景德傳燈錄 5.26

5.26

Having heard the gāthā, the Master inquired again, saying: "The sutra states that even the great śrāvakas and bodhisattvas, though exhausting their thoughts in calculation, still cannot fathom the Buddha's wisdom. Now you have ordinary beings merely awaken to their own minds, and call that the vision and knowledge of the Buddha. Unless one is of the highest capacity, one cannot avoid doubt and slander. Furthermore, the sutra speaks of three carts: what is the distinction between the great ox cart and the white ox cart? I pray the Upādhyāya will deign to explain again." The Patriarch said: "The sutra's meaning is clear; you yourself turn away in delusion. That the people of the three vehicles cannot fathom the Buddha's wisdom is due to the ailment of calculation. Even if they exhaust their thoughts in joint inference, they only make it further remote. The Buddha originally spoke for ordinary beings, not for Buddhas. Those who refuse to believe this principle may withdraw from the assembly as they will. Little do they know that, already seated in the white ox cart, they still search for the three carts outside the gate! Moreover, the sutra text clearly says to you, 'There is neither a second nor a third.' Why do you not realize? The three carts are provisional, for the sake of the past; the One Vehicle is real, for the sake of the present. It merely instructs you to leave the provisional and return to the real; and having returned to the real, the real has no name either. You should know that all precious wealth belongs entirely to you, for you to enjoy and use. Harbor no thoughts of a father, nor thoughts of a son, nor thoughts of use—this is called upholding the Lotus Sutra. From kalpa to kalpa the scroll does not leave one's hands, and from day to night there is no time when one is not reciting it." The Master, having received this instruction, leaped for joy and praised him in a gāthā, saying: