六祖大師法寶壇經 1.74

1.74

At that time, seeing scholars and commoners from Guangzhou, Shaozhou, and the four directions gathered together side by side in the mountains to hear the Dharma, the Great Master ascended the seat and addressed the assembly, saying: "Come, good friends! This matter must arise from within one's own affairs: at all times, in thought after thought, purify your own mind for yourself. Cultivate for yourself, practice for yourself, see your own dharmakāya, see the Buddha in your own mind, deliver yourself, and take the precepts for yourself; only then will coming here not have been in vain. Since you have come from afar and gathered together here, you all share a common karmic affinity. Now you may each kneel on both knees. First I will transmit to you the fragrance of the fivefold dharmakāya of the svabhāva, and next I will confer the formless repentance." The assembly knelt on both knees. The Master said: "First is the fragrance of morality (śīla): namely, when within one's own mind there is no wrong, no evil, no jealousy, no greed and anger, and no plundering or harm, this is called the fragrance of morality. Second is the fragrance of samādhi: namely, seeing the marks of all good and bad sense-realms, one's own mind is not disordered; this is called the fragrance of samādhi. Third is the fragrance of wisdom (prajñā): one's own mind is unhindered, always using wisdom to contemplate and illumine the svabhāva, not creating any evils; although cultivating many goods, the mind does not cling; respecting those above and being mindful of those below, sympathizing with and pitying orphans and the poor; this is called the fragrance of wisdom. Fourth is the fragrance of liberation (vimukti): namely, one's own mind has nothing to grasp onto, thinking neither of good nor of evil, being free and unhindered; this is called the fragrance of liberation. Fifth is the fragrance of the vision and knowledge of liberation (vimukti-jñāna-darśana): since one's own mind has nothing to grasp onto regarding good or evil, one must not sink into emptiness and hold fast to stillness; rather, one must study extensively and listen much, recognize one's original mind, penetrate all the Buddha's principles, soften one's light and engage with the world, be free of self and free of others, directly reaching bodhi, the true nature being unchanging; this is called the fragrance of the vision and knowledge of liberation. Good friends! Let this fragrance each perfume you inwardly; do not seek it outwardly.