大宋僧史略 1.64

1.64

The origins of Chan methods date from this Qin period, when Dharma Master Sengrui prefaced the Chan scriptures translated in the Guanzhong region. Their texts showed the purport of illuminating the mind and realizing the principle. However, it was like merely having the prescription without being able to compound the medicine; without hearing of curing illness, it was merely called a medical book. What is more, once the great teachings were widely expounded, all the eminent masters lectured separately: those who annotated them prided themselves on their phrasing and semantics, while those who classified them into sections flaunted their divisions. Holding whisk and waving fingers, they valued only seizing opportunities to respond to changes, resolving disputes, and blunting sharpness; they observed only the blade of their wisdom and the point of their rhetoric, completely forgetting what was signified and not seeking liberation. Master Yuan south of the Yangtze lamented that the methods of Chan were not yet widely spread, and thereupon sought them with diligence and obtained them. Patriarch Bodhidharma, observing the capacities and conditions of this land and confronting the entanglements of that time, proclaimed: "Do not establish written words," in order to banish their attachment to the letter and secondary pursuit. (The commentary says: "One who does not comply with the royal transformation is called a rebellious minister; one who does not follow his father's footsteps is called an unfilial son. Anyone who dares not to follow the Buddha's preaching is called a demon or a tīrthika. For this reason, the dharmas of all Buddhas of the three times have no disparate preaching; the teachings transmitted by the multitude of sages across the ten directions share the same scripture. Now, Śākyamuni's sūtras are the root; Bodhidharma's words are the branches. Turning one's back on the root to chase the branches is truly lamentable! I have long been trained as an interpreter and applied my strength to palm-leaf manuscripts; I have questioned all the Tripiṭaka masters arriving from the West and read the records of seeking the Dharma throughout ancient and modern times. In India, dhyāna contemplation is always received from the doctrinal vehicles, which is why those entering the stage of correctness follow one after another. In the Five Indias, they simply act in accord with the Dharma, attending to reality; the Buddha's words and the noble Dharma do not mislead later students. I dare advise my like-minded colleagues: in learning the Buddha's path and cultivating Chan, in the hope of ultimately leaving the ford of suffering and ascending to the other shore, do not use a sharp mouth to deceive others and delude your own spiritual mind. The sūtra says: 'If one wishes to attain the Way, one must rely on the Buddha's words; to attain it by transgressing them is impossible.' How can one lie about this?")