[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [宗鏡錄](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016) › [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016~en-mt) › 97.37 # 宗鏡錄 97.37 English (machine translation) 97.37 - **Language:** English ### [97.37](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016~en-mt.97.37) The first patriarch of this land, Bodhidharmatrāta, was the third son of the king of a Southern Indian kingdom. He was always fond of discussing principle and bore sentient beings in mind, yet he did not know the Buddha. He also sighed to himself, saying: "The world has conditioned phenomena of form, and these are easy to comprehend; only the Buddha's mind-dharma is such that few understand it." At that time, the Venerable Prajñātāra arrived in his kingdom. The king bestowed a precious pearl whose radiance was dazzling and extraordinarily wondrous. Having seen it, the Venerable tested \[him\] with the pearl, saying: "This precious pearl has great brilliance and can illuminate objects. Is there yet any fine pearl that can surpass this?" Bodhidharmatrāta said: "This is a worldly treasure and cannot be considered supreme. Among all lights, the light of wisdom is supreme. This is worldly brightness and cannot be considered supreme; among all brightnesses, the brightness of the mind is foremost. As for this pearl, all the radiance it possesses cannot illuminate itself; it must rely on the light of wisdom for wisdom to discern it. Once it has been discerned, one knows it is a pearl; once one knows it is a pearl, one understands its preciousness. If one understands its preciousness, the treasure is not a treasure of itself; if one discerns the pearl, the pearl is not a pearl of itself. That the pearl is not a pearl of itself means that one must rely on the pearl of wisdom to discern the worldly pearl. That the treasure is not a treasure of itself means that one must rely on the Dharma-treasure to understand the conventional treasure. However, the master possesses its Way, and this treasure is already apparent; sentient beings possess the Way, and the mind-treasure is also thus." The Venerable marveled at him. Thereupon, he left the household life, awakened to the Way, and subsequently traveled to this land to convert beings. Baozhi recognized that he was the sage Avalokiteśvara who transmitted the Buddha's mind-seal. The Master set forth the teaching of pacifying the mind, saying: "When confused, the person pursues dharmas; when awakened, dharmas pursue the person. When awakened, consciousness subsumes form; when confused, form subsumes consciousness. Whenever there is a mental conceptualization that calculates the direct perception of one's own mind, it is all a dream. If the conscious mind is quenched and there is not a single point of moving thought, this is called right awakening." - [Previous: 97.36](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016~en-mt.97.36) - [Next: 97.38](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016~en-mt.97.38) - [Up: 97](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016~en-mt.97) ## Linked texts (1) - [宗鏡錄](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016.97.37) — Classical Chinese --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016~en-mt.97.37](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016~en-mt.97.37) · Pramāṇa