The Five Lamps Meeting at the Source, Scroll One

又梁末真諦三藏於壇之側手植二菩提樹。謂眾曰。卻後一百二十年。有大開士於此樹下演無上乘。度無量眾。祖具戒已。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。欲歸舊隱。即印宗與緇白千餘人。送祖歸寶林寺。韶州刺史韋據。請於大梵寺轉妙法輪。並受無相心地戒。門人紀錄。目為壇經。盛行於世。後返曹溪。雨大法雨。學者不下千數。中宗神龍元年降詔雲。朕請安秀二師宮中供養。萬機之暇。每究一乘。二師並推讓曰。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。祖上表辭疾。願終林麓。簡曰。京城禪德皆雲。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。祖曰。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。豈況坐邪。簡曰。弟子回。主上必問。願和尚慈悲。指示心要。祖曰。道無明暗。明暗是代謝之義。明暗無盡。亦是有盡。相待立名。故經云。法無有比。無相待故。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。祖曰。煩惱即是菩提。無二無別。若以智慧照煩惱者。此是二乘小見。羊鹿等機。大智上根。悉不如是。簡曰。如何是大乘見解。祖曰。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。祖曰。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。

At the end of the Liang dynasty, Tripitaka Master Paramartha had personally planted two Bodhi trees beside the platform and told the people: “One hundred and twenty years from now, a great Bodhisattva will expound the unsurpassed vehicle beneath these trees and liberate immeasurable beings.” After the patriarch received the full precepts, he opened the East Mountain teaching beneath these trees, as if fulfilling a former agreement. On the eighth day of the second month the following year, he suddenly told the assembly: “I do not wish to stay here; I want to return to my former retreat.” Yinzong and more than a thousand monks and laypeople escorted the patriarch back to Baolin Monastery. Wei Ju, governor of Shaozhou, invited him to turn the wondrous Wheel of Dharma at Dafan Monastery and receive the precepts of the formless ground of mind. His disciples recorded the teachings and titled the work the Platform Sutra; it became widely circulated. Later he returned to Caoxi, where the great Dharma-rain fell and more than a thousand students gathered. In the first year of Shenlong under Emperor Zhongzong, an imperial edict said: “I invited the two masters An and Xiu to serve in the palace. In moments free from the affairs of state, I often studied the One Vehicle. Both masters deferred, saying: ‘In the south there is Chan Master Neng, who secretly received the robe and Dharma of Master Hongren. You may ask him.’ I now send the palace attendant Xue Jian with an edict to invite him to the capital. I hope the master will be compassionate and promptly come to the imperial city.” The patriarch submitted a memorial pleading illness and wishing to spend his final years in the forests and foothills. Xue Jian said: “The Chan practitioners in the capital all say that if one wishes to understand the Way, one must sit in meditation and cultivate concentration. They say no one attains liberation without meditation. What is the master’s teaching?” The patriarch replied: “The Way is realized through the mind. How could it depend on sitting? The sutra says: ‘If you see the Tathagata sitting or lying down, you are following a deviant path.’ Why? He comes from nowhere and goes nowhere. Without arising or ceasing, this is the Tathagata’s pure meditation. All dharmas are empty and still; this is the Tathagata’s pure sitting. Ultimately there is nothing to realize—how much less could it depend on sitting?” Xue Jian said: “When I return, the emperor will surely ask me. I beg the monk, in your compassion, to point out the essential teaching of mind.” The patriarch said: “The Way has neither brightness nor darkness. Brightness and darkness are terms for alternation. Brightness and darkness are endless, yet also have an end; they are named in relation to one another. Therefore the sutra says: ‘Dharma has no equal, because it has nothing to compare with.’” Xue Jian said: “Brightness is a metaphor for wisdom, darkness for affliction. If those who cultivate the Way do not use wisdom to illuminate and break through affliction, how can they escape beginningless birth and death?” The patriarch replied: “Affliction itself is bodhi; they are not two and are not separate. To use wisdom to illuminate affliction is the small view of the two vehicles, the capacities of the sheep and deer. Those of great wisdom and superior capacity are not like this.” Xue Jian asked: “What is the view of the Great Vehicle?” The patriarch said: “Brightness and ignorance are not two in their nature. The nature of nonduality is true nature. True nature does not diminish among ordinary and foolish people, nor increase among sages. It is not disturbed while abiding in affliction, nor still while dwelling in meditation. It is neither eternal nor cut off, neither coming nor going, neither in the middle nor inside or outside. It neither arises nor ceases. Nature and appearance are thusness, always abiding and unmoving; this is called the Way.” Xue Jian said: “The master says it neither arises nor ceases. How is this different from non-Buddhist teachings?” The patriarch said: “The non-Buddhists speak of non-arising and non-ceasing by stopping arising with cessation and revealing cessation through arising. Cessation is still not cessation, and arising is called non-arising. I speak of non-arising and non-ceasing because it is originally unborn and now has no cessation. This is how it differs from non-Buddhist teaching. If you wish to know the essential teaching of mind,

但一切善惡都莫思量。自然得入清淨心體。湛然常寂。妙用恆沙。簡蒙指教。豁然大悟。禮辭歸闕。表奏祖語。有詔謝師。並賜磨衲袈裟．絹五百匹．寶缽一口。十二月十九日。勑改古寶林為中興寺。三年十一月十八日。又勑韶州刺史重加崇飾。賜額為法泉寺。祖新州舊居為國恩寺。一日。祖謂眾曰。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。虗融澹泊。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。先天元年告諸四眾曰。吾忝受忍大師衣法。今為汝等說法。不付其衣。葢汝等信根淳熟。決定不疑。堪任大事。聽吾偈曰。心地含諸種。普雨悉皆生。頓悟華情已。菩提果自成。說偈已。復曰。其法無二。其心亦然。其道清淨。亦無諸相。汝等慎勿觀淨及空其心。此心本淨。無可取捨。各自努力。隨緣好去。甞有僧舉臥輪禪師偈曰。臥輪有伎倆。能斷百思想。對境心不起。菩提日日長。祖聞之曰。此偈未明心地。若依而行之。是加繫縛。因示一偈曰。慧能沒伎倆。不斷百思想。對境心數起。菩提作麼長(臥輪非名即住處也)。祖說法利生。經四十載。其年七月六日。命弟子往新州國恩寺。建報恩塔。仍令倍工。又有蜀僧。名方辯。來謁曰。善揑塑。祖正色曰。試塑看。方辯不領旨。乃塑祖真。可高七尺。曲盡其妙。祖觀之曰。汝善塑性。

(The Sixth Patriarch continued:) simply do not think about any good or evil. You will naturally enter the pure substance of mind, still and constant, with wondrous functions as numerous as the sands of the Ganges.” Receiving the instruction, Xue Jian suddenly awakened, bowed, and returned to the court. He reported the patriarch’s words. The emperor issued an edict thanking the master and bestowed a robe of finely milled silk, five hundred bolts of silk, and a jeweled bowl. On the nineteenth day of the twelfth month, he ordered the old Baolin Monastery renamed Zhongxing Monastery. In the eleventh month of the third year, he again ordered the governor of Shaozhou to restore and adorn it, granting it the name Faqiu Monastery. The patriarch’s former residence in Xinzhou was named Guoen Monastery. One day the patriarch told the assembly: “Good friends, each of you purify your mind and listen to my teaching. Your own mind is Buddha; have no more doubts. Nothing can be established outside; all things arise from the original mind. The sutra says: ‘When mind arises, all kinds of dharmas arise; when mind ceases, all kinds of dharmas cease.’ If you wish to accomplish the wisdom that knows all kinds, you must understand the samadhi of one characteristic and the samadhi of one practice. If in every place you do not abide in characteristics, and within characteristics give rise to neither hatred nor love, neither grasping nor rejecting, and do not think of benefit, harm, success, or failure—remaining at ease, tranquil, empty, and open—this is called the samadhi of one characteristic. If in every place, whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, you maintain a pure, direct mind and do not move from the place of awakening, truly making it a pure land, this is called the samadhi of one practice. If people have these two samadhis, it is like the earth containing seeds and nourishing their growth until fruit is formed. The samadhi of one characteristic and one practice are just the same. My teaching now is like timely rain, which moistens the whole earth. Your Buddha-nature is like a seed; meeting this rain of Dharma, it will all sprout. Those who receive my intent will surely attain bodhi; those who practice according to me will certainly realize the wondrous fruit.” In the first year of Xiantian he told the fourfold assembly: “I received the robe and Dharma of Master Hongren. Now I teach you, but I do not transmit the robe, because your roots of faith are mature and you have no doubts; you are capable of shouldering this great matter. Hear this verse: ‘The ground of mind contains all seeds; the universal rain makes them grow. Once the flower of sudden awakening is understood, the fruit of bodhi is naturally perfected.’” After the verse he said: “That Dharma is not two; the mind is likewise so. The Way is pure and has no characteristics. Take care not to contemplate purity or empty the mind. This mind is originally pure; there is nothing to grasp or reject. Each of you should make an effort and go well according to conditions.” A monk once recited a verse by Chan Master Wolun: “Wolun has a skill: he can cut off a hundred thoughts. When facing objects, the mind does not arise; bodhi grows day by day.” Hearing it, the patriarch said: “This verse has not yet understood the ground of mind. If you practice according to it, you will only add another bond.” He then showed this verse: “Huineng has no skill; he does not cut off a hundred thoughts. When facing objects, the mind often arises; how could bodhi grow?” (Wolun is not a personal name but the place where he lived.) The patriarch taught and benefited beings for forty years. On the sixth day of the seventh month that year, he ordered his disciples to go to Guoen Monastery in Xinzhou and build a stupa of gratitude, commanding them to complete it twice as fast. A monk from Shu named Fangbian came to pay homage and said: “I am skilled at sculpting.” The patriarch said sternly: “Try sculpting.” Fangbian did not understand the intent and sculpted a lifelike image of the patriarch, about seven feet tall, with every detail exquisitely rendered. The patriarch looked at it and said: “You are skilled at sculpting nature.”

不善佛性。酬以衣物。辯禮謝而去。先天二年七月一日。謂門人曰。吾欲歸新州。汝速理舟檝。時大眾哀慕。乞師且住。祖曰。諸佛出現。猶示涅槃。有來必去。理亦常然。吾此形骸。歸必有所。眾曰。師從此去。早晚卻回。祖曰。葉落歸根。來時無口。又問。師之法眼。何人傳受。祖曰。有道者得。無心者通。又問。後莫有難否。祖曰。吾滅後五六年。當有一人來取吾首。聽吾記曰。頭上養親。口裡須飱。遇滿之難。楊柳為官。又曰。吾去七十年。有二菩薩從東方來。一在家。一齣家。同時興化。建立吾宗。締緝伽藍。昌隆法嗣。言訖。往新州國恩寺。沐浴跏趺而化。異香襲人。白虹矚地。即其年八月三日也。時韶新兩郡。各修靈塔。道俗莫決所之。兩郡刺史。共焚香祝曰。香菸引處。即師之慾歸焉。時鑪香騰湧。直貫曹溪。以十一月十三日入塔。壽七十六。時韶州刺史韋據撰碑。門人憶念取首之記。遂先以鐵葉漆布固護師頸。塔中有達磨所傳信衣。(西域屈眴布也。緝木𦄋華心織成。後人以碧絹為裡)。中宗賜磨衲寶缽。以辯塑真道具等。主塔侍者屍之。開元十年壬戌八月三日。夜半。忽聞塔中如拽鐵索聲。僧眾驚起。見一孝子從塔中走出。尋見師頸有傷。具以賊事聞於州縣。縣令楊侃．刺史柳無忝得牒。切加擒捉。五月於石角村捕得賊人。送韶州鞠問。雲。姓張名淨滿。汝州梁縣人。於洪州開元寺受新羅僧金大悲錢二十千。令取六祖大師首。歸海東供養。柳守聞狀。未即加刑。乃躬至曹溪。問祖上足令韜曰。如何處斷。韜曰。若以國法論。理須誅夷。但以佛教慈悲。冤親平等。況彼欲求供養。罪可恕矣。柳守嘉歎曰。始知佛門廣大。遂赦之(爾後。甚有名賢贊述。檀施珍異。文繁不錄)。上元元年肅宗遣使就請師衣缽。歸內供養。至永泰元年五月五日。代宗夢六祖大師請衣缽。七日。

The master said: “You have not yet understood Buddha-nature.” He offered him clothing in return. Fangbian bowed in thanks and left. On the first day of the seventh month in the second year of Xiantian, the patriarch told his disciples: “I wish to return to Xinzhou. Quickly prepare a boat.” The assembly grieved and begged him to stay a little longer. The patriarch said: “When Buddhas appear, they also demonstrate nirvana. Whatever comes must go; this is the constant principle. This body of mine must return to its proper place.” The people asked: “Master, after you leave, when will you return?” The patriarch said: “Leaves fall and return to their roots; when I come, I will have no mouth.” They asked: “Who will inherit the master’s Dharma-eye?” He said: “One who has the Way will attain it; one without mind will penetrate it.” They asked: “Will there be difficulties later?” The patriarch said: “Five or six years after I pass away, someone will come to take my head. Hear this prediction: ‘On the head, support a parent; in the mouth, food must be taken. When the difficulty of Man arrives, a willow will serve as an official.’” He continued: “Seventy years after I depart, two Bodhisattvas will come from the east, one a layperson and one a monastic. They will flourish together in teaching, establish my lineage, restore monasteries, and cause the Dharma heirs to prosper.” Having spoken, he went to Guoen Monastery in Xinzhou, bathed, sat cross-legged, and passed away. A strange fragrance filled the air, and a white rainbow shone upon the ground. This was the third day of the eighth month that year. The two prefectures of Shao and Xin each built a stupa for his relics, but the monks and laypeople could not decide where to place him. The governors of both prefectures burned incense and prayed together: “Wherever the incense smoke leads is where the master wishes to return.” The smoke rose straight from the burner and reached Caoxi. On the thirteenth day of the eleventh month, he was placed in the stupa. He was seventy-six. Wei Ju, governor of Shaozhou, wrote the inscription. Remembering the prediction that someone would take his head, the disciples first protected the master’s neck with iron plates and lacquered cloth. In the stupa were the robe of faith transmitted by Bodhidharma (a Western Regions fabric called quxuan, woven from the core of cotton flowers, later lined with blue silk), the jeweled bowl and robe bestowed by Emperor Zhongzong, the image sculpted by Fangbian, and other ritual objects; the attendant responsible for the stupa guarded them. At midnight on the third day of the eighth month in the renxu year, the tenth year of Kaiyuan, a sound like an iron chain being dragged was suddenly heard inside the stupa. The monks awoke in alarm and saw a filial son emerge from it. They then saw an injury on the master’s neck and reported the theft to the prefectural and county offices. County magistrate Yang Kan and governor Liu Wutian received the report and ordered a strict search. In the fifth month, the thief was caught at Shijiao Village and sent to Shaozhou for questioning. He said: “My surname is Zhang, my given name Jingman, and I am from Liang County in Ruzhou. At Kaiyuan Monastery in Hongzhou, the Silla monk Jin Dabei paid me twenty thousand cash to take the head of the Sixth Patriarch and bring it back to the Eastern Sea.” Hearing the facts, Governor Liu did not immediately punish him. He personally went to Caoxi and asked Lingtao, the patriarch’s foremost disciple: “How should this case be judged?” Lingtao said: “Under state law, he should be executed. But in Buddhist compassion, enemies and loved ones are treated equally. Besides, he sought to make offerings, so his offense may be forgiven.” Governor Liu praised him: “Only now do I understand how broad the Buddhist path is.” He pardoned the thief. (Many famous sages later praised the patriarch and made rare donations; the accounts are too numerous to record.) In the first year of Shangyuan, Emperor Suzong sent an envoy to request the master’s robe and bowl for enshrinement in the palace. On the fifth day of the fifth month in the first year of Yongtai, Emperor Daizong dreamed that the Sixth Patriarch asked for his robe and bowl. On the seventh day,

勑刺史楊瑊曰。朕夢感禪師請傳法袈裟卻歸曹溪。今遣鎮國大將軍劉崇景頂戴而送。朕謂之國寶。卿可於本寺如法安置。專令僧眾。親承宗旨者。嚴加守護。勿令遺墜。後或為人偷竊。皆不遠而獲。如是者數四。憲宗諡大鑒禪師。塔曰元和靈照。皇朝開寶初。王師平南海劉氏。殘兵作梗。祖之塔廟。鞠為煨燼。而真身為守塔僧保護。一無所損。尋有制興修。功未竟。會太宗皇帝即位。留心禪宗。頗增壯麗焉。

he issued an edict to Governor Yang Zhan: “In a dream, the Chan master appeared and asked that the robe transmitted with the Dharma be returned to Caoxi. I now send the Grand General Liu Chongjing, Guardian of the State, to carry it respectfully. I regard it as a national treasure. You should enshrine it properly in the monastery and appoint only monks who have personally received the lineage’s essential teaching to guard it carefully, so it is never lost.” Later there were several theft attempts, but each thief was caught before getting far. Emperor Xianzong posthumously named him Great Chan Master Dajian, and named his stupa “Yuanhe Lingzhao.” Early in the Kaibao era of our dynasty, the royal army pacified the Liu house in Nanhai, though remnants of the defeated force caused trouble. The patriarch’s stupa and monastery were entirely reduced to ashes, but the monks guarding his true body protected it, and it was unharmed. An imperial order soon directed its restoration. Before the work was complete, Emperor Taizong ascended the throne. He paid special attention to the Chan school and made the monastery even more magnificent.

四祖大醫禪師旁出法嗣第一世

First generation of collateral Dharma heirs of the Great Physician Chan Master, the Fourth Patriarch

牛頭山法融禪師者

Chan Master Farong of Oxhead Mountain,

潤州延陵人也。姓韋氏。年十九。學通經史。尋閱大部般若。曉達真空。忽一日歎曰。儒道世典。非究竟法。般若正觀。出世舟航。遂隱茅山。投師落髮。後入牛頭山幽棲寺北巖之石室。有百鳥銜華之異。唐貞觀中。四祖遙觀氣象。知彼山有奇異之人。乃躬自尋訪。問寺僧。此間有道人否。曰。出家兒那箇不是道人。祖曰。阿那箇是道人。僧無對。別僧曰。此去山中十里許。有一懶融。見人不起。亦不合掌。莫是道人麼。祖遂入山。見師端坐自若。曾無所顧。祖問曰。在此作甚麼。師曰。觀心。祖曰。觀是何人。心是何物。師無對。便起作禮曰。大德高棲何所。祖曰。貧道不決所止。或東或西。師曰。還識道信禪師否。祖曰。何以問他。師曰。嚮德滋久。冀一禮謁。祖曰。道信禪師。貧道是也。師曰。因何降此。祖曰。特來相訪。莫更有宴息之處否。師指後面曰。別有小庵。遂引祖至庵所。遶庵。唯見虎狼之類。祖乃舉兩手作怖勢。師曰。猶有這箇在。祖曰。這箇是甚麼。師無語。少選。祖卻於師宴坐石上書一佛字。師覩之竦然。祖曰。猶有這箇在。師未曉。乃稽首請說真要。祖曰。夫百千法門。同歸方寸。河沙妙德。總在心源。一切戒門．定門．慧門．神通變化。悉自具足。不離汝心。一切煩惱業障。本來空寂。一切因果。皆如夢幻。無三界可出。無菩提可求。人與非人。性相平等。大道虗曠。絕思絕慮。如是之法。汝今已得。更無闕少。與佛何殊。更無別法。汝但任心自在。莫作觀行。亦莫澄心。莫起貪嗔。莫懷愁慮。蕩蕩無礙。任意縱橫。不作諸善。不作諸惡。行住坐臥。觸目遇緣。總是佛之妙用。快樂無憂。故名為佛。師曰。心既具足。何者是佛。何者是心。祖曰。非心不問佛。問佛非不心。師曰。既不許作觀行。於境起時。心如何對治。祖曰。境緣無好醜。好醜起於心。心若不強名。

He was from Yanling in Runzhou and belonged to the Wei clan. At nineteen he had mastered the classics and histories. Later he read the extensive Perfection of Wisdom and understood true emptiness. One day he suddenly sighed: “The worldly classics of Confucian and Daoist teachings are not the ultimate Dharma. The correct contemplation of prajna is the only vessel for crossing beyond the world.” He then withdrew to Mount Mao and left home under a teacher. Later he entered a stone chamber on the northern cliff of Youqi Monastery on Oxhead Mountain. There he experienced the wondrous sign of a hundred birds carrying flowers in their beaks. During the Zhenguan era of Tang, the Fourth Patriarch observed the mountain from afar, recognized that an extraordinary person lived there, and went in person to seek him. He asked the monks at the monastery: “Is there a practitioner of the Way here?” They said: “Which monk is not a practitioner of the Way?” The patriarch asked: “Which one is the practitioner ‘A’?” The monks had no reply. Another monk said: “About ten li from here in the mountain is a lazy monk named Rong. When he sees people, he does not rise or join his palms. Could he be the practitioner?” The patriarch entered the mountain and saw the master sitting upright and unconcerned. The patriarch asked: “What are you doing here?” The master said: “Contemplating the mind.” The patriarch asked: “Who is contemplating? What is the mind?” The master had no answer, so he rose, bowed, and asked: “Where does the Great Virtuous One dwell in seclusion?” The patriarch said: “This poor monk has no fixed place, sometimes east and sometimes west.” The master asked: “Do you know Chan Master Daoxin?” The patriarch asked: “Why do you ask?” The master said: “I have long admired his virtue and hope to pay homage.” The patriarch said: “I, this poor monk, am Chan Master Daoxin.” The master asked: “Why have you come down here?” The patriarch replied: “I came especially to visit you. Is there a place where I may rest?” The master pointed behind him: “There is a small hut.” He led the patriarch there. They circled the hut but saw only tigers, wolves, and similar animals. The patriarch raised both hands in a gesture of fear. The master said: “You still have that.” The patriarch asked: “What is that?” The master was silent. A little while later, the patriarch wrote the character “Buddha” on the rock where the master sat in meditation. Seeing it, the master was startled. The patriarch said: “You still have that.” The master did not yet understand, so he bowed and asked for the true essentials. The patriarch said: “The hundred thousand Dharma-gates all return to the mind’s own square inch. Virtues as numerous as the sands of the Ganges all lie in the source of mind. Every gateway of precepts, meditation, wisdom, and spiritual transformation is complete within yourself and does not depart from your mind. All afflictions and karmic obstacles are originally empty and still. All causes and effects are like dreams and illusions. There is no threefold world to leave and no bodhi to seek. Human and nonhuman beings are equal in nature and appearance. The Great Way is empty and vast, beyond thought and deliberation. You have now attained this Dharma; nothing is lacking. How are you different from the Buddha? There is no other Dharma. Just let your mind be free and at ease. Do not practice contemplation, do not clear the mind, do not give rise to greed or anger, and do not harbor worry. Be vast and unobstructed, free to go wherever you wish. Do no particular good and no particular evil. In walking, standing, sitting, lying down, seeing and meeting conditions, all is the wondrous function of the Buddha: joyful and without worry. This is called Buddha.” The master asked: “If the mind is complete in itself, which one is Buddha and which one is mind?” The patriarch said: “If it were not mind, I would not ask about Buddha; when asking about Buddha, how could it not be mind?” The master asked: “If one must not practice contemplation, when a situation arises, how should the mind deal with it?” The patriarch replied: “Conditions and objects have neither good nor bad. Good and bad arise from the mind. If the mind does not force a name upon them,

妄情從何起。妄情既不起。真心任徧知。汝但隨心自在。無復對治。即名常住法身。無有變異。吾受璨大師頓教法門。今付於汝。汝今諦受吾言。只住此山。向後當有五人達者。紹汝玄化。祖付法訖。遂返雙峰終老。師自爾法席大盛。唐永徽中。徒眾乏糧。師往丹陽緣化。去山八十里。躬負米一石八斗。朝往暮還。供僧三百。二時不闕。三年。邑宰蕭元善請於建初寺講大般若經。聽者雲集。至滅靜品。地為之震動。講罷歸山。博陵王問師曰。境緣色發時。不言緣色起。云何得知緣。乃欲息其起。師曰。境色初發時。色境二性空。本無知緣者。心量與知同。照本發非發。爾時起自息。抱暗生覺緣。心時緣不逐。至如未生前。色心非養育。從空本無念。想受言念生。起發未曾起。豈用佛教令。問曰。閉目不見色。境慮乃便多。色既不關心。境從何處發。師曰。閉目不見色。內心動慮多。幻識假成用。起名終不過。知色不關心。心亦不關人。隨行有相轉。鳥去空中真。問曰。境發無處所。緣覺了知生。境謝覺還轉。覺乃變為境。若以心曳心。還為覺所覺。從之隨隨去。不離生滅際。師曰。色心前後中。實無緣起境。一念自疑忘。誰能計動靜。此知自無知。知知緣不會。當自檢本形。何須求域外。前境不變謝。後念不來今。求月執玄影。討跡逐飛禽。欲知心本性。還如視夢裡。譬之六月氷。處處皆相似。避空終不脫。求空復不成。借問鏡中像。心從何處生。問曰。恰恰用心時。若為安隱好。師曰。恰恰用心時。恰恰無心用。曲譚名相勞。直說無繁重。無心恰恰用。常用恰恰無。今說無心處。不與有心殊。問曰。智者引妙言。與心相會當。言與心路別。合則萬倍乖。師曰。方便說妙言。破病大乘道。非關本性譚。還從空化造。無念為真常。終當絕心路。離念性不動。生滅無乖悞。谷響既有聲。鏡像能回顧。問曰。

(The Fourth Patriarch continued:) where does deluded feeling arise? When deluded feeling does not arise, let the true mind know everything everywhere. Just follow the mind freely without further countermeasures; this is called the constant Dharma-body, without change. I received the sudden-teaching gateway from Master Sengcan and now entrust it to you. Carefully receive my words. Stay only on this mountain; later five accomplished people will inherit your profound teaching.” Having transmitted the Dharma, the patriarch returned to Shuangfeng and spent his final years there. From then on, the master’s teaching assembly flourished. During the Yonghui era of Tang, the followers ran short of food. The master went to Danyang to receive offerings, eighty li from the mountain, and personally carried one shi and eight dou of rice on his back, leaving in the morning and returning at night. He supported three hundred monks without a shortage at either meal. For three years. The county magistrate Xiao Yuanshan invited him to lecture on the Great Perfection of Wisdom Sutra at Jianchu Monastery, and listeners gathered like clouds. When he reached the chapter “Quiescence,” the earth shook. After the lecture he returned to the mountain. Prince of Boling asked the master: “When an object of color appears in the field of experience, one does not say it arises from that object. How does one know the condition, and then wish to stop its arising?” The master replied: “When the object of color first appears, both color and object are empty in nature. Originally there is no knower of conditions; the measure of mind and knowing are the same. See whether the original arising truly arises; then arising ceases by itself. Embracing darkness gives rise to awareness of conditions; when the mind is present, it does not follow conditions. Before anything has arisen, color and mind are not nurtured. From emptiness there was originally no thought; conception and feeling are called thought. Arising has never arisen; why would the Buddha’s teaching compel it?” The prince asked: “When I close my eyes and do not see color, there are even more thoughts about objects. If color is unrelated to mind, where do objects arise?” The master said: “When your eyes are closed and you do not see color, inward thoughts and worries are many. Illusory consciousness falsely performs its function; what arises is ultimately no more than a name. Know that color does not concern the mind, and mind is also unrelated to people. As you move, appearances turn; when a bird flies away, the sky remains true.” The prince asked: “Objects arise without a location, and conditions give rise to awareness. When the object disappears, awareness turns again, and awareness becomes an object. If mind pulls on mind, awareness becomes what is perceived. Following it in this way, one does not leave the realm of birth and death.” The master replied: “Before, after, and during color and mind, there truly is no object arising from conditions. A single thought doubts and forgets itself; who can calculate movement or stillness? This knowing is itself without knowing; the knowing of knowing does not meet its conditions. Examine your original nature for yourself; why seek outside your domain? The former object does not change and disappear; the later thought does not come from past or future. Seeking the moon, you grasp a mysterious shadow; pursuing traces, you chase a flying bird. If you wish to know the original nature of mind, it is like seeing something in a dream. It is like ice in the sixth month; everywhere it is the same. Avoiding emptiness, you never escape; seeking emptiness, you cannot attain it. Let me ask: the image in a mirror—where does the mind arise?” The prince asked: “When one is precisely using the mind, how can one be at ease?” The master said: “When one is precisely using the mind, precisely then there is no mind at work. Elaborate discussion of names and characteristics is wearisome; speak directly and without complication. When no-mind is used, that is precisely its function; when it is always functioning, precisely then it is no-mind. What I now call no-mind is no different from having mind.” The prince asked: “A wise person quotes wondrous words, hoping they will accord with the mind. But words and the path of mind are separate; if they are made to join, they are wrong by ten thousandfold.” The master said: “Expediently I speak wondrous words to cure illness; this is the Great Vehicle’s Way. It is not a discussion of original nature, but a creation through transformation from emptiness. No-thought is the true constant; ultimately it cuts off the path of mind. Apart from thought, nature does not move; arising and ceasing have no error. The echo in a valley has sound; an image in a mirror can look back.” The prince asked: “How—”

行者體境有。因覺知境亡。前覺及後覺。並境有三心。師曰。境用非體覺。覺罷不應思。因覺知境亡。覺時境不起。前覺及後覺。並境有三遲。問曰。住定俱不轉。將為正三昧。諸業不能牽。不知細無明。徐徐躡其後。師曰。復聞別有人。虗執起心量。三中事不成。不轉還虗妄。心為正受縛。為之淨業障。心塵萬分一。不了說無明。細細習因起。徐徐名相生。風來波浪轉。欲靜水還平。更欲前途說。恐畏後心驚。無念大獸吼。性空下霜雹。星散穢草摧。縱橫飛鳥落。五道定紛綸。四魔不前卻。既如猛火燎。還如利劒斫。問曰。賴覺知萬法。萬法本來然。若假照用心。只得照用心。不應心裡事。師曰。賴覺知萬法。萬法終無賴。若假照用心。應不在心外。問曰。隨隨無揀擇。明心不現前。復慮心闇昧。在心用功行。智障復難除。師曰。有此不可有。尋此不可尋。無揀即真擇。得闇出明心。慮者心冥昧。存心託功行。何論智障難。至佛方為病。問曰。折中消息間。實亦難安怗。自非用行人。此難終難見。師曰。折中欲消息。消息非難易。先觀心處心。次推智中智。第三照推者。第四通無記。第五解脫名。第六等真偽。第七知法本。第八慈無為。第九徧空陰。第十雲雨被。最盡彼無覺。無明生本智。鏡像現三業。幻人化四衢。不住空邊盡。當照有中無。不出空有內。未將空有俱。號之名折中。折中非言說。安怗無處安。用行何能決。問曰。別有一種人。善解空無相。口言定亂一。復道有中無。同證用常寂。知覺寂常用。用心會真理。復言用無用。智慧方便多。言亂與理合。如如理自如。不由識心會。既知心會非。心心復相泯。如是難知法。永劫不能知。同此用心人。法所不能化。師曰。別有證空者。還如前偈論。行空守寂滅。識見暫時翻。會真是心量。終知未了原。又說息心用。多智疑相似。良由性不明。

(The Prince of Boling continued:) “The practitioner’s body and the object both exist; through awareness, the object disappears. Prior awareness, later awareness, and the object make three minds.” The master said: “The object’s function is not the substance of awareness. Once awareness ceases, do not think. Through awareness one knows the object is gone; when awareness is present, the object does not arise. Prior awareness, later awareness, and the object make three delays.” The prince asked: “When abiding in samadhi, nothing turns. This should be right concentration; all karma cannot pull one along. I do not know how subtle ignorance slowly follows behind.” The master said: “I have also heard of another kind of person who falsely clings to measurements of mind. None of the three is accomplished; not turning remains delusion. The mind is bound by right reception, and this becomes the obstacle of pure karma. The dust of mind is one part in ten thousand, but without understanding it they call it ignorance. Subtle habits arise; slowly names and characteristics are born. When wind comes, waves turn; if one wishes for stillness, the water must become calm again. If I speak further about the road ahead, I fear the later mind will be startled. No-thought roars like a great beast; the nature of emptiness sends down frost and hail. Stars scatter and foul weeds are destroyed; birds fly in every direction. The five paths remain in confusion, yet the four demons do not retreat. It is like a fierce fire burning, like a sharp sword cutting.” The prince asked: “Relying on awareness, one knows the ten thousand dharmas, and the dharmas are originally so. If one uses the mind to illuminate them, one only obtains the mind that illuminates; this does not concern what is within the mind.” The master said: “Relying on awareness, one knows the ten thousand dharmas, but the dharmas ultimately rely on nothing. If you use the mind to illuminate them, it should not be outside the mind.” The prince asked: “Following along without choosing, the bright mind does not appear before me. I fear the mind may become dark and dull, so I work on the mind through practice, but the obstacle of wisdom is still hard to remove.” The master said: “There is this, yet it cannot be had; seeking this, it cannot be found. Not choosing is true choosing; from darkness you bring forth the bright mind. Those who worry find the mind obscured and dull, preserve the mind, and rely on practice. Why speak of the obstacle of wisdom being hard to remove? Even reaching Buddhahood is then an illness.” The prince asked: “Between balancing and adjustment, it is truly difficult to settle. Unless one is a practitioner, this difficulty is ultimately hard to see. I look up to our great master to open the essential gate and guide those who work with the mind, so they do not lose the right path.” The master said: “The nature of Dharma is the original ground of practice; dreamlike objects create differences. The subtle body of true reality is not understood by color and mind. Suddenly I met a man of primordial chaos, grieving and pitying the multitude of beings. He entrusted himself to doubt and asked at length, yet inwardly always understood the principle. He penetrated the obscure path of birth and death without being startled by blame or praise. The old man of the wilderness displayed separate answers; ashamed, the Dharma appearance came to pay homage. Having received the medicine that awakens beings, it is still like the nature of color.” The prince invited the master again to explain the many questions. The first twenty-eight verses above answer them, but some are deep and difficult to interpret; readers should consult them directly and carefully.

求空且勞己。永劫住幽識。抱相都不知。放光便動地。於彼欲何為。問曰。前件看心者。復有羅縠難。師曰。看心有羅縠。幻心何待看。況無幻心者。從容下口難。問曰。久有大基業。心路差互間。得覺微細障。即達於真際。自非善巧師。無能決此理。仰惟我大師。當為開要門。引導用心者。不令失正道。師曰。法性本基業。夢境成差互。實相微細身。色心常不悟。忽逢混沌士。哀怨愍群生。託疑廣設問。抱理內常明。生死幽徑徹。毀譽心不驚。野老顯分答。法相媿來儀。蒙發群生藥。還如色性為。顯慶元年。邑宰蕭元善請住建初。師辭不獲免。遂命入室上首智巖付囑法印。令以次傳授。將下山。謂眾曰。吾不復踐此山矣。時鳥獸哀號。踰月不止。庵前有四大桐樹。仲夏之月。忽自凋落。明年正月二十三日。不疾而逝。窆於雞籠山。

(Chan Master Farong continued:) “Seeking emptiness only wears yourself out. For kalpas you dwell in hidden consciousness, clinging to appearances and understanding nothing. You emit light and shake the earth—what do you hope to accomplish?” The prince asked: “Those who contemplate the mind as discussed earlier still face the difficulty of a fine net.” The master said: “Contemplating the mind has a fine net; why contemplate an illusory mind? Much less should one leisurely speak of someone without an illusory mind.” The prince asked: “For a long time a great foundation has been laid, yet the paths of mind differ and conflict. If one perceives subtle obstacles through awakening, one reaches true reality. Unless one meets a skillful teacher, no one can decide this principle. I look up to our great master to open the essential gate and guide those who work with the mind, so they do not lose the right path.” The master said: “The nature of Dharma is the original ground of practice; dreamlike objects create differences. The subtle body of true reality is not understood by color and mind. Suddenly I met a man of primordial chaos, grieving and pitying the multitude of beings. He entrusted himself to doubt and asked at length, yet inwardly always understood the principle. He penetrated the obscure path of birth and death without being startled by blame or praise. The old man of the wilderness displayed separate answers; ashamed, the Dharma appearance came to pay homage. Having received the medicine that awakens beings, it is still like the nature of color.” In the first year of Xianqing, the county magistrate Xiao Yuanshan invited the master to reside at Jianchu Monastery. The master could not refuse, so he instructed his foremost disciple Zhiyan to receive the Dharma-seal in his room and transmit it in succession. As he was about to descend the mountain, he told the assembly: “I will not set foot on this mountain again.” At that time birds and beasts cried mournfully for a full month. The four great paulownia trees before his hut suddenly withered in the middle of summer. On the twenty-third day of the first month of the following year, he passed away without illness. He was buried on Mount Jilong.

四祖下二世(旁出)

Second and later generations of collateral disciples under the Fourth Patriarch

金陵牛頭山融禪師法嗣

Dharma heirs of Chan Master Farong of Oxhead Mountain, Jinling

牛頭山智巖禪師者

Chan Master Zhiyan of Oxhead Mountain,

曲阿人也。姓華氏。弱冠智勇過人。身長七尺六寸。隋大業中為郎將。常以弓掛一濾水囊。隨行所至汲用。累從大將徵討。頻立戰功。唐武德中。年四十。遂乞出家。入舒州皖公山。從寶月禪師為弟子。後一日宴坐。覩異僧身長丈餘。神姿爽拔。詞氣清朗。謂師曰。卿八十生出家。宜加精進。言訖不見。甞在谷中入定。山水暴漲。師怡然不動。其水自退。有獵者遇之。因改過修善。復有昔同從軍者二人。聞師隱遁。乃共入山尋之。既見。因謂師曰。郎將狂邪。何為住此。師曰。我狂欲醒。君狂正發。夫嗜色淫聲。貪榮冐寵。流轉生死。何由自出。二人感悟。歎息而去。師後謁融禪師發明大事。融謂師曰。吾受信大師真訣。所得都亡。設有一法勝過涅槃。吾說亦如夢幻。夫一塵飛而翳天。一芥墮而覆地。汝今已過此見。吾復何雲。山門化導。當付之於汝。師稟命為第二世。後以正法付方禪師。師住白馬．棲玄兩寺。又遷石頭城。於儀鳳二年正月十日示滅。顏色不變。屈伸如生。室有異香。經旬不歇。遺言水塟焉。

He was from Qu’a and belonged to the Hua clan. As a young man of twenty, he was extraordinarily intelligent and brave, and stood seven feet six inches tall. During the Daye era of Sui, he served as a deputy general and often hung a water-filtering bag from his bow, drawing water wherever he traveled. He frequently campaigned with generals and repeatedly distinguished himself in battle. During the Wude era of Tang, at age forty, he sought to leave home. He went to Mount Wangong in Shuzhou and became a disciple of Chan Master Baoyue. One day while sitting in meditation, he saw an unusual monk over ten feet tall, with a bright and commanding presence and clear, elegant speech. The monk said: “You are eighty lives old and have left home; you should practice more diligently.” Having spoken, he vanished. Once Zhiyan entered samadhi in a valley as the mountain waters suddenly surged. He remained calm and unmoved, and the water receded by itself. A hunter met him and changed his ways, repenting and practicing goodness. Two men who had once served in the army with him heard he was living in seclusion and went into the mountain to find him. When they saw him, they said: “General, have you gone mad? Why live here?” The master said: “My madness is about to awaken; your madness is just beginning. You indulge in lustful sights and sounds, greedily seek honor and favor, and wander through birth and death—how can you free yourself?” The two were moved, sighed, and left. Later the master visited Chan Master Farong and clarified the great matter. Farong told him: “I received the true instructions from Master Daoxin; all that I attained has vanished. Even if there were a Dharma superior to nirvana, I would say it was like a dream or illusion. A speck of dust flying obscures the sky; a mustard seed falling covers the earth. You have now gone beyond this view, so what more can I say? The teaching at this mountain monastery should be entrusted to you.” The master received the charge as the second generation. Later he transmitted the true Dharma to Chan Master Fang. He resided at Baima and Qixuan monasteries, then moved to Stone City. He manifested his passing on the tenth day of the first month in the second year of Yifeng. His complexion did not change, and his limbs bent and extended as if he were alive. A strange fragrance filled the room and did not dissipate for ten days. He left instructions that his body be buried in water.

金陵鍾山曇璀禪師者

Chan Master Tancui of Zhongshan, Jinling

吳郡人也。姓顏氏。初謁融禪師。融目而奇之。乃告之曰。色聲為無生之鴆毒。受想是至人之坑穽。子知之乎。師默而審之。大悟玄旨。尋晦跡鍾山。多歷年所。茅庵瓦缶。以終老焉。唐天授三年二月六日。恬然入定。七日而滅。

He was from Wu Commandery and belonged to the Yan clan. At first he visited Chan Master Farong. Farong looked at him, found him extraordinary, and said: “Forms and sounds are poison that kills the unborn; feeling and perception are traps for the utmost person. Do you understand?” The master silently examined this and greatly awakened to the profound intent. He then concealed himself on Zhongshan for many years, living out his old age in a thatched hut with earthenware vessels. On the sixth day of the second month in the third year of Tianshou under Tang, he peacefully entered samadhi and died on the seventh day.

四祖下三世四世(旁出)(不列章次)

Collateral generations three and four under the Fourth Patriarch (not numbered as chapters)

四祖下五世(旁出)

Fifth collateral generation under the Fourth Patriarch

金陵牛頭山持禪師法嗣

Dharma heirs of Chan Master Chi of Oxhead Mountain, Jinling

牛頭山智威禪師者

Chan Master Zhiwei of Oxhead Mountain,

江寧人也。姓陳氏。依天寶寺統法師出家。謁法持禪師。傳授正法。自爾江左學徒。皆奔走門下。有慧忠者。目為法器。師甞有偈示曰。□□莫繫念。念成生死河。輪迴六趣海。無見出長波。忠答曰。念想由來幻。性自無終始。若得此中意。長波當自止。師又示偈曰。餘本性虗無。緣妄生人我。如何息妄情。還歸空處坐。忠答曰。虗無是實體。人我何所存。妄情不須息。即汎般若船。師知其了悟。乃付以院事。隨緣化導。終於延祚寺。

He was from Jiangning and belonged to the Chen clan. He left home under Vinaya Master Tong of Tianbao Monastery. He visited Chan Master Fachi, received the true Dharma, and from then on students throughout Jiangzuo flocked to him. Among them was Huizhong, whom he regarded as a vessel of the Dharma. The master once instructed him in a verse: “□□ Do not bind yourself with thoughts; thought becomes the river of birth and death. In the sea of the six destinies, no seeing can cross the long waves.” Huizhong replied: “Thoughts have always been illusions; nature itself has neither beginning nor end. If one understands this meaning, the long waves will stop by themselves.” The master then showed him another verse: “My original nature is empty and nonexistent; delusion gives rise to self and other. How can one cease deluded feelings? Return and sit in emptiness.” Huizhong replied: “Emptiness and nonexistence are the substance; where can self and other abide? Deluded feelings need not be stopped; one simply sails the ship of prajna.” The master knew that he had awakened and entrusted the affairs of the monastery to him. He taught and transformed beings according to conditions and eventually resided at Yanzhu Monastery.

四祖下六世(旁出)

Sixth collateral generation under the Fourth Patriarch

金陵牛頭山威禪師法嗣

Dharma heirs of Chan Master Wei of Oxhead Mountain, Jinling

牛頭山慧忠禪師者

Chan Master Huizhong of Oxhead Mountain,

潤州人也。姓王氏。年二十三。受業於莊嚴寺。聞威禪師出世。乃往謁之。威才見曰。山主來也。師感悟微旨。遂給侍左右。後辭。詣諸方巡禮。威於具戒院。見凌霄藤遇夏萎悴。人慾伐之。因謂之曰。勿剪。慧忠還時。此藤更生。及師回。果如其言。即以山門付囑訖。出居延祚寺。師平生一衲不易。器用唯一鐺。甞有供僧糓兩廩。盜者窺伺。虎為守之。縣令張遜者。至山頂謁。問師。有何徒弟。師曰。有三五人。遜曰。如何得見。師敲禪床。有三虎哮吼而出。遜驚怖而退。後眾請入城。居莊嚴舊寺。師欲於殿東別創法堂。先有古木。群鵲巢其上。工人將伐之。師謂鵲曰。此地建堂。汝等何不速去。言訖。群鵲乃遷巢他樹。初築基。有二神人定其四角。復潛資夜役。遂不日而就。繇是四方學徒雲集。得法者有三十四人。各住一方。轉化多眾。師有安心偈曰。人法雙淨。善惡兩忘。直心真實。菩提道場。大曆三年石室前掛鐺樹．掛衣藤忽盛夏枯死。四年六月十五日。集僧布薩訖。命侍者淨髮浴身。至夜有瑞雲覆其精舍。空中復聞天樂之聲。詰旦。怡然坐化。時風雨暴作。震折林木。復有白虹貫於巖壑。五年春。茶毗。獲舍利不可勝計。

He was from Runzhou and belonged to the Wang clan. At twenty-three he studied under a teacher at Zhuangyan Monastery. Hearing that Chan Master Zhiwei had appeared in the world, he went to visit him. As soon as Zhiwei saw him, he said: “The mountain’s host has arrived.” The master understood the subtle intent and served at his side. Later he took leave and went on pilgrimage to various places. Zhiwei once saw a trumpet vine withering in summer at the ordination hall. Someone wanted to cut it down, but he said: “Do not cut it. When Huizhong returns, this vine will grow again.” When the master returned, it happened just as he had said. He then entrusted the monastery to him and went to reside at Yanzhu Monastery. Throughout his life the master never changed his single patched robe; his only utensil was an iron pot. Once, two storehouses of grain offered for the monks were watched by a tiger when thieves came to spy. County magistrate Zhang Xun came to the mountain summit to visit and asked: “How many disciples do you have?” The master said: “Three or five.” Zhang asked: “How can I see them?” The master struck the meditation platform, and three tigers roared out. Zhang was frightened and withdrew. Later people invited the master into the city to reside at the old Zhuangyan Monastery. He wished to build a separate Dharma hall east of the main hall. An old tree stood there, with a flock of magpies nesting in it. The workers were about to cut it down. The master told the magpies: “A hall will be built here. Why do you not quickly move?” As soon as he spoke, the flock moved its nest to another tree. When the foundation was first laid, two spirits marked its four corners and secretly helped with the night labor, so it was completed in a few days. Students then gathered from all directions. Thirty-four people received the Dharma; each settled in a different region and transformed many beings. The master’s verse for pacifying the mind said: “Person and Dharma both purified; good and evil both forgotten. With a direct and true mind, this is the bodhi site.” In the third year of Dali, the tree where he hung his pot in the stone chamber and the vine where he hung his robe suddenly withered in midsummer. On the fifteenth day of the sixth month in the fourth year, after the monks had gathered for the Uposatha ceremony, he ordered his attendant to shave his head and bathe him. That night auspicious clouds covered the monastery, and heavenly music was heard in the sky. The next morning he peacefully sat and passed away. A violent storm arose, breaking trees in the forest, and a white rainbow stretched across the ravines. In the spring of the fifth year his body was cremated, yielding too many relics to count.

宣州安國寺玄挺禪師

Chan Master Xuanting of Anguo Monastery, Xuanzhou

初參威禪師。侍立次。有講華嚴僧問。真性緣起。其義云何。威良久。師遽召曰。大德。正興一念問時。是真性中緣起。其僧言下大悟。或問。南宗自何而立。曰。心宗非南北。

At first he studied under Chan Master Zhiwei. While he stood attending, a monk lecturing on the Avatamsaka Sutra asked: “What is meant by the arising of true nature through conditions?” Zhiwei was silent for a long time. The master immediately called out: “Venerable sir! The very moment you give rise to a thought and ask the question is the arising through conditions within true nature.” The monk suddenly awakened at these words. Someone asked: “From where was the Southern School established?” He replied: “The school of mind is neither north nor south.”

舒州天柱山崇慧禪師者

Chan Master Chonghui of Tianzhu Mountain, Shuzhou,

彭州人也。姓陳氏。唐乾元初。往舒州天柱山創寺。永泰元年賜額。僧問。如何是天柱境。師曰。主簿山高難見日。玉鏡峰前易曉人。問。達磨未來此土時。還有佛法也無。師曰。未來且置。即今事作麼生。曰。某甲不會。乞師指示。師曰。萬古長空。一朝風月。僧無語。師復曰。闍梨會麼。曰。不會。師曰。自己分上作麼生。幹他達磨來與未來作麼。他家來。大似賣卜漢。見汝不會。為汝錐破卦文。才生吉㐫。盡在汝分上。一切自看。僧曰。如何是解卜底人。師曰。汝才出門時。便不中也。問。如何是天柱家風。師曰。時有白雲來閉戶。更無風月四山流。問。亡僧遷化向甚麼處去也。師曰。𤅬嶽峰高長積翠。舒江明月色光暉。問。如何是大通智勝佛。師曰。曠大劫來。未曾壅滯。不是大通智勝佛是甚麼。曰。為甚麼佛法不現前。師曰。只為汝不會。所以成不現前。汝若會去。亦無佛可成。問。如何是道。師曰。白雲覆青嶂。蜂蝶戀庭華。問。從上諸聖有何言說。師曰。汝今見吾有何言說。問。宗門中事。請師舉唱。師曰。石牛長吼真空外。木馬嘶時月隱山。問。如何是和尚利人處。師曰。一雨普滋。千山秀色。問。如何是天柱山中人。師曰。獨步千峰頂。優遊九曲泉。問。如何是西來意。師曰。白猿抱子來青嶂。蜂蝶銜華綠蘂間。大曆十四年歸寂。塔于山之北。

He was from Pengzhou and belonged to the Chen clan. In the early Qianyuan era of Tang, he went to Tianzhu Mountain in Shuzhou and founded a monastery. In the first year of Yongtai, it was granted a name plaque. A monk asked: “What is the realm of Tianzhu?” The master said: “The Registrar Mountain is high, so the sun is hard to see; before Jade Mirror Peak, people are easily enlightened.” The monk asked: “Before Bodhidharma came to this land, was there Buddha-Dharma?” The master said: “Set aside his not having come. What about this very moment?” The monk said: “I do not understand. I beg the master to instruct me.” The master said: “The sky has been vast and empty for ten thousand ages; for one morning, there is wind and moonlight.” The monk was silent. The master asked: “Do you understand, acharya?” The monk said: “I do not.” The master said: “What about your own part? Why concern yourself with whether Bodhidharma came or not? When he comes, he is much like a fortune-teller. Seeing that you do not understand, he pierces the divination text for you; then good and bad fortune arise, and everything depends on your own part. You must see it for yourself.” The monk asked: “Who is one who understands divination?” The master said: “The moment you step out the door, you are already off the mark.” Someone asked: “What is the house style of Tianzhu?” The master replied: “At times white clouds come to close the door; then no wind or moonlight flows among the four mountains.” A monk asked: “Where has the deceased monk gone?” The master said: “The high peaks of Qian Mountain remain ever green; the moonlight over Shu River shines brightly.” Asked: “What is the Great Universal-Surpassing Victorious Buddha?” he replied: “Through vast kalpas he has never been obstructed. If this is not the Great Universal-Surpassing Victorious Buddha, what is?” The monk asked: “Why does the Buddha-Dharma not appear before us?” The master said: “Only because you do not understand does it fail to appear. If you understood, there would be no Buddha to become.” Asked: “What is the Way?” he said: “White clouds cover green peaks; bees and butterflies love the courtyard flowers.” Asked: “What words have the sages of the past spoken?” he said: “What words do you see me speaking now?” Asked: “Please bring forth the matter of the school.” The master replied: “The stone ox roars outside true emptiness; when the wooden horse neighs, the moon hides behind the mountain.” Asked: “How does the monk benefit people?” he said: “One rain universally nourishes; a thousand mountains are splendid.” Asked: “Who is the person in Tianzhu Mountain?” The master said: “Walking alone atop a thousand peaks, wandering freely by nine-turn springs.” Asked: “What is the meaning of Bodhidharma’s coming from the West?” He replied: “A white ape carries its young to green peaks; bees and butterflies carry flowers among green buds.” He passed away in the fourteenth year of Dali. His stupa is north of the mountain.

潤州鶴林玄素禪師者

Chan Master Xuansu of Helin, Runzhou,

延陵人也。姓馬氏。晚參威禪師。遂悟性宗。後居鶴林寺。一日有屠者禮謁。願就所居辦供。師欣然而往。眾皆見訝。師曰。佛性平等。賢愚一致。但可度者。吾即度之。復何差別之有。僧問。如何是西來意。師曰。會即不會。疑即不疑。又曰。不會不疑底。不疑不會底。有僧扣門。師問。是甚麼人。曰。是僧。師曰。非但是僧。佛來亦不著。曰。為甚麼不著。師曰。無汝棲泊處。

He was from Yanling and belonged to the Ma clan. In his later years he studied under Chan Master Zhiwei and awakened to the school of nature. Later he resided at Helin Monastery. One day a butcher bowed to him and invited him to accept an offering at his home. The master gladly went, to everyone’s astonishment. He said: “Buddha-nature is equal; the wise and foolish are one. I liberate whoever can be liberated. What difference is there?” A monk asked: “What is the meaning of Bodhidharma’s coming from the West?” The master said: “If you understand, then you do not understand; if you doubt, then you do not doubt.” He added: “Those who do not understand do not doubt; those who do not doubt do not understand.” A monk knocked at the gate. The master asked: “Who is it?” The monk said: “A monk.” The master said: “Not only a monk; even if a Buddha came, he would not be admitted.” The monk asked: “Why not?” The master said: “There is no place for you to lodge.”

四祖下七世(旁出)

Seventh collateral generation under the Fourth Patriarch

金陵牛頭山忠禪師法嗣

Dharma heirs of Chan Master Zhong of Oxhead Mountain, Jinling

天台山佛窟巖惟則禪師者

Chan Master Weize of Buddha Cave Cliff, Mount Tiantai,

京兆人也。姓長孫氏。初謁忠禪師。大悟玄旨。乃曰。天地無物也。物我無物也。雖無物也。而未甞無物也。如此。則聖人如影。百姓如夢。孰為死生哉。至人以是能獨照。能為萬物主。吾知之矣。遂南遊天台。隱於瀑布之西巖。元和中慕道者日至。有弟子可素。遂築室廬。漸成法席。佛窟之稱自師始也。僧問。如何是那羅延箭。師曰。中的也。忽一日告門人曰。汝其勉之。閱一日。跏趺而寂。後三年。塔全身於本山(唐韓文公撰碑。今存國清寺)。

He was from Jingzhao and belonged to the Zhangsun clan. At first he visited Chan Master Zhong and greatly awakened to the profound intent. He said: “Heaven and earth are no things; things and self are no things. Though there are no things, nothing has ever been absent. Thus sages are like shadows, ordinary people like dreams—who is there to undergo birth and death? The utmost person is therefore able to illuminate alone and serve as master of the myriad things. I understand it now.” He traveled south to Mount Tiantai and concealed himself on the western cliff of a waterfall. During the Yuanhe era, seekers of the Way came to him daily. His disciple Keshu built a hut there, and gradually a teaching assembly formed. The name “Buddha Cave” began with this master. A monk asked: “What is the Narayana arrow?” The master replied: “It hits the mark.” One day he suddenly told his disciples: “Exert yourselves.” The next day he sat cross-legged and passed away. Three years later, his whole body was enshrined in a stupa on the mountain. (Han Yu of Tang wrote the inscription, which still exists at Guoqing Monastery.)

鶴林素禪師法嗣

Dharma heirs of Chan Master Su of Helin