黃檗山斷際禪師傳心法要 1.17

1.17

問六祖不會經書。何得傳衣為祖。秀上座是五百人首座。為教授師。講得三十二本經論。云何不傳衣。師云。為他有心是有為法。所修所證將為是也。所以五祖付六祖。六祖當時秖是默契。得密授如來甚深意。所以付法與他汝不見道。法本法無法。無法法亦法。今付無法時。法法何曾法。若會此意。方名出家兒。方好修行。若不信云何明上座走來大庾嶺頭尋六祖。六祖便問。汝來求何事。為求衣為求法。明上座云。不為衣來。但為法來。六祖云。汝且暫時斂念。善惡都莫思量。明乃稟語。六祖云。不思善不思惡。正當與麼時。還我明上座父母未生時面目來。明於言下忽然默契。便禮拜云。如人飲水冷煖自知。某甲在五祖會中。枉用三十年工夫。今日方省前非。六祖云。如是。到此之時方知祖師西來直指人心見性成佛不在言說。豈不見。阿難問迦葉云。世尊傳金襴外別傳何物。迦葉召阿難。阿難應諾。迦葉云。倒却門前剎竿著。此便是祖師之標榜也。甚生阿難三十年為侍者。秖為多聞智慧。被佛訶云。汝千日學慧。不如一日學道。若不學道。滴水難消。

A question was asked: "The Sixth Patriarch could not understand the scriptures; how did he receive the robe and become the patriarch? Elder Shenxiu was the head monk of five hundred people and acted as their instructor, able to lecture on thirty-two scriptures and treatises; why was the robe not transmitted to him?" The Master said: "Because he had a mind, which is a saṃskṛta dharma; he took what he cultivated and what he realized to be correct. Therefore, the Fifth Patriarch conferred it upon the Sixth Patriarch. At that time, the Sixth Patriarch only had silent accord, secretly receiving the Tathāgata's profound intention; therefore, the Dharma was conferred upon him. Have you not seen it said: 'The fundamental dharma of dharmas is no-dharma; the dharma of no-dharma is also a dharma. Now, when conferring the no-dharma, how could the dharma of dharmas ever be a dharma?' If you understand this meaning, only then are you called a child who has left home, and only then are you fit to practice. If you do not believe this, why did Elder Huiming run to the top of the Dayu Ridge in search of the Sixth Patriarch? The Sixth Patriarch then asked: 'What have you come seeking? Do you come seeking the robe, or do you come seeking the Dharma?' Elder Huiming said: 'I have not come for the robe; I have come only for the Dharma.' The Sixth Patriarch said: 'Quiet your thoughts for a moment, and do not deliberate on good or evil.' Huiming received his words. The Sixth Patriarch said: 'Do not think of good; do not think of evil. At just such a moment, return to me Elder Huiming's original face before your father and mother were born!' Huiming, upon these words, suddenly had silent accord. He then bowed and said: 'Like a person drinking water, naturally knowing whether it is cold or warm. I was in the Fifth Patriarch's assembly and vainly spent thirty years of effort; only today do I awaken to my former errors.' The Sixth Patriarch said: 'It is so.' When reaching this point, only then does one know that the ancestral master's coming from the West, directly pointing to the human mind and seeing its nature to become a Buddha, does not consist in words. Have you not seen: Ānanda asked Kāśyapa, 'Apart from the golden robe, what else did the Bhagavat transmit?' Kāśyapa called, 'Ānanda!' Ānanda replied, 'Yes?' Kāśyapa said: 'Knock down the flagpole in front of the gate.' This is the model of the ancestral masters. What about Ānanda being an attendant for thirty years? Just because of his extensive learning and wisdom, he was scolded by the Buddha: 'Your studying wisdom for a thousand days is not as good as studying the Way for a single day. If you do not study the Way, even a single drop of water is hard to digest.'"