[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [景德傳燈錄](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2076) › 3.26 # 景德傳燈錄 3.26 景德傳燈錄 3.26 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [3.26](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2076.3.26) 第三十二祖弘忍大師者蘄州黃梅人也。姓周氏。生而岐嶷。童遊時逢一智者。歎曰。此子闕七種相不逮如來。後遇信大師得法嗣化。於破頭山咸亨中有一居士。姓盧名慧能。自新（舊本誤作鄿字）州來參謁師。問曰。汝自何來曰嶺南師曰。欲須何事。曰唯求作佛。師曰。嶺南人無佛性。若為得佛。曰人即有南北佛性豈然。師知是異人。乃訶曰。著槽厰去。能禮足而退。便入碓坊服勞於杵臼之間。晝夜不息經八月。師知付授時至。遂告眾曰。正法難解不可徒記吾言持為己任。汝等各自隨意述一偈。若語意冥符。則衣法皆付。時會下七百餘僧。上座神秀者。學通內外眾所宗仰。咸共推稱云。若非尊秀疇敢當之。神秀竊聆眾譽不復思惟。乃於廊壁書一偈云。 > The thirty-second patriarch, Great Master Hongren, was a native of Huangmei in Qizhou, surnamed Zhou. From birth he was precociously intelligent. When playing as a child, he met a wise man who sighed, saying, "This child lacks seven marks, falling short of a Tathāgata." Later he encountered Master Daoxin, received the transmission of the Dharma, and transformed beings on Potou Mountain. During the Xianheng era, an upāsaka surnamed Lu, named Huineng, came from Xin Prefecture (the old edition mistakenly has the character Qi) to pay respects to the Master. The Master asked, "Where do you come from?" He said, "From Lingnan." The Master asked, "What do you seek?" He said, "I seek only to become a Buddha." The Master said, "People of Lingnan have no Buddha-nature. How could you become a Buddha?" He said, "People may be from north or south, but how could Buddha-nature be so?" The Master knew he was an extraordinary person and scolded him: "Go to the threshing shed!" Huineng bowed at his feet and withdrew, then entered the millhouse and toiled between pestle and mortar, day and night without rest for eight months. The Master, knowing that the time for transmission had arrived, told the assembly: "The correct Dharma is difficult to understand; you cannot merely memorize my words and take that as your duty. Each of you, according to your mind, compose a verse. If its words and meaning secretly accord, the robe and Dharma will both be entrusted to you." At that time, there were more than seven hundred monks in the community. Sthavira Shenxiu was learned in both internal and external texts and was revered by the assembly. All together they praised and recommended him, saying, "If not the venerable Xiu, who would dare undertake it?" Shenxiu, secretly hearing the praise of the assembly, deliberated no further and wrote a verse on the wall of the corridor: > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 3.25](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2076.3.25) - [Next: 3.27](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2076.3.27) - [Up: 3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2076.3) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2076~en-mt.3.26) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2076.3.26](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2076.3.26) · Pramāṇa