佛祖統紀 29.9

29.9

The Third Patriarch was Sengcan. At first, as a layman, he came to meet the Second Patriarch and asked: 'This disciple's body is beset by wind-disease. I request that the master grant me repentance for my sins.' The Patriarch said: 'Bring forward your sins, and I will perform repentance for you.' The Master said: 'When I search for my sins, they cannot be found at all.' The Patriarch said: 'I have completed the repentance for your sins. You should rely upon the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.' The Master said: 'Seeing the upādhyāya now, I already know you are of the Sangha. But I have not yet understood what are named Buddha and Dharma.' The Patriarch said: 'This mind is the Buddha; this mind is the Dharma. Dharma and Buddha are not two. The Sangha-jewel is also like this.' The Master said: 'Today for the first time I know that the nature of sin is neither within, nor without, nor in between. The mind is also like this; the Buddha and the Dharma are not two.' The Patriarch recognized his great capacity, immediately shaved his hair, and administered the full precepts. He then told him: 'Great Master Bodhidharma secretly entrusted the treasury of the true Dharma eye to me. I now confer it upon you along with the robe of faith. You must protect and uphold it.' During the suppression of the teaching under Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou, [Sengcan] went back and forth to Mount Sikong for more than ten years. At the beginning of the Kaihuang era of the Sui, he resided at Mount Wangong and transmitted the Dharma to Daoxin. He wandered freely throughout the regions south of the Yangtze River. In the second year of the Daye era, he returned again to his former mountain and expounded the Dharma for the assembly. Joining his palms and standing upright with solemn dignity, he passed away. He was buried at Shangu Monastery. In the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang, he was posthumously granted the title Zen Master Jingzhi.