T2008 The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch

9: Proclamations

Number Nine: Proclamations

The master, seeing that many of those who would ask about the schools with evil intentions had gathered beneath his dais, took pity on them and said, "Students of the Way, you should eliminate all good and evil thoughts! That there are no names that can be named is to name the self-natures. The nondual nature is called the true nature. It is upon the true nature that all the teachings are established. At these words, you should see for yourselves!" When they heard this explanation, they all did obeisance and requested that he be their teacher. Number Nine: Proclamations

On the fifteenth day of the first month of the first year of the Shenlong ["Divine Dragon" period, 705, Empress Wu] Zetian and [Emperor] Zhongzong issued a proclamation that said,

"We have invited the two masters Shenxiu and Laoan to the palace to receive our offerings, [with the suggestion that] the occasion of ten thousand possibilities always reaches its ultimate in the single vehicle. The two masters demurred, saying,

'In the south there is Chan Master Huineng, who has intimately received the robe and Dharma from Great Master Hong ren. He transmits the mind-seal of the Buddha, and you should invite and inquire [of the Dharma] of him.

' We are now sending Palace Attendant Xie Jian to hurry [to Caoqi] with Our invitation. We wish the master, in his compassionate consideration, to ascend quickly to the capital. "

The master memorialized to the throne, excusing himself on account of illness [and saying,] "I wish to live out my life in the forests. "

Xie Jian said,

"The virtuous Chan monks of the capital all say, 'If you

wish to understand the Way, you must sit in meditation and cultivate samādhi. It has never happened that anyone attained emancipation without relying on meditation.

' I wonder, what is the Dharma that you teach?" The master said,

"One is enlightened to the Way through the mind. How could it depend on sitting? A sutra says, 'To say that the Tathāgata sits or lies down is to practice a false path. Why? Because he is without coming and without going.

' To be without birth and without extinction is the pure meditation of the Tathāgata. For the dharmas to be quiescent is the Tathāgata's pure sitting. Ultimately there is no realization, so how could it possibly [depend on] sitting?"

Xie Jian said,

"When your disciple returns to the capital, my imperial masters will certainly ask me [about you]. Please, in your compassion, indicate 79

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The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch for me the essentials of the mind, so I may transmit them to the two palaces and the students of the Way in the capital. It would be like a single lamp lighting a hundred or a thousand lamps—the darkness would become entirely bright, brilliant without limit.

"

The master said,

"The Way is without bright and dark. Bright and dark are complementary ideas, so even the 'brilliant without limit' has a limit. This is because it depends on the positing of names (i.e., categories). The Vimalakīrti Sutrasays,

'The Dharma is without comparison, because it is without mutuality.

'"

Xie Jian said,

"'Bright' is a metaphor for wisdom, and 'dark' is a metaphor for the afflictions. If perchance students of the Way do not use the illumination of wisdom to destroy the afflictions, how will they be able to escape beginningless samsara?" The master said,

"The afflictions are bodhi.They are nondual and not separate. If one [tries to] use the illumination of wisdom to destroy the afflictions, this is the interpretation of the two [Hinayana] vehicles [held by] those fit for the sheep and deer [carts]. Those of superior wisdom and Mahayana capabilities are completely different. "

Xie Jian said,

"What is the Mahayana interpretation?" The master said,

"Ordinary people see brightness and ignorance as different, but the wise comprehend that they are nondual in their nature. The nondual nature is the true nature, and the true nature is present in the ordinary and stupid [common people] without decrease, and in the sages and wise ones without increase. One abides in the afflictions without disruption; one resides in meditation without serenity. Not annihilationist and not permanent, neither coming nor going; neither located in an intermediate location nor in the internal and external; neither generated nor extinguished, permanently abiding without movement—this is called the Way. "

Xie Jian said,

"How does your teaching of neither generation nor extinction differ from the heretical paths?" The master said,

"When those of the heretical paths preach neither generation nor extinction, they have extinction put a halt to generation and generation reveal extinction. Their extinction seems like nonextinction, and their generation is explained by nongeneration. Our explanation of neither generation nor extinction is that fundamentally there is no generation and now 80

10: Transmission

Number Ten: Transmission

there is no extinction. Therefore, it is different from the heretical paths. If you want to understand the essentials of the mind, you should simply not think about all the [different types of] good and evil. You will then naturally attain entry into the pure essence of the mind, which is peaceful and always serene, with wondrous functions [as numerous as the] sands of the Ganges River. "

When Xie Jian heard this teaching, he experienced a sudden expansive great enlightenment. After doing his obeisance, he returned to the palace and submitted a memorial relating the master's words.

On the third day of the ninth month of that year, a proclamation was issued extolling the master: "On account of age and illness, the master [Huineng] has declined [Our invitation], which was made so that We might cultivate the Way. The master [may be considered] a field of blessings for the nation, just like Vimalakīrti, who used his illness to teach the Mahayana in Vaiśālī. He transmits the mind of the buddhas and discusses the nondual Dharma. Xie Jian has transmitted the master's instructions, which are the perceptual understanding of a Tathāgata. We have accumulated an overabundance of auspicious good133 and have planted good roots in the past-[thus have] We encountered the master's appearance in the world and the [teaching of] the superior vehicle of sudden enlightenment. Our gratitude to the master's good favor toward Us is neverending.

" Along with this were donations of a

vestment (kaṣāya) of valuable Korean material134 and a bowl made of crystal. An edict declared that the governor of Shaozhou should renovate the monastery, and the master's former residence was allowed to become Guoensi ("Monastery of the Nation's Gratitude").

Number Ten: Transmission

One day, the master summoned his disciples Fahai, Zhicheng, Fada, Shenhui, Zhichang, Zhitong, Zhiche, Zhidao, Fazhen, and Faru, and said, "You are

different from other people. After my extinction you should each become a master in a different region. I will now teach you how to preach the Dharma without losing the fundamental doctrine.

"First you should discuss the three categories of the teaching and the thirty-six responses of active functioning. Coming out and going in transcend the two extremes. In preaching all the Dharmas, do not depart from the self-nature.

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"If suddenly someone asks you about the Dharma, say something that will exhaust dichotomies. [You should] always use the teachings of the responses, such as the mutual causation of coming and going. The dualistic dharmas will be thoroughly eliminated, and [the questioner] will have no recourse (literally,

"no place to go").

"The three categories of the teaching are the skandhas, realms, and entrances.

'Skandhas' refers to the five skandhas of form, feelings, thoughts, impulses, and consciousness.

'Entrances' refers to the twelve entrances

(āyatanas): the six types of external sense data of forms, sounds, smells, tastes, tangibles, and dharmas; and the six internal sense organs of eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind.

'Realms' refers to the eighteen realms: the six

types of sensory data, the six senses, and the six consciousnesses. The selfnature is able to incorporate the myriad dharmas and is named the 'storehouse consciousness.

' If one activates thinking, it is the 'transformation consciousnesses, '135 the generation of the six consciousnesses to exit the six senses and see the six types of sensory data.

"Thus are the eighteen realms. All of them are functions that are activated from the self-nature. If the self-nature is false, it activates the eighteen falsely. If the self-nature is correct, it activates the eighteen correctly. If the functions are bad, then they are the functions of sentient beings; if they are good, then they are the functions of a buddha. On what do the functions depend? They exist on the basis of the self-nature.

"The responses include the five insentient responses of the external realms: the response of heaven and earth, the response of sun and moon, the response of bright and dark, the response of yinand yang,and the response of water and fire. These are the five responses.

"There are twelve responses of the words of the characteristics of dharmas: the response of words and dharmas, the response of being and non being, the response of form and formless, the response of with characteristics and without characteristics, the response of defiled and undefiled, the response of form and emptiness, the response of motion and stillness, the response of pure and impure, the response of ordinary and sage, the response of monk and layperson, the response of old and young, the response of large and small. These are the twelve responses.

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"There are nineteen responses of functions activated from the self-nature: the response of long and short, the response of false and correct, the response of stupid and wise, the response of foolish and sagacious, the response of disruption and concentration, the response of compassion and ill-will (literally, "poison"), the response of morality and transgression, the response of straight and crooked, the response of real and empty, the response of steep and level, the response of the afflictions and bodhi,the response of permanent and impermanent, the response of commiseration and injury, the response of joy and anger, the response of generosity and stinginess, the response of advancement and regression, the response of generation and extinction, the response of the dharmakāyaand the physical body, and the response of the nirmāṇakāya and the saṃbhogakāya.These are the nineteen responses. "

The master said,

"If you understand how to use these thirty-six responses, you will be able to explain the teachings in all the sutras. Exiting and entering transcend the two extremes; the self-nature mobilizes the functions. 136 When

speaking with people, externally you can transcend characteristics within characteristics and internally you can transcend emptiness within emptiness. Those who are entirely attached to characteristics will increase their false views. Those who are entirely attached to emptiness will increase their ignorance. Those who are attached to emptiness will slander the sutras. Just speak and do not use written words. Suppose you do not use written words. 137 If

there are also people [to whom] you should not speak, just say as follows: 'This is the characteristic of written words.

'138 You may also say,

139 'I simply

speak, but do not posit written words.

' This is not to posit written words.

140

They are also written words. Hearing someone preach, you may revile them, saying they are attached to written words. You should understand that you may be deluded yourselves and also revile the Buddha's sutras. You must not revile the sutras, which is a transgression immeasurable. You may be attached to characteristics externally and teach141 that one should seek the true. Or you may extensively establish training centers and preach about the errors of being and nonbeing. Such people will not be able to see the nature for eon after eon! "Simply listen, and cultivate according to the Dharma. Also, do not think about the hundred things and be impeded with regard to the enlightenmentnature. If you listen to this explanation and do not cultivate, you will on the 83

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contrary generate false thoughts. Just cultivate according to the Dharma, bequeathing the Dharma without abiding in characteristics. If all of you would be enlightened, rely on this for your preaching, rely on this for your functioning, rely on this for your practice, rely on this for [all] your actions; you would not lose the fundamental doctrine.

"When people inquire about the doctrines, when they ask of being, respond with nonbeing; when they ask of nonbeing, respond with being. When they ask of the ordinary, respond with the sagely, and when they ask of the sagely, respond with the ordinary. Through the two modes of speaking you will generate the doctrine of the middle. Respond to them one by one, and if there are any other questions, make up [your response] according to this and you will not go wrong. If someone asks you,

'What is darkness?'

,

you should answer,

'Brightness is the cause and darkness is the condition. When brightness disappears there is darkness. Brightness reveals darkness, and darkness reveals brightness.

' Through the modes of coming and going,

you will create the doctrine of the middle. All other questions should be handled like this. Later, when you transmit the Dharma you may rely on this to develop material for teaching. Don't lose the central doctrine!" In the seventh month of the first year of the Taiji ("Great Ultimate") [period], the forty-ninth hexagenary year, the Yanhe ("Extended Peace") [year, or 712] (This year was changed during the fifth month to Yanhe. In the eighth month Xuanzong took the throne and[the year period] was changed to Xian tian["Preceding Heaven"]. The following year[the year period] was changed to Kaiyuan["Opening the Origin"]. The other text[s] have this as [occurring during] Xiantian, but this is incorrect.),the master ordered his followers to go to Guoensi in Xinzhou to construct a stupa. He had them hurry the work, and the unveiling was at the end of the summer the following year. On the first day of the seventh month [of 713] he assembled his followers and said,

"I will depart from this world in the eighth month. If any of you have doubts, you should ask me about them soon, and I will resolve (literally, "destroy") your doubts for you and make your delusions disappear. After I am gone, there will be no one to teach you.

"

Fahai and the others listened, and everyone wept. Only Shenhui was emotionally unmoved and did not cry. The master said, "Young master Shenhui, you have become able to be unmoved before good and bad, before praise 84

Number Ten: Transmission

and blame, without generating sorrow and joy! You others have not attained this—what Way can you have been cultivating all these years on this mountain? Who is it you're crying for so sadly now? If you're sorry for me, you don't know where I'm going. I know myself where I'm going. If I didn't know where I was going, I wouldn't be announcing it to you in advance! You're all crying because you don't know where I'm going. If you knew where I was going, then you wouldn't be crying. The Dharma-nature is fundamentally without generation and extinction, going and coming. You should all sit down, and I will recite a verse for you. It is called the 'Verse of True and Provisional and Motion and Stillness. ' You should recite this verse, with the same meaning as mine. You should cultivate according to this, without losing the central doctrine.

"

The assembly of monks bowed and requested that the master recite the verse. The verse went:

All [things] are without any truth.

Do not see them as true.

If you see the true,

This is for what you see to be completely untrue. If you are able to possess the true yourself, Transcend the provisional and your mind will be true. If you do not transcend the provisional in your own mind, You will be without the true, for where could the true be located? If you are sentient, then you are able to move; That which is insentient is immobile. If you cultivate the practice of motionlessness, You become identical to the immobility of insentiency. If you are seeking the true motionlessness, [Then realize that] there is a motionlessness of motion. Motionlessness is motionlessness;142 Insentient [objects] lack the seeds of buddhahood. If you are able to discriminate well characteristics, The cardinal meaning [of Buddhism] is motionlessness. 85

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The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch Just to have such a view

Is to have functioning that is suchlike. I am telling you students,

Make an effort! And be careful!

Do not in this gateway of the Mahayana Grasp onto the wisdom of birth and death! If you can correspond [to the truth] upon hearing these words, Then we may discuss the doctrines of the Buddha together. If you in fact do not achieve correspondence, Then hold your palms together [in the anjalimudrā] and be joyful [that you've encountered the teaching at all]! This teaching is fundamentally without disputation, For disputation leads only to errors. 143

To grasp and oppose and dispute the teaching Is for one's nature to enter into birth and death. After the assembly heard [Huineng] speak this verse, they all did obeisance. Everyone there understood the master's point, and they all composed their minds [and became determined] to cultivate in reliance on the Dharma without any further disputation.

Realizing that Great Master [Huineng] would not remain in the world for long, Elder Fahai bowed once more and asked, "After Your Reverence has

entered nirvana, to whom will the robe and Dharma be bequeathed?" The master said,

"There is a summary in circulation of my sermon at Dafansi [and my teachings] up to now, entitled Platform Sutra of the Dharma Treasure. You should all protect [this text] and transmit it. In your saving of the myriad living beings, you should rely on only these sermons. This is called the correct Dharma. I have preached the Dharma for you now, [but] I will not bequeath the robe. This is because your roots of faith are mature, you are definitely without doubt, and you are able to undertake the great affair. In accordance with the intention of the former patriarch, Great Master [Bodhi]dharma, in the bequest of his [final] verse, the robe should not be transmitted. His verse went: 86

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I originally came to this land

To transmit the Dharma and save deluded sentient beings. A single flower opens into five leaves,

And the fruit will appear of itself.

The master said further,

"Good friends, you have each purified your

minds and listened to me preach the Dharma. If you wish to achieve the planting [of the roots] of wisdom,

144 you must master the samādhiof the

single characteristic and the samādhiof the single practice. If in all locations you do not reside in characteristics, if within those characteristics you do not generate revulsion or attraction and are also without grasping or rejecting, if you do not think about matters such as the creation and destruction of [personal] benefit, and if you are relaxed and quiet and emptily melded with the pallid and simple, this is called the samādhiof the single characteristic. "If in all your walking, standing still, sitting, and lying down you have a pure and unified straightforward mind, not moving [from the] place of enlightenment, truly creating a pure land, this is called the samādhiof the single practice.

"Those who accomplish both samādhis are like the earth bearing seeds, which it stores and nourishes during their maturation into fruit. So is it with the [samādhis of] the single characteristic and single practice. My preaching the Dharma to you now is like the timely rains that moisten the great earth, and your buddha-natures are likened to the seeds: encountering this watering, [your buddha-natures] will all begin to grow. Those who partake of my meaning will definitely attain bodhi! Those who rely upon my practice will certainly realize the wondrous fruit! Listen to my verse, which says: The mind-ground stores the various seeds,

Which all sprout through the universal rain.

With the flower of sudden enlightenment, intelligence is ended, And the fruit of bodhiforms of itself.

After the master spoke this verse he said,

"The Dharma is nondual, and

the mind is likewise. The Way (dao,enlightenment) is pure and without the various characteristics. You should all be careful not to contemplate purity or make the mind empty. The mind is pure and cannot be grasped or rejected. 87

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The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch You should all make an effort! Go well, according to your needs. " The members of the congregation then bowed and dispersed. On the eighth day of the seventh month, Great Master [Huineng] suddenly addressed his followers, saying, "I am going to return to Xinzhou. Get a boat ready quickly!" The large congregation then cried out, trying their best to get him to stay.

The master said,

"The appearance of the buddhas is like their manifestation of nirvana. Where there is coming, there must be going; this is an everlasting rule. There must be some location towhich this skeletal form will revert. "

The congregation said,

"When you leave here, how soon will you return?" The master said,

"Leaves fall and revert to roots. I cannot say when I will return.

"

They asked further,

"To whom has the storehouse of the eye of the correct Dharma been transmitted?"

The master said,

"Those who are enlightened have attained it; those who are without mind have penetrated it. "

They asked again,

"Won't there be some difficulties in the future?" The master said,

"Five or six years after my nirvana, a person will come to take my head. Listen to my prediction, 'On the head cultivating intimacy, in the mouth a need for repast. Encountering the difficulty of sufficiency, with willows the officials.

'"

[Huineng] also said,

"Seventy years after I go, two bodhisattvas will come from the East, one a monk and one a layman. They will simultaneously establish my teaching and make it flourish, decorating the monasteries and making many transmissions.

"

[The members of the congregation] asked, "We do not know through

what generations the transmission has proceeded from the appearance of the buddhas and patriarchs of the past. Please reveal this to us. "

The master said,

"The ancient buddhas have responded to the world in numbers unmeasurable and beyond calculation. For the moment, [however,] we take seven buddhas as the beginning: Vipaśyin Buddha, Śikhin Buddha, and Viśvabhū Buddha of the ornamentation eon of the past; and Kraku cchanda Buddha, Kanakamuni Buddha, Kāśyapa Buddha, and Śākyamuni Buddha of the present auspicious eon: these are the seven buddhas. 88

Number Ten: Transmission

"Taking Śākyamuni Buddha as the first of these seven buddhas, the transmission [is as follows]: number one, the Honored One Mahākāśyapa; number two, the Honored One Ānanda; number three, the Honored One Śaṇavāsa; number four, the Honored One Upagupta; number five, the Honored One Dhītika; number six, the Honored One Miśraka; number seven, the Honored One Vasumitra; number eight, the Honored One Buddhanandi; number nine, the Honored One Buddhamitra; number ten, the Honored One Pārśva; number eleven, the Honored One Puṇyayaśas; number twelve, the Honored One Aśvaghoṣa; number thirteen, the Honored One Kapimala; number fourteen, the Honored One Nāgārjuna; number fifteen, the Honored One Kāṇadeva; number sixteen, the Honored One Rāhulata; number seventeen, the Honored One Saṃghanandi; number eighteen, the Honored One Gayaśata; number nineteen, the Honored One Kumāralāta; number twenty, the Honored One Jayata; number twenty-one, the Honored One Vasubandhu; number twentytwo, the Honored One Manorahita; number twenty-three, the Honored One Halenayaśas; number twenty-four, the Honored One Siṃha Bhikṣu; number twenty-five, the Honored One Vasiṣṭa; number twenty-six, the Honored One Puṇyamitra; number twenty-seven, the Honored One Prajñā tāra; number twenty-eight, the Honored One Venerable Bodhidharma (the initial patriarch in this land); number twenty-nine, Great Master Huike; number thirty, Great Master Sengcan; number thirty-one, Great Master Daoxin; and number thirtytwo, Great Master Hongren. "[I,] Huineng, am the thirty-third patriarch. From the beginning, the patriarchs have each had successors. In the future, when it comes to letting the transmission be carried onward, you must not make mistakes!" Great Master [Huineng], after a vegetarian feast at Guoensi [in Xinzhou] on the initial third day of the eighth month of the fiftieth hexagenary year, the second year of the Xiantian [period, or 713] (In the twelfth month of this year,[the year period] was changed to Kaiyuan.), addressed his followers, "All of you, sit according to your stations. I am going to part from you. "

Fahai addressed him,

"Your Reverence, what teaching is it you leave so

that the deluded people of later times will be able to see the buddha-nature?" The master said,

"All of you, listen well. If the deluded people of some later time recognize sentient beings, [they will recognize them] as the buddha -89

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nature. If they do not recognize sentient beings, they could seek the Buddha for ten thousand eons without ever meeting him. I teach you now: to recognize the sentient being in one's own mind is to see the buddha-nature in one's own mind. If you wish to see the Buddha, just recognize the sentient being [in your mind]. It is only sentient beings who are deluded as to the Buddha; the buddhas are not deluded about sentient beings. If you are enlightened to your self-nature, then the sentient being is the Buddha; if you are deluded as to the self-nature, then [what might be] a 'buddha' is [only] a sentient being.

145 If the self-nature is universally 'same' (i.e., level), the sentient being is a buddha; if the self-nature is false and steep, the buddha is a sentient being. If your minds are steep and crooked, then the buddha is [hidden] within the sentient being. If a single moment of thought is level and direct, then the sentient being becomes a buddha. One's own mind possesses the Buddha, and this own-buddha is the true Buddha. If one is without the buddha-mind oneself, where could one seek the true Buddha? Your own minds are the Buddha, do not doubt this! Outside of this there is not a single thing that can be posited! All of us generate the ten thousand types of dharmas from our fundamental minds. Therefore, the sutra says 'When the mind is generated, the various types of dharmas are generated; when the mind is extinguished, the various types of dharmas are extinguished.

'

"I will now leave a verse for you in parting, called the 'Verse of the True Buddha of the Self-nature.

' If people of later times understand the point of

this verse, they will see their own fundamental minds and achieve the enlightenment of buddhahood. The verse goes: The suchlike self-nature is the true Buddha;

False views and the three poisons are King Māra.

During false delusion Māra is in one's home;

During correct views the Buddha is in one's hall.

When false views and the three poisons are generated in the nature, This is for King Māra to come reside in one's home.

When with correct views one eradicates the three poisonous [states of] mind,

Māra is transformed into the Buddha, true and not provisional. 90

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The dharmakāya,saṃbhogakāya,and nirmāṇakāya— The three bodies are fundamentally a single body. If one can see it oneself within the nature, This is the cause of bodhiand the achievement of buddhahood. From the nirmāṇakāyais fundamentally generated the pure nature; The pure nature is always within the nirmāṇakāya. The nature makes the nirmāṇakāyapractice the correct [eightfold] path,

And in the future will be perfect and complete, true without limit. The licentious nature is fundamentally a cause [within] the pure nature;146

To eliminate the licentious [results in] the body of the pure nature. Within the nature you should all transcend the five desires; In the instant that you see the nature, they are true. If you have encountered the sudden teaching in this lifetime, Become enlightened immediately to the self-nature and see the World-honored One.

If you cultivate by trying to become a buddha, You'll never know where to seek for the true. If you are able to see the true in your own mind, Having the true will be the cause of your achieving buddhahood. If you do not see the self-nature but seek the Buddha externally, Every activation of your mind will be that of a big fool. This sudden teaching is being left [for you] now, But you must cultivate it yourself in order to save others. I tell you, future students of the Way,

If your view is not like this, [you will come to] great sorrow! After the master spoke this verse he announced, "You may all stay

here, but after my nirvana do not become upset and cry tears like rain. Those who accept condolences from others or wear mourning clothes are not my disciples and are not [following] the correct Dharma. Just recognize 91

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your own fundamental minds and see your own fundamental natures, [which are] neither moving nor still, neither generated nor extinguished, neither going nor coming, neither correct nor false, neither abiding nor going. "I am afraid your minds are deluded and you don't understand my meaning. I will tell you again, in order to make you see your natures. After my nirvana, practice in accordance with this just as if I were alive. If you go against my teaching, it would be no use even if I were alive. I will say another verse: Stupefied,

147 not cultivating good.

Leaping, not creating evil.

Serene, eradicating knowledge.

Vast, the mind unattached.

When the master finished saying this verse, he sat upright until the third watch [of the night]. Suddenly he announced to his followers, "I am going,

"

and, peacefully, he went. At the time a strange fragrance filled the room, a white rainbow touched the earth, trees in the forest changed to white, and the birds and animals cried out.

In the eleventh month the officials of the three prefectures Guang[zhou], Shao[zhou], and Xin[zhou], the monks, and the laypeople argued over who was to receive [the master's] body. Since they could not decide, they burned incense to gain a portent, saying,

"The smoke from the incense will indicate

the direction in which the master's body should return. " The smoke from the

incense connected directly to Caoqi.

On the thirteenth day of the eleventh month, [the master's] casket and the robe and bowl he had transmitted were returned [to Caoqi]. In the seventh month of the next year, the casket was opened, and the disciple Fangbian spread incense paste on [the master's remains]. Remembering the prediction about the taking of the head, they lacquered the master's neck with metal sheets and placed it in his stupa. Suddenly, a white light appeared from inside the stupa that went straight up to heaven. Three days later it began to dissipate. [The prefect of] Shaozhou memorialized [about these happenings], and an edict was promulgated for the establishment of a stele recording the master's spiritual activities.

The master was seventy-six. He [received the] transmission of the robe at age twenty-four and offered up his hair [to become a monk] at age thirty-92

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nine. He preached the Dharma to benefit sentient beings for thirty-seven years, and transmitted the Dharma to forty-three people. The number who became enlightened and transcended [the state of unenlightened] ordinary person cannot be known.

The robe that was transmitted by Bodhi[dharma as an emblem of the] faith (which was of quxuancotton148 from the Western Region), a precious bowl of polished māṇavagiven by [Emperor] Zhongzong, the image of the master sculpted by Fangbian, and his religious implements are stored forever at the training center at Baolin[si]. This Platform Sutrahas been transmitted in order to make manifest the central doctrine, to disseminate the triple treasure, and to benefit all living beings. End of The Platform Sutra of the Dharma Treasure

of the Great Master, the Sixth Patriarch.

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Appendix

An Additional Record of the Story of the Great Master, the Sixth Patriarch Collected by the disciple Fahai and others The Great Master was named Huineng. His father was of the Lu family and had the posthumous name Xingtao. In the ninth month of the third year of the Wude ("Martial Virtue") [period, 620, Lu Xingtao] was banished to Xinzhou.

His mother, of the Li family, had a dream prior [to bearing Huineng, and] white flowers appeared in profusion in the front garden, a pair of white cranes flew by, and a strange fragrance filled the room. Realizing that she was pregnant, she maintained the chaste precepts in pure sincerity. She was pregnant for six years before the master was born, which was at the first [or "child" hour] (i.e., midnight) of the eighth day of the second month of the thirty-fifth year in the hexagenary calendar, the twelfth year of the Zhenguan ("Proper Exemplification") [period, 638] of the Tang [dynasty]. At the time a white light leaped to the sky from between [the baby's] eyebrows, and a fragrant pneuma wafted through the air. At dawn two monks came to see him. They said to the father, divined the name for the baby who was born last night. 149 It should be

"We have

'Hui'

above and '

neng

'below.

"

The father said,

"Why should he be named Huineng?" The monks said,

"'Hui'("to enrich") is because he will enrich sentient beings with the Dharma.

'Neng

'("capable") is because he is capable of performing the task of the buddhas. " Saying this, they left. It is not known where they went.

The master did not drink mother's milk but was anointed with sweet dew by the gods at night.When he was three, his father died and was buried next to the house. [Huineng's] mother maintained her will (i.e., did not remarry) and brought up [their son,] who cut firewood to support his mother as he grew older.

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The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch

At age twenty-four, [Huineng] heard the [Diamond] Sutraand had a [moment of ] understanding. He went to Huangmei to consult with and do obeisance to the Fifth Patriarch, who appreciated his abilities, transmitted the robe and Dharma to him, and had him receive the position of patriarch. The time was the fifty-eighth hexagenary year, the first year of the Longshuo ("Dragon Fiat") [period, 661].

Returning south, [Huineng] hid himself until the eighth day of the first month of the thirteenth hexagenary year, the first year of the Yifeng ("Phoenix of Righteousness") [period, 676],

150 when he met Dharma Master Yinzong.

After discoursing upon the profound mystery, Yinzong became enlightened to the master's doctrine.

151 On the fifteenth day of the month, there was a great meeting of the fourfold congregation, and [Yinzong] gave the master tonsure. On the eighth day of the second month, various famous worthies were assembled for the bequest of the full precepts. Vinaya Master Zhiguang of the western capital [Changan] was the preceptor, Vinaya Master Huijing of Suzhou was the officiant, Vinaya Master Tongying of Jingzhou was the instructor, Vinaya Master Jitāra of Central India was the explicant, and Tripi ṭaka Master Mida (?) of the Western Country was the validator.

The ordination platform had a stele erected by Tripiṭaka Master Guṇa bhadra of the Song, which said "In the future a bodhisattva in human form will receive the precepts here.

" Also, in the first year of the Tianjian ("Heavenly Oversight") [period, 502], Tripiṭaka Master Prajñācandra152 came from Western India by boat and planted a cutting of the bodhitree from India next to the platform. He also predicted,

"One hundred seventy years from now,

a bodhisattva in human form will open forth the superior vehicle under this tree and save innumerable beings. He will be the Dharma-chief of the seal of the truly transmitted mind of the Buddha.

" When the master came here

and offered up his hair [in tonsure], received the precepts, and opened forth the doctrine of the direct transmission to the fourfold congregation, it was all as had been prophesied before. (It is one hundred seventy-five years from the nineteenth hexagenary year, the first year of the Tianjian [period, or 502] of the Liang until the thirteenth [hexagenary year], the first year of the Yifeng [period, or 676] of the Tang.)

In the spring of the following year, the master left the assembly [at Fa xing si in Guangzhou] and returned to Baolin[si].Yinzong and over a thousand 96

Appendix

people, both monks and laypeople, saw him off. He went directly to Cao qi. At the time, Vinaya Master Tongying of Jingzhou and several hundred students remained [in Guangzhou, practicing] according to the master's [teachings]. When the master arrived at Baolin[si] in Caoqi, he saw that the buildings were small and unable to accommodate his congregation. Wanting to enlarge [the monastery], he visited the local figure Chen Yaxian and said, "This

old monk would like to receive from you enough room for my sitting mat. May I?"

Yaxian said,

"How big is Your Reverence's sitting mat?"

Huineng showed him the sitting mat, and Yaxian agreed. Huineng then spread out his mat so that it completely covered all of Caoqi. The four heavenly kings appeared and sat down [so as] to protect the four directions. The present monastery grounds include the Ridges of the Heavenly Kings, which are named on account of this.

Yaxian said,

"I know that the power of Your Reverence's Dharma is great, but the grave of my ancestor is also here. Some day when you build your stupa, I beseech you to leave [the grave] there. I also wish to donate all of this, to make it a precious domain [of the Dharma] forever. However, this earth is a [mountain] range to which come living dragons and white elephants. You may level heaven, but just do not level the earth. " Later, when they built

the monastery, they followed what he had said completely. The master roamed over the superior locations of mountains and water within the monastery grounds and then rested. Monastery [buildings] were constructed in thirteen locations, which are now called the Huaguo yuan ("Flower-fruit Chapels"). These are registered as belonging to the monastery. As to the Baolin training center, when Tripiṭaka Master Prajñācandra of the Western Country came from the Southern Ocean and was passing by the mouth of Cao Creek (Caoqi), he scooped up some water and drank it, realized how unusual was its beautiful fragrance, and said to his followers, "This

water is no different from the water of Western India. At the source of this stream there must certainly be a superior location suitable for a monastery!" They followed the current up to its source, which was surrounded by mountains and water on all four sides, with peaks and crags strange and excellent. [Prajñācandra] sighed,

"This is like Mount Baolin (Ratnavana?) in Western

India.

"153 He said to the people living in Caohou village, "You should build

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Details of Accolades through the Dynasties

The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch

a monastery on this mountain. One hundred seventy years from now, the unsurpassable Dharma-treasure will be disseminated here. 154 Those who

attain enlightenment will be like a forest, so it would be appropriate to call it Baolin ("Treasure Grove") [Monastery].

"

At the time the governor of Shaozhou, Hou Jingzhong, [reported what Prajñācandra] had said in a memorial, and the throne granted his request and bestowed a name plaque for Baolin[si, written in the imperial hand and making the monastery] a pure palace [of the Dharma]. It was unveiled in the third year of the Tianjian [period, or 504].

In front of the monastery's [Buddha] hall was a deep pool, where a dragon constantly went in and out, deforming the trees. One day he manifested a form that was extremely large, roiling up waves and obscuring [the sky with] clouds and mists. [Huineng's] followers were all afraid, but the master scolded [the dragon],

"You're only able to manifest a large body—you can't manifest a small body. If you were a divine dragon, your abilities at transformation would include the manifestation of the large with the small and the manifestation of the small with the large!"

The dragon suddenly disappeared and then instantly reappeared in a small body, jumping around the surface of the pool. The master held out his bowl, testing [the dragon] by saying,

"But I'll bet you don't dare enter this old

monk's bowl!" The dragon then swam up in front of him, and the master scooped him up in the bowl. The dragon could not move. The master carried the bowl to the [monks'] hall and preached the Dharma for the dragon, who then shed his skeleton and went away. His skeleton is about seven inches long and was complete with head and tail, horns and feet. It is kept at the monastery. The master later had the pool filled up with earth and rocks. The iron stupa that now exists in front of the hall on the left side guards the location. The rock that the master dropped from his hips [when he went to Hong ren's chambers to receive the transmission] is inscribed with eight characters [that read] "recorded [for] Layman Lu on the first year of the Longshuo [period, or 661].

" This stone now exists at Dongchan[si] in Huangmei. In addition, Assistant Director of the Right Wang Wei composed a Record of the Patriarchon behalf of Great Master Shenhui, which says, "The master

hid among workers for sixteen years. When he encountered Yinzong's lecturing on the [Nirvana] Sutra,[Yinzong] therefore performed the tonsure for him. "

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Also, Governor Liu Zongyuan composed an Epitaph on the Patriarch' s

Posthumous Title,which says,

"The master received the implement of authentication and hid himself in Nanhai for sixteen years. When [the time was right for him to] undertake the salvation [of sentient beings], he took up residence in Caoqi and became the teacher of humans. "

Furthermore, Grand Councilor Zhang Shangying composed a Record of the Fifth Patriarch,which says,

"The Fifth Patriarch taught at Dongchan

yuan in Huangmei Xian, which was convenient in his support of his mother. In the first year of Longshuo, after bestowing the robe and Dharma on the Sixth Patriarch, he dispersed his following and entered a hut on East Mountain. There was a layman [named] Pingmao, who gave the mountain to the master (i.e., Hongren) for a training center.

"

In consideration of this [evidence, we must conclude] then that the master's journey to Huangmei and reception of the Fifth Patriarch's robe and Dharma was in fact in the fifty-eighth hexagenary year, the first year of the Longshuo [period, or 661. From this year] to the twelfth hexagenary year of Yihuang [676], when the master first went to Faxing[si] and shaved his hair, is sixteen years. Other texts may say that the master went to Huangmei in the Xianheng ("Universal Penetration") [period, 670-674], but I fear this is incorrect. Details of Accolades through the Dynasties

Emperor Xianzong (r. 805-820) of the Tang bestowed on the Great Master the posthumous title,

155 "Chan Master Great Mirror.

"

Emperor Taizong (r. 976-997) of the Song supplemented this posthumous title to "Chan Master Great Mirror of True Emptiness" and by edict reconstructed the master's stupa and named it "Stupa of Great Peace and Benefit of the Country.

"

Emperor Renzong (r. 1022-1063) of the Song, in the tenth year of the Tiansheng ("Heavenly Sage") [period, 1032], welcomed the master's body, robe, and bowl into the palace for offerings. He supplemented the posthumous title to "Chan Master Great Mirror of True Emptiness and Universal Enlightenment. "

Emperor Shenzong (r. 1067-1085) of the Song supplemented the posthumous title to "Chan Master Great Mirror of True Emptiness and Universal Enlightenment and Perfect Wisdom.

"

363b

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Epitaph on the Bequest of the Posthumous Title “Chan Master Great Mirror”

The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch

All of these details are found in the epitaph and record of Yan [Shu] Yuanxian.

156

Epitaph on the Bequest of the Posthumous Title

"Chan Master Great Mirror"

by Liu Zongyuan

[The Military Commissioner Ma Zong,] Lord of Fufeng, inquired in detail about [the events of ] the three years in Lingnan, where a Buddhist became the Sixth Patriarch. Since no title had been granted, he enumerated [these details] to the emperor, who in an edict granted the posthumous title "Chan Master Great Mirror" (Dajian chanshi). [The Sixth Patriarch's] stupa was called "Stupa of Numinous Illumination" (Lingzhao zhi ta). On the thirteenth day of the tenth month of the tenth year of the Yuanhe ("Original Harmony") [period, 815], the tally promulgated from the Bureau of Sacrifices of the Department of State Affairs was received by the Military Commissioner, 157

who then commanded that subofficial functionaries from the bureau receive a report [on the welcoming of the tally] from the city's clerks to be forwarded to the [Bureau of ] Sacrifices.

[The report read, in part:] "So many banners and canopies, bells, and drums were placed on the mountain that its size increased, and the valleys were filled. Ten thousand people gathered together, as if to hear the gods and demons. At that time there were more than a thousand scholars [present], all of whom danced for joy in vigorous excitation, as if the master [Huineng] were alive again. Then, again, they felt pain and cried in fond remembrance, as if the master had just died.

"

Therefore I, [Liu Zongyuan,] say, living beings are naturally inclined to fighting, robbing, and killing. Disaster is our fundamental lot, obstruction and resistance the licentious flow [of samsara]. Thus there is nothing better than to return to the beginning. Confucius was without great position, but in death his words have been maintained in the world.

158 Then again, Yang

[Zhu], Mo [Di], the Yellow [Emperor], and Lao[zi] have become increasingly heterogeneous, their areas of expertise rent asunder. Last to appear was our Buddha [Śākyamuni], who, reasoning, transcended and returned to the source, and who must be called the one who lived in serenity.

159

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[Emperor Wu] of the Liang enjoyed performing conditioned [works of merit.] Master [Bodhi]dharma scolded him, and the technique of emptiness became increasingly apparent. The sixfold transmission arrived at Great Mirror (i.e., Huineng). Initially, Great Mirror labored hard at his task [of hulling rice], but when he once heard the words [of Shenxiu's verse], his [own] words were rare and trenchant. Master [Hongren's enlightened] functioning responded, and at last [Huineng] received the implements of authentication. 160 He hid himself in Nanhai, and no one heard of him. Then, after sixteen years, [the time was right for him to] undertake the salvation [of sentient beings], so he took up residence in Caoqi and became the teacher of humans. Those who assembled to study under him numbered a thousand. [Huineng's] Way took the unconditioned as being, the empty void as the real, and the vast and unbounded as the refuge. He taught people first with essentialistic goodness,

161 ultimately [to point out that] essentialistic

goodness did not depend on weeding and hoeing. Fundamentally, it is serene. [Emperor] Zhongzong heard of his fame and dispatched an emissary who invited him twice [to court], but he was unable to go. [The emperor] took his words as the technique of the mind. His teaching is extant in its entirety and is now disseminated [everywhere] under heaven. All that which is called "Chan" has its origins at Caoqi.

[Great Master] Great Mirror departed the world one hundred and six years ago, having extensively instilled [his teaching] in an extensive following. His well-known [successors] number a few over ten, but I cannot list their names here. Now, for the first time, the emperor has been informed [of his achievements] and he has attained a "great" posthumous title. 162 Bounteously

has he aided our Way—could he not but receive such an accolade? When Lord [Ma Zong of Fufeng] first stood before the court, he was strong in Confucian learning. He has been Governor of Qianzhou (Gong Xian, Jiangxi) and Protector of Annan, and the great Man and Yi, barbarians from India in the West, have come over the ocean on their ships to hear his commands. They all accept the public virtue, receiving banners163 [of enfeoffment], and regulating their halberds. After [Ma Zong of Fufeng] arrived to overlook the southern oceans, those who have joined our country are [as numerous as the trees of] a forest. They do not murder, nor are they angry; the people are filled with awe and do not speak bluntly. In truth, well does 101

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Epitaph for Chan Master Great Mirror

The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch

the refulgence [of his administrative success illuminate] the virtuous [Ma Zong of Fufeng].

The brilliant procession for Great Mirror was not like that for a lord, but it is fitting that he be the elder of the people, and it is simple to [make him] a rock beneath the foundation [of the national welfare]. 164

Your emissary proceeded there to pay respect with this accolade, which reads:

Bodhidharma, advancing ceaselessly, transmitted the mind of the Buddha's sayings, and

The sixfold succession was bestowed on Great Mirror for oversight. Laboring diligently in singleminded silence, he ultimately grasped the profound, and

Wrapped himself in the implements of authentication (i.e., the robe and bowl),

165 going to his southward haven.

His Way, at Caoqi here bequeathed,

Whether combined with great or humble, its stature is not razed. The transmission, recounted in its entirety, is for the Way but praise. Born with essentialistic goodness, in beings innate; Crazily rushing, racing in the extreme, a myriad modes of existence; Not thinking and increasingly chaotic, not realizing and increasingly mistaken—

Through the master's internal mirroring, all is attained in the fundamental.

If one does not plant roots, one will not cultivate seedlings; If the one within is melded without, one will possess pure brilliance in the extreme.

166

Emperor Zhongzong enjoined that word be sent to the court, In the shadows assisting the salvation of kings, the humble person free and easy.

One hundred and six years have passed with title unrecorded, But through Lord Fufeng the Son of Heaven was now informed. 102

Appendix

From the Secretariat was returned the practice of the "great" [title], which eulogized

His brilliance across the southern lands, rejuvenating his Dharma. His followers were ten thousand, a hundred million, despondent together, elated together.

One thinks the extent of the master's teaching derives from Lord Fufeng,

Who has offered all of his experience to the Son of Heaven. 167

The Son of Heaven, in repose, has ordered, And the excellent lord has virtue beauteous. Overflowing the oceans are the barbarians, overlooked by the Buddha. The master [Huineng] has transmitted [his teaching] with benevolence, And with benevolence has Lord [Fufeng] administered. With greetings resolute, let this continue forever without cease. Epitaph for Chan Master Great Mirror

(Along with the Inscription on the Buddha's Robe, both of which were compiled by Liu Yuxi)

On a certain month and day in the tenth year of the Yuanhe [period, or 815], an edict delivered praise on Huineng of Caoqi, the Sixth Patriarch, bestowing the posthumous title "Great Mirror.

" In truth, Ma Zong, Governor of Guangzhou, had enumerated [the details of Huineng's career] in a memorial, which was followed [by the emperor]. Revering the Way and honoring names revert identically to the same good and do not differ in the disparate teaching (i.e., Buddhism). With a single word of praise both Chinese and barbarians are extremely moved, attaining that for which they had appealed. 168 Lord Ma [Zong

of Fufeng] venerated [Huineng's] accomplishments, and, with respect, was the first to record them for posterity, and then consulted with literati. Now, Lord Liu [Zongyuan] of Hedong, Governor of Liuzhou, 169 has

composed an earlier epitaph. Three years later the monk Daolin led his followers here from Caoqi, saying they wished to erect a second epitaph. This was the desire of [Huineng's] students.

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Inscription on the Robe of the Buddha

The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch

During the middle five hundred years after the Tathāgata's nirvana, [Kāśyapa] Matanga and Zhu Falan brought sutras to China, and people first heard his words. This was like seeing sunrise through layered darkness. During the next five hundred years [Bodhi]dharma brought the Dharma to China, and people first transmitted [the Buddha's] mind. This was like seeing the gleaming sun on a dark morning. From [Bodhi]dharma the sixfold transmission reached Great Mirror and, like wish-bestowing pearls strung together, there was neither identity nor difference from one to the other. What is referred to in this world as the true doctrine, also known as the sudden teaching, was initially brought by [Bodhi]dharma along with the Buddha's robe, which is transmitted by the enlightened as a seal of the truth. [The robe] has reached Great Mirror and will no longer be transmitted. How could it possibly be like the fish and rabbit traps or the straw dog [that are discarded after the game is caught or the ritual finished]? Is it not that people simply had no choice but to do something with it and decided to let it stay [at Caoqi]?170

I am without [spiritual] attainment but have come to know [the following].

171 On the basis [of Daolin's testimony, Chan Master] Great Mirror was born in Xinzhou, left home at thirty-four, and died at age seventy-four. 172

After one hundred and six years he received a posthumous title. Initially, it was at East Mountain in Qi[zhou] that he received the prophecy of future enlightenment from the Fifth Patriarch, then returned [to the south]. [Emperor] Zhongzong sent a palace worthy173 who repeatedly invited [Huineng to court, but he] did not accept the invitation. [The palace worthy] then submitted [Huineng's] words to the throne, which reverentially put them into practice. The inscription reads:

The birth of the Perfected Man was unlike any other.

Identical to people was his form, transcending the human was his wisdom.

In this southern outskirt [of civilization where insects] wriggle did descend to be born one of exceptional greatness.

His father the sky and [his] mother the earth, alone did he take his form from the primal pneuma.

At a single word he was suddenly enlightened, without treading [even] the first stage [of the bodhisattva path],

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With the transmission from the fifth master, who bestowed the precious implements (i.e., the robe and bowl). 174

Sitting in meditation at Caoqi, the world called it the Southern school.

175

Students come here like the [inexorable flowing of] water to the east. Drinking of the wondrous medicine, they heal their deafness and dumbness.

Summoned but unable to proceed [to court,] he was allowed to become a hero of the Dharma.

The time of the Buddha is remote, and his words have accumulated to a hundred million.

Attaching themselves to emptiness and grasping being, everyone races toward his realm (the Western Paradise). "I (Huineng) have established a snare for truth, which has been triggered in this southern country. 176

Cultivating without cultivation, attaining without attainment, [This teaching] can cause students to return to their natural awareness. "

As when dark and obscure, one lifts one's eyes to the polestar. Attaining it naturally, ultimately it cannot be transmitted. Transmitted by mouth and passed by hand, [to hand down the robe] would be to be obstructed by being. 177

The robe is stored in the hall of emptiness, to attain it is to have it bestowed by heaven.

Inscription on the Robe of the Buddha (with Introduction)

I have written the second epitaph for [Huineng of] Caoqi on behalf of the monk [Dao]lin. Thinking that I might explain the meaning of the Sixth Patriarch not transmitting his robe, I have composed this inscription on the robe of the Buddha:

When the Buddha's words are not practiced, the Buddha's robe is [the subject of] argumentation.

Suddenly close but honoring the remote, our feelings toward ancient and contemporary are eternally [the same]. 105

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The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch

The birth of Confucius was in a place not even a village, But after the dream-offering [his teachings] have lasted for a thousand years.

As I recall, in the past there was [Emperor Wu] of the Liang, who was like a crazed elephant.

[Bodhi]dharma, in order to save [the people of this] world, came and became the Medicine King.

Because his words did not heal, he moved [elsewhere] on behalf of living things.

As if holding the matching tally and returning to the barrier!178 When the people do not know the officials, they look on their carriages and are afraid.

When laypeople do not know the Buddha, they consider his robe as something to be honored.

A robe of disintegrating colors—the Way is not in this! It is precious because it proves the enlightenment [of Huineng]. The Sixth Patriarch was not prominent, and his origins were obscure. He returned to the wolf-infested wilds, traveling far to live among the cretinous imbeciles [of the far south].

If he had not had the implements of authentication, how would sentient beings have taken refuge in him?

This was to open the gate of expedient means, not to transmit the robe as an end in itself.

179

What has a beginning must have an end; how could the transmission [of the robe] not cease?

Things must revert to nothingness; how could one long rely on a robe? If prior to the end one knows the end, its use is inexhaustible. Our Way is imperishable; how could it include a robe? When its use has been told, who would not consider it a straw dog [to be cast aside when no longer needed]?

It was after the master's [body] was placed in the stupa, on the third day of the fifty-ninth hexagenary year, the tenth year of the Kaiyuan [period, or 106

Appendix

722]. Suddenly, in the middle of night, there was heard a sound like the dragging of an iron chain.

180 The monks arose in surprise and saw a person

in mourning clothes181 running out of the stupa. Upon inspection, they saw a wound on the master's neck. They reported the entire affair at the county and prefectural headquarters to Magistrate Yang Kan and Governor Liu Wu tian and obtained a warrant for the urgent apprehension [of the assailant]. After five days the bandit was captured in Shijue village and sent to Shaozhou. Under interrogation, he identified himself as Zhang Jingman from Liang Xian in Ruzhou (Linru Xian, Henan).While at the Kaiyuansi ("Opening Origin Monastery") in Hongzhou, he had received two thousand cash from the Silla monk Kim Daepi (Jin Daibei) for taking the head of the Sixth Patriarch, Great Master [Huineng], to be returned to Haedong (i.e., Korea) [to become the object of] offerings.

Governor Liu, hearing the report [of the interrogation], went himself to Caoqi prior to sentencing. He asked the master's chief disciple [Ling]tao, "How should we deal with this?" [Ling]tao said,

"According to civil law, he

should obviously be executed. But according to the Buddhist [principle of ] compassion, both enemy and friend are treated equally. How much more the case since they wanted [Huineng's head] in order to make offerings to it. This transgression should be overlooked.

" Governor Liu sighed and said,

"For the first time I understand the grandeur of Buddhism!" He then pardoned [the criminal].

In the first year of the Shangyuan ("Uplifting the Origin") [period, 760, Emperor] Suzong sent an emissary to request that the master's robe and bowl be returned to the palace for offerings. On the fifth day of the fifth month of the first year of the Yongtai ("Eternal Peace") [period, 765, Emperor] Daizong dreamed that the Sixth Patriarch, the Great Master, requested [the return of] the robe and bowl. On the seventh day, an edict [was sent] to Governor Yang Jian, which said,

"We have dreamed that Chan Master [Hui]neng has requested that his robe of transmission, his kaṣāya,

182 be returned to Caoqi. We now dispatch Great Defender-General of the State183 Liu Chongjing to receive and return it reverentially. We state that it is a national treasure. Our servant should return it to its original monastery and emplace it according to the Dharma. We adamantly command the monks who have personally received the teachings [of Huineng] to guard it carefully and not allow [his body] to be defiled. "

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