T2008 The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch

7: Encounters

The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch

self-nature, one will attain the elimination of evils as [countless as] the sands of the Ganges River. To proceed directly to the unsurpassable bodhi,seeing naturally with each moment of thought and without losing the fundamental thought: this is called the saṃbhogakāya.

"What are the thousand billion nirmāṇakāyas? If you do not think of the myriad dharmas, the nature is fundamentally like space (or, "empty").

A single moment of thought is called a transformation. To think of evil means transformation into the hells. To think of good things means transformation into the heavens. Poison and injury are transformed into dragons and snakes. Compassion is transformed into bodhisattvas. Wisdom is transformed into the upper realms. Stupidity is transformed into the lower regions. The transformations of the self-nature are extremely numerous. The deluded person cannot understand this and activates evil in every moment of thought, constantly practicing the evil ways. But when he has a single thought of good, wisdom is generated: this is called the nirmāṇakāyabuddha of the self-nature. "Good friends, the dharmakāya[buddha] is fundamentally immanent [within all of us]. To see the self-nature yourself 98 in every moment of thought is the saṃbhogakāyabuddha. The thoughts that derive from the saṃbho ga kāyaare the nirmāṇakāyabuddha. To be enlightened oneself, and to cultivate oneself, the merits of the self-nature: this is true taking refuge. "One's skin and flesh is the physical body, and the physical body is a house, but you can't take refuge in it. Just be enlightened to the three bodies of the self-nature, and this will be to recognize the buddha of the self-nature. "I have a formless verse, which, if you are able to recite99 it, will cause you upon hearing these words to melt away in a single instant the delusions and transgressions of numerous eons. The verse goes:

Deluded people cultivate blessings but do not cultivate the Way, Saying only that to cultivate blessings is the Way.

The blessings from charity and offerings may be unlimited, But the three poisons100 are originally created in the mind. Attempting to cultivate blessings and wanting to extinguish their transgressions,

They may attain blessings in later lives, but their transgressions will still exist.

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They should simply eradicate the conditions of transgression within their minds:

This is called true repentance within the self-nature. Suddenly enlightened to the true transgression of the Mahayana, Eradicating the false and practicing the correct, they are without transgression.

Studying the Way is to always contemplate the self-nature: This is to be identical with all the buddhas. Our patriarchs have transmitted only this sudden teaching, And you should all vow to see the nature and be identical to them. If you wish to see the dharmakāyain the future, Transcend the characteristics of the dharmas and wash them out of your minds.

Make an effort to see for yourself, don't be despondent! Later, in a single moment, you will suddenly cut off [your thoughts, thus] ending them forever.

If you would be enlightened to the Mahayana and see the nature, Reverentially hold your palms together [in the anjalimudrā] and seek it in utter sincerity.

The master said,

"Good friends, you should all recite this. If you practice according to it, you will see the nature through hearing these words. Although you may be a thousand liaway from me, it will be as if you are constantly by my side. If you do not become enlightened through these words, then why have you gone to the trouble of coming a thousand lito see me? Take care in your going.

"

Of the entire assembly who heard this teaching, not one did not achieve enlightenment and joyfully undertake this practice. Number Seven: Encounters

After attaining the Dharma in Huangmei, the master [Huineng] returned to Caohou village in Shaozhou, where no one knew him. (Another text says,

"When the master left he went to Caohou village, where he stayed more than nine months. The master then said to himself, 'In

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less than thirty or so days I will go to Huangmei. This would be the utmost in seeking the Way; how could I hesitate?' The time of his going [as given in this other text] is incorrect.

")

There was a Confucian scholar [named] Liu Zhilue, whose ritual propriety was profound. Zhilue had an aunt who was a nun, named Wujin Zang ("Inexhaustible Treasury"), who constantly recited the Great Nirvana Sutra. When the master heard it for a bit, he understood its wondrous meaning and explained it for her. The nun, who was holding the text, asked about a word, and the master said,

"I cannot read the words, but you can ask me about the meaning.

" The nun said,

"If you do not read the words, how can you understand the meaning?" The master said, "The wondrous principle of the buddhas

has nothing to do with words.

" The nun was amazed and informed the village

elders,

"This is a man in possession of the Way. You would do well to ask to make offerings to him.

"

There was a great-great-grandson of the Wei [dynasty], Martial Lord [Cao Cao], named Cao Shuliang, who, along with the local residents, strove to come do obeisance [to the master]. At that time the old Baolin Monastery was in ruins, having been burned by soldiers at the end of the Sui [dynasty]. A new monastery was built once again on the old foundation. The master was invited to reside there, and he suddenly turned it into an abode of the treasure [of the teaching]. The master stayed there for more than nine months, when he was once again pursued by an evil mob. The master escaped to the mountain in front [of the monastery, and the mob] set fire to the forest [to force him out]. The master escaped by hiding in the rocks, and the rocks now show the marks of his knees and the design of his robe where he sat in the lotus position. Because of this, [the spot] is called Escape Rock. The master remembered the Fifth Patriarch's prediction that he should stop and hide [upon encountering] sympathy and a group,

101 and hid in two hamlets.

102

The monk Fahai was from Qujiang in Shaozhou.When he first went to study under the patriarch he asked,

"The mind is buddha. Please favor me with

your instructions.

" The master said,

"For the preceding thought not to be

generated is mind, and for the succeeding thought not to be extinguished is buddha. That which creates all the characteristics is mind, and that which transcends all the characteristics is buddha. If I were to explain it completely, 54

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I could not finish in an eon! Listen to my verse, which goes: With regard to the mind, it's called wisdom. With regard to the Buddha, it's called meditation. When meditation and wisdom are maintained equally, All is pure within the consciousness. If you are enlightened to this teaching It is through your cultivation of the nature Its function is fundamentally birthless; The dual cultivation is correct.

103

Fahai experienced104 a great enlightenment upon hearing these words. He gave praise in verse, saying:

The mind is fundamentally buddha. To be unenlightened to this is to subjugate oneself. I understand the causes of meditation and wisdom. By the dual cultivation one transcends all things. The monk Fada was from Hongzhou. He left home [to become a monk] at age seven, [after which time] he constantly recited the Lotus Sutra.He came to do obeisance to Huineng, but did not touch his head to the ground. The master rebuked him,

"To bow without touching the ground—can this be anything but irreverent? You must have something on your mind. To what are you disposed?"105 [Fada] said,

"I have recited the Lotus Sutrathree thousand times.

" The master said,

"Even if you recite it ten thousand times it won't help you understand the meaning of the scripture. You should practice along with me. You're undertaking this effort without understanding how wrong it is. Listen to my verse, which goes: Reverence is fundamentally to bend the canopy of conceit, So how can one's head not touch the ground? Have [the illusion of] selfhood, and transgressions are generated; Destroy merits, and one's blessings are beyond measure! The master also said,

"What is your name?" [The monk] answered, "Fada.

"

The master said,

"You are named Fada ("Dharma Penetration"), but when have you ever penetrated the Dharma?" He spoke another verse, which went: 55

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The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch Your name is now Fada.

You have diligently recited [the Lotus Sutra] without cease. Reciting in vain, you have only been emanating sounds. It is the wise mind that is called bodhisattva. Since you have now had this connection [with me], I will now explain [Buddhism] for you:

Simply have faith that the Buddha was silent, That [only] lotuses came forth from his mouth. After Fada heard this verse he said in gratitude, "From now on I will be

deferential toward all. Your disciple has recited the Lotus Sutrawithout understanding its meaning, and my mind always harbored doubts. Your Reverence's wisdom is vast, so would you please briefly explain the sutra's meaning?" The master said,

"Fada, the Dharma is profoundly penetrating, but your mind has not penetrated it. The sutra is fundamentally without doubt; it is your mind itself that doubts. As you recite this sutra, what is its central doctrine?" Fada said,

"This student is dull of disposition and has always just relied on reciting the text. How could I understand its central purport?" The master said,

"I do not understand words, but try reciting the sutra for me once and I will explain it for you. "

Fada then recited the sutra aloud. When he came to the "Chapter on Parables" the master said,

"Stop. The central doctrine of this sutra is fundamentally the causes and conditions and the appearance [of the buddhas] in the world. There can be no parables that surpass this. "What are the causes and conditions? The sutra says, 'The buddhas and

World-honored Ones only appear in the world through the causes and conditions of the one great affair. ' The one great affair is the perceptual understanding of the buddhas. The people of this world are delusively attached to characteristics externally and delusively attached to emptiness internally. If one is able to transcend characteristics within characteristics and to transcend emptiness within emptiness, this is to be undeluded both externally and internally. If you are enlightened to this teaching, your mind will open up [in enlightenment] in a single moment of thought. This is 'to open the perceptual understanding of the buddhas.

'

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"'Buddha' [means] enlightenment. This may be divided into four teachings: to open the perceptual understanding of enlightenment, to manifest the perceptual understanding of enlightenment, to be enlightened to the perceptual understanding of enlightenment, and to enter the perceptual understanding of enlightenment. If one hears of opening and manifesting, one should be able to be enlightened and enter. Thus perceptual understanding of enlightenment is fundamentally the true nature becoming manifest. You should be careful not to misinterpret the sutra and have a mistaken view of some other path. Opening and manifesting, being enlightened and entering, are themselves the perceptual understanding of the buddhas. And [those in] our school are no different. To interpret [the sutra] the way you do is to revile the sutra and vilify the buddhas. That106 [mind] is buddha, [fully] endowed with perceptual understanding. What use would there be of any further opening? "You should have faith that the perceptual understanding of the buddhas is only your own mind. There is no other buddha. It is only that all the sentient beings obstruct their own brilliance by the sensory realms of desire. Externally conditioned and internally disrupted, they take hectic delight in sensation. Then they belabor other World-honored Ones to arise from their samādhi and use various harsh words to get them to stop! Don't seek outside yourself—you're no different from the buddhas! Therefore [the Lotus Sutra] says, 'Open the perceptual understanding of the buddhas.

'

"I also exhort all of you to always open the perceptual understanding of the buddhas within your own minds. The minds of people of this world are [given to the] false, and they stupidly commit transgressions. With good in their mouths and evil in their minds, they are lustful, angry, jealous, obsequious, and conceited, injuring people and damaging things. They open the perceptual understanding of sentient beings. If you are able to always generate wisdom in a correct [state of ] mind, contemplating your own mind, stopping evil and practicing good: this is to open the perceptual understanding of the buddhas. You should open the perceptual understanding of the buddhas in every moment of thought; do not open the perceptual understanding of sentient beings. To open the perceptual understanding of the buddhas is to transcend the world. To open the perceptual understanding of sentient beings is to be in the world. If you only struggle to grasp at thoughts as your task [in life], how would this be any different from a yak loving [its own] tail?"107 57

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The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch Fada said,

"If this is so, then should one just understand the meaning and not bother to recite the sutras?" The master said,

"Can the sutras be in error? How could they impede your mindfulness? It is just that delusion and enlightenment are in the person, that harm and benefit depend on oneself. To recite with the mouth and practice in the mind is to turn the sutra. To recite with the mouth without practicing in the mind is to be turned by the sutra. Listen to my verse, which says: Deluded in mind, one is turned by the Lotus. Enlightened in mind, one turns the Lotus. To recite the sutra without ever understanding Is to be an enemy of its meaning.

Be without thought and one's thoughts are correct; Be with thought and one's thoughts become false. If one considers neither with nor without, And one will always ride the cart of the white bull. Hearing this verse, Fada unwittingly cried tears of compassion, and upon hearing the words he experienced a great enlightenment. He told the master, "From long ago until the present I have actually never turned the Lotus,but have been turned by the Lotus.

"

Fada announced further,

"The sutra says,

'All the great śrāvakas and

bodhisattvas, even though they think about it and consider it as much as possible, cannot comprehend the wisdom of the Buddha. ' Now you would have

ordinary people simply become enlightened to their own minds, yet you call that the perceptual understanding of the buddhas. I am not of superior abilities, but I cannot help but doubt if this is not to revile [the scriptures]. Also, the sutra talks about three carts, the sheep, deer, and bull carts, as well as the cart of the white bull. How are these different? I ask Your Reverence to explain these once again.

"

The master said,

"The meaning of the sutra is clear; it is you who is mistaken. The fault of the people of the three vehicles who are unable to comprehend the wisdom of the Buddha lies in their considering. Trying to figure it out as much as they possibly can, they [only] get further and further away [from the truth]. The Buddha originally preached this principle for ordinary people, not for buddhas. Those who were unable to believe left the assembly. They were 58

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completely unaware that they were sitting on the white bull cart, but went outside to search for the three carts. How much more clearly could the sutra say to you,

'There is only the one buddha vehicle and no other vehicle'? Whether there might be two or three or an infinite number of expedient means, with various stories, metaphors, and sayings, these teachings all constitute the one buddha vehicle.

"How can you not understand? The three carts are provisional and [were preached] because of the past. The One Vehicle is true and [was preached] because of the present. I teach only that you should repudiate the provisional and revert to the true. After reverting to the true, the true will also have no name.

108 You should understand that all the treasures you have are dependent on you and are used by you. Do not generate the thought of being father, do not generate the thought of being child, and be without any thought of their use: this is called maintaining the Lotus Sutra.From eon to eon one's hand does not let go of the text, from morning to night there is no time one is not being mindful of it.

"

Fada achieved a revelatory inspiration and leaped up in ecstasy. In verse he gave praise, saying:

The three thousand times I have recited the sutra Are forgotten with a word from [Huineng of] Caoqi. Not understanding the supramundane truth,

How could one exhaust the deluded waste of so many lifetimes? The sheep, deer, and bull [carts] are provisionally established To be well lifted up [to the higher level of meaning] early, middle, and late.

Who understands that he within the house of fire Is fundamentally the king within the dharmas? The master said,

"From now on you may be said to be a monk who is mindful of the sutra.

" Fada comprehended the mysterious purport through this and never ceased reciting the sutra.

The monk Zhitong was from Anfeng (Shu Xian, Anhui) in Shouzhou. First he read the Laṅkāvatāra Sutra,[doing so] about a thousand-plus times. But he did not understand the three bodies and four wisdoms, so he did obeisance to the master and asked for an explanation of these doctrines. 59

The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch 356b

The master said,

"As to the three bodies, the pure dharmakāyais your nature, the perfect and complete saṃbhogakāyais your wisdom, and the thousand billion nirmāṇakāyas are your practices (i.e., saṃskāra, "mental

activities"). To speak of the three bodies apart from the fundamental nature is called 'having the bodies but being without wisdom. ' If you are enlightened

to [the fact that] the three bodies have no self-natures, then you will understand109 the bodhi of the four wisdoms. 110 Hear my verse, which says:

The self-natures are endowed with the three bodies. Generating illumination, the four wisdoms are created. Without transcending the conditions of seeing and hearing, One transcendentally ascends to the stage of buddhahood. I am now explaining [this teaching] for you. Believe clearly, and be without delusion forever. Do not study by racing after it,

And you will always preach bodhi.

Zhitong said further,

"How might I hear the meaning of the four wisdoms?" The master said,

"If you understand the three bodies, then you will understand the four wisdoms. How could you ask any further? If I were to speak of the four wisdoms apart from the three bodies, this would be called 'having the bodies but being without wisdom. ' This would be to have wisdom but

make it into non-wisdom.

" He preached another verse, saying: The great round mirror wisdom is pure in nature. The wisdom of the universally same nature111 is without illness in mind.

The seeing of the wondrous contemplation wisdom is not [the result of] merit.

The wisdom that creates that which is accomplished is identical to the round mirror [wisdom].

The five and the eighth, sixth, and seventh [consciousnesses] transform [through] results and causes. 112

These are just names that are used, with no true nature. If one's sentiments linger not in the places of their transformations, 60

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In profusion does one generate in the locus of permanence— the samādhiof the dragon.

(Thus are the consciousnesses transformed into the wisdoms. In the teachings it says,

"Transform the first five consciousnesses into the wisdom that creates that which is accomplished. Transform the sixth consciousness into the wisdom of wondrous contemplation. Transform the seventh consciousness into the wisdom of the universally same nature. Transform the eighth consciousness into the great round mirror wisdom. Although the sixth and seventh are transformed within the cause, the[first] five and the eighth are transformed on the basis of the result. Only the names are transformed; the [consciousnesses] are not transformed in their essences.) Zhitong [achieved] sudden enlightenment to the nature and the wisdoms. He then offered this verse:

The three bodies are originally the essence of oneself. The four wisdoms are fundamentally the understanding of the mind. The bodies and wisdoms interpenetrate without hindrance, Responding to things in accordance with forms. All [deliberate] activation of cultivation is false activity. To guard one's abiding is not true serenity. The wondrous purport has been illuminated by the master. I will forever forget [all] defiled names. The monk Zhichang was from Guiqi (Guiqi Xian, Jiangxi) in Xin zhou(?). 113

He left home [to become a monk] when he was seven or eight and intently sought to see the nature. When he paid his respects one day, the master asked, "Where did you come from, and what do you seek?" [Zhichang] said,

"Recently this student went to Mount Baifeng114 in Hongzhou, where I did obeisance to Reverend Shenxiu115 and heard his teaching on seeing the nature and achieving buddhahood. Since I was unable to resolve my lingering doubts, I have traveled this distance to do obeisance to you. I beseech Your Reverence, in your compassion, to teach me. "

The master said,

"How did he (i.e., Shenxiu) phrase [his teaching]? Try to repeat it for me.

"

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The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch [Zhichang] said,

"After arriving there I received no teaching for three months. Because of the importance of the Dharma, one night I entered [Shenxiu's] quarters alone to inquire of him, 'What is my fundamental mind,

my fundamental nature?' Shenxiu then said, 'Do you see space?' I said,

'I

see.

' He said,

'When you see space, does it have characteristics or not?' I answered,

'Space is without form. What characteristics could it have?' He said,

'Your fundamental nature is like space in that there is not a single thing at all that can be seen. This is called correct seeing. For there to be not a single thing that can be known is called true knowing. There are no blue and yellow, long and short. Just see that the fundamental source is pure, the essence of enlightenment is perfect and bright: this is called seeing the nature and achieving buddhahood. It is also called the perceptual understanding of the Tathāgata.

' Even though this student heard this explanation, I was still not certain, and I beg Your Reverence to teach me. "

The master said,

"That teacher's explanation still allows perceptual understanding to exist, which is why you were unable to comprehend. I will now reveal a verse for you:

Not seeing a single dharmabut maintaining the view of nonbeing Is much like floating clouds blocking the face of the sun. Not knowing a single dharmabut maintaining one's knowledge of emptiness

Is just like the great void generating lightning and thunder. When such perceptual understanding arises for the slightest instant, How can mistaken recognition ever understand expedient means? You should understand the error of this yourself, in a single moment of thought,

And the numinous brilliance of the self will be constantly manifest. When Zhichang heard this verse, his mind became suddenly expansive [in enlightenment], and he related a verse: There is no reason to activate perceptual understanding, To be attached to characteristics and seek for bodhi. When one's intelligence116 harbors a single thought of enlightenment, How can one transcend the delusions of the past? 62

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The self-nature, enlightened to the essential source, Illuminates the crazed currents [of awareness]. Without entering the room of the patriarch, In a daze, going about with two heads. One day Zhichang asked the master,

"The Buddha preached the three

vehicles, and he also spoke of the Supreme Vehicle. I don't understand these doctrines and would like you to explain them for me. "

The master said,

"When you contemplate your own fundamental mind, do not be attached to the external characteristics of dharmas. There are no four vehicles in the Dharma; it is only that peoples' minds vary. To learn and recite is the small vehicle, to be enlightened to the Dharma and understand its meaning is the middle vehicle, and to cultivate according to the Dharma is the Great Vehicle. To penetrate all the myriad dharmas and to be equipped with all the myriad dharmas, without any defilement at all; to transcend the characteristics of the various dharmas, without anything that is attained: this is called the Supreme Vehicle.

'Vehicle' has the meaning of practice and cannot be argued about orally. You must cultivate yourself, not ask me about it. At all times the self-nature is itself suchlike. "

Zhichang thanked [Huineng] and served the master until the end of his years.

The monk Zhidao was from Nanhai in Guangzhou. He requested the benefit [of the master's teaching], saying "Since this student left home [to become a monk], I have spent more than ten years perusing the Nirvana Sutra,but I haven't understood its message. Would Your Reverence favor me with your explanation?"

The master said,

"What is it you do not understand?" [Zhidao] said,

"I am in doubt about [the lines] 'All processes are impermanent, these being the dharmas of generation and extinction. When generation and extinction are extinguished, quiescence is blissful. '"

The master said,

"What doubts do you have?"

[Zhidao] said,

"All sentient beings have two bodies, the physical body and the dharmakāya.The physical body is impermanent and is subject to generation and extinction, but the dharmakāyais permanent and is without knowing and without cognition. The sutra says, 'When generation and extinction

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The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch

are extinguished, quiescence is blissful,

' but I don't know which body is quiescent and which body experiences the bliss. If it's the physical body, when it is extinguished the four elements would disperse. This would [result in a state of] total suffering, and suffering cannot be called blissful. If it is the dharma kāyathat becomes extinguished, then one would be identical to the plants and rocks, and who would experience the bliss? Further, the Dharma-nature is the essence and the five skandhas are the functions of generation and extinction. There is one essence and five functions. If generation and extinction are permanent, 117 if there is generation then the functions should be activated on the basis of the essence, and if there is extinction then the functions should revert into the essence. To hear that there is generation once again implies that sentient beings are [subject to] neither annihilation nor extinction. But not to hear that there is generation once again implies a permanent reversion to quiescence, which would [make sentient beings] identical to inanimate objects. If this were the case then all the myriad dharmas would be contravened by nirvana and could not be generated. So how would there be bliss?"

The master said,

"You are a disciple of the Buddha, so why are you cultivating the false views of annihilationism and eternalism of the heterodox paths? To explain the teaching of the Supreme Vehicle on the basis of what you have just said would be to imply that there is a dharmakāyaseparate from the physical body, and that one must transcend generation and extinction in order to seek quiescence. Furthermore, you have argued from the Nirvana [Sutra's doctrine of ] permanence and bliss that there is a body that experiences the functions, but this [doctrine was preached on behalf of sentient beings who] poignantly grasp onto samsara and are shamefully attached to worldly pleasures.

"You should now understand that the Buddha [preached] on behalf of all deluded people that the five skandhas conjoin to make their own essences and characteristics.

118 [Sentient beings] discriminate all the dharmas as external sensory characteristics, taking generation as good and extinction as bad and being swept along moment after moment. They do not understand that the dreamlike phantasmagoria are false, and they pointlessly and crazily experience samsara. Thinking that permanent and blissful nirvana is transformed into the characteristics of suffering, they rush seeking after it all the time. Taking pity on such [people], the Buddha indicated the true blissfulness of nirvana: if 64

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[even] for an instant there is no characteristic of generation and if [even] for an instant there is no characteristic of extinction, then there will be no generation and extinction that can be extinguished. This is to have quiescence right there. But if when it is right there, one does not have the thought of it being right there, this is called permanent and blissful. This bliss is not experienced and it is not not experienced. How can there be the categories of one essence and five functions? And how could one possibly speak of nirvana contravening the myriad dharmas and rendering them permanently ungenerated? This is to revile the Buddha and destroy the Dharma. Listen to my verse: The insurpassable great nirvana

Is perfect and bright, always serene and illuminating. Foolish ordinary people call it death, And the heretics grasp at it as annihilation. Those who seek the two vehicles

Refer to it as unconditioned.

Of all that is considered by sentient beings— Of [all] the sixty-two [heterodox] views—it is the fundamental [source].

To falsely posit empty names—

How can these be true doctrines?

It is only those who go beyond thinking Who penetrate and are without grasping and rejecting. Thereby does one understand the teaching of the five skandhas And of the self within the skandhas. Externally manifesting the images of form And all the characteristics of sound. [Considering all these to be] universally "same" like dreams or phantasmagoria,

Not activating the view of [the distinction between] ordinary people and sages,

Not forming an interpretation of nirvana, The two extremes [of viewpoint] and the three limits [of time] are eradicated.

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The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch Always responding to the functions of the senses, But not activating the thought of "function. "

Discriminating all the dharmas,

But not activating the thought of "discrimination. "

Even though the eon-[ending] fire burns to the floor of the ocean And the winds pound upon the mountains like drums, The true bliss of permanent quiescence— The characteristic of nirvana—is suchlike. I have now resorted to words to explain it, So that you would discard your false views. If you do not follow this verbal interpretation, You may be able to understand a little bit. Upon hearing this verse, Zhidao experienced a great enlightenment. He leapt up [in ecstasy], did obeisance, and retired. Chan Master Xingsi was born into the Liu family of Ancheng (Jian Xian, Jiangxi) in Jizhou. Hearing that the teaching [of sentient beings] was flourishing from the Dharma seat at Caoqi, he came to consult and do obeisance [to Huineng]. He asked,

"What task should one undertake so as not to [backslide and] fall down the stages?" The master said,

"What have you done in the past?" [Xingsi] said,

"I have not performed even the sagely truth. "

The master said,

"What stages would you fall down?" [Xingsi] said,

"Without having performed the sagely truth, what stages can there be?"

The master was profoundly impressed by Xingsi, and made him the chief among his followers. One day the master said to [Xingsi], "You should

go off and teach somewhere, so that [the Dharma] is not cut off. "

Xingsi thus attained the Dharma, then returned to Mount Qingyuan in Jizhou, where he disseminated the Dharma and taught [sentient beings]. (His posthumous title is Hongji Chanshi["Meditation Master Extensive Salvation"].) Chan Master Huairang was from the Du family of Jinzhou (Ankang Xian, Shaanxi). First he studied under National Master [Lao]an of Mount Song. 66

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Laoan sent him to Caoqi to consult [Huineng]. When Huairang arrived and did his obeisance, the master asked "Where have you come from?" [Huairang] said,

"Mount Song.

"

The master said,

"[No matter] what kind of thing, how would it come?" [Huairang] said,

"If you say it's like a single thing, then you're off the mark.

"

The master said,

"Then can it be cultivated and realized?" [Huairang] said,

"Cultivation and realization are not nonexistent, but defilement does not occur.

"119

The master said,

"If it's only that [you] here are not defiled, then this is the mindfulness maintained by the buddhas. You are such as this, and I am such as this. Prajñātara of Western India predicted, 'Beneath your feet will

come a pony, who will trample the people of this world to their deaths. ' [What

you should do will be revealed] within your mind; do not preach too quickly. "

(One text lacks the twenty-seven characters beginning with "Western India. ")

Huairang experienced a suddenly expansive conjunction [with the fundamental mind]. Thereupon, he served as [Huineng's] attendant for fifteen years, becoming more immersed in the mysterious profundity day by day. Later he went to Nanyue, where he greatly disseminated the Chan school. (By imperial proclamation, his posthumous title was Chan Master Dahui ["Meditation Master Great Wisdom"].) Chan Master Yongjia Xuanjue was from the Zai family of Wenzhou (Yongjia Xian, Zhejiang). When he was young, he studied the sutras and śāstras and trained in the teaching of cessation and contemplation (i.e., concentration and insight meditation) of Tiantai. Through reading the Vimalakīrti Sutrahe illuminated his mind-ground. Coincidentally, he visited and discussed [the Dharma] with the master's student Xuance. Everything he said was in implicit accord with the [teachings of the] patriarchs. Xuance said,

"From whom did you attain the Dharma?" [Xuanjue] said,

"I heard that there is a succession of teachers for the Mahayana sutras and śāstras. Later I became enlightened to the central doctrine of the mind of the Buddha [by reading] the Vimalakīrti Sutra.As yet, no one has verified [my realization]. "

67

357c

The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch Xuance said,

"'Attained prior to King Sounds of Dignity; becoming enlightened oneself without a teacher after King Sounds of Dignity. ' In both

cases, this was the heretical path of naturalism. "

[Xuanjue] said, "May I request that you verify [my realization]?" Xuance said,

"My words carry no weight, but in Caoqi there is the Sixth Patriarch, Great Master [Huineng]. [Students] assemble there from the four directions like clouds. You would certainly receive his Dharma, and if you would go there I will accompany you. "

Xuanjue then came with Xuance to consult [the master. Upon his arrival, he] walked around the master three times, shook his staff, and stood still. The master said, "Monks are provided with three thousand forms of deportment and eighty thousand specific practices. Where have you come from, O One of Great Virtue, to generate such great self-conceit?" Xuanjue said,

"The matter of birth and death is great, and impermanence is rapid and swift. "

The master said, "Why don't you understand the birthless and comprehend that there is no swiftness?" [Xuanjue] said, "The essence is birthless, and comprehension is fundamentally without swiftness. "

The master said, "So it is, so it is. "

Only then did Xuanjue do obeisance [to Huineng] with full ceremony. He then immediately said he was going to leave. The master said, "Now isn't

this really swift?" [Xuanjue] said, "The fundamental is itself motionless, 120 so how can

there be swiftness?" The master said, [Xuanjue] said, The master said, "Who knows its motionlessness?" "You have just given birth to discrimination. "

"You have profoundly attained the meaning of the birthless.

"

[Xuanjue] said, "How can the birthless have a meaning?" The master said, "If there is no meaning, who is it that discriminates?" [Xuanjue] said, "Nor is discrimination a meaning. "

The master said, "How excellent! But at least stay one night!" From this time they called him" one-night [Xuan]jue. " Later he wrote the Song of Enlightenment,which was disseminated throughout the world. (His posthumous title 68

Number Seven: Encounters

was Wuxiang Dashi ["Great Master Without Characteristics"]. At the time he was called Zhenjue.)

The Chan monk Zhihuang first consulted the Fifth Patriarch and claimed that he had attained samādhi.Living in a hut, he [devoted himself to] lengthy sitting for twenty years. When the master's disciple Xuance was wandering through Heshuo (the area north of the Yellow River), he heard of Zhihuang's fame and went to [visit him in] his hut. [Xuance] asked,

"What do you do here?"

Zhihuang said,

"I enter into samādhi.

"

Xuance said,

"When you say 'enter into samādhi, ' does the mind of

being enter or does the mind of nonbeing enter? If it is the mind of non being that enters, then all the insentient plants and rocks would be able to attain samādhi.If it is the mind of being that enters, then all the sentient beings who have consciousness would also be able to attain samādhi. "

Zhihuang said,

"When I have entered into samādhi,I am unaware of the existence of the minds of being and nonbeing. "

Xuance said,

"If you are unaware of the minds of being and nonbeing, then this is permanent samādhi.How can you enter it or come out of it? If there is entering and coming out, then this is not the great samādhi. "

Zhihuang did not respond. After a while he asked, "From whom have

you succeeded [in this teaching]?" Xuance said,

"My master is the Sixth Patriarch of Caoqi. "

Zhihuang said,

"What does the Sixth Patriarch take as meditation?" Xuance said,

"What our master preaches is the wondrously peaceful and perfectly quiescent: the essence and functions are suchlike, suchlike. The five skandhas are fundamentally empty, the six [types of] sensory data are nonexistent. One does not enter and come out of [samādhi], one is neither concentrated nor disturbed. Meditation is in its nature nonabiding, and the serenity of meditation transcends abiding. Meditation in its nature is birthless, and the thoughts of meditation transcend birth. The mind is like space, but it is without any thinking of space. "

When Zhihuang heard this teaching, he came to visit the master. The master asked,

"Why have you come?"

Zhihuang related the previous events. The master said, "Truly, it is as

you have been told. You should only have your mind be like space—but 69

358a

8: Sudden and Gradual

The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch don't become attached to the view [that there is] space. Your functions should be unhindered, being without mind in both motion and stillness. The distinction121 between ordinary person and sage is forgotten; subject and object122 are both destroyed. Nature and characteristics are suchlike, suchlike, and there is no time when one is not in samādhi.(One text is without the thirty-five characters beginning with "You should only, " having merely

"The master took pity

on him for the distance he had come and so cleared up his doubts for him. ")

At this Zhihuang experienced a great enlightenment. All that he had learned in the preceding twenty years had had no impact whatsoever. That night people north of the [Yellow] River heard a voice from the sky saying, "Chan Master Zhihuang has attained enlightenment today. "

Zhihuang later took his leave and returned to north of the [Yellow] River to teach the fourfold congregation.

A monk asked the master,

mei?"

"What type of person attains the doctrine of Huang-The master said, The monk said,

The master said,

"Someone who understands the Buddha-Dharma. "

"Has Your Reverence attained it?"

"I don't understand the Buddha-Dharma.

"

One day the master wanted to wash the robe that had been bequeathed to him. Since there was no beautiful spring [nearby], he went about five libehind the monastery, where he saw that the forest was lush and circulating with propitious energy. The master shook his staff and stood it upright on the ground, and a spring flowed forth where he pointed. [The water] collected into a pond, and [Huineng] knelt to wash the robe. Suddenly, there was a monk on the rock who came forward and bowed, saying "[I am] Fangbian, from Western Shu (Sichuan). Formerly, I was in southern India, where Great Master [Bodhi]dharma enjoined me, 'Go quickly

to China. I have transmitted the treasury of the eye of the correct Dharma and the robe (saṃghātī) of Mahākāśyapa. It has been transmitted through six generations and is at Caoqi in Shaozhou. You should go and do obeisance [to Huineng].

' I have come from afar, and I would like to see the robe and bowl transmitted from our master.

"

The master showed them to him. [Huineng] asked further, "At what

endeavor do you excel?"

70

Number Eight: Sudden and Gradual [The monk] said,

"I am good at clay sculpture.

"

The master composed himself and said, "You should try sculpting me.

"

Fangbian was unable to refuse, and after several days the sculpture was finished. The likeness was seven inches tall and thoroughly wonderful. The master laughed and said,

"You only understand the nature of sculpture, but you don't understand the buddha-nature. " The master reached out his hand and rubbed the top of Fangbian's head, saying "Long will you be a field of blessings for humans and gods.

"

(The master recompensed [Fangbian by giving him] the robe. Fangbian divided the robe into three [parts], one part to cover the statue, one to keep himself, and one to bury in the ground. He vowed, "In the future, he who

will obtain this robe will be me appearing in the world. I will reside here and build new[monastery] halls. " In the eighth year of the Jiayou [period during the] Song [dynasty, or 1063], a monk named Weixian built a hall on this site and dug into the ground, obtaining the robe, which was still in new [condition]. The image is at Gaoquansi ["Lofty Spring Monastery"]; those who pray to it always receive a response.) A monk cited Chan Master Wolun's verse, which goes: Wolun has a technique

By which one can eradicate the hundred thoughts: The mind nonactivates with regard to the sensory realms, And bodhiincreases day by day.

Hearing this, the master said "[The author of] this verse did not understand the mind-ground. If you practice according to this, you will increase your fetters.

" He thereupon recited a verse, which stated: Huineng is without techniques

And does not eradicate the hundred thoughts. The mind is activated frequently with regard to the sensory realms. How could bodhiincrease?

Number Eight: Sudden and Gradual When the patriarch [Huineng] resided at Baolin[si] in Caoqi, Great Master Shenxiu was at Yuquansi ("Jade Spring Monastery") in Jingnan. At this time 71

358b

The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch the two schools flourished, and everyone said, "[Hui]neng in the South and

[Shen]xiu in the North.

" Hence there was a division into the two schools of South and North, sudden and gradual, but students did not understand the purport [of this distinction].

The master told the assembly,

"In the Dharma there is fundamentally one doctrine; it is in people that there is South and North. The Dharma is thus a single seed, but in seeing it there is fast and slow.What is it that is named sudden and gradual? The Dharma is without sudden and gradual; it is people that are clever or dull, therefore the names sudden and gradual. But Shenxiu's followers frequently criticize the Southern school, [saying] the patriarch [Huineng] is completely illiterate, so how could it be better? Shenxiu said,

'He has attained the wisdom that is without teacher and is profoundly enlightened to the superior vehicle. I have not. In fact, my teacher, the Fifth Patriarch, personally transmitted the robe and Dharma [to him]—how could this possibly have been in error? I regret I am unable to travel the great distance to be close to him, but falsely receive the nation's munificence. You people—do not linger here, but go to Caoqi to consult [with Huineng and have your doubts] resolved!'"

One day [Shenxiu] commanded his student Zhicheng, "You are intelligent

and wise in many things. Go on my behalf to Caoqi and listen to [Hui neng's] Dharma. Whatever you hear, memorize it and come back and tell it to me. "

Following this command, Zhicheng went to Caoqi, where he joined the assembly and inquired [of Huineng] without saying where he was from. At that time the patriarch informed the assembly, "There is now a person hiding

in this assembly in order to steal the Dharma. " Thereupon Zhicheng came

forward, did obeisance, and told everything. The master said, "You have

come from Yuquan[si]; this must have been a plot. "

[Zhicheng] answered,

"No, it isn't.

"

The master said,

"Why isn't it?"

[Zhicheng] answered,

"Before I spoke up it was, but now that I've spoken up it isn't.

"

The master said,

"How does your master teach his followers?" [Zhicheng] answered,

"He always teaches his congregation to 'fix the mind to contemplate purity and sit constantly without lying down. '"

The master said,

"To 'fix the mind to contemplate purity' is a sickness, 72

Number Eight: Sudden and Gradual

not meditation. How could it benefit the principle to 'sit constantly' with a rigid body? Listen to my verse:

You can sit [in meditation] without lying down from the day you're born,

But when you die you will lie down and not sit up. One always has this putrid skeleton,

Why should one set such a task?123

Zhicheng did obeisance again and said, "When I was at Great Master

Shenxiu's, I studied the Way for nine years without achieving enlightenment. Now I have heard one explanation by Your Reverence and I have conformed to (i.e., become enlightened to) the fundamental mind. I believe that the matter of birth and death is important. Would Your Reverence in your compassion teach me further?" The master said,

"I have heard that your master teaches students about morality, meditation, and wisdom, but I don't know how he explains them. What are the characteristics of his practice? Tell them to me. "

Zhicheng said,

"Great Master Shenxiu teaches that 'not to do evil is called morality, to practice good is wisdom, and to purify one's own intentions is called meditation.

' Thus does he teach. I wonder, with what Dharma does Your Reverence teach people?"

The master said,

"To say that I have a Dharma for people would be to deceive you. I simply release people's fetters according to the situation. The samādhiof provisional names,

124 such as your master's explanation of morality, meditation, and wisdom, is truly inconceivable. [But] my view of morality, meditation, and wisdom is different.

"

Zhicheng said,

"There can be only one type of morality, meditation, and wisdom. How can there be any other?"

The master said,

"The morality, meditation, and wisdom of your teacher is directed at people of the Great Vehicle. My morality, meditation, and wisdom are directed at people of the Supreme Vehicle. The enlightenment and understanding [of people] differs, and there is slow and fast in seeing. Listen to my explanation and [see if] it's the same as his. The Dharma that I preach does not depart from the self-natures. To preach the Dharma apart from the essence is called superficial preaching and 73

358c

The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch is permanently deluded regarding the self-natures. You should understand that all the functions of the myriad dharmas are all activated from the selfnature. This is the true Dharma of morality, meditation, and wisdom. Listen to my verse:

For the mind-ground to be without error is the morality of the self-nature.

For the mind-ground to be without stupidity is the wisdom of the self-nature.

For the mind-ground to be without disruption is the meditation of the self-nature.

Neither increasing nor decreasing, oneself adamantine, The body going and coming fundamentally is samādhi. When Zhicheng heard this verse, in gratitude he offered a verse that said: The five skandhas, the body of phantasmagoria. How could the phantasmagoria be [penetrated to the] ultimate? Proceeding back toward suchness,

The dharmas are still impure.

The master approved this, then said to Zhicheng, "The morality, meditation, and wisdom of your master is for exhorting those of small capacities to wisdom, but my morality, meditation, and wisdom is for exhorting those of great capacities to wisdom. If you are enlightened to the self-nature, you need not posit bodhiand nirvana, nor do you have to posit emancipated perceptual understanding. Only when there is not a single dharmathat can be apprehended can one posit the myriad dharmas. To understand this doctrine is called 'the body of the Buddha.

' It is also called bodhiand nirvana, and emancipated perceptual understanding. The person who has seen the nature apprehends [the dharmas] whether he posits them or not. He is autonomous in his going and coming, without stagnation or hindrance. He acts in response to the functions [of students], and he answers in response to their words. Always manifesting125 his nirmāṇakāya, he never departs from the selfnature. He attains the samādhiof autonomous disportment in the supernormal powers. This is called seeing the nature. "

Zhicheng further inquired of the master, "What is the meaning of 'not

positing'?"

74

Number Eight: Sudden and Gradual

The master said,

"The self-nature is without error, without stupidity, and without disruption. In moment after moment of thought, prajñāilluminates, 126

constantly transcending the characteristics of dharmas. Independent and autonomous, he apprehends everything—how could there be any positing? The self-nature becomes enlightened itself,

127 sudden enlightenment and sudden cultivation. There is no gradual progression. Therefore, one does not posit all the dharmas. The dharmas are quiescent—how could there be a progression?"

Zhicheng bowed [and said],

"I wish to attend upon you [and will do so]

morning and night, without remiss.

" (Zhicheng was from Taihe in Jizhou.)

The monk Zhiche was from Jiangxi and originally of the surname Zhang and name Xingchang.While young he was chivalrous. Ever since the division into North and South, although the leaders of the two schools had eliminated [the distinctions of] self and other, their disciples competed in their favoritism. At one time the followers of the Northern school established Shenxiu as the sixth patriarch and resented the public's knowledge of the patriarch's transmission of the robe. Thus they enjoined Xingchang to come assassinate the master. Through precognition, the master knew what was happening and placed ten liangof gold on the dais. That night Xingchang entered the patriarch's room and was about to attack him, when the master stretched out his neck [to make it easier] for Xingchang. Xingchang swung at him three times with his blade, but [Huineng] was not injured at all.

The master said,

"The correct sword is not false, and the false sword is not correct. Just take your money; do not take the life you [came for]. "

Xingchang fell prostrate with shock. After quite a while he came to his senses and sought [Huineng's] compassion, repenting his error and wishing to leave home [to become a monk]. The master then gave him the money, saying "You should go. I fear my followers would harm you. If you can change your appearance and return some day, I will accept you. "

Xingchang followed these instructions and escaped in the night. Later he left home to become a monk, took the full precepts, and vigorously [trained in Buddhism]. One day, remembering what the master had said, [Xingchang] came from afar to pay his respects.

The master said,

"I have been thinking of you for a long time. What

night did you come?"

75

359a

The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch 359b

[Xingchang] said,

"Previously Your Reverence disposed of my transgression. Now, although I have left home and [am engaged in] ascetic practices, ultimately it will be impossible to reward you for your virtuous [action]. Is transmitting the Dharma and saving sentient beings all that I can do? Your disciple has been reading the Nirvana Sutraconstantly, but I do not understand its doctrines of permanence and impermanence. I beg Your Reverence, in your compassion, to explain these for me briefly. "

The master said,

"That which is impermanent is the buddha-nature. That which has permanence is all the good and evil dharmas and the mind of discrimination. "

[Xingchang] said,

"What Your Reverence has said is quite different from the text of the sutra.

"

The master said,

"I transmit the mind-seal of the Buddha; how could [what I say] differ from the Buddha's sutra?" [Xingchang] said,

"The sutra teaches that the buddha-nature is permanent, but Your Reverence says it is impermanent. [The sutra says that] the good and evil dharmas and the mind of bodhi128 are all impermanent, but Your Reverence says they are permanent. This difference has made this student even more confused!"

The master said,

"Formerly I heard the nun Wujin Zang read through the Nirvana Sutraonce, and I explained it for her without so much as a single character or single doctrine being different from the text of the sutra. And I ultimately have no separate teaching for you. "

[Xingchang] said,

"This student's understanding129 is shallow, and I ask Your Reverence to reveal [the teaching] for me in detail. "

The master said,

"Do you understand? If the buddha-nature were permanent, then no matter what good and evil dharmas one explained, not a single person throughout the entire eon would generate bodhicitta. Therefore, I preach that it is impermanent. This is precisely the Way of true permanence preached by the Buddha. Furthermore, if all the dharmas were impermanent, then everything would have its own self-nature that would experience birth and death, and those true and permanent natures would not be omnipresent. Therefore, I preach that they are permanent, which is precisely the true doctrine of impermanence preached by the Buddha. 76

Number Eight: Sudden and Gradual

"Because ordinary people and heretics are attached to false permanence and those of the two vehicles consider permanence to be impermanence, together forming the eight confusions, the Buddha in the authoritative teaching of the Nirvana[Sutra] destroyed their prejudices and revealed his explanation of true permanence, the true bliss, the true self, and true purity. You are now relying on the words but going against the meaning. With an annihilationist impermanence and a deterministic permanence, 130 you have misunderstood

the Buddha's last words, which are perfect, wondrous, and subtle. What benefit can there be in reading [the sutra] a thousand times?" Xingchang suddenly experienced a great enlightenment, [after which] he spoke a verse, which went:

Because we maintain our minds of impermanence, The Buddha preached of permanence. Not understanding his expedient means, I was as if collecting pebbles by a pond in springtime. Now, without expending any of my own effort, The buddha-nature is right before me. It was not bequeathed to me by the master, And I am also without anything that is attained. The master said,

"You have now penetrated [the true teaching], so you should be called Zhiche.

" Zhiche bowed in gratitude and retired. There was a boy named Shenhui, who was from the Gao family in Xiangyang. At age thirteen he came from Yuquan[si] to consult [Huineng]. The master said, "You131 have gone to great trouble in coming such a distance, but have you brought the fundamental? If you have the fundamental, then you must recognize the master (zhu,i.e., the host or subject). See if you can explain it to me!" Shenhui said,

"Nonabiding is the fundamental, and seeing is the master. "

The master said,

"What will this novice say next!" Shenhui then asked,

"When Your Reverence sits in meditation, does he see or not?"

The master struck Shenhui with his staff three times and said, "When I

hit you, does it hurt or not?"

[Shenhui] answered,

"It both hurts and does not hurt. "

77

359c

The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch The master said,

"I also see and do not see.

"

Shenhui asked,

"What is this seeing and also not seeing?" The master said,

"My seeing is to see constantly my own mind's errors. I do not see other people's right and wrong or good and evil. This is to see and also not to see. You said it hurts and does not hurt. How about this? If you do not hurt, then you're the same as a tree or rock. If you hurt, then you're the same as an ordinary [unenlightened] person, who would become resentful.When you just said 'seeing and also not seeing' [you thought] they were two extremes, and your 'hurts and does not hurt' were [your misconception of] birth and death. But you don't see your self-nature, so you're just playing around.

" Shenhui bowed in gratitude.

The master went on to say,

"If your mind is deluded and you do not see, then ask a spiritual compatriot to show you the path. If you are enlightened in your mind, then you will see the nature yourself. Cultivate in accordance with the Dharma. You are deluded yourself and do not see your own mind, but you come ask about my seeing and not seeing. I see and I understand, but how could this take the place of your delusion? If you see for yourself, then you will also be unable to take the place of my delusion. How can you ask about my seeing and not seeing when you do not understand and have not seen for yourself?"

Shenhui did obeisance once again, making over a hundred prostrations. Seeking to put an end to his errors, he served [Huineng] as attendant and never left his side.

One day the master announced to the assembly, "I have a thing without

head or tail, without name or title, without front or back. Do you know what it is?"

Shenhui came forth and said,

"It is the fundamental source of the buddhas. It is my buddha-nature.

" The master said,

"I told you it was without name

or title, but you have called it the fundamental source, the buddha-nature. You've just covered your head with thatch. 132 You've become a follower with only discriminative understanding. "

After the patriarch's extinction, Shenhui entered Changan and Luoyang and widely disseminated the sudden teaching of Caoqi. He wrote the Explanation of the Central Doctrine,which circulated widely. (This is the Chan Master of Heze[si ("Lotus Marsh Monastery")].) 78