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 1.4

1.4

弘忍和尚問惠能曰：「汝何方人？來此山禮拜吾，汝今向吾邊，復求何物？」惠能答曰：「弟子是嶺南人，新州百姓，今故遠來禮拜和尚，不求餘物，唯求作佛。」大師遂責惠能曰：「汝是嶺南人，又是獵獠，若為堪作佛！」惠能答曰：「人即有南北，佛性即無南北；獵獠身與和尚不同，佛性有何差別？」大師欲更共語，見左右在旁邊，大師便不言，遂發遣惠能令隨眾作務。時有一行者，遂差惠能於碓坊踏碓八个餘月。

The Venerable Hongren asked Huineng: "Where are you from? Coming to this mountain to pay homage to me, what are you seeking from me now?" Huineng replied: "Your disciple is a man of Lingnan, a commoner of Xinzhou. Having come from afar to pay homage to the Venerable One, I seek nothing else—I seek only to become a buddha." The Master then scolded Huineng: "You are a man of Lingnan, and an uncivilized barbarian besides. How could you be fit to become a buddha?" Huineng replied: "People may be from north or south, but the buddhadhātu has neither north nor south. The body of a barbarian differs from that of the Venerable One, but what difference is there in the buddhadhātu?" The Master wished to speak further with him, but seeing attendants beside him, he said no more, and sent Huineng away to follow the community in their work. At that time, a postulant assigned Huineng to the pestle shed to tread the pestle for more than eight months.