Jingde Records of the Transmission of the Lamp, Fascicle 1

提多迦聞師妙偈設禮奉持。後至中印度。彼國有八千大仙。彌遮迦為首。聞尊者至率眾瞻禮。謂尊者曰。昔與師同生梵天。我遇阿私陀僊人授我僊法。師逢十力弟子修習禪那。自此報分殊塗已經六劫。尊者曰。支離累劫誠哉不虛。今可捨邪歸正以入佛乘。彌遮迦曰。昔阿私陀僊人授我記雲。汝卻後六劫。當遇同學獲無漏果。今也相遇非宿緣邪。願師慈悲令我解脫。尊者即度出家命聖授戒餘僊眾始生我慢。尊者示大神通。於是俱發菩提心一時出家。乃告彌遮迦曰。昔如來以大法眼藏密付迦葉。展轉相授而至於我。我今付汝當護念之。乃說偈曰。

Dhritaka, having heard his master's wonderful verse, made obeisance and upheld it. Later he went to Central India. In that country there were eight thousand great immortals, led by Micchaka, who, hearing that the Venerable had arrived, led the assembly to pay respects and said to the Venerable: Formerly I was born with you, master, in the Brahma Heaven. I met the immortal Asita, who taught me the immortal arts; you met a disciple of the Ten-Powered One and practised dhyana. From then on our karmic results divided into different paths, and six kalpas have passed. The Venerable said: Scattered and dispersed through kalpas, it is indeed not false. Now you may abandon the false and return to the true and enter the Buddha vehicle. Micchaka said: Formerly the immortal Asita gave me a prediction, saying: After six more kalpas you will meet a fellow student and obtain the fruit without outflows. Now that we have met, is it not a former affinity? I hope the master will have compassion and let me be liberated. The Venerable then received him into the order and had a holy one give him the precepts. The other immortals began to give rise to arrogance, so the Venerable displayed great spiritual power, and they all aroused the mind of bodhi and left home at once. He then told Micchaka: Formerly the Tathagata secretly entrusted the treasury of the great Dharma eye to Kasyapa, and it was passed down successively until it reached me. Now I entrust it to you; you should guard and cherish it. Then he spoke a verse:

通達本法心無法無非法

The mind that penetrates the original Dharma has no Dharma and no non-Dharma,

悟了同未悟無心亦無法

to be awakened and not yet awakened are the same; no mind, and no Dharma.

說偈已。踴身虛空作十八變火光三昧自焚其軀。彌遮迦與八千比丘同收舍利。於班茶山中起塔供養。即莊王七年己丑歲也(當作五年)。

Having spoken the verse, he leapt into the sky and performed eighteen transformations, and burned his body with the fire-light samadhi. Micchaka and the eight thousand bhikshus together gathered the relics and built a stupa to make offerings in the Mountains of Pandu. That year was the seventh year of King Zhuang of Zhou, year jichou (it should be the fifth year).

第六祖彌遮迦者。中印度人也。既傳法已遊化至北天竺國。見雉堞之上有金色祥雲。歎曰。斯道人氣也。必有大士為吾法嗣乃入城。於闤闠間有一人。手持酒器逆而問曰。師何方而來欲往何所。師曰。從自心來欲往無處。曰識我手中物否。師曰。此是觸器而負淨者。曰師還識我否。師曰。我即不識識即非我。又謂曰。汝試自稱名氏。吾當後示本因。彼人說偈而答。我從無量劫。至於生此國。本姓頗羅墮。名字婆須蜜。師曰。我師提多迦說。世尊昔遊北印度。語阿難言。此國中吾滅後三百年有一聖人。姓頗羅墮。名婆須蜜。而於禪祖當獲第七。世尊記汝。汝應出家。彼乃置器禮師側立而言曰。我思往劫嘗作檀那。獻一如來寶坐。彼佛記我雲。汝於賢劫釋迦法中宣傳至教。今符師說。願加度脫。師即與披剃復圓戒相。乃告之曰。正法眼藏今付於汝勿令斷絕。乃說偈曰。

The Sixth Patriarch Micchaka was a man of Central India. Having transmitted the Dharma, he traveled teaching to the country of Northern India, and seeing a golden auspicious cloud above the battlements of the city, sighed: This is the sign of a man of the Way; there must be a great being who will be my Dharma heir. So he entered the city. In the marketplace there was a man holding a wine vessel in his hands, who came forward to meet him and asked: From which direction does the master come, and where does he wish to go? The master said: I come from my own mind, and I wish to go to where there is no place to go. He asked: Do you know what is in my hands? The master said: This is a vessel that touches, yet it is carried by a pure person. He asked: Does the master know me? The master said: I do not know you; if I knew you, it would not be me. He further said to him: Try announcing your own name, and afterwards I will show you the original cause. The man answered in a verse: Since immeasurable kalpas ago, I have come to be born in this country, my original surname is Bharadvaja and my name is Vasumitra. The master said: My teacher Dhritaka said that the World-Honored One once traveled in Northern India and said to Ananda: In this country, three hundred years after my passing, there will be a saint with the clan name Bharadvaja and the name Vasumitra, and among the Zen patriarchs he is to be the seventh. The World-Honored One predicted this of you, and you should leave home. The man put down the wine vessel, bowed to the master, and stood to one side and said: I remember that in a past kalpa I was a donor who offered a jeweled seat to a Tathagata. That Buddha predicted of me: In the Dharma of Sakyamuni in the Bhadra Kalpa you will proclaim the supreme teaching. Now it accords with what the master has said, and I hope you will liberate me. The master immediately shaved his head and clothed him, completed the ordination rules, and told him: The treasury of the true Dharma eye is now entrusted to you; do not let it be cut off. Then he spoke a verse:

無心無可得說得不名法

No mind, nothing to be gained; what can be spoken is not called Dharma,

若了心非心始解心心法

if you understand that the mind is not mind, you will understand mind, mind and Dharma.

師說偈已。入師子奮迅三昧。踴身虛空高七多羅樹。卻復本坐化火自焚。婆須蜜收靈骨貯七寶函。建浮圖寘於上級。即襄王十七年甲申歲也(當作十五年)。

When the master finished the verse, he entered the lion's swift samadhi, leapt into the sky to the height of seven tala trees, returned to his seat, and burned himself with transformed fire. Vasumitra gathered the sacred bones, stored them in a case of seven treasures, built a stupa, and placed them in its upper level. That year was the seventeenth year of King Xiang of Zhou, year jiashen (it should be the fifteenth year).

第七祖婆須蜜者。北天竺國人也。姓頗羅墮。常服淨衣執酒器遊行裡閈。或吟或嘯人謂之狂。及遇彌遮迦尊者。宣如來往誌。自惺前緣投器出家。授法行化至迦摩羅國廣興佛事。於法坐前忽有一智者。自稱我名佛陀難提。今與師論義。師曰。仁者論即不義。義即不論。若擬論義終非義論。難提知師義勝。心即欽伏曰。我願求道霑甘露味。尊者遂與剃度而授具戒。復告之曰。如來正法眼藏。我今付汝汝當護持。乃說偈曰。

The Seventh Patriarch Vasumitra was a man of Northern India. His clan was Bharadvaja. He always wore clean clothes and carried a wine vessel as he wandered through the lanes, sometimes humming and sometimes whistling, and people said he was mad. When he met the Venerable Micchaka, who announced the Tathagata's former prediction, he awakened to his former connection, put down the wine vessel and left home. He transmitted the Dharma and traveled teaching, and reached the country of Kamala, where he widely promoted Buddhist affairs. Before the Dharma seat there suddenly appeared a learned man who said of himself: My name is Buddhanandi, and I now wish to debate the meaning with the master. The master said: Virtuous one, if one debates, it is not meaning; if it is meaning, it is not debated. If you intend to debate meaning, it is in the end not a debate of meaning. Nandi knew that the master's meaning surpassed his own, admired and submitted in his heart, and said: I wish to seek the Way and taste the sweet dew. The Venerable then shaved his head and gave him full ordination, and told him: The treasury of the true Dharma eye of the Tathagata I now entrust to you; you should guard and uphold it. Then he spoke a verse:

心同虛空界示等虛空法

The mind is the same as the realm of space, I reveal the Dharma equal to space,

證得虛空時無是無非法

when you realize space, there is no this, and also no non-Dharma.

尊者即入慈心三昧。時梵王帝釋及諸天眾。俱來作禮。而說偈言。

The Venerable then entered the samadhi of loving-kindness. At that time Brahma, Indra and the heavenly hosts all came and bowed, and spoke a verse:

賢劫眾聖祖而當第七位

Patriarch of the many saints of the Bhadra Kalpa, and exactly the seventh in line,

尊者哀念我請為宣佛地

Venerable, have compassion on us and please proclaim the Buddha-ground.

尊者從三昧起示眾雲。我所得法而非有故。若識佛地離有無故。說此語已。還入三昧示涅槃相。難提即於本坐起七寶塔以葬全身。即定王十九年辛未歲也(當作十七年)。

The Venerable rose from samadhi and revealed to the assembly: The Dharma I have attained is not a thing that exists. If you recognize the Buddha-ground, it is because it is apart from existence and non-existence. Having spoken these words, he entered samadhi again and displayed the sign of nirvana. Nandi built a stupa of seven treasures on the spot and buried his whole body. That year was the nineteenth year of King Ding of Zhou, year xinwei (it should be the seventeenth year).

第八祖佛陀難提者。迦摩羅國人也。姓瞿曇氏。頂有肉髻辯捷無礙。初遇婆須蜜尊者出家受教。既而領徒行化至提伽國城毘舍羅家。見舍上有白光上騰。謂其徒曰。此家當有聖人。口無言說真大乘器。不行四衢知觸穢耳。言訖。長者出致禮問何所須。尊者曰。我求侍者。曰我有一子。名伏馱蜜多。年已五十。口未曾言足未曾履。尊者曰。如汝所說真吾弟子。尊者見之遽起禮拜。而說偈曰。

The Eighth Patriarch Buddhanandi was a man of the country of Kamala. His clan was Gautama. He had a fleshy protuberance on the crown of his head, and his eloquence was swift and unobstructed. At first he met the Venerable Vasumitra, left home and received instruction. Later he led his followers on a teaching tour and reached the home of Visala in the city of the country of Tigha, where he saw a white light rising above the house, and said to his followers: This household must have a saint. He does not speak a word, truly a vessel of the Great Vehicle; he does not walk in the four thoroughfares, knowing only to avoid defilement. When he had said this, the elder came out and bowed, and asked what was needed. The Venerable said: I seek an attendant. The elder said: I have a son named Buddhamitra, already fifty years old, whose mouth has never spoken and whose feet have never walked. The Venerable said: As you say, he is truly my disciple. When the Venerable saw him, he rose at once and bowed, and spoke a verse:

父母非我親誰是最親者

My parents are not my closest, who then is closest?

諸佛非我道誰為最道者

The Buddhas are not my way, what then is the most ultimate way?

尊者以偈答曰。

The Venerable answered in a verse:

汝言與心親父母非可比

Your words are close to the mind, closer than parents,

汝行與道合諸佛心即是

your conduct accords with the Way, which is the mind of the Buddhas,

外求有相佛與汝不相似

seeking a Buddha with marks outside is not like you,

欲識汝本心非合亦非離

recognize your own original mind; it is neither united nor separate.

伏馱蜜多聞師妙偈便行七步。師曰。此子昔曾值佛悲願廣大。慮父母愛情難捨故不言不履耳。時長者遂捨令出家。尊者尋授具戒。復告之曰。我今以如來正法眼藏付囑於汝勿令斷絕。乃說偈曰。

When Buddhamitra had heard his master's wonderful verse, he walked seven steps. The master said: This child once met the Buddha, and his compassionate vow is vast; fearing it would be hard to give up the affection of his parents, he did not speak or walk. Then the elder let him go to leave home. The Venerable gave him full ordination at once, and told him: I now entrust to you the treasury of the true Dharma eye of the Tathagata; do not let it be cut off. Then he spoke a verse:

虛空無內外心法亦如此

Space has no inside or outside, and the mind-Dharma is also so,

若了虛空故是達真如理

if you understand space, then you penetrate the principle of true suchness.

伏馱蜜多承師付囑。以偈讚曰。

Buddhamitra, having received his master's entrusting, praised him in a verse:

我師禪祖中當得為第八

My teacher among the Zen patriarchs should be counted as the eighth,

法化眾無量悉獲阿羅漢

the beings he taught by the Dharma are without number, and all attained arhatship.

爾時尊者佛陀難提。即現神變卻復本坐儼然寂滅。眾興寶塔葬其全身。即景王十二年丙寅歲也(當作十年)。

Then the Venerable Buddhanandi displayed spiritual transformations, returned to his seat, and quietly passed into stillness. The people built a stupa and buried his whole body. That year was the twelfth year of King Jing of Zhou, year bingyin (it should be the tenth year).

第九祖伏馱蜜多者。提伽國人。姓毘舍羅。既受佛陀難提付囑。後至中印度行化。時有長者香蓋。攜一子而來瞻禮尊者曰。此子處胎六十歲。因號難生。復嘗會一仙者。謂此兒非凡當為法器。今遇尊者可令出家。尊者即與落髮授戒。羯磨之際祥光燭坐。仍感舍利三十(一作七)粒現前。自此精進忘疲。既而師告曰。如來大法眼藏今付於汝。汝護念之。乃說偈曰。

The Ninth Patriarch Buddhamitra was a man of the country of Tigha. His clan was Visala. Having received the entrusting from Buddhanandi, he later went to teach in Central India. At that time the elder Xianggai came bringing a son to pay respects, and said: This child was in the womb for sixty years, and so is called Hard to Be Born. He also once met an immortal, who said that this child is not an ordinary person and should be a vessel of the Dharma. Now that we have met the Venerable, he may be let to leave home. The Venerable shaved his hair and gave him the precepts. At the time of the karma procedure, auspicious light shone on the seat, and thirty relics (one text says seven) appeared before them in response. From then on he was diligent and forgot weariness. Afterward the master told him: The treasury of the great Dharma eye of the Tathagata is now entrusted to you; cherish it. Then he spoke a verse:

真理本無名因名顯真理

Truth originally has no name, it is through names that truth is shown,

受得真實法非真亦非偽

to receive the real Dharma, neither true nor false.

尊者付法已。即入滅盡三昧而般涅槃。眾以香油旃檀闍維真體。收舍利建塔於那爛陀寺。即敬王三十五年甲寅歲也(當作三十三年)。

When the Venerable had finished entrusting the Dharma, he entered the samadhi of cessation and attained parinirvana. The people cremated the true body with fragrant oil and sandalwood, gathered the relics, and built a stupa at Nalanda Monastery. That year was the thirty-fifth year of King Jing of Zhou, year jiayin (it should be the thirty-third year).

第十祖脇尊者。中印度人也。本名難生。初尊者將誕。父夢一白象背有寶坐坐上安一明珠。從門而入光照四眾。既覺遂生。後值伏馱尊者。執侍左右未嘗睡眠。謂其脇不至席。遂號脇尊者焉。初至華氏國憩一樹下。右手指地而告眾曰。此地變金色當有聖人入會。言訖即變金色。時有長者子富那夜奢。合掌前立。尊者問。汝從何來。夜奢曰。我心非往。尊者曰。汝何處住。曰我心非止。尊者曰。汝不定耶。曰諸佛亦然。尊者曰。汝非諸佛。曰諸佛亦非尊者。因說偈曰。

The Tenth Patriarch Parsva, the Venerable Ribs, was a man of Central India. His original name was Hard to Be Born. When the Venerable was about to be born, his father dreamed of a white elephant with a jeweled seat on its back, on which was set a bright pearl, which came in at the door and its light shone on the four assemblies. When he woke, he was born. Later he met the Venerable Buddhamitra and served at his side, never sleeping, and it was said that his ribs never touched the mat, and so he was called the Venerable Ribs. At first he went to the country of Pataliputra and rested beneath a tree, pointed at the ground with his right hand and told the assembly: This place will turn golden, and a saint will enter the assembly. When he finished speaking it turned golden. At that time the son of an elder, Punyayasas, stood before him with palms joined. The Venerable asked: Where have you come from? Yasas said: My mind has not gone anywhere. The Venerable said: Where do you dwell? He said: My mind does not stay anywhere. The Venerable said: Are you not settled? He said: The Buddhas are also so. The Venerable said: You are not the Buddhas. He said: The Buddhas are also not. The Venerable then spoke a verse:

此地變金色預知於聖至

This place has turned golden, which foretells the arrival of a saint,