六祖大師法寶壇經 1.35

1.35

「惠能後至曹溪，又被惡人尋逐。乃於四會，避難獵人隊中，凡經一十五載，時與獵人隨宜說法。獵人常令守網，每見生命，盡放之。每至飯時，以菜寄煮肉鍋。或問，則對曰：『但喫肉邊菜。』

is cold or warm. Now you are my teacher.’

“I said, ‘If this is the case, then we share the same teacher of Huangmei. Well should you protect and maintain [the teaching]!’ Huiming asked further, ‘Where should I go now?’ I said, ‘When you encounter ampleness you should stop, when you come upon munificence you should reside.’59 Huiming bowed and left. (Huiming returned to the foot of the mountain. He addressed the

group that had come after me, saying “I just climbed this mountain of boulders, and there was no trace of him. We should try searching by another road.” The group of those chasing [Huineng] all did as he said. Huiming later changed [his name] to Daoming, in order to avoid the first character of his teacher’s name.)

“After this I went to Caoqi. There too I was beset by evil people searching for me and so fled to Sihui [Xian],60 where I spent fifteen years in all [living] with a group of hunters. During this time I preached the Dharma to the hunters when the occasion arose. The hunters had always had me guard their nets, but whenever I saw living animals in them I set them free. Whenever it was mealtime, I put vegetables in the pot for boiling the meat. They asked me about this sometimes, and I would answer, ‘These are just vegetables to go with the meat.’

“One day I realized that the time had come to disseminate the Dharma, that I could not hide forever. Accordingly, I left [the mountains and] went to Faxingsi (“Monastery of the Dharma-nature”) in Guangzhou, where I encountered Dharma Master Yinzong lecturing on the Nirvana Sutra.

“At that time the wind was blowing and the banner [announcing the lecture] was moving. One monk said that the wind was moving, while another monk said the banner was moving. They argued on and on, so I went forward and said, ‘It is not the wind that is moving, and it is not the banner that is moving. It is your minds that are moving.’ Everyone listening was amazed. Yinzong had me brought up to the dais, where he examined me on the import of what I had said. Hearing me say that the discrimination of the truth did not depend on written words, Yinzong said, ‘You are certainly an extraordinary person. Long ago I heard that the robe and bowl of Huangmei had come south—might you be the one [who received them]?’ I said, ‘In all modesty, [I am].’

“At this Yinzong bowed to me and asked me to bring forth the robe and bowl to show to the assembly. He questioned me further, saying ‘What instructions did you receive at Huangmei?’ I said, ‘I received no instructions. [Hongren and I] only discussed seeing the nature, we did not discuss samādhi and emancipation.’ Yinzong said, ‘Why did you not discuss samādhi and emancipation?’ I said, ‘Because the dualistic dharmas are not Buddhism. Buddhism consists of nondualistic dharmas.’

“Yinzong also asked, ‘How is it that Buddhism consists of nondualistic dharmas?’ I said, ‘You lecture on the Nirvana Sutra’s elucidation of the buddhanature, which is a nondualistic dharma of Buddhism. Just as when Bodhisattva King of Lofty Virtue asked the Buddha, ‘Do those who break the four major prohibitions and commit the five perverse transgressions, as well as the icchantikas, eradicate their good roots and buddha-natures?’ The Buddha said, ‘There are two types of good roots. One is permanent and the other is impermanent. The buddha-nature is not permanent and not impermanent.’ Therefore, not to eradicate is said to be nondual. One type [of roots] is said to be the good, and the other is the nongood. The buddha-nature is not the good and not the nongood. This is called nondual. The skandhas and sensory realms are seen as two by ordinary people, but the wise comprehend their natures to be nondual. The nondual nature is none other than the buddha-nature.

“When Yinzong heard this explanation, he joyfully held his palms together and said, ‘My lecturing on the sutra was like a [worthless piece of] roof tile or rock, while your explanation is like gold.’ At this, he adminis-