六祖大師法寶壇經 1.83

1.83

師自黃梅得法，回至韶州曹侯村，人無知者（他本云，師去時，至曹侯村，住九月餘。然師自言：「不經三十餘日便至黃梅。」此求道之切，豈有逗留？作去時者非是）。有儒士劉志略，禮遇甚厚。志略有姑為尼，名無盡藏，常誦《大涅槃經》。師暫聽，即知妙義，遂為解說。尼乃執卷問字，師曰：「字即不識，義即請問。」尼曰：「字尚不識，焉能會義？」師曰：「諸佛妙理，非關文字。」尼驚異之，遍告里中耆德云：「此是有道之士，宜請供養。」有魏（魏一作晉）武侯玄孫曹叔良及居民，競來瞻禮。時，寶林古寺，自隋末兵火已廢，遂於故基重建梵宇，延師居之。俄成寶坊，師住九月餘日，又為惡黨尋逐，師乃遯于前山。被其縱火焚草木，師隱身挨入石中得免。石今有師趺坐膝痕，及衣布之紋，因名避難石。師憶五祖懷會止藏之囑，遂行隱于二邑焉。

After the Master obtained the Dharma from Huangmei, he returned to Caohou Village in Shaozhou, where no one knew him. (Another edition says that when the Master went, he reached Caohou Village and stayed for more than nine months. However, the Master himself said: "In not more than thirty-odd days I reached Huangmei." With such urgency in seeking the Way, how could there have been any lingering? The account that has this occurring on the journey there is incorrect.) There was a Confucian scholar named Liu Zhilüe who treated him with great courtesy. Zhilüe had a paternal aunt who was a nun named Wujinzang, who constantly recited the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra. The Master listened briefly and immediately understood its profound meaning, and thereupon explained it for her. The nun then held up the scroll and asked about the characters. The Master said, "As for the characters, I do not recognize them; but as for the meaning, please ask." The nun said, "If you do not even recognize the characters, how can you understand the meaning?" The Master said, "The profound principle of all Buddhas does not concern written characters." The nun was astonished, and went everywhere telling the elders and virtuous of the village, "This is a person who possesses the Way; we ought to invite him and make offerings to him." Cao Shuliang, a great-great-grandson of Marquis Wu of Wei (Wei is also written as Jin), together with the local residents, vied to come and pay homage. At that time, the ancient Baolin Temple had been abandoned since the fires of war at the end of the Sui. Thereupon they rebuilt the monastery upon the old foundations and invited the Master to dwell there. Soon it became a precious site. The Master had stayed for nine months and more when he was once again pursued by malicious bands, so the Master fled to the mountain in front. They set fire to burn the grass and trees, but the Master hid himself by squeezing into a rock and escaped. The rock still has the marks of the Master's knees from sitting cross-legged, as well as the texture of his robe's cloth; hence it is named the Rock of Escaping Danger. The Master recalled the Fifth Patriarch's admonition to stop at Huai and conceal himself at Hui, so he went and hid in those two districts.