六祖大師法寶壇經 1.186

1.186

六祖大師平昔所說之法。皆大乘圓頓之旨。故目之曰經。其言近指遠。詞坦義明。誦者各有所獲。明教嵩公常讚云。天機利者得其深。天機鈍者得其淺。誠哉言也。余初入道。有感於斯。續見三本不同。互有得失。其板亦已漫滅。因取其本校讎。訛者正之。略者詳之。復增入弟子請益機緣。庶幾學者得盡曹溪之旨。按察使雲公從龍。深造此道。一日過山房睹余所編。謂得壇經之大全。慨然命工鋟梓。顓為流通。使曹溪一派不至斷絕。或曰。達磨不立文字。直指人心見性成佛。盧祖六葉正傳。又安用是文字哉。余曰。此經非文字也。達磨單傳直指之指也。南嶽青原諸大老。嘗因是指以明其心。復以之明馬祖石頭諸子之心。今之禪宗流布天下。皆本是指。而今而後。豈無因是指。而明心見性者耶。問者唯唯再拜謝曰。予不敏。請併書于經末以詔來者。至元辛卯夏。南海釋宗寶跋。

The Dharma constantly expounded by the Great Master the Sixth Patriarch was entirely of the purport of the Mahāyāna, perfect and sudden; therefore, it is titled a sūtra. Its words are close at hand while their purport is far-reaching; its language is straightforward and its meaning is clear. Those who recite it each derive benefit. Master Song of Mingjiao often praised it, saying: 'Those whose natural faculties are sharp attain its depth; those whose natural faculties are dull attain its shallowness.' True indeed are these words! When I first entered the Way, I was deeply moved by this [text]. Later, I saw three different editions, which had mutual advantages and defects; moreover, their printing blocks had already deteriorated into illegibility. Thereupon, I took these editions, collated them, corrected errors, expanded on what was abridged, and furthermore added the circumstances of questions posed by his disciples, in the hope that students might fully grasp the purport of Caoxi. The Surveillance Commissioner, Master Yun Conglong, has deeply penetrated this Way. One day he visited my mountain retreat, saw what I had compiled, and remarked that it attained the complete edition of the Platform Sūtra. He generously ordered artisans to carve it into woodblocks expressly for widespread circulation, so that the lineage of Caoxi would not be cut off. Someone said: 'Bodhidharma did not establish words, but directly pointed to the human mind, seeing into one's nature and attaining buddhahood. Patriarch Lu was the genuine transmission of the sixth generation; of what use, then, are these words?' I replied: 'This sūtra is not mere words; it is the finger of Bodhidharma's single transmission and direct pointing. The ancient masters of Nanyue and Qingyuan once relied on this finger to clarify their minds, and further used it to clarify the minds of Mazu, Shitou, and other disciples. The Chan school today spreads throughout the world all based on this finger. From now on, will there not be those who, by relying on this finger, clarify their minds and see into their nature?' The questioner assented with deference, bowed twice, and thanked me, saying: 'I was undiscerning. Please write this down together at the end of the sūtra to instruct those who come after.' Written in the summer of the xinmao year of the Zhiyuan era [1291 CE] by the śramaṇa Zongbao of Nanhai as an afterword.