景德傳燈錄 5.2

5.2

第三十三祖慧能大師者。俗姓盧氏。其先范陽人。父行瑫武德中左宦于南海。之新州遂占籍焉。三歲喪父。其母守志鞠養。及長家尤貧窶。師樵采以給。一日負薪至市中。聞客讀金剛經。悚然問其客曰。此何法也。得於何人。客曰。此名金剛經。得於黃梅忍大師。師遽告其母以為法尋師之意。直抵韶州遇高行士劉志略結為交友。尼無盡藏者。即志略之姑也。常讀涅槃經。師暫聽之即為解說其義。尼遂執卷問字。師曰。字即不識。義即請問。尼曰。字尚不識曷能會義。師曰。諸佛妙理非關文字。尼驚異之。告鄉里耆艾云。能是有道之人宜請供養。於是居人競來瞻禮。近有寶林古寺舊地。眾議營緝俾師居之。四眾霧集俄成寶坊。師一日忽自念曰。我求大法豈可中道而止。明日遂行至昌樂縣西山石室間。遇智遠禪師。師遂請益。遠曰。觀子神姿爽拔殆非常人。吾聞西域菩提達磨。傳心印于黃梅。汝當往彼參決。師辭去直造黃梅之東禪。即唐咸亨二年也。忍大師一見默而識之。後傳衣法令隱于懷集四會之間。至儀鳳元年丙子正月八日。屆南海遇印宗法師於法性寺講涅槃經。師寓止廊廡間。暮夜風颺剎幡。聞二僧對論。一云幡動。一云風動。往復酬答未曾契理。師曰。可容俗流輒預高論否。直以風幡非動動自心耳。印宗竊聆此語竦然異之。翌日邀師入室。徵風幡之義。師具以理告。印宗不覺起立云。行者定非常人師為是誰。師更無所隱直敘得法因由。於是印宗執弟子之禮請受禪要。乃告四眾曰。印宗具足凡夫。今遇肉身菩薩即指坐下盧居士云。即此是也。因請出所傳信衣悉令瞻禮。至正月十五日。會諸名德為之剃髮。二月八日就法性寺智光律師受滿分戒。其戒壇即宋朝求那跋陀三藏之所置也。三藏記云。後當有肉身菩薩在此壇受戒。又梁末真諦三藏。於壇之側手植二菩提樹。謂眾曰。却後一百二十年有大開士。於此樹下演無上乘度無量眾。師具戒已。於此樹下開東山法門宛如宿契。明年二月八日忽謂眾曰。吾不願此居要歸舊隱。時印宗與緇白千餘人。送師歸寶林寺。韶州刺史韋據請於大梵寺轉妙法輪。并受無相心地戒。門人紀錄目為壇經盛行於世。然返曹谿雨大法雨。學者不下千數。中宗神龍元年降詔云。朕請安秀二師宮中供養。萬機之暇每究一乘。二師並推讓云。南方有能禪師。密受忍大師衣法。可就彼問。今遣內侍薛簡馳詔迎請。願師慈念速赴上京。師上表辭疾。願終林麓。薛簡曰。京城禪德皆云。欲得會道必須坐禪習定。若不因禪定而得解脫者未之有也。未審師所說法如何。師曰。道由心悟。豈在坐也。經云。若見如來若坐若臥是行邪道。何故無所從來亦無所去。若無生滅是如來清淨禪。諸法空寂是如來清淨坐。究竟無證豈況坐耶。簡曰。弟子之迴主上必問願和尚慈悲指示心要。師曰。道無明暗。明暗是代謝之義。明明無盡亦是有盡。簡曰。明喻智慧。暗況煩惱。修道之人儻不以智慧照破煩惱。無始生死憑何出離。師曰。若以智慧照煩惱者。此是二乘小兒羊鹿等機。上智大根悉不如是。簡曰。如何是大乘見解。師曰。明與無明其性無二。無二之性即是實性。實性者處凡愚而不減。在賢聖而不增。住煩惱而不亂。居禪定而不寂。不斷不常不來不去。不在中間及其內外。不生不滅性相如如。常住不遷名之曰道。簡曰。師說不生不滅何異外道。師曰。外道所說不生不滅者。將滅止生以生顯滅。滅猶不滅生說無生。我說不生不滅者。本自無生今亦無滅。所以不同外道。汝若欲知心要。但一切善惡都莫思量。自然得入清淨心體。湛然常寂妙用恒沙。簡蒙指教豁然大悟。禮辭歸闕表奏師語。有詔謝師。并賜磨衲袈裟絹五百匹寶鉢一口。十二月十九日。勅改古寶林為中興寺。三年十一月十八日。又勅韶州刺史。重加崇飾賜額為法泉寺。師新州舊居為國恩寺。一日師謂眾曰。諸善知識。汝等各各淨心聽吾說法。汝等諸人自心是佛。更莫狐疑。外無一物而能建立。皆是本心生萬種法。故經云。心生種種法生。心滅種種法滅。若欲成就種智。須達一相三昧一行三昧。若於一切處而不住相。彼相中不生憎愛亦無取捨。不念利益成壞等事。安閑恬靜虛融澹泊。此名一相三昧。若於一切處行住坐臥。純一直心不動道場真成淨土。名一行三昧。若人具二三昧。如地有種能含藏長養成就其實。一相一行亦復如是。我今說法。猶如時雨溥潤大地。汝等佛性譬諸種子。遇茲霑洽悉得發生。承吾旨者決獲菩提。依吾行者定證妙果。先天元年告諸徒眾曰。吾忝受忍大師衣法。今為汝等說法不付其衣。蓋汝等信根淳熟決定不疑堪任大事。聽吾偈曰。

The thirty-third patriarch, Great Master Huineng, had the lay surname Lu. His ancestors were from Fanyang. During the Wude era, his father, Xingtao, was demoted in official service to Nanhai, and went to Xinzhou, where he took up registered residence. At the age of three, [Huineng] lost his father. His mother kept her resolve and raised him. When he grew up, his family was extremely impoverished; the Master gathered firewood to support them. One day, carrying firewood into the marketplace, he heard a traveler reciting the Diamond Sūtra. Startled, he asked the traveler: "What teaching is this, and from whom did you obtain it?" The traveler said: "This is called the Diamond Sūtra, and I obtained it from Great Master Ren of Huangmei." The Master immediately told his mother of his intention to seek a master for the sake of the Dharma. He went straight to Shaozhou, where he met Liu Zhilüe, a gentleman of noble conduct, and formed a close friendship with him. The nun Wujinzang was Zhilüe's aunt. She frequently recited the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra; the Master listened to it for a short while and immediately explained its meaning to her. The nun then took up the scroll to ask about characters. The Master said: "As for characters, I do not know them; as for meaning, please ask." The nun said: "If you do not even know characters, how can you understand the meaning?" The Master said: "The subtle truth of all Buddhas has nothing to do with written words." The nun marveled at him and told the village elders: "Neng is a person possessed of the Way; you ought to invite him and make offerings to him." Thereupon, the local inhabitants competed to come pay homage. Nearby lay the former site of the ancient Baolin Temple. The assembly consulted together and rebuilt it so that the Master could dwell there. The fourfold assembly gathered like clouds, and in no time it became a precious monastery. One day, the Master suddenly thought to himself: "I seek the Great Dharma—how can I stop halfway?" The following day, he set out and reached a stone grotto on the west mountain of Changle County, where he met Chan Master Zhiyuan. The Master then asked for further instruction. Yuan said: "Seeing that your appearance and demeanor are lofty and outstanding, you are surely no ordinary person. I have heard that Bodhidharma of the Western Regions transmitted the mind-seal to Huangmei. You should go there to resolve your doubts." The Master took his leave and went straight to Dongchan [Monastery] of Huangmei; it was then the second year of the Xianheng era of the Tang. Great Master Ren recognized him tacitly at first sight. Later, he transmitted the robe and Dharma [to him], and instructed him to go into hiding between Huaiji and Sihui. Arriving at the eighth day of the first month of the bingzi year, the first year of the Yifeng era, he reached Nanhai and met Dharma Master Yinzong preaching the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra at Faxing Temple. The Master stayed in the corridors. At night, the wind was fluttering the temple banner. He heard two monks debating: one said the banner was moving, the other said the wind was moving. They went back and forth in response, never tallying with the truth. The Master said: "May a commoner venture to take part in your lofty discussion? It is simply neither the wind nor the banner that moves; it is your minds that move." Yinzong overheard these words, was startled, and found them extraordinary. The next day, he invited the Master into his room and inquired about the meaning of the wind and the banner. The Master told him everything in accordance with the truth. Without realizing it, Yinzong stood up and said: "The practitioner is certainly no ordinary person. Who are you, Master?" The Master hid nothing more and directly recounted the causes and conditions of his receiving the Dharma. Thereupon, Yinzong adopted the etiquette of a disciple and requested to receive the essentials of Chan. He then addressed the fourfold assembly, saying: "Yinzong is a complete ordinary mortal. Today I have met a living bodhisattva." He pointed to Layman Lu seated below and said: "This is indeed he." He then asked [Huineng] to bring out the robe of faith that had been transmitted, so that all might behold and venerate it. On the fifteenth day of the first month, he assembled various celebrated and virtuous [monks] to shave [Huineng's] head. On the eighth day of the second month, at Faxing Temple, [Huineng] received the full precepts from Vinaya Master Zhiguang. That ordination platform had been established by Tripiṭaka Master Guṇabhadra of the Song dynasty. The Tripiṭaka Master had prophesied: "Later, a living bodhisattva will receive the precepts on this platform." Furthermore, at the end of the Liang, Tripiṭaka Master Paramārtha planted two bodhi trees with his own hands beside the platform, and told the assembly: "One hundred and twenty years from now, a great being will expound the supreme vehicle under these trees and deliver countless sentient beings." After the Master received the full precepts, he opened the Dongshan dharma-gate under these trees, just as if fulfilling an ancient contract. On the eighth day of the second month of the following year, he suddenly said to the assembly: "I do not wish to remain here; I must return to my former hermitage." At that time, Yinzong and more than a thousand monks and laypeople saw the Master off as he returned to Baolin Temple. Prefect Wei Ju of Shaozhou invited him to turn the wondrous Dharma wheel at Dafan Temple and to confer the formless mind-ground precepts. The disciples recorded this and titled it the Platform Sūtra, which circulated widely in the world. Afterwards, he returned to Caoxi and rained down the great rain of Dharma; his students numbered no less than a thousand. In the first year of the Shenlong era of Emperor Zhongzong, an imperial edict was issued, stating: "We have invited the two Masters, [Huian] and [Shen]xiu, to receive offerings in the palace. In the leisure moments amidst myriad affairs of state, We constantly investigate the One Vehicle. Both Masters demurred and said: 'In the south there is Chan Master Neng, who secretly received the robe and Dharma of Great Master Ren; one may question him.' We now dispatch Palace Attendant Xue Jian to gallop with an imperial edict to invite you. We hope that in your compassionate consideration, Master, you will promptly come to the imperial capital." The Master submitted a memorial declining on the grounds of illness, wishing to end his days among the forests and foothills. Xue Jian said: "The virtuous Chan masters of the capital all say that if one wishes to understand the Way, one must sit in meditation and practice concentration. That someone should attain liberation without relying on dhyāna-concentration—such a thing has never existed. We do not know what kind of Dharma the Master expounds?" The Master said: "The Way is awakened to through the mind; how could it depend on sitting? The sūtra says: 'If one sees the Tathāgata as sitting or lying down, this is walking on an erroneous path.' Why? Because he comes from nowhere and goes nowhere. To be free of arising and ceasing is the pure dhyāna of the Tathāgata; for all phenomena to be empty and tranquil is the pure sitting of the Tathāgata. Ultimately there is nothing to attain; how much less could there be sitting?" Jian said: "Upon this disciple's return, the Sovereign will certainly ask. May the Upādhyāya compassionately indicate the essentials of the mind." The Master said: "The Way has neither light nor darkness. Light and darkness have the meaning of alternation. That light succeeds light without end is also to have an end." Jian said: "Light is a metaphor for wisdom; darkness is likened to affliction. If a practitioner of the Way does not use wisdom to illuminate and destroy affliction, on what can he rely to transcend beginningless birth and death?" The Master said: "If one uses wisdom to illuminate affliction, this is the capacity of the small children of the two vehicles—the goat-cart and deer-cart. Superior wisdom and great capacities are entirely not like this." Jian said: "What is the view of the Great Vehicle?" The Master said: "Light and ignorance—their nature is not two. The nature that is not two is precisely the true nature. The true nature does not decrease among ordinary and foolish persons, nor does it increase among wise and sage persons. It abides in affliction without being disordered, and dwells in dhyāna-concentration without being quiescent. It is neither cut off nor permanent, neither comes nor goes, is not in the middle nor in the interior or exterior. It neither arises nor ceases; its nature and characteristics are suchness. Permanently abiding and unchanging, it is called the Way." Jian said: "The Master speaks of non-arising and non-ceasing; how is this different from non-Buddhists?" The Master said: "When non-Buddhists speak of non-arising and non-ceasing, they use ceasing to stop arising, and use arising to reveal ceasing: ceasing is still not ceasing, and arising is said to be non-arising. When I speak of non-arising and non-ceasing, it is originally free of arising and now also free of ceasing; therefore it is not the same as non-Buddhists. If you wish to know the essentials of the mind, merely do not deliberate on any good or evil, and you will naturally gain entry into the pure mind-essence, which is serene, constantly tranquil, with wondrous functions as numerous as the sands of the Ganges." Having received this instruction, Jian attained a thorough, great awakening. He paid homage, took leave, returned to the palace, and submitted a memorial recounting the Master's words. An edict was issued thanking the Master and bestowing a patched mona-kāṣāya robe, five hundred bolts of silk, and one precious bowl. On the nineteenth day of the twelfth month, an imperial decree renamed the ancient Baolin as Zhongxing Temple. On the eighteenth day of the eleventh month of the third year, an imperial decree ordered the Prefect of Shaozhou to further embellish and adorn it, and bestowed the plaque inscribed 'Faquan Temple.' The Master's old residence in Xinzhou was made into Guo'en Temple. One day, the Master addressed the assembly, saying: "Kalyāṇamitras, let each of you purify your mind and listen to my expounding of the Dharma. The self-mind of each and every one of you is Buddha; do not harbor further doubts. Outside, there is not a single thing that can be established; all are the original mind giving birth to the myriad phenomena. Therefore the sūtra says: 'When the mind arises, various phenomena arise; when the mind ceases, various phenomena cease.' If you wish to accomplish all-inclusive wisdom, you must realize the single-characteristic samādhi and the single-practice samādhi. If, in all places, you do not abide in characteristics, and within those characteristics do not give rise to hatred or love, nor have grasping or rejection, nor think of gain, loss, success, failure, and the like, but are peaceful, at ease, calm, spacious, harmonious, and detached, this is called the single-characteristic samādhi. If, in all places, whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, you are purely of a single straight mind, unmoved from the site of enlightenment, truly accomplishing the Pure Land, this is called the single-practice samādhi. If a person is endowed with these two samādhis, it is like the earth having seeds that can contain, nurture, and bring their fruits to fruition; the single-characteristic and single-practice are also like this. My present expounding of the Dharma is like timely rain universally moistening the great earth. Your Buddha-nature is likened to seeds: encountering this thorough soaking, they are all able to sprout and grow. Those who grasp my essential meaning will surely attain bodhi; those who follow my practice will definitely realize the wondrous fruit." In the first year of the Xiantian era, he announced to his disciples, saying: "I unworthily received the robe and Dharma of Great Master Ren. Now, as I expound the Dharma for you, I shall not hand down the robe. This is because your roots of faith are mature and pure; you are decisively without doubt and capable of shouldering the great matter. Listen to my gāthā:"