景德傳燈錄 3.17

3.17

僧那禪師姓馬氏。少而神俊通究墳典。年二十一講禮易於東海。聽者如市。暨南徂相部學眾隨至。會二祖說法。與同志十人投祖出家。自爾手不執筆永捐世典。唯一衣一鉢一坐一食奉頭陀行。既久侍於祖後謂門人慧滿曰。祖師心印非專苦行。但助道耳。若契本心發隨意真光之用。則苦行如握土成金。若唯務苦行。而不明本心。為憎愛所縛。則苦行如黑月夜履于險道。汝欲明本心者。當審諦推察。遇色遇聲。未起覺觀時心何所之。是無耶是有耶。既不墮有無處所。則心珠獨朗常照世間。而無一塵許間隔。未嘗有一剎那頃斷續之相。故我初祖兼付楞伽經四卷。謂我師二祖曰。吾觀震旦唯有此經可以印心。仁者依行自得度世。又二祖凡說法竟。乃曰。此經四世之後變成名相。深可悲哉。我今付汝宜善護持。非人慎勿傳之。付囑已師乃遊方。莫知其終。

Zen Master Sengna had the surname Ma. In his youth, he had extraordinary talent and thoroughly mastered the ancient classics. At the age of twenty-one, he lectured on the Book of Rites and the Book of Changes in Donghai, and his listeners were as crowded as a marketplace. When he went south to Xiangbu, the assembly of students followed him there. Encountering the Second Patriarch preaching the Dharma, he and ten like-minded companions joined the Patriarch and went forth from home. From then on, his hand never held a brush, and he forever abandoned worldly texts. With only one robe, one bowl, one sitting, and one meal, he practiced the dhūta austerities. After having attended on the Patriarch for a long time, he later said to his disciple Huiman, "The mind-seal of the ancestral masters does not consist solely in austerities; they only aid the Way. If you accord with the original mind and bring forth the function of the true light that accords with wish, then austerities are like grasping earth and turning it into gold. If you only attend to austerities without understanding the original mind, bound by hatred and love, then austerities are like treading a perilous path on a dark moonless night. If you wish to understand the original mind, you must scrutinize and examine carefully: when encountering forms and encountering sounds, before sensation and reflection arise, where does the mind go? Is it non-existent, or is it existent? Once it does not fall into existence or non-existence, or into a location, then the mind-jewel alone shines brightly, constantly illuminating the world, without the separation of even a single speck of dust, never having the characteristics of interruption and continuation for even a single kṣaṇa. Therefore, our First Patriarch also transmitted the four fascicles of the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra, saying to my teacher, the Second Patriarch: 'I observe that in the land of Cīnasthāna, only this sūtra can seal the mind. If you, benevolent one, practice according to it, you will naturally cross over the world.' Furthermore, whenever the Second Patriarch finished preaching the Dharma, he would say: 'Four generations after this sūtra, it will turn into names and characteristics; how deeply lamentable! I now transmit it to you; you should guard and uphold it well. Be cautious not to transmit it to an unfit person.' Having given his entrustment, the Master then wandered from place to place, and no one knew his end.