlighten themselves need no extraneous help. It is wrong to
insist upon the idea that without the advice of the pious and learned we can’t obtain
liberation.
Why? Because it is by our innate wisdom that we enlighten ourselves, and even the
extraneous help and instructions of a pious and learned friend would be of no use if we were
deluded by false doctrines and erroneous views. Should we introspect our mind with real
wisdom, all erroneous views would be vanquished in a moment, and as soon as we know the
essence of mind we arrive immediately at the Buddha stage.
Good friends, when we use wisdom for introspection we are illumined within and
without, and in a position to know our own mind. To know our mind is to obtain liberation.
To gain liberation is to attain union [highest consciousness] of wisdom, which is
'thoughtlessness'. What is 'thoughtlessness'? 'Thoughtlessness' is to see and to know all
dharmas (things) with a mind free from attachment. When in use it pervades everywhere, and
yet it sticks nowhere. What we have to do is to purify our mind so that the six vijnanas
(aspects of consciousness), in passing through the six gates (sense organs) will neither be
defiled by nor attached to the six sense-objects. When our mind works freely without any
hindrance, and is at liberty to 'come' or to 'go', we attain union [highest consciousness]
of wisdom, or liberation. Such a state is called the function of 'thoughtlessness'. But to
refrain from thinking of anything, so that all thoughts are suppressed, is to be
dharma-ridden, and this is an erroneous view.
Good friends, those who understand the way of 'thoughtlessness' will know
everything, will have the experience all Buddhas have had, and attain buddhahood. In the
future, if an initiate of my school should make a vow in company with his fellow-disciples
to devote his whole life without retrogression to the practice of the teachings of this
'Sudden' School, in the same spirit as that for serving Buddha, he would reach without
failure the path of holiness. (To the right men) he should transmit from heart to heart the
instructions handed down from one patriarch to another; and no attempt should be made to
conceal the orthodox teaching. To those who belong to other schools, and whose views and
objects are different from ours, the dharma should not be transmitted, since it will be
anything but good for them. This step is taken lest ignorant persons who can’t understand
our system should make slanderous remarks about it and thereby annihilate their seed of
Buddha-nature for hundreds of kalpas and thousands of incarnations.
Good friends, I have a 'formless' stanza for you all to recite. Both laity and monks
should put its teaching into practice, without which it would be useless to remember my
words alone. Listen to this stanza:
A master of the Buddhist canon as well as of the teaching of the
dhyana school may be likened to the blazing sun sitting high in his meridian
tower.
Such a man would teach nothing but the dharma for realizing the essence of mind, and
his object in coming to this world would be to vanquish the heretical sects.
We can hardly classify the dharmas into 'Sudden' and 'Gradual', but some men will
attain enlightenment much quicker than others.
For example, this system for realizing the essence of mind is above the
comprehension of the ignorant.
We may explain it in ten thousand ways, but all those explanations may be traced
back to one principle.
To illumine our gloomy tabernacle, which is stained by defilement, we should
constantly set up the [inner] light of wisdom.
Erroneous views keep us in defilement, while right views remove us from it: But when
we are in a position to discard both of them, we are then absolutely pure.
Bodhi is immanent in our mind’s essence, an attempt to look for it elsewhere is
erroneous.
Within our impure mind the pure one is to be found, and once our mind is set right,
we are free from the three kinds of beclouding (hatred, lust and illusion).
If we are treading the path of enlightenment, we need not be worried by
stumbling-blocks.
Provided we keep a constant eye on our own faults, we can’t go astray from the right
path.
Since every species of life has its own way of salvation, they will not interfere
with or be antagonistic to one another.
But if we leave our own path and seek some other way of salvation, we shall not find
it,
And though we plod on till death overtakes us, we shall find only penitence in the
end.
If you wish to find the true way, right action will lead you to it
directly;
But if you do not strive for buddhahood, you will grope in the dark and never find
it.
He who treads the path in earnest, sees not the mistakes of the world;
If we find fault with others, we ourselves are also in the wrong.
When other people are in the wrong, we should ignore it, for it is wrong for us to
find fault.
By getting rid of the habit of fault-finding we cut off a source of
defilement.
When neither hatred nor love disturb our mind, serenely we sleep.
Those who intend to be the teachers of others, should themselves be skilled in the
various expedients which lead others to enlightenment.
When the disciple is free from all doubts, it indicates that his mind’s essence has
been found.
The Kingdom of Buddha is in this world, within which enlightenment is to be
sought.
To seek enlightenment by separating from this world is as absurd as to search for a
rabbit's horn.
Right views are called 'transcendental'; erroneous views are called
'worldly'.
When all views, right or erroneous, are discarded, then the essence of bodhi
appears.
This stanza is for the 'Sudden' School. It is also called the 'Great Ship of Dharma' (for
sailing across the ocean of existence). Kalpa after kalpa a man may be under delusion, but
once enlightened it takes him only a moment to attain buddhahood.
Before conclusion, the patriarch added, "Now, in this Ta Fan Temple, I have addressed you on
the teaching of the 'Sudden' School. May all sentient beings of the dharmadhatu instantly
understand the Law and attain buddhahood."
After hearing what the patriarch said, the prefect Wei, government officials,
Taoists and laymen were all enlightened. They made obeisance in a body and exclaimed
unanimously, "Well done! Well done! Who would have expected that a Buddha was born in
Kwangtung?"
ONE DAY prefect Wei entertained the patriarch and asked him to preach to a big
gathering. At the end of the feast, prefect Wei asked him to mount the pulpit (to which the
patriarch consented). After bowing twice reverently, in company with other officials,
scholars, and commoners, prefect Wei said,
"I have heard what Your Holiness preached. It is really so deep that it is beyond
our mind and speech, and I have certain doubts which I hope you will clear up for
me."
"If you have any doubts," replied the patriarch, "please ask, and I will
explain."
"What you preach are the fundamental principles taught by Bodhidharma, are they
not?"
"Yes," replied the patriarch.
"I was told," said prefect Wei, "that at Bodhidharma's first interview with emperor
Wu of Liang he was asked what merits the emperor would get for the work of his life in
building temples, allowing new monks to be ordained (royal consent was necessary at that
time), giving alms and entertaining the order; and his reply was that these would bring no
merits at all. Now, I can’t understand why he gave such an answer. Will you please
explain."
"These would bring no merits," replied the patriarch. "Don't doubt the words of the
sage. Emperor Wu's mind was under an erroneous impression, and he did not know the orthodox
teaching. Such deeds as building temples, allowing new monks to be ordained, giving alms and
entertaining the Order will bring you only felicities, which should not be taken for merits.
Merits are to be found within the dharmakaya, and they have nothing to do with practices for
attaining felicities."
The patriarch went on, "Realization of the essence of mind is kung (good deserts),
and equality is teh (good quality). When our mental activity works without any impediment,
so that we are in a position to know constantly the true state and the mysterious
functioning of our own mind, we are said to have acquired kung teh (merits).
Within, to keep the mind in a humble mood is kung; and without, to behave oneself
according to propriety is teh. That all things are the manifestation of the essence of mind
is kung, and that the quintessence of mind is free from idle thoughts is teh. Not to go
astray from the essence of mind is kung, and not to pollute the mind in using it is teh. If
you seek for merits within the dharmakaya, and do what I have just said, what you acquire
will be real merits.
He who works for merits does not slight others; and on all occasions he treats
everybody with respect. He who is in the habit of looking down upon others has not got rid
of the erroneous idea of a self, which indicates his lack of kung. Because of his egotism
and his habitual contempt for all others, he knows not the real mind’s essence; and this
shows his lack of teh. Good friends, when our mental activity works without interruption,
then it is kung; and when our mind functions in a straightforward manner, then it is teh. To
train our own mind is kung, and to train our own body is teh.
Good friends, merits should be sought within the essence of mind and they can’t be
acquired by almsgiving, entertaining the monks, etc. We should therefore distinguish between
felicities and merits. There is nothing wrong in what our patriarch said. It is emperor Wu
himself who did not know the true way."
Prefect Wei then asked the next question. "I notice that it is a common practice for
monks and laymen to recite the name of Amitabha with the hope of being born in the Pure Land
of the West. To clear up my doubts, will you please tell me whether it is possible for them
to be born there or not."
"Listen to me carefully, sir," replied the patriarch, "and I will explain.
According to the Sutra spoken by the Bhagavat in Shravasti City for leading people
to the Pure Land of the West, it is quite clear that the Pure Land is not far from here, for
the distance in mileage is 108, 000, which really represents the 'ten evils' and 'eight
errors' within us. To those of inferior mentality certainly it is far away, but to superior
men we may say that it is quite near. Although the dharma is uniform, men vary in their
mentality.
Because they differ from one another in their degree of enlightenment or ignorance,
therefore some understand the Law quicker than others.
While ignorant men recite the name of Amitabha and pray to be born in the Pure Land,
the enlightened purify their mind, for, as the Buddha said, 'When the mind is pure, the
Buddha Land is simultaneously pure.' "Although you are a native of the East, if your mind is
pure you are sinless.
One the other hand, even if you were a native of the West an impure mind could not
free you from sin. When the people of the East commit a sin, they recite the name of
Amitabha and pray to be born in the West; but in the case of sinners who are natives of the
West, where should they pray to be born? Ordinary men and ignorant people understand neither
the essence of mind nor the Pure Land within themselves, so they wish to be born in the East
or the West. But to the enlightened everywhere is the same. As the Buddha said, 'No matter
where they happen to be, they are always happy and comfortable.' Sir, if your mind is free
from evil the West is not far from here; but difficult indeed it would be for one whose
heart is impure to be born there by invoking Amitabha! Now, I advise you, good friends,
first to do away with the 'ten evils'; then we shall have travelled one hundred thousand
miles. For the next step, do away with the 'eight errors', and this will mean another eight
thousand miles traversed. If we can realise the essence of mind at all times and behave in a
straightforward manner on all occasions, in the twinkling of an eye we may reach the Pure
Land and there see Amitabha.
"If you only put into practice the ten good deeds, there would be no necessity for
you to be born there. On the other hand, if you do not do away with the 'ten evils' in your
mind, which Buddha will take you there? If you understand the Birthless Doctrine (which puts
an end to the cycle of birth and death) of the 'Sudden' School, it takes you only a moment
to see the West. If you do not understand, how can you reach there by reciting the name of
Amitabha, as the distance is so far? "Now, how would you like it if I were to shift the Pure
Land to your presence this very moment, so that all of you might see it?"
The congregation made obeisance and replied, "If we might see the Pure Land here
there would be no necessity for us to desire to be born there. Will Your Holiness kindly let
us see it by having it removed here."
The patriarch said, "Sirs, this physical body of ours is a city.
Our eyes, ears, nose and tongue are the gates. There are five external gates, while
the internal one is ideation. The mind is the ground. The essence of mind is the king who
lives in the domain of the mind. While the essence of mind is in, the king is in, and our
body and mind exist. When the essence of mind is out, there is no king and our body and mind
decay.
We should work for buddhahood within the essence of mind, and we should not look for
it apart from ourselves. He who is kept in ignorance of his mind’s essence is an ordinary
being. He who is enlightened in his mind’s essence is a Buddha. To be merciful is
Avalokitesvara (one of the two principal bodhisattvas of the Pure Land). To take pleasure in
almsgiving is Mahasthama (the other bodhisattva). Competence for a pure life is Sakyamuni
(one of the titles of Gautama Buddha). Equality and straightforwardness is Amitabha. The
idea of a self or that of a being is Mount Meru. A depraved mind is the ocean. Klesa
(defilement) is the billow. Wickedness is the evil dragon.
Falsehood is the devil. The wearisome sense objects are the aquatic
animals.
Greed and hatred are the hells. Ignorance and infatuation are the brutes.
"Good friends, if you constantly perform the ten good deeds, paradise will appear to
you at once. When you get rid of the idea of a self and that of a being, Mount Meru will
topple. When the mind is no longer depraved, the ocean (of existence) will be dried up. When
you are free from klesa, billows and waves (of the ocean of existence) will calm down. When
wickedness is alien to you, fish and evil dragons will die out.
"Within the domain of our mind, there is a Tathagata of enlightenment who sends
forth a powerful light which illumines externally the six gates (of sensation) and purifies
them. This light is strong enough to pierce through the six kama heavens (heavens of
desire); and when it is turned inwardly it eliminates at once the three poisonous elements,
purges away our sins which might lead us to the hells or other evil realms, and enlightens
us thoroughly within and without, so that we are no different from those born in the Pure
Land of the West. Now, if we do not train ourselves up to this standard, how can we reach
the Pure Land?"
Having heard what the patriarch said, the congregation knew their mind’s essence
very clearly. They made obeisance and exclaimed in one voice, "Well done!" They also
chanted, "May all the sentient beings of this universe who have heard this sermon at once
understand it intuitively."
The patriarch added, "Good friends, those who wish to train themselves
(spiritually) may do so at home. It is quite unnecessary for them to stay in
monasteries. Those who train themselves at home may be likened to a native of the East who
is kind-hearted, while those who stay in monasteries but neglect their work differ not from
a native of the West who is evil in heart. So far as the mind is pure, it is the 'Western
Pure Land of one's own mind’s essence'."
Prefect Wei asked, "How should we train ourselves at home? Will you please teach
us."
The patriarch replied, "I will give you a 'formless' stanza. If you put its teaching
into practice you will be in the same position as those who live with me permanently. On the
other hand, if you do not practice it, what progress can you make in the spiritual path,
even though you cut your hair and leave home for good (i.e., join the Order)? The stanza
reads:
For a fair mind, observation of precepts (Sila) is
unnecessary.
For straightforward behavior, practice in dhyana (contemplation) may be dispensed
with.
On the principle of righteousness, the superior and the inferior stand for each
other (in time of need).
On the principle of mutual desire to please, the senior and junior are on
affectionate terms.
On the principle of forbearance, we do not quarrel even in the midst of a hostile
crowd.
If we can persevere till fire can be obtained through rubbing a piece of wood, Then
the red lotus (the Buddha-nature) will shoot out from the black mire (the unenlightened
state).
That which is of bitter taste is bound to be good medicine.
That which sounds unpleasant to the ear is certainly frank advice.
By amending our mistakes, we get wisdom.
By defending our faults, we betray an unsound mind.
In our daily life we should always practice altruism, But buddhahood is not to be
attained by giving away money as charity.
Bodhi is to be found within our own mind, And there is no necessity to look for
mysticism from without.
Hearers of this stanza who put its teaching into actual practice Will find paradise
in their very presence.
The patriarch added, "Good friends, all of you should put into practice what is
taught in this stanza, so that you can realise the essence of mind and attain buddhahood
directly. The dharma waits for no one. I am going back to Ts'ao Ch'i, so the assembly may
now break up. If you have any questions, you may come there to put them."
At this juncture prefect Wei, the government officials, pious men, and devout ladies
who were present were all enlightened. Faithfully they accepted the teaching and put it into
practice.
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