六祖大師法寶壇經 1.22

1.22

「祖一日喚諸門人總來：『吾向汝說，世人生死事大，汝等終日只求福田，不求出離生死苦海；自性若迷，福何可救？汝等各去，自看智慧，取自本心般若之性，各作一偈，來呈吾看。若悟大意，付汝衣法，為第六代祖。火急速去，不得遲滯，思量即不中用；見性之人，言下須見。若如此者，輪刀上陣，亦得見之。』（喻利根者）眾得處分，退而遞相謂曰：『我等眾人，不須澄心用意作偈，將呈和尚，有何所益？神秀上座，現為教授師，必是他得。我輩謾作偈頌，枉用心力。』餘人聞語，總皆息心，咸言：『我等已後依止秀師，何煩作偈？』神秀思惟：『諸人不呈偈者，為我與他為教授師；我須作偈，將呈和尚，若不呈偈，和尚如何知我心中見解深淺？我呈偈意，求法即善，覓祖即惡，却同凡心，奪其聖位奚別？若不呈偈，終不得法。大難！大難！』

"One day the Patriarch summoned all his disciples to assemble: 'I say unto you: for people in this world, birth and death is a momentous matter. All day long you seek only fields of merit, not release from the bitter sea of birth and death. If you are deluded about your svabhāva, how can merit save you? Go each of you, examine your own wisdom, take the prajñā nature of your own original mind, and compose a verse to present to me. If you have awakened to the great meaning, I shall transmit the robe and the Dharma to you, and you will become the Sixth Patriarch. Go with extreme haste, brook no delay! Cogitation is of no use: a person who sees into their nature must see it upon the word. If one is like this, even when wheeling a blade onto the battlefield, one can still see it.' (An analogy for those of sharp faculties.) Having received these instructions, the assembly withdrew and said among themselves: 'There is no need for us to settle our minds and apply our thoughts to compose verses to present to the Upādhyāya; what benefit would there be? The Senior Monk Shenxiu is currently the instructor; he will surely get it. For us to compose verses would be an empty waste of mental effort.' Hearing these words, the rest all laid the matter to rest, saying together: 'Henceforth we will rely on Master Xiu; why trouble ourselves to compose verses?' Shenxiu reflected: 'The reason the others do not present verses is that I am their instructor. I must compose a verse and present it to the Upādhyāya. If I do not present a verse, how will the Upādhyāya know whether the understanding in my mind is shallow or deep? In my intention to present a verse, seeking the Dharma is good, but seeking the patriarchate is evil—that would be like an ordinary mind, and how would it differ from usurping the sacred position? Yet if I do not present a verse, in the end I will not receive the Dharma. How difficult! How difficult!'