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 1.47

1.47

大師往漕溪山，韶、廣二州行化四十餘年。若論門人，僧之與俗，約有三五千人，說不可盡。若論宗旨，傳授壇經，以此為依約。若不得《壇經》，即無稟受。須知法處、年、月、日、姓名，遞相付囑。無《壇經》稟承，非南宗弟子也。未得稟承者，雖說頓教法，未知根本，終不免諍。但得法者，只勸修行，諍是勝負之心，與佛道違背。

The Master went to Caoxi Mountain and carried out his teaching in the two prefectures of Shao and Guang for over forty years. If we speak of his disciples, monks and laity together, there were about three to five thousand people; they cannot be fully recounted. If we speak of the essential tenet, the Platform Sūtra was transmitted, taking this as the standard. If one did not obtain the Platform Sūtra, one had no transmission. One had to know the place where the Dharma was conferred, the year, the month, the day, and the personal name, entrusting them successively to one another. Without receiving the Platform Sūtra, one is not a disciple of the Southern School. Those who have not obtained the transmission, though they preach the Dharma of the sudden teaching, do not know the root, and ultimately cannot avoid dispute. Those who have obtained the Dharma simply encourage practice; disputation is a mind of victory and defeat, which runs contrary to the Buddha-path."