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

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.