六祖大師法寶壇經 1.117

1.117

師一日欲濯所授之衣而無美泉，因至寺後五里許，見山林欝茂，瑞氣盤旋。師振錫卓地，泉應手而出，積以為池，乃跪膝浣衣石上。忽有一僧來禮拜，云：「方辯是西蜀人，昨於南天竺國，見達磨大師，囑方辯速往唐土。吾傳大迦葉正法眼藏及僧伽梨，見傳六代，於韶州曹溪，汝去瞻禮。方辯遠來，願見我師傳來衣鉢。」師乃出示，次問：「上人攻何事業？」曰：「善塑。」師正色曰：「汝試塑看。」辯罔措。過數日，塑就真相，可高七寸，曲盡其妙。師笑曰：「汝只解塑性，不解佛性。」師舒手摩方辯頂，曰：「永為人天福田。」

five skandhas are fundamentally empty, the six [types of] sensory data are nonexistent. One does not enter and come out of [samādhi], one is neither concentrated nor disturbed. Meditation is in its nature nonabiding, and the serenity of meditation transcends abiding. Meditation in its nature is birthless, and the thoughts of meditation transcend birth. The mind is like space, but it is without any thinking of space.”

When Zhihuang heard this teaching, he came to visit the master. The master asked, “Why have you come?”

Zhihuang related the previous events. The master said, “Truly, it is as you have been told. You should only have your mind be like space—but

don’t become attached to the view [that there is] space. Your functions should be unhindered, being without mind in both motion and stillness. The distinction between ordinary person and sage is forgotten; subject and object are both destroyed. Nature and characteristics are suchlike, suchlike, and there is no time when one is not in samādhi. (One text is without the thirty-five characters beginning with “You should only,” having merely “The master took pity on him for the distance he had come and so cleared up his doubts for him.”)

At this Zhihuang experienced a great enlightenment. All that he had learned in the preceding twenty years had had no impact whatsoever. That night people north of the [Yellow] River heard a voice from the sky saying, “Chan Master Zhihuang has attained enlightenment today.”

Zhihuang later took his leave and returned to north of the [Yellow] River to teach the fourfold congregation.

A monk asked the master, “What type of person attains the doctrine of Huangmei?”

The master said, “Someone who understands the Buddha-Dharma.”

The monk said, “Has Your Reverence attained it?”

The master said, “I don’t understand the Buddha-Dharma.”

One day the master wanted to wash the robe that had been bequeathed to him. Since there was no beautiful spring [nearby], he went about five li behind the monastery, where he saw that the forest was lush and circulating with propitious energy. The master shook his staff and stood it upright on the ground, and a spring flowed forth where he pointed. [The water] collected into a pond, and [Huineng] knelt to wash the robe.

Suddenly, there was a monk on the rock who came forward and bowed, saying “[I am] Fangbian, from Western Shu (Sichuan). Formerly, I was in southern India, where Great Master [Bodhi]dharma enjoined me, ‘Go quickly to China. I have transmitted the treasury of the eye of the correct Dharma and the robe (saṃghātī) of Mahākāśyapa. It has been transmitted through six generations and is at Caoqi in Shaozhou. You should go and do obeisance [to Huineng].’ I have come from afar, and I would like to see the robe and bowl transmitted from our master.”

The master showed them to him. [Huineng] asked further, “At what endeavor do you excel?”

[The monk] said, “I am good at clay sculpture.”

The master composed himself and said, “You should try sculpting me.”

Fangbian was unable to refuse, and after several days the sculpture was finished. The likeness was seven inches tall and thoroughly wonderful. The master laughed and said, “You only understand the nature of sculpture, but you don’t understand the buddha-nature.” The master reached out his hand and rubbed the top of Fangbian’s head, saying “Long will you be a field of blessings for humans and gods.”

(The master recompensed [Fangbian by giving him] the robe. Fangbian divided the robe into three [parts], one part to cover the statue, one to keep himself, and one to bury in the ground. He vowed, “In the future, he who will obtain this robe will be me appearing in the world. I will reside here and build new [monastery] halls.” In the eighth year of the Jiayou [period during the] Song [dynasty, or 1063], a monk named Weixian built a hall on this site and dug into the ground, obtaining the robe, which was still in new [condition]. The image is at Gaoquansi [“Lofty Spring Monastery”]; those who pray to it always receive a response.)

A monk cited Chan Master Wolun’s verse, which goes:

Wolun has a technique

By which one can eradicate the hundred thoughts:

The mind nonactivates with regard to the sensory realms,

And bodhi increases day by day.

Hearing this, the master said “[The author of] this verse did not understand the mind-ground. If you practice according to this, you will increase