釋氏稽古略 3.259

3.259

In the xinwei year, the fifth year of Dazhong (851), in the first month, an edict summoned Chan Master Hongbian of the Great Jianfu Monastery in the capital to enter the palace. The Emperor asked: "Why does the Chan school have the names Southern and Northern?" The master reported to the throne: "The Chan gate originally has no south or north. From the various patriarchs down to the Great Master Hongren, there were two disciples: one was Huineng, who received the robe and Dharma and resided in Lingnan; the other was Shenxiu, who propagated the teachings in the north. Although the attainment of the Dharma was one, in guiding and awakening there was the difference of sudden and gradual. Therefore it is called Southern Sudden and Northern Gradual, not that the Chan school [itself] has the appellations of Southern and Northern." The Emperor asked: "What are called precepts, concentration, and wisdom?" He replied: "Guarding against wrongdoing and stopping evil is called precepts. When the six faculties engage objects and the mind does not follow conditions, that is called concentration. When mind and objects are both empty and contemplation is free of delusion, that is called wisdom." The Emperor asked: "What are called expedient means?" He replied: "They are the gates of skill-in-means that conceal the real and cover the marks. Gathering and guiding those of middling and lower faculties, indirectly applying inducements to advance them, is called expedient means. Even if, for those of superior faculties, it is said that abandoning expedient means one speaks only of the unsurpassed Way, this too is the speech of expedient means. Even up to the dark sayings of the patriarchs that forget effort and sever verbalization, they do not exceed the traces of expedient means." The Emperor asked: "What is the Buddha-mind?" He replied: "'Buddha' is a word from the Western Heavens; in the Tang tongue it means 'Awakened.' This means that a person's possessing wisdom and awakened illumination is the Buddha-mind. Mind is another name for Buddha; it has hundreds of thousands of different names, but its substance is solely one. Just as Your Majesty responds daily to myriad affairs, that is Your Majesty's Buddha-mind." The Emperor asked: "If someone recites the Buddha's name, what about that?" He replied: "The Tathāgata appeared in the world and taught according to faculties and capacities. For those of superior faculties he opened the highest vehicle and sudden awakening to the ultimate principle. Those of middling and lower faculties are not yet able to comprehend suddenly; therefore the Buddha opened the gate of contemplation, causing them to recite the Buddha's name and be reborn in Ultimate Bliss." The Emperor asked: "What about upholding sutras and mantras to seek Buddhahood?" He replied: "The various teachings spoken by the Tathāgata all constitute the One Vehicle, just as the hundreds of thousands of diverse streams all pay homage to the ocean. In this way, all differing conditions return to the ocean of sarvajña (all-knowledge)." The Emperor asked: "Since the patriarchs transmitted the mind-seal, what about the Diamond Sūtra's saying that 'there is no Dharma to be attained'?" He replied: "In the Buddha's single teaching period, truly not a single dharma was given to people; he merely showed that each person's own nature is identically the one Dharma-store. At that time, Dīpaṃkara Tathāgata merely gave the seal of approval to Śākyamuni's fundamental Dharma without anything attained; only then did it accord with Dīpaṃkara's original intent." The Emperor asked: "Since the Chan master understands the patriarch's intent, do you still bow to the Buddha and read the sutras?" He replied: "Śramaṇas bowing to the Buddha and chanting the sutras are the constant methods of abiding in the Dharma, of which there are four kinds: relying on the Buddha's precepts to cultivate the body, seeking out spiritual friends, gradually cultivating pure practices, and treading upon the traces of what the Tathāgata practiced." The Emperor asked: "What is sudden insight, and what is gradual cultivation?" He replied: "Suddenly understanding one's own nature is no different from the Buddha. However, because there are beginningless defiling habits, one relies on gradual cultivation as an antidote to cause one's nature to give rise to function in accordance [with principle]. It is like someone eating food: one is not satiated by a single mouthful." That day, the audience lasted for seven quarters of the water clock. The Emperor was pleased and bestowed the title Chan Master Yuanzhi. Following this, an imperial edict was issued to repair and expand the patriarchal stupas throughout the realm, and wherever there were those who had not yet received posthumous titles, the local authorities should report them to the court, and the Court of Imperial Sacrifices would examine their conduct and confer them (Old Book of Tang). Hongbian was a native of Jingzhao. He was a dharma heir of Chan Master Huaihui of Zhangjing Monastery. Hui was a native of Quanzhou, with the surname Xie; he entered quiescence in the thirteenth year of Xianzong's Yuanhe era (818) and was granted the posthumous title Chan Master Dajue. He was a dharma heir of Mazu (Transmission of the Lamp).