六祖大師法寶壇經 1.43

1.43

rendered permanently unable to defile one. This is to see the nature.

“Good friends, one should not reside within or without, and one’s going

and coming should be autonomous. One who is able to eradicate the mind

of attachment will [attain] penetration unhindered. Those who are able to

cultivate this practice are fundamentally no different from [what is described

in] the Prajñā Sutra.

“Good friends, all the sutras and all their words, the two vehicles of great

and small, and the twelve divisions of the canon—all these were established

because of people, and could only have been established because of the wis-

dom nature. If there were no people in this world, all the myriad dharmas

would be fundamentally and naturally nonexistent. Therefore, you should real-

ize that the myriad dharmas were fundamentally generated because of peo-

ple. All the sutras and texts exist through being preached because of people.

“Because some people are stupid and some are wise, the stupid being the

small and the wise being the great, the stupid ask questions of the wise and the

wise preach the Dharma for the stupid. When a stupid person suddenly becomes

enlightened, his mind opening forth, he is no different from a wise person.

“Good friends, if one is unenlightened, then the buddhas are sentient

beings. When one is enlightened for [even] a single moment, then sentient

beings are buddhas. Therefore you should understand that the myriad dhar-

mas are all within your own minds. Why can’t you suddenly see the funda-

mental nature of suchness from within your own minds? The Sutra of the

Bodhisattva Precepts says, ‘I am fundamentally pure in self-nature.’ If you

recognize your own mind and see the nature, you will definitely accomplish

the enlightenment of buddhahood. The Vimalakīrti Sutra says, ‘He then un-

expectedly retrieved the fundamental mind.’

“Good friends, when I was with His Reverence Hongren, I became

enlightened as soon as I heard him speak. I suddenly saw the fundamental

nature of suchness. Therefore, I am disseminating this teaching so that you who study the Way may become suddenly enlightened and [achieve] bodhi. You should each contemplate your minds and each see the fundamental nature. If you do not become enlightened by yourself, then you must seek a great spiritual compatriot, someone who understands the Dharma of the Supreme Vehicle, to indicate directly the correct path for you. This spiritual compatriot will have a great background and will, so to speak, lead you to the attainment of seeing the nature. This is because the spiritual compatriot is able to manifest the causes of all the good dharmas. All the buddhas of the three periods of time and the twelve divisions of the canon are fundamentally and naturally immanent within the natures of people, but if you cannot become enlightened yourself, you must seek a spiritual compatriot’s instructions in order to see [the nature].

“If you can become enlightened yourself, don’t rely on external seeking— don’t think I’m saying you can only attain emancipation through [the help of] a spiritual compatriot other than yourself. This is not the case! Why? Within your own minds there is a spiritual compatriot [who will help you] become enlightened by yourself! If you activate the false and deluded, you will become all mixed up with false thoughts. Although some external spiritual compatriots may be teachers, they cannot save you. If you activate the correct and true and contemplate with prajñā, in a single instant [all your] false thoughts will be completely eradicated. If you recognize the self-nature, with a single [experience of] enlightenment you will attain the stage of buddhahood.

“Good friends, in wisdom’s contemplation both interior and exterior are clearly penetrated, and one recognizes one’s own fundamental mind. If you recognize your fundamental mind, this is the fundamental emancipation. And if you attain emancipation, this is the samādhi of prajñā, this is nonthought.

“What is nonthought? If in seeing all the dharmas, the mind is not defiled or attached, this is nonthought. [The mind’s] functioning pervades all locations, yet it is not attached to all the locations. Just purify the fundamental