景德傳燈錄 3.11

3.11

師又曰。吾有楞伽經四卷。亦用付汝（此蓋依寶林傳之說也。按宣律師續高僧傳。可大師傳云。初達磨以楞伽經授可曰。我觀漢地唯有此經。仁者依行自得度世。若如傳所言。則是二祖未得法時。達磨授楞伽使觀之耳。今傳燈乃於付法傳衣之後言。師又曰。吾有楞伽經四卷。亦用付汝。則恐誤也。兼言吾有。則似世間未有也。此但可依馬祖所言云。又引楞伽經文。以印眾生心地。則於理無害耳）。即是如來心地要門。令諸眾生開示悟入。吾自到此凡五度中毒。我常自出而試之。置石石裂。緣吾本離南印來此東土。見赤縣神州有大乘氣象。遂踰海越漠為法求人。際會未諧如愚若訥。今得汝傳授吾意已終（別記云。師初居少林寺九年。為二祖說法秖教曰外息諸緣內心無喘。心如牆壁可以入道。慧可種種說心性理。道未契。師秖遮其非不為說無念心體。慧可曰。我已息諸緣。師曰。莫不成斷滅去否。可曰。不成斷滅。師曰。何以驗之云不斷滅。可曰。了了常知故。言之不可及。師曰。此是諸佛所傳心體。更勿疑也）言已乃與徒眾往禹門千聖寺止三日。有期城太守揚衒之早慕佛乘。問師曰。西天五印師承為祖。其道如何。師曰。明佛心宗行解相應。名之曰祖。又問。此外如何。師曰。須明他心知其今古。不厭有無於法無取。不賢不愚無迷無悟。若能是解故稱為祖。又曰。弟子歸心三寶亦有年矣。而智慧昏蒙尚迷真理。適聽師言罔知收措。願師慈悲開示宗旨。師知懇到。即說偈曰。

The Master also said: "I have the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra in four fascicles, which I also entrust to you." (This is probably based on the account in the Baolin zhuan. According to Vinaya Master Xuan's Continued Biographies of Eminent Monks, in the biography of Great Master Ke, it says: "At first Bodhidharma handed the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra to Ke, saying: 'I observe that in the land of Han there is only this sūtra. If the benevolent one practices in accordance with it, he will naturally achieve deliverance.'" If it is as stated in that biography, then it was before the Second Patriarch had attained the Dharma that Bodhidharma handed him the Laṅkāvatāra to have him examine it. Now, the Transmission of the Lamp says, after the entrustment of the Dharma and the transmission of the robe: "The Master also said: 'I have the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra in four fascicles, which I also entrust to you'"—this is feared to be an error. Furthermore, saying "I have" makes it seem as though it did not yet exist in the world. One should simply rely on what Mazu said: "He also cited the text of the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra to seal the mind-ground of sentient beings." Then there is no harm to the principle.) "This is the essential gate of the Tathāgata's mind-ground, causing all sentient beings to open, reveal, awaken to, and enter it. Since coming here, I have been poisoned five times. I often spat it out myself to test it; when placed on a rock, the rock cracked. Because I originally left South India to come to this eastern land, seeing that the Divine Realm of the Red Provinces had the atmosphere of the Great Vehicle, I crossed oceans and traversed deserts to seek a person for the sake of the Dharma. When the encounter was not yet harmonious, I seemed foolish and slow of speech. Now that I have found you to transmit and bestow it upon, my purpose is complete." (Another record states: "When the Master first resided at Shaolin Monastery for nine years, expounding the Dharma for the Second Patriarch, he taught him only: 'Externally cease all conditions; internally let the mind have no panting. When the mind is like a wall, one can enter the Way.' Huike variously explained the principle of mind-nature, but his realization did not tally. The Master merely checked his errors, not expounding for him the thoughtless mind-substance. Huike said: 'I have already ceased all conditions.' The Master said: 'Does it not turn into total annihilation?' Ke said: 'It does not turn into total annihilation.' The Master said: 'How do you verify that it is not totally annihilated?' Ke said: 'Because it is clearly and constantly knowing, words cannot reach it.' The Master said: 'This is the mind-substance transmitted by all Buddhas; doubt it no further.'") Having finished speaking, he went with his disciples to Qiansheng Monastery at Yumen and stayed for three days. Yang Xuanzhi, governor of Qicheng, had long admired the Buddha Vehicle. He asked the Master: "In the Five Indies of the Western Heavens, masters transmit the lineage to become patriarchs. What is their Way like?" The Master said: "To understand the Buddha-mind school, with practice and understanding in mutual accord—this is named a patriarch." He also asked: "Beyond this, what is it like?" The Master said: "One must comprehend the minds of others and know their present and past, not loathing being or non-being and grasping at nothing among phenomena, neither wise nor foolish, without delusion and without awakening. If one can understand like this, one is called a patriarch." [Yang Xuanzhi] also said: "I, your disciple, have turned my heart to the Three Jewels for years now, yet my wisdom is dim and obscure, and I am still deluded about the true principle. Just now, hearing the Master's words, I do not know how to take them in and apply them. May the Master compassionately reveal and show the ancestral principle." The Master, knowing his earnestness, thereupon spoke a gāthā, saying: