佛祖歷代通載 13.60

13.60

（四十四　己亥）　是歲遣使詣韶州曹溪。迎六祖能大師衣鉢。入內供養。詔南陽惠忠禪師赴闕。忠越州諸暨人。自受曹溪心印。居南陽黨子谷中。凡四十年。足不下山門。嘗示眾曰。禪宗學者應遵佛語一乘了義契自心源。不了義者互不相許。如師子身虫。夫為人師若涉名利別開異端。則自他何益。如世大匠斤斧不傷其手。香象所負非驢所堪。及是赴詔。初安置千福寺。一日帝問。如何是十身調御。忠起身而立曰。會麼。帝曰。不會。忠顧左右云。與老僧過淨瓶來帝又問。如何是無諍三昧。答曰。檀越踏毘盧頂上行。帝曰。此意如何。忠曰。陛下莫認自己清淨法身。帝益不曉。於是齋沐別致十問其一曰。見性已後用布施作福否。忠對。無相而施合見性。二曰。日夕作何行業合得此道。忠答。無功而修合此道。三曰。或有病難將何道理修行抵擬。忠對。無功而修了業本空得不動轉。四曰。臨終時作麼生得清涼自在無疑。忠以努力自信道為對。五曰。煩惱起時將何止息。忠以本心湛然煩惱回歸妙用。六曰。見性已去用持戒念佛求淨土否。忠對。性即是佛性即是淨土。七曰。捨此陰了當生何處。忠以無捨無生自在生為對。八曰。臨終時有華臺寶座來迎可赴否。忠以不取相為對。九曰。作麼生得神通以佛國。忠以見性如貧得寶如民得王對。十曰。只依此本性修定得作佛否。忠對。定得作佛佛亦無相。無得乃為真得。前十對皆廣有其辭。今約科目為對耳。帝由是凝心玄旨。

(Forty-four; jihai [759 CE]) In this year, an envoy was dispatched to Caoxi in Shaozhou to welcome the robe and alms bowl of the Sixth Patriarch, Great Master Huineng, into the palace for offerings. An imperial decree summoned Chan Master Nanyang Huizhong to come to the court. Zhong was a native of Zhuji in Yuezhou. Ever since receiving the mind-seal at Caoxi, he had resided in Dangzi Valley in Nanyang for a total of forty years without stepping outside the mountain gate. He once addressed the assembly, saying: 'Students of the Chan school should follow the Buddha's words: the definitive meaning of the One Vehicle accords with one's own mind-source; those who are not of the definitive meaning do not acknowledge each other, like worms bred within the body of a lion. Now, if one who acts as a teacher dabbles in fame and profit and establishes strange heterodoxies, what benefit is there to oneself or others? Just as a great master carpenter's axe does not injure his own hand, what a fragrant elephant carries cannot be borne by a donkey.' When he answered the summons, he was initially accommodated at Qianfu Temple. One day the emperor asked, 'What is the Tamer of the Ten Bodies?' Zhong stood up and said, 'Do you understand?' The emperor said, 'I do not.' Zhong looked to his attendants and said, 'Bring the water bottle to this old monk.' The emperor asked again, 'What is the samādhi of non-contention?' He replied, 'The donor walks upon the crown of Vairocana's head.' The emperor asked, 'What is the meaning of this?' Zhong said, 'Your Majesty, do not cling to your own pure Dharmakāya.' The emperor understood even less. Thereupon he fasted, bathed, and specially posed ten questions. The first was: 'After seeing one's nature, should one practice giving to create merit?' Zhong replied: 'Giving without signs accords with seeing one's nature.' The second was: 'What practices should one cultivate day and night to accord with this Way?' Zhong replied: 'Cultivation without effort accords with this Way.' The third was: 'If there are sicknesses and hardships, with what principle should one cultivate to resist and endure them?' Zhong replied: 'Cultivating without effort and comprehending that karma is originally empty, one attains the unshakeable.' The fourth was: 'At the time of death, how can one achieve clarity, coolness, ease, and freedom from doubt?' Zhong answered by urging diligent effort and self-confidence in the Way. The fifth was: 'When afflictions arise, how should one extinguish them?' Zhong replied that the original mind is clear and still, and afflictions return to wondrous function. The sixth was: 'After seeing one's nature, is it necessary to maintain the precepts, recite the Buddha's name, and seek the Pure Land?' Zhong replied: 'Nature itself is the Buddha; nature itself is the Pure Land.' The seventh was: 'Upon relinquishing these skandhas, where will one be born?' Zhong answered with birth through self-mastery in which there is neither relinquishment nor birth. The eighth was: 'At the time of death, if flower pedestals and jeweled seats come to welcome one, may one go to them?' Zhong answered by not grasping at marks. The ninth was: 'How does one attain spiritual penetrations in the Buddha-lands?' Zhong answered that seeing one's nature is like a poor person finding a treasure, or a commoner becoming a king. The tenth was: 'Relying solely on this original nature to cultivate samādhi, can one definitely attain Buddhahood?' Zhong replied: 'One will definitely attain Buddhahood, yet the Buddha is also formless; non-attainment is true attainment.' The ten answers above all had extensive words; here they are merely summarized according to their topics. From this, the emperor concentrated his mind on the profound purport.