南宗頓教最上大乘摩訶般若波羅蜜經六祖惠能大師於韶州大梵寺施法壇經 1.23

1.23

「善知識！我此法門，從上以來，頓漸皆立無念為宗，無相為體，無住為本。何名無相？無相者，於相而離相。無念者，於念而不念。無住者，為人本性，念念不住，前念、今念、後念，念念相續，無有斷絕。若一念斷絕，法身即離色身。念念時中，於一切法上無住。一念若住，念念即住，名繫縛。於一切法上，念念不住，即無縛也，是以無住為本。善知識！外離一切相，是無相。但能離相，性體清淨。是以無相為體，於一切境上不染，名為無念。於自念上離境，不於法上生念。莫百物不思，念盡除却，一念斷即無，別處受生。學道者用心，莫不識法意。自錯尚可，更勸他人迷，不自見迷，又謗經法。是以立無念為宗。即緣迷人於境上有念，念上便起邪見，一切塵勞妄念從此而生。然此教門立無念為宗，世人離見，不起於念，若無有念，無念亦不立。無者無何事？念者念何物？無者，離二相諸塵勞；念者，念真如本性。真如是念之體，念是真如之用。自性起念，雖即見聞覺知，不染萬境，而常自在。《維摩經》云：『外能善分別諸法相，內於第一義而不動。』

"Kalyāṇamitras! In this Dharma door of mine, from antiquity down to the present, whether sudden or gradual, all have established no-thought as the lineage宗旨 [principle], formlessness as the essence, and non-abiding as the foundation. What is called formlessness? Formlessness means being detached from forms while amidst forms. No-thought means not being caught in thoughts while having thoughts. Non-abiding is man's original nature: thought after thought does not abide; the past thought, the present thought, and the future thought follow one another continuously without interruption. If a single thought is cut off, the dharmakāya is detached from the physical body. At all moments of thought, there is no abiding in any dharmas. If a single thought abides, thought after thought abides, which is called fetter. If, with respect to all dharmas, thought after thought does not abide, then there is no fetter; thus non-abiding is taken as the foundation. Kalyāṇamitras! Being outwardly detached from all forms is formlessness. If one can merely be detached from forms, the essence of one's nature is pure; thus formlessness is taken as the essence. Being undefiled by any realm is called no-thought. Within one's own thoughts, one is detached from realms, and does not give rise to thoughts toward dharmas. Do not refrain from thinking of the hundred things, eradicating thoughts entirely; if a single thought is cut off, one ceases to be, and takes rebirth elsewhere. Practitioners of the Way, apply your minds carefully, and do not fail to understand the meaning of the Dharma! Making a mistake oneself is bad enough, but to further encourage others to be deluded, not seeing one's own delusion, and even slandering the sūtras and teachings—for this reason no-thought is established as the lineage. Because deluded people have thoughts regarding sense-realms, wrong views immediately arise from their thoughts, and from this all defilements and deluded thoughts are born. However, this teaching establishes no-thought as the lineage: when people of the world are free from views, they do not give rise to thoughts; if there were no thoughts, no-thought would not even be established. As for 'no', what is negated? As for 'thought', what is thought of? 'No' means being detached from the two marks and all defilements; 'thought' means being mindful of the original nature of tathatā. Tathatā is the essence of thought; thought is the function of tathatā. When thought arises from one's own-nature, although there are seeing, hearing, perceiving, and knowing, one is not defiled by the myriad realms, but is constantly autonomous. The Vimalakīrti Sūtra says: 'Outwardly able to skillfully distinguish the marks of all dharmas, inwardly unmoving with respect to the ultimate truth.'"