六祖大師法寶壇經 1.94

1.94

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