宋高僧傳 13.40

13.40

稽夫法演漢庭，極證之名未著；風行廬阜，禪那之學始萌。佛陀什，秦擯而來；般若多，晉朝而至，時遠公也，密傳坐法，深斡玄機，漸染施行，依違祖述。吳之僧會亦示有緣，俱未分明，肆多隱祕。及乎慧文大士，肇尋龍樹之宗；思大禪翁，繼傳三觀之妙。天台智者引而伸之，化導陳、隋，名題「止觀」。粵有中天達磨，哀我群生，知梵夾之雖傳，為名相之所溺，認指忘月，得魚執筌，但矜誦念以為功，不信己躬之是佛。是以倡言曰：「吾直指人心，見性成佛，不立文字也。」此乃乘方便波羅蜜，徑直而度，免無量之迂迴焉。嗟乎！經有曲指，曲指則漸修也。見性成佛者，頓悟自心本來清淨，元無煩惱，無漏智性，本自具足。此心即佛，畢了無異。如此修證，是最上乘禪也。「不立文字」者，經云：「不著文字，不離文字。非無文字，能如是修，不見修相也。」又達磨立法，要唯二種，謂理也、行也。然則直而不迂，不速而疾，云不立文字，乃反權合道也。爾時梁武不知，魏人未重，向少林而面壁，唯慧可以神交。亦猶《白雪》雖歌，巴童寡和。後則臨汧牧圉，子孫終號於強秦；避狄岐邠，文、武乃成其王道。可生璨，璨生信。信下分二枝，一忍、二融。融，牛頭也。忍生秀與能。能傳信衣，若諸侯付子孫之分器也，厥後此宗越盛焉。蔭車百輛，尼拘樹而展轉垂枝；施雨萬方，阿耨龍而連筵布潤。當是時也，應其懸記，屬于此人，後來得道無央數是歟！

Looking into the past, when the Dharma was propagated at the Han court, the name of the ultimate realization had not yet become renowned; only when the teaching spread on Mount Lu did the study of dhyāna begin to sprout. Buddhabhadra came after being expelled from the Qin; Bodhiruci arrived during the Jin dynasty; at that time, Master Huiyuan secretly transmitted the method of sitting, deeply grasping the profound mechanisms, gradually putting them into practice while wavering in his transmission of the ancestral teachings. Sengzhe of the Wu dynasty also showed it to those with affinities, yet it was not distinct and was largely kept concealed. When Great Being Huiwen began to seek the lineage of Nāgārjuna, Grand Chan Master Huisi successively transmitted the subtlety of the threefold contemplation. Zhiyi of Mount Tiantai elaborated and expanded upon it, guiding and converting the Chen and Sui dynasties, titling it "Calming and Contemplation." Furthermore, there was Bodhidharma of Central India, who pitied all of us sentient beings; knowing that although the palm-leaf scriptures had been transmitted, people were drowned in names and concepts, mistaking the pointing finger for the moon and grasping the fish trap once the fish was caught, only boasting of recitation as merit and not believing that their own bodies are the Buddha. Therefore, he proclaimed: "I point directly to the human mind: see one's nature and become a Buddha, without establishing words and letters." This rides upon the pāramitā of expedient means, directly crossing over and avoiding immeasurable detours. Alas! Sūtras have circuitous directions, and circuitous directions pertain to gradual cultivation. "Seeing one's nature and becoming a Buddha" means suddenly awakening to one's own mind as fundamentally pure, originally free of afflictions, and inherently endowed with the nature of undefiled wisdom. This mind is itself the Buddha, completely and utterly without difference. Cultivating and realizing in this manner is the supreme vehicle of Chan. "Not establishing words and letters" means, as a sūtra says: "Neither clinging to words and letters, nor departing from words and letters. It is not that there are no words and letters; when one can cultivate thus, one does not see the marks of cultivation." Moreover, the principles Bodhidharma established consist essentially of two types: principle and practice. Thus, being direct and not circuitous, not rushed yet swift, saying "do not establish words and letters" is to return from expedients and accord with the Dao. At that time, Emperor Wu of Liang did not understand, and the people of Wei did not esteem him; facing the wall at Shaolin, he communicated spiritually only with Huike. It was just like singing "White Snow": the youth of Ba could hardly join in harmony. Later, like pasturing horses beside the Qian River, the descendants ultimately became known as the mighty Qin; or fleeing the Di barbarians to Qi and Bin, Kings Wen and Wu achieved their royal Dao. Huike gave birth to Sengcan; Sengcan gave birth to Daoxin. Below Daoxin, two branches divided: one was Hongren, and the other was Farong. Farong was Niutou. Hongren gave birth to Shenxiu and Huineng. Huineng transmitted the robe of faith, like the feudal lords conferring heirlooms upon their descendants; thereafter, this lineage grew ever more flourishing. Shading a hundred carriages, the nyagrodha tree spreads its branches down turn by turn; bestowing rain upon myriad regions, the Anavatapta Dragon spreads moisture without end. At that time, answering the prophecies of old, it belonged to this person; is it not true that those who attained the Dao thereafter were countless?