宗鏡錄 97.27

97.27

第十八祖伽耶舍多。初第十七祖僧迦難提。因至其舍。忽見一子。手執銅鏡而至師所。尊者曰。子幾歲耶。子曰。我當百歲。是時尊者見答百歲。覆問曰。汝當無知。看甚幼小。答吾百歲。非其理也。子曰。我不會理。正當百歲。尊者曰。子善機耶。子曰。佛偈云。若人生百歲。不會諸佛機。未若生一日。而得決了之。時尊者敬之深知是聖。又徵問曰。汝執此鏡。意況如何。爾時童子。以偈答曰。諸佛大圓鏡。內外無瑕翳。兩人同得見。心眼俱相似。父母見子奇異。遂捨出家。尊者即領遊化。至一古寺。而為受戒。名曰伽耶舍多。於彼殿上。有銅鈴被風搖響。尊者問曰。彼風鳴耶。彼鈴鳴耶。彼銅鳴耶。子曰。我心鳴耳。非風銅鈴。尊者曰。非風銅鈴我心誰耳。子曰。二俱寂靜。非三昧耶。尊者曰。善哉真比丘。善會諸佛理。善說諸法要。善識真實義。又告曰。我今將此法眼藏。付囑於汝。汝受吾偈。當行化之。偈曰。心地本無生。因種從緣起。緣種不相妨。華果亦復爾。伽耶舍多。後付鳩摩羅多傳法偈曰。有種有心地。因緣能發萌。於緣不相礙。當生生不生。

Regarding the eighteenth patriarch, Gayāśata: initially, the seventeenth patriarch, Saṅghanandi, arrived at his house and suddenly saw a boy holding a bronze mirror in his hand coming to the master's place. The venerable one asked, “How old are you, boy?” The boy said, “I am one hundred years old.” At that time, seeing him answer one hundred years old, the venerable one asked again, “You must be without knowledge; you look very young. Answering that you are one hundred years old does not accord with reason.” The boy said, “I do not understand reason, but I am precisely one hundred years old.” The venerable one asked, “Boy, are you adept with the capacity [for awakening]?” The boy said, “A Buddha's verse says: ‘If a person lives a hundred years without understanding the capacity of all Buddhas, it is not as good as living for a single day and attaining decisive resolution regarding it.’” At that time the venerable one respected him, deeply knowing he was a sage, and further questioned him, “What is the meaning and situation of your holding this mirror?” At that time the boy answered in verse:
“The great round mirror of the Buddhas
Has no flaw or blemish inside or outside.
When two people together get to see it,
Their cittas and eyes are both alike.”
The parents, seeing the boy's extraordinary nature, thereupon gave him up to go forth. The venerable one then led him on teaching travels, arrived at an ancient monastery, and gave him the precepts, giving him the name Gayāśata. In that hall, there was a bronze bell ringing as it was shaken by the wind. The venerable one asked, “Does that wind ring? Does that bell ring? Or does that bronze ring?” The boy said, “It is just my citta ringing, not the wind, bronze, or bell.” The venerable one said, “If not the wind, bronze, or bell, who is my citta?” The boy said, “Both are tranquil; is this not samādhi?” The venerable one said, “Excellent, true bhikṣu! You skillfully understand the principle of all Buddhas, skillfully preach the essentials of all dharmas, and skillfully recognize the real meaning.” He further told him, “I now entrust the treasury of the Dharma eye to you. Receive my verse and go forth to transform beings.” The verse says:
“The ground of citta is originally unborn;
Because of seeds, it arises from conditions.
Conditions and seeds do not obstruct each other;
Flowers and fruits are also like this.”
Later, Gayāśata gave the Dharma-transmission verse to Kumāralāta, saying:
“There is a seed and there is the ground of citta;
Through causes and conditions it can sprout.
Conditions do not obstruct each other;
When born, what is born is unborn.”