六祖大師法寶壇經 1.13

1.13

the Correct Doctrine of the Bodhisattvas’ Storehouse. Those who discuss it call it the Learning of the Mystery (xuanxue), and is this not exactly the case? The world refers to it as a school (zongmen), and is this not appropriate?

When the Platform Sutra says, “Meditation and wisdom are the fundamental,” [it is because] these are the beginning of one’s progress to enlightenment (dao, the “Way”). Meditation is tranquility, and wisdom is illumination

(ming). Illuminating, one contemplates; tranquil, one pacifies. Pacifying the mind, one understands the mind (tixin). Contemplating the Way, one may speak of the Way.

The “samādhi of the single practice” ( yixing sanmei) is a term for the one characteristic of the dharmadhātu (fajie yixiang). Although the ten thousand forms of good are said to be different, they are all within the single practice.

“The formless is the essence” (wuxiang wei ti) is to honor the great precepts. “Nonthought is the doctrine” (wunian wei zong) is to honor the great meditation. “Nonabiding is the fundamental” (wuzhu wei ben) is to honor the great wisdom. Precepts, meditation, and wisdom constitute the Way penetrated by the three vehicles. The wondrous mind (miaoxin) is the great source of precepts, meditation, and wisdom; with the single wondrous mind one unifies the three Dharmas. Therefore, it is called great.

The “formless precepts” (wuxiang jie) are to constrain one so as to definitely attain correct realization. The “four great vows” (si hong yuan) are to vow salvation—salvation from suffering; to vow eradication—the eradication of the accumulation [of the afflictions]; to vow learning—to learn the Way; and to vow attainment—attainment of serene extinction (i.e., nirvana). Extinction is without anything that is extinguished, and therefore there is nothing that is not extinguished. Enlightenment is without anything one is enlightened to, and therefore there is nothing that is not saved.

The “formless repentances” (wuxiang chan) are to repent that which is not to be repented. The “three refuges” are to take refuge in the One. The One is the source of the three treasures. To explain mahāprajñā (great wisdom) is to refer to the very center of the mind. Prajñā is the expedient means of the Sage, the great wisdom of the Sage.

Fundamentally, it can be tranquilized, illumined, made provisional, and actualized. The people of this world use its tranquilization to subjugate a host of evils; the people of this world use its illumination to collect a host of goods; the people of this world use its provisionalization to make great their conditioned [activities of teaching]; the people of this world use its actualization to make great their unconditioned [attainment of nirvana]. How ultimate, this prajñā! The Way of the Sage, without prajñā, would not be illuminated and would not be attained. The tasks of those under heaven, without prajñā, would

not be appropriate and would not be correct. The Perfected Man’s actions [of teaching] use prajñā to elicit [interpretations]. Is this not abstruse?

[Huineng says that] “my Dharma is preached for those of the highest abilities” because he appropriately [matches person and Dharma].23 To make heavy use of those [capable of only] light loads would be unsuccessful, and to bequeath the great method to those of small [capacities] would be an error. That which has been transmitted silently and bequeathed from the past is a secret teaching. “Secret” is not to imply one’s own realization without speaking but to [base oneself on] suchness while [practicing] in secret. To not understand this Dharma and revile it readily, to eradicate one’s seeds of buddhahood for a hundred eons and a thousand lives, is to lose the [fundamental] mind even as one [attempts to] protect the people of this world.

How great, the appearance of the Platform Sutra! Its fundamentals are correct and its traces effective. Its cause is true and its results unerring. Previous sages and later sages have thus generated it, have thus manifested it,