釋氏稽古略 2.256

2.256

The Venerable Great Master Huike, the Second Patriarch, was a son of the Ji family of Wulao in the capital Luoyang. Initially named Shenguang, he was widely read in the poetic and classical literature, and was particularly refined in mysterious philosophy. In his youth, he went to Mount Xiang at Longmen in Luoyang, left home under Chan Master Baojing, and received full ordination at Yongmu Temple. His master directed him to see Bodhidharma at Mount Shaoshi (namely Shaolin Temple). The circumstances of his realization of the Dharma are set forth under the chapter on Bodhidharma. When the Patriarch continued the propagation of the mysterious tradition, he sought extensively for a Dharma heir. Coming to Northern Qi, there was a layman over forty years old who did not state his name. He arrived, offered salutations, and asked the Patriarch, saying, "Your disciple's body is afflicted with wind disease; I ask the Upādhyāya to repent of my sins for me." The Patriarch said, "Bring your sins here, and I will repent them for you." The layman remained silent for a long time, then said, "Having searched for my sins, they cannot be obtained." The Patriarch said, "I have completely repented your sins for you. You should abide relying on the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha." The layman said, "Now, seeing the Upādhyāya, I already know what the Sangha is; but I have not yet understood what is called 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 likewise so." The layman said, "Today for the first time I know that the nature of sin is neither internal nor external nor in the middle; just as with this mind, Buddha and Dharma are not two." The Patriarch regarded him with great esteem, saying, "This is my treasure!" He immediately tonsured him, saying, "It is fitting that your name be Sengcan." He received full ordination at Guangfu Temple and attended upon the Patriarch for two years. The Patriarch then announced to him, saying, "Bodhidharma came from afar from India, and secretly entrusted to me the treasury of the eye of the true Dharma along with the robe of faith. I now transmit them to you; you must safeguard them and not let them be cut off. Listen to my gāthā:
Originally, there was the condition of the ground;
Because of the ground, seeds and flowers grow.
Originally, there were no seeds at all;
Flowers also have never grown."
Having transmitted the robe and Dharma, he further said, "Having received my teaching, you should abide in the deep mountains; you must not yet carry out conversions, lest you meet with worldly calamities. However, I too have past karma, and now I must repay it." The Patriarch then went to the capital of Ye, preaching the Dharma in accordance with circumstances for thirty-four years. Later, beneath the mountain gate of Kuangjiu Temple in Guancheng County, he expounded the Unsurpassed Way. At that time, there was a Dharma Master Bianhe who was lecturing on the Nirvāṇa Sūtra in the temple; his students gradually slipped away to listen to the Patriarch. Resentful, He slandered the Patriarch before the magistrate Zhai Zhongkan. Zhai punished the Patriarch, and the Patriarch simply submitted with deference. He was then one hundred and seven years old, falling on the sixteenth day of the third month of the thirteenth year of the Kaihuang era of Emperor Wen of Sui. He was buried seventy li northeast of Fuyang County in Cizhou. Emperor Dezong of Tang granted him the posthumous title Chan Master Taizu. (Zhengzong ji)