六祖大師法寶壇經 1.94

1.94

達聞偈，不覺悲泣，言下大悟，而告師曰：「法達從昔已來，實未曾轉法華，乃被法華轉。」再啟曰：「經云：『諸大聲聞乃至菩薩，皆盡思共度量，不能測佛智。』今令凡夫但悟自心，便名佛之知見。自非上根，未免疑謗。又經說三車，羊鹿牛車與白牛之車，如何區別？願和尚再垂開示。」師曰：「經意分明，汝自迷背。諸三乘人，不能測佛智者，患在度量也。饒伊盡思共推，轉加懸遠。佛本為凡夫說，不為佛說。此理若不肯信者，從他退席。殊不知，坐却白牛車，更於門外覓三車。況經文明向汝道：『唯一佛乘，無有餘乘若二若三。』乃至無數方便，種種因緣譬喻言詞，是法皆為一佛乘故。汝何不省，三車是假，為昔時故；一乘是實，為今時故。只教汝去假歸實，歸實之後，實亦無名。應知所有珍財，盡屬於汝，由汝受用，更不作父想，亦不作子想，亦無用想。是名持法華經，從劫至劫，手不釋卷，從晝至夜，無不念時也。」

And one will always ride the cart of the white bull.

Hearing this verse, Fada unwittingly cried tears of compassion, and upon

hearing the words he experienced a great enlightenment. He told the mas-

ter, “From long ago until the present I have actually never turned the Lotus,

but have been turned by the Lotus.”

Fada announced further, “The sutra says, ‘All the great śrāvakas and

bodhisattvas, even though they think about it and consider it as much as pos-

sible, cannot comprehend the wisdom of the Buddha.’ Now you would have

ordinary people simply become enlightened to their own minds, yet you call

that the perceptual understanding of the buddhas. I am not of superior abil-

ities, but I cannot help but doubt if this is not to revile [the scriptures]. Also,

the sutra talks about three carts, the sheep, deer, and bull carts, as well as the

cart of the white bull. How are these different? I ask Your Reverence to

explain these once again.”

The master said, “The meaning of the sutra is clear; it is you who is mis-

taken. The fault of the people of the three vehicles who are unable to com-

prehend the wisdom of the Buddha lies in their considering. Trying to figure

it out as much as they possibly can, they [only] get further and further away

[from the truth]. The Buddha originally preached this principle for ordinary

people, not for buddhas. Those who were unable to believe left the assembly.

They were completely unaware that they were sitting on the white bull cart, but went outside to search for the three carts. How much more clearly could the sutra say to you, ‘There is only the one buddha vehicle and no other vehicle’? Whether there might be two or three or an infinite number of expedient means, with various stories, metaphors, and sayings, these teachings all constitute the one buddha vehicle.

“How can you not understand? The three carts are provisional and [were preached] because of the past. The One Vehicle is true and [was preached] because of the present. I teach only that you should repudiate the provisional and revert to the true. After reverting to the true, the true will also have no name. You should understand that all the treasures you have are dependent on you and are used by you. Do not generate the thought of being father, do not generate the thought of being child, and be without any thought of their use: this is called maintaining the Lotus Sutra. From eon to eon one’s hand does not let go of the text, from morning to night there is no time one is not being mindful of it.”

Fada achieved a revelatory inspiration and leaped up in ecstasy. In verse he gave praise, saying:

The three thousand times I have recited the sutra

Are forgotten with a word from [Huineng of] Caoqi.

Not understanding the supramundane truth,

How could one exhaust the deluded waste of so many lifetimes?

The sheep, deer, and bull [carts] are provisionally established

To be well lifted up [to the higher level of meaning] early, middle,

and late.

Who understands that he within the house of fire

Is fundamentally the king within the dharmas?

The master said, “From now on you may be said to be a monk who is mindful of the sutra.” Fada comprehended the mysterious purport through this and never ceased reciting the sutra.

The monk Zhitong was from Anfeng (Shu Xian, Anhui) in Shouzhou. First he read the Laṅkāvatāra Sutra, [doing so] about a thousand-plus times. But he did not understand the three bodies and four wisdoms, so he did obeisance to the master and asked for an explanation of these doctrines.

The master said, “As to the three bodies, the pure dharmakāya is your

nature, the perfect and complete saṃbhogakāya is your wisdom, and the

thousand billion nirmāṇakāyas are your practices (i.e., saṃskāra, “mental