Jingde Record of the Transmission of the Lamp, Fascicle 3

北宗神秀禪師者(耶舍三藏誌雲。艮地生玄旨。通尊媚亦尊。比肩三九族。足下一毛分)開封尉氏人也。姓李氏。少親儒業博綜多聞。俄捨愛出家尋師訪道。至蘄州雙峰東山寺。遇五祖忍師以坐禪為務。乃歎伏曰。此真吾師也。誓心苦節以樵汲自役而求其道。忍默識之深加器重。謂之曰。吾度人多矣。至於悟解無及汝者。忍既示滅。秀遂住江陵當陽山。唐武后聞之召至都下。於內道場供養。特加欽禮。命於舊山置度門寺以旌其德。時王公士庶皆望塵拜伏。暨中宗即位尤加禮重。大臣張說嘗問法要執弟子之禮。師有偈示眾曰。

Chan Master Shenxiu of the Northern School (the records of the Tripitaka Master Yasas say: 'A profound meaning is born in the northeast, with Tong honored and Mei honored as well. Matching shoulders with the three nines of clans, one hair splits under his feet'), was a native of Weishi in Kaifeng, surnamed Li. In his youth he was close to Confucian studies and wide in learning. Before long he gave up his attachments and left home to seek a teacher and the Way. He went to the Dongshan Monastery at Shuangfeng in Qizhou and met the Fifth Patriarch Hongren, who made sitting meditation his work, and he sighed in admiration, saying: "This is truly my teacher." He vowed to practice with hardship and integrity, supporting himself by gathering firewood and drawing water while seeking the Way. Hongren silently recognized him and deeply valued him, saying to him: "I have taught many people, but as for awakened understanding, none has come up to you." After Hongren showed extinction, Shenxiu lived on Mount Dangyang in Jiangling. When Empress Wu of the Tang heard of him, she summoned him to the capital and had him provided for in the inner meditation hall, showing him special respect, and ordered that the Dumen Monastery be established on his old mountain to honor his virtue. At that time princes, dukes, scholars and commoners all bowed in the dust to see him. When Emperor Zhongzong took the throne, he showed him even greater courtesy. The minister Zhang Shuo once asked him about the essentials of the Dharma and took the position of a disciple. The master had a verse to show the assembly:

一切佛法自心本有將心外求

All the Buddha's teachings are originally in one's own mind. To seek outside the mind

捨父逃走

is like abandoning one's father and running away.

神龍二年於東都天宮寺入滅。賜諡大通禪師。羽儀法物。送殯於龍門。帝送至橋。王公士庶皆至葬所。張說及徵士盧鴻一各為碑誄。門人普寂義福等。並為朝野所重。

In the second year of Shenlong he entered extinction at the Tiangong Monastery in the Eastern Capital. He was posthumously named Chan Master Datong. With ceremonial escort and regalia his body was taken to Longmen for burial. The emperor accompanied it to the bridge, and princes, dukes, scholars and commoners all went to the burial site. Zhang Shuo and the retired scholar Lu Hongyi each wrote an epitaph. His disciples Puji, Yifu and others were all esteemed by court and countryside.

嵩嶽慧安國師(耶舍三藏誌雲。九女出人倫。八女絕婚姻。朽床添六腳。心祖眾中尊)荊州枝江人也。姓衛氏。隋文帝開皇十七年。括天下私度僧尼勘師雲。木無名。遂遁于山谷。大業中大發丁夫開通濟渠。饑殍相枕。師乞食以救之。獲濟者甚眾。煬帝徵師不赴。潛入太和山。暨帝幸江都海內擾攘。乃杖錫登衡嶽寺行頭陀行。唐貞觀中至黃梅。謁忍祖遂得心要。麟德元年遊終南山石壁因止焉。高宗嘗召師不奉詔。遍歷名跡至嵩少雲。是吾終焉之地也。自爾禪者輻湊。有坦然懷讓二人來參。問曰。如何是祖師西來意。師曰。何不問自己意。曰如何是自己意。師曰。當觀密作用。曰如何是密作用。師以目開合示之。然言下知歸更不他適。讓機緣不逗辭往曹谿。武后徵至輦下待以師禮。與神秀禪師同加欽重後嘗問師甲子。對曰不記。後曰。何不記耶。師曰。生死之身其若循環。環無起盡焉用記為。況此心流注中間無間。見漚起滅者乃妄想耳。從初識至動相。滅時亦只如此。何年月而可記乎。後聞稽顙信受。尋以神龍二年。中宗賜紫袈裟。度弟子二七人。仍延入禁中供養三年。又賜摩衲一副。師辭嵩嶽。是年三月三日囑門人曰。吾死已將屍向林中。待野火焚之。俄爾萬迴公來見師。猖狂握手言論。傍侍傾耳都不體會。至八日閉戶偃身而寂。春秋一百二十八(隋開皇二年壬寅生。唐景龍三年巳酉滅。時稱老安國師)門人遵旨舁置林間。果野火自然闍維。得舍利八十粒。內五粒色紅紫。留於宮中。至先天二年門人建浮圖。

National Teacher Hui'an of Mount Song (the records of the Tripitaka Master Yasas say: 'Nine women come out of the human relations, eight women cut off marriage. A rotten bed adds six legs, the mind-patriarch is honored among the crowd'), was a native of Zhijiang in Jingzhou, surnamed Wei. In the seventeenth year of Kaihuang under Emperor Wen of the Sui, when monks and nuns who had been ordained privately were searched out throughout the empire, he was questioned and said: "Originally I have no name." So he fled to the mountain valleys. In the Daye era, when large numbers of laborers were levied to open the Tongji Canal and the starved lay in heaps, the master begged for food to relieve them, and many were saved. Emperor Yang summoned him but he did not go, and secretly entered Mount Taihe. When the emperor visited Jiangdu and the whole land was in turmoil, he took his staff and climbed to Hengyue Monastery, practicing the ascetic dhuta practices. In the Zhenguan era of the Tang he went to Huangmei and visited Patriarch Hongren, and so obtained the essence of the mind. In the first year of Linde he traveled to the stone cliffs of Zhongnan and settled there. Emperor Gaozong once summoned him, but he did not accept the summons. He visited all the famous sites and arrived at Song and Shao, saying: "This is the place where I shall end." From then on Chan practitioners converged there like spokes to a hub. Two people, Tanran and Huairang, came to study, and asked: "What is the meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West?" The master said: "Why do you not ask about your own meaning?" They asked: "What is one's own meaning?" The master said: "You should observe the secret function." They asked: "What is the secret function?" The master showed it by opening and closing his eyes. Tanran understood where to return upon hearing it and went nowhere else. Huairang's occasion did not fit, and he left for Caoxi. Empress Wu summoned him to the capital and treated him as a teacher, honoring him equally with Chan Master Shenxiu. Later she once asked the master about his cyclical age, and he replied: "I do not remember." The empress said: "Why do you not remember?" The master said: "The body of birth and death is like a cycle. A ring has no beginning or end, so what use is remembering? How much more so with this mind flowing on without interruption in between. One who sees bubbles arising and ceasing is merely having deluded thoughts. From the first consciousness to the moving appearance, and at the time of ceasing, it is just like this; what year or month could be remembered?" The empress, hearing this, bowed her head to the ground and accepted it with faith. Before long, in the second year of Shenlong, Emperor Zhongzong bestowed a purple kasaya and ordained fourteen disciples, and still invited him to the palace for three years of offerings, and also gave him a set of patched robes. The master took leave and returned to Mount Song. On the third day of the third month of that year he instructed his disciples: "When I die, place my body in the forest and let a wildfire burn it." Soon after, the Venerable Wanhui came to see the master, and in wild and unrestrained manner they clasped hands and talked, while the attendants listened with ears pricked, none understanding. On the eighth day he shut the door, lay down and passed into stillness. He was one hundred and twenty-eight years old. (Born in the renyin year, the second year of Kaihuang of the Sui, and passed in the jiyou year, the third year of Jinglong of the Tang. At that time he was called Old National Teacher An.) His disciples followed his wishes and carried him to the forest, and indeed a wildfire naturally cremated him, yielding eighty relics, of which five were reddish purple and were kept in the palace. In the second year of Xiantian, his disciples built a stupa.

袁州蒙山道明禪師者鄱陽人。陳宣帝之裔孫也。國亡落於民間。以其王孫甞受署。因有將軍之號。少於永昌寺出家慕道頗切。往依五祖法會極意研尋。初無解悟。及聞五祖密付衣法與盧行者。即率同意數十人。躡跡追逐至大庾嶺。師最先見餘輩未及。盧行者見師奔至。即擲衣缽於盤石曰。此衣表信可力爭耶。任君將去。師遂舉之如山不動。踟躇悚慄乃曰。我來求法非為衣也。願行者。開示於我。祖曰。不思善不思惡正恁麼時。阿那箇是明上坐本來面目。師當下大悟遍體汗流。泣禮數拜。問曰。上來密語密意外。還更別有意旨否。祖曰。我今與汝說者。即非密也。汝若返照自己面目。密卻在汝邊。師曰。某甲雖在黃梅隨眾。實未省自己面目。今蒙指授入處。如人飲水冷暖自知。今行者即是某甲師也。祖曰。汝若如是。則是吾與汝同師。黃梅善自護持。師又問。某甲向後宜往何所。祖曰。逢袁可止。遇蒙即居。師禮謝遽迴至嶺下。謂眾人曰。向陟崔嵬遠望杳無蹤跡。當別道尋之。皆以為然。師既迴。遂獨往廬山布水臺經三載。後始往袁州蒙山大唱玄化。初名慧明。以避師上字故名道明。弟子等盡遣過嶺南參禮六祖。

Chan Master Daoming of Mount Meng in Yuanzhou was a native of Poyang and a descendant of Emperor Xuan of the Chen. When the state fell he fell among the common people. Because he was a prince's descendant, he had once received an appointment, and therefore bore the title of general. In his youth he left home at Yongchang Monastery and longed intensely for the Way. He went to attend the Fifth Patriarch's assembly, researched earnestly, but at first had no understanding. When he heard that the Fifth Patriarch had secretly passed the robe and Dharma to the layman Lu, he led several dozen like-minded people and pursued his trail to Dayu Ridge. The master saw him first, and the others had not yet arrived. When the layman Lu saw the master rushing toward him, he threw the robe and bowl on a flat rock and said: "This robe is a token of faith; can it be fought over by force? Take it as you like." The master then tried to lift it, but it was as immovable as a mountain. Hesitating and trembling, he said: "I came to seek the Dharma, not the robe. I hope the practitioner will instruct me." The Patriarch said: "Not thinking of good, not thinking of evil, at just this moment, what is your original face, Venerable Ming?" The master had a great awakening on the spot, sweat flowed over his whole body, he wept and bowed several times, and asked: "Besides the secret words and secret meaning from before, is there any further meaning?" The Patriarch said: "What I am telling you now is not secret. If you turn the light back on your own face, the secret is on your side." The master said: "Although I followed the assembly at Huangmei, in truth I had not recognized my own face. Now that I have been given the entrance, it is like a person drinking water who knows for himself whether it is cold or warm. Now the practitioner is my teacher." The Patriarch said: "If you are like this, then you and I studied under the same teacher at Huangmei; take good care of it." The master asked again: "Where should I go from now on?" The Patriarch said: "Where you meet Yuan, you may stop; where you meet Meng, you may dwell." The master bowed in thanks and hurried back to the foot of the ridge, saying to the others: "Just now I climbed the high peak and looked far, and there was no trace; we should look for another path." All agreed. After the master returned, he went alone to the Bushui Terrace on Mount Lu, stayed three years, and later went to Mount Meng in Yuanzhou and greatly proclaimed the profound teaching. He was originally named Huiming, but to avoid the upper character of his teacher's name he was called Daoming. His disciples and others were sent across the ridge to the south to pay respects to the Sixth Patriarch.

前北宗神秀禪師法嗣(忍大師第二世法嗣)

Dharma heirs of the earlier Chan Master Shenxiu of the Northern School (second generation of Dharma heirs of Great Master Hongren)

五臺山巨玄禪師安陸人也。姓曹氏。幼稟業於明福院朗禪師。初講經論後參禪。會及造北宗。秀師問曰。白雲散處如何。師曰不昧。秀又問。到此間後如何。師曰。正見一枝生五葉。秀默許之。入室侍對庶幾無爽。尋至上黨寒嶺居焉。數歲之間眾盈千數。後於五臺山闡化。涉二十餘載入滅。年八十一。以唐開元十五年九月三日。奉全身入塔。

Chan Master Juxuan of Mount Wutai was a native of Anlu, surnamed Cao. In his youth he received training from Chan Master Lang at Mingfu Cloister. At first he lectured on sutras and treatises, and later studied Chan. When he visited the Northern School, Master Xiu asked: "Where white clouds scatter, what is it like?" The master said: "Not obscure." Xiu asked again: "After coming here, how is it?" The master said: "I see directly one branch producing five leaves." Xiu silently approved. In the interview room and attendance, there was almost no discrepancy. Before long he lived at Hanling in Shangdang. Within a few years the assembly numbered in the thousands. Later he taught on Mount Wutai, and after more than twenty years entered extinction at the age of eighty-one. In the ninth month, on the third day, of the fifteenth year of Kaiyuan of the Tang, his whole body was enshrined in a stupa.

河中府中條山智封禪師。姓吳氏。初習唯識論滯於名相。為知識所詰乃發憤罷講。遊行登武當山。見秀禪師疑心頓釋。思養聖胎乃辭去。居於蒲津安峰山。不下十年木食㵎飲。屬州牧衛文昇請歸城內。建新安國院居之。緇素歸依憧憧不絕。使君問曰。某今日後如何。師曰。日從濛氾出。照樹全無影。使君初不能諭。拱揖而退。少選開曉釋然自得。師來往中條山二十餘年。得其道者不可勝紀。滅後門人於州城北建塔焉。

Chan Master Zhifeng of Mount Zhongtiao in Hezhong Prefecture, surnamed Wu. At first he studied the Vijnaptimatra treatise and was stuck on names and forms. Challenged by a learned teacher, he became resolved, stopped lecturing, traveled to Mount Wudang, and met Chan Master Xiu, whereupon his doubts were suddenly dissolved. Wishing to nourish the sacred embryo, he took leave and lived on Mount Anfeng at Pujin for ten years without coming down, eating tree fruits and drinking from the stream. When the prefect Wei Wensheng invited him back to the city, he established the Xin'an Guoyuan for him to reside in. Monks and laity took refuge in him in endless streams. The prefect asked: "What about me from now on?" The master said: "The sun rises from Mengsi, and shining on the trees leaves no shadow." The prefect at first could not understand, and withdrew with a bow. After a while it became clear, and he was satisfied. The master traveled back and forth on Mount Zhongtiao for more than twenty years, and those who attained the Way were too many to record. After his extinction, his disciples built a stupa north of the prefectural city.

兗州降魔藏禪師趙郡人也。姓王氏。父為豪掾。師七歲出家。時屬野多妖鬼魅惑於人。師孤形制伏曾無少畏。故得降魔名焉。即依廣福院明讚禪師。出家服勤。受法後遇北宗盛化便誓摳衣。秀師問曰。汝名降魔。此無山精木怪。汝翻作魔耶。師曰。有佛有魔。秀曰。汝若是魔必住不思議境界。師曰。是佛亦空何境界之有。秀懸記之曰。汝與少皡之墟有緣。師尋入泰山。數稔學者雲集。一日告門人曰。吾今老朽物極有歸。言訖而逝壽九十一。

Chan Master Zang, the Demon-Subduer of Yanzhou, was a native of Zhao Commandery, surnamed Wang. His father was a powerful local clerk. The master left home at seven. At that time there were many goblins and ghosts in the wilds, bewitching people. The master subdued them alone, with not the least fear, and so won the name Demon-Subduer. He left home and served diligently under Chan Master Mingzan of Guangfu Cloister. After receiving the Dharma, he met the flourishing teaching of the Northern School and vowed to approach it in person. Master Xiu asked: "Your name is Demon-Subduer. There are no mountain spirits or tree goblins here; are you instead being a demon?" The master said: "There are Buddhas and there are demons." Xiu said: "If you are a demon, you must dwell in an inconceivable realm." The master said: "Even the Buddha is empty; what realm is there?" Xiu predicted: "You have an affinity with the ruins of Shaohao." Before long the master entered Mount Tai, and within a few years students gathered. One day he told his disciples: "I am now old and decayed; when things reach their limit they have a place to return." Having said this he passed away, at ninety-one.

壽州道樹禪師唐州人也。姓聞氏。幼探經籍。年將五十因遇高僧誘諭。遂誓出家。禮本部明月山慧文為師。師恥乎年長求法淹遲。勵志遊方無所不至。後歸東洛遇秀禪師。言下知微晚成法器。乃卜壽州三峰山結茅而居。常有野人服色素樸言譚詭異。於言笑外化作佛形及菩薩羅漢天仙等形。或放神光。或呈聲響。師之學徒覩之皆不能測。如此涉十年。後寂無形影。師告眾曰。野人作多色伎倆眩惑於人。只消老僧不見不聞。伊伎倆有窮。吾不見不聞無盡。唐寶歷元年示疾而終。壽九十二。明年正月建塔。

Chan Master Daoshu of Shouzhou was a native of Tangzhou, surnamed Wen. In his youth he explored the scriptures. Nearing fifty, he met a high monk who persuaded him, and so he vowed to leave home and took Huiwen of Mount Mingyue in that district as his teacher. The master was ashamed that he had been late to seek the Dharma at his age, and resolutely traveled everywhere. Later he returned to Dongluo and met Chan Master Xiu, and on hearing his words understood the subtle, becoming a vessel of the Dharma late in life. He chose Mount Sanfeng in Shouzhou and built a thatched hut there. There was often a wild man, dressed in plain colors, with strange speech, who in the course of talk and laughter would change into the form of a Buddha, bodhisattva, arhat, or heavenly immortal, sometimes emitting spiritual light, sometimes producing sounds. When the master's disciples saw it, none could fathom it. After ten years like this, it finally vanished without a trace. The master told the assembly: "The wild man used many colored tricks to dazzle people; all that is needed is that this old monk neither sees nor hears them. His tricks run out, but my not seeing and not hearing is endless." In the first year of Baoli of the Tang he showed illness and died, aged ninety-two. A stupa was built in the first month of the next year.

淮南都梁山全植禪師光州人也。姓芮氏。初結庵居止。太守衛文卿命本州長壽寺開法聚徒。文卿問曰。將來佛法隆替若何。師曰。真實之物無古無今亦無軌躅。有為之法四相遷流。法當陻厄。君侯可見。師年九十三而終。唐會昌四年甲子九月七日入塔。

Chan Master Quanzhi of Mount Duliang in Huainan was a native of Guangzhou, surnamed Rui. At first he built a hermitage and lived there. The prefect Wei Wenqing ordered him to open the Dharma and gather disciples at Changshou Monastery in that prefecture. Wenqing asked: "What will be the rise and decline of the Buddha-Dharma in the future?" The master said: "What is real has no past or present and leaves no track. Conditioned dharmas are carried along by the four marks. When the Dharma comes to be blocked, Your Lordship will see it." The master died at ninety-three. On the seventh day of the ninth month of the jiazi year, the fourth year of Huichang of the Tang, he was enshrined in a stupa.

前嵩嶽慧安國師法嗣

Dharma heirs of the earlier National Teacher Hui'an of Mount Song

洛京福先寺仁儉禪師。自嵩山罷問放曠郊𮠔。時謂之騰騰和尚。唐天冊萬歲中。天后詔入殿前。仰視天后良久曰。會麼。後曰不會。師曰。老僧持不語戒。言訖而出。翌日進短歌一十九首。天后覽而嘉之厚加賜賚。師皆不受。又令寫歌辭傳布天下。其辭並敷演真理。以警時俗唯了元歌一首盛行於世。

Chan Master Renjian of Fuxian Monastery in Luojing. After leaving the questioning at Mount Song, he roamed freely in the countryside. At that time he was called Teng-teng Heshang (the Carefree Monk). In the Tiance Wansui era of the Tang, the Empress Dowager summoned him to the front of the hall. He looked up at the Empress Dowager for a long time and said: "Do you understand?" She said: "I do not." The master said: "This old monk keeps the precept of silence." With this he left. The next day he presented nineteen short songs. The Empress Dowager read them with approval and gave him generous gifts. The master accepted none of them. She also ordered the song texts copied and circulated throughout the empire. Their words all expounded the true principle in order to admonish the age, and only the Song of Understanding the Source became widespread in the world.

嵩嶽破灶墮和尚不稱名氏。言行叵測隱居嵩嶽。山塢有廟甚靈。殿中唯安一灶。遠近祭祠不輟。烹殺物命甚多。師一日領侍僧入廟。以杖敲灶三下雲。咄此灶。只是泥瓦合成。聖從何來靈從何起。恁麼烹宰物命。又打三下。灶乃傾破墮落(安國師號為破灶墮)須臾有一人青衣峨冠。忽然設拜師前。師曰。是什麼人。雲我本此廟灶神。久受業報。今日蒙師說無生法。得脫此處生在天中。特來致謝。師曰。是汝本有之性。非吾彊言。神再禮而沒。少選侍僧等問師雲。某等諸人久在和尚左右。未蒙師苦口直為某等。灶神得什麼徑旨便得生天。師曰。我只向伊道。是泥瓦合成。別也無道理為伊。侍僧等立而無言。師曰會麼。主事雲。不會。師曰。本有之性為什麼不會。侍僧等乃禮拜。師曰。墮也墮也。破也破也。後有義豐禪師。舉白安國師。國師歎曰。此子會盡物我一如。可謂如朗月處空無不見者。難遘伊語脈。豐禪師乃低頭叉手而問雲。未審什麼人遘他語脈。國師曰。不知者。又僧問。物物無形時如何。師曰。禮即唯汝非我。不禮即唯我非汝。其僧乃禮謝。師曰。本有之物物非物也。所以道心能轉物即同如來。又僧問。如何是修善行人。師曰。捻槍帶甲。雲如何是作惡行人。師曰。修禪入定。僧雲。某甲淺機請師直指。師曰。汝問我惡惡不從善。汝問我善善不從惡。良久又曰。會麼。僧。雲不會。師曰。惡人無善念。善人無惡心。所以道。善惡如浮雲。俱無起滅處。其僧從言下大悟。有僧從牛頭處來。師乃曰。來自何人法會。僧近前叉手繞師一匝。而出。師曰。牛頭會下不可有此人。僧乃迴師上邊叉手而立。師雲。果然果然。僧卻問雲。應物不由他時如何。師曰。爭得不由他僧雲。恁麼即順正歸原去也。師曰。歸原何順。僧雲。若非和尚幾錯招愆。師曰。猶是未見四祖時道理也見後通將來。僧卻繞師一匝而出。

The Monk Who Smashed the Stove on Mount Song did not give his name. His words and conduct were unfathomable, and he lived in seclusion on Mount Song. In a mountain hollow there was a very efficacious shrine, with only one stove placed in the hall; sacrifices were offered near and far without cease, and many living creatures were boiled and killed. One day the master led his attendant monks into the shrine, and struck the stove three times with his staff, saying: "Ha, this stove is only made of clay and tile. From where does its sanctity come, and from where does its efficacy arise, that it boils and slaughters living creatures like this?" He struck it three more times, and the stove tilted, broke and fell. (The National Teacher An was named the one who smashed the stove.) In a moment a man in blue clothing and a tall cap suddenly bowed before the master. The master said: "Who are you?" He said: "I was originally the stove god of this shrine and have long suffered karmic retribution. Today, having received the master's teaching of no-birth, I have been freed from this place and born among the gods, and I have come specially to thank you." The master said: "It is your original nature; I did not force it on you." The god bowed again and vanished. After a while, the attendant monks and others asked the master: "We have been long by the Venerable's side and have not had the master's earnest and direct teaching. What essential point did the stove god get that he was able to be born in heaven?" The master said: "I simply told him it is made of clay and tile. There was no other principle for him." The attendants stood without words. The master said: "Do you understand?" The steward said: "I do not." The master said: "Your original nature, why do you not understand?" The attendants then bowed. The master said: "Fallen! Fallen! Broken! Broken!" Later Chan Master Yifeng recounted this to National Teacher An. The National Teacher sighed and said: "This man has understood things and self as one; one may say he is like the bright moon in space, seen by all. It is hard to meet his line of speech." Chan Master Feng bowed his head, joined his hands and asked: "May I ask who can meet his line of speech?" The National Teacher said: "One who does not know." Another monk asked: "What is it when things are formless?" The master said: "If I bow, then only you and not I; if I do not bow, then only I and not you." The monk bowed in thanks. The master said: "The original thing, a thing that is not a thing. Hence it is said: if the mind can turn things, one is the same as the Tathagata." Another monk asked: "What is a person who cultivates good deeds?" The master said: "One who holds a spear and wears armor." He asked: "What is a person who does evil?" The master said: "One who practices Chan and enters samadhi." The monk said: "My capacity is shallow; please point it out directly." The master said: "If you ask me about evil, evil does not come from good; if you ask me about good, good does not come from evil." After a long while he added: "Do you understand?" The monk said: "I do not." The master said: "An evil person has no good thoughts, and a good person has no evil mind. Hence it is said: good and evil are like floating clouds, with no place of arising or ceasing." The monk was greatly awakened on hearing this. A monk came from Niutou. The master asked: "From whose assembly do you come?" The monk stepped forward, joined his hands, circled the master once and went out. The master said: "There cannot be such a person in the Niutou assembly." The monk then returned to above the master, joined his hands and stood. The master said: "Indeed, indeed." The monk asked in turn: "What is it when responding to things does not depend on others?" The master said: "How can one not depend on others?" The monk said: "In that case, it is conforming to the correct and returning to the source." The master said: "What conforming is there in returning to the source?" The monk said: "If not for the Venerable, I would almost have made an error." The master said: "This is still the principle from before seeing the Fourth Patriarch. After seeing him, it passes through." The monk circled the master once more and went out.

師曰。順正之道今古如然。僧作禮。又僧侍立久。師乃曰。祖祖佛佛只說如人。本性本心別無道理。會取會取。僧禮謝。師乃以拂子打之曰。一處如是千處亦然。僧乃叉手近前應喏一聲。師曰。更不信更不信。僧問。如何是大闡提人。師曰。尊重禮拜。又問。如何是大精進人。師曰。毀辱瞋恚。其後莫知所終。

The master said: "The way of conforming to the correct is the same now as in the past." The monk bowed. Another monk stood in attendance for a long time. The master then said: "Buddha after Buddha, patriarch after patriarch, speak only of a person's original nature and original mind; there is no other principle. Understand it, understand it." The monk bowed in thanks. The master struck him with his whisk and said: "If it is so in one place, it is so in a thousand places." The monk joined his hands, stepped forward and answered with a respectful "Yes." The master said: "You still do not believe, you still do not believe." A monk asked: "What is a great icchantika?" The master said: "Respectful bowing." He asked again: "What is a person of great diligence?" The master said: "Reviling and anger." His end afterward is unknown.

嵩嶽元珪禪師伊闕人也。姓李氏。幼歲出家。唐永淳二年受具戒隷閑居寺。習毘尼無解。後謁安國師。印以真宗頓悟玄旨。遂卜廬於嶽之龐塢。一日有異人者。峨冠袴褶而至。從者極多。輕步舒徐稱謁大師。師覩其形貌奇偉非常。乃諭之曰。善來仁者。胡為而至。彼曰。師寧識我耶。師曰。吾觀佛與眾生等。吾一目之豈分別耶。彼曰。我此嶽神也。能生死於人。師安得一目我哉。師曰。吾本不生汝焉能死。吾視身與空等。視吾與汝等。汝能壞空與汝乎。苟能壞空及壞汝。吾則不生不滅也。汝尚不能如是。又焉能生死吾耶。神稽首曰。我亦聰明正直於餘神。詎知師有廣大之智辯乎。願授以正戒令我度世。師曰。汝既乞戒即既戒也。所以者何。戒外無戒又何戒哉。神曰此理也。我聞茫昧。止求師戒。我身為門弟子。師即為張坐秉鑪正幾曰。付汝五戒。若能奉持即應曰能。不能即曰否。神曰。謹受教。師曰。汝能不婬乎。曰亦娶也。師曰。非謂此也。謂無羅欲也。曰能。師曰。汝能不盜乎。曰何乏我也焉有盜取哉。師曰。非謂此也。謂饗而福淫。不供而禍善也。曰能。師曰。汝能不殺乎。曰實司其柄。焉曰不殺。師曰。非謂此也。謂有濫誤疑混也。曰能。師曰。汝能不妄乎。曰我正直焉能有妄乎。師曰。非謂此也。謂先後不合天心也。曰能。師曰。汝不遭酒敗乎。曰能。師曰。如上是為佛戒也。又言。以有心奉持。而無心拘執。以有心為物。而無心想身。能如是則先天地生不為精。後天地死不為老。終日變化而不為動。畢盡寂默而不為休。悟此則雖娶非妻也。雖饗非取也。雖柄非權也。雖作非故也。雖醉非惛也。若能無心於萬物。則羅欲不為婬福淫禍善不為盜。濫誤疑混不為殺。先後違天不為妄。惛荒顛倒不為醉。是謂無心也。無心則無戒。無戒則無心。無佛無眾生。無汝及無我。無汝孰為戒哉。神曰。

Chan Master Yuangui of Mount Song was a native of Yique, surnamed Li. He left home in his youth. In the second year of Yongchun of the Tang he received the full precepts, belonged to Xianju Monastery, and studied the vinaya without understanding. Later he visited National Teacher An, who sealed him with the true teaching, and he suddenly awakened to the profound meaning, and built a hut at Pangwu on the mountain. One day a strange person in a tall cap and trousers and coat came with a great many followers, walking lightly and slowly, and announced he wished to visit the great master. The master saw that his appearance was extraordinary and said: "Welcome, sir; for what reason have you come?" The man said: "Master, do you recognize me?" The master said: "I see Buddhas and sentient beings as equal. When I look at them with one eye, do I make distinctions?" The man said: "I am the spirit of this mountain and can give life and death to people. How can you look at me with one eye?" The master said: "I am originally unborn; how could you cause me to die? I see the body as equal to space, and see myself as equal to you. Can you destroy space and yourself? If you could destroy space and destroy yourself, I would be without birth and without death. You cannot even do that; how could you cause me to be born or die?" The spirit bowed his head and said: "I too am more intelligent and upright than the other spirits, but how could I have known that the master has such vast wisdom and eloquence? I wish you would give me the proper precepts so that I can save the world." The master said: "Since you have requested the precepts, you are already in the precepts. Why? Outside the precepts there are no precepts; what precepts are there?" The spirit said: "I am bewildered on hearing this principle, and I only ask the master's precepts and wish to become your disciple." The master then set up a seat for him, took up the incense burner, arranged the table, and said: "I confer the five precepts on you. If you can uphold them, say you can; if you cannot, say no." The spirit said: "I respectfully receive your teaching." The master said: "Can you refrain from sexual misconduct?" He said: "I also marry." The master said: "I do not mean that, I mean to be without entangling desire." He said: "I can." The master said: "Can you refrain from stealing?" He said: "What have I ever lacked, so that I would steal?" The master said: "I do not mean that, I mean accepting offerings and giving blessings to the licentious, and not receiving offerings and bringing misfortune to the good." He said: "I can." The master said: "Can you refrain from killing?" He said: "In truth I hold the handle of it; how can I say I do not kill?" The master said: "I do not mean that, I mean to be subject to excess, error, doubt and confusion." He said: "I can." The master said: "Can you refrain from falsehood?" He said: "I am upright; how could I have falsehood?" The master said: "I do not mean that, I mean acting earlier or later contrary to the mind of Heaven." He said: "I can." The master said: "Will you not be ruined by wine?" He said: "I can." The master said: "The above are the Buddha's precepts." He added: "Uphold them with a mind, yet hold to them without a mind; act for things with a mind, yet think of the body without a mind. If you can do this, then, being born before heaven and earth you do not become a spirit, dying after heaven and earth you do not grow old, transforming all day yet not moving, utterly silent yet not resting. Realizing this, though you marry it is not a wife, though you receive offerings it is not taking, though you hold the handle it is not authority, though you act it is not deliberate, though you drink it is not confusion. If you can be without a mind toward the ten thousand things, then entangling desire is not misconduct, giving blessings to the licentious and misfortune to the good is not stealing, excess, error, doubt and confusion are not killing, acting earlier or later against Heaven is not falsehood, and confused, wild, inverted states are not drunkenness; this is called no-mind. With no-mind there are no precepts, and with no precepts there is no-mind. There is no Buddha and no sentient being, no you and no I. With no you, who would hold the precepts?" The spirit said:

我神通亞佛。師曰。汝神通十句五能五不能。佛則十句七能三不能。神悚然避席跪啟曰。可得聞乎。師曰。汝能戾上帝。東天行而西七曜乎。曰不能。師曰。汝能奪地祇。融五嶽而結四海乎。曰不能。師曰。是謂五不能也。佛能空一切相成萬法智。而不能即滅定業。佛能知群有性窮億劫事。而不能化導無緣。佛能度無量有情。而不能盡眾生界。是謂三不能也。定業亦不牢久。無緣亦謂一期。眾生界本無增減。更無一人能主有法。有法無主是謂無法無法無主是謂無心。如我解佛亦無神通也。但能以無心通達一切法爾。神曰。我誠淺昧未聞空。義師所授戒我當奉行。今願報慈德効我所能。師曰。吾觀身無物觀法無常。塊然更有何欲。神曰。師必命我為世間事。展我小神功。使已發心初發心未發心不信心必信心五等人。目我神蹤。知有佛有神有能有不能有自然有非自然者。師曰。無為是無為是。神曰。佛亦使神護法。師寧隳叛佛耶。願隨意垂誨。師不得已而言曰。東巖寺之障。莽然無樹。北岫有之。而皆(舊本作背字)非屏擁。汝能移北樹於東嶺乎。神曰。已聞命矣。然昏夜間必有諠動。願師無駭。即作禮辭去。師門送而且觀之。見儀衛逶迤如王者之狀。嵐靄煙霞紛綸間錯。幢幡環珮凌空隱沒焉。其夕果有暴風吼雷奔雲震電。棟宇搖蕩宿鳥聲諠。師謂眾曰。無怖無怖。神與我契矣。詰旦和霽。則北巖松栝盡移東嶺森然行植。師謂其徒曰。吾沒後無令外知。若為口實人將妖我。以開元四年丙辰歲。囑門人曰。吾始居寺東嶺。吾滅汝必寘吾骸於彼。言訖若委蛻焉。春秋七十三。門人建塔焉。

(The spirit continued:) "My spiritual powers are second only to the Buddha's." The master said: "Of your spiritual powers, in ten items five are possible and five impossible. The Buddha's are seven possible and three impossible." The spirit startled, left his seat, knelt and asked: "May I hear them?" The master said: "Can you go against the Supreme Lord, make heaven turn east and the seven luminaries turn west?" He said: "I cannot." The master said: "Can you seize from the earth spirits, melt the five peaks and join the four seas?" He said: "I cannot." The master said: "These are what I call the five impossibles. The Buddha can empty all marks and accomplish the wisdom of the ten thousand dharmas, but cannot immediately extinguish fixed karma. The Buddha can know the nature of all beings and exhaust the affairs of billions of eons, but cannot transform and guide those with no affinity. The Buddha can save countless sentient beings, but cannot exhaust the realm of beings. These are the three impossibles. Fixed karma is not lasting either, lack of affinity is only for a period, and the realm of beings originally neither increases nor decreases. Moreover no one can be master of existing dharmas. If existing dharmas have no master, that is called no dharma; if no dharma has no master, that is called no mind. As I understand it, the Buddha has no spiritual powers either, and is merely able to penetrate all dharmas with no-mind." The spirit said: "I am truly shallow and ignorant and have not heard the meaning of emptiness. The precepts the master has given I shall uphold. Now I wish to repay your kindness and offer what I can do." The master said: "I observe the body as without thing and observe dharmas as impermanent; being a lump of matter, what further desire do I have?" The spirit said: "You must command me to do something in the world, to show my small spiritual power, so that the five kinds of people, those who have already aroused the mind, those who have just aroused it, those who have not aroused it, those without faith and those certain to have faith, will see my spiritual traces and know that there are Buddhas, spirits, things that can be done and things that cannot, the natural and the not natural." The master said: "Non-doing is right, non-doing is right." The spirit said: "The Buddha also has spirits protect the Dharma; do you mean to reject and oppose the Buddha? I hope you will instruct me as you wish." The master, having no choice, said: "The screen of the East Cliff Monastery is bare, with no trees. On the North Ridge there are trees, but they do not (old edition has a different character here) serve as a screen. Can you move the trees of the north to the eastern ridge?" The spirit said: "I have heard your command. But in the dark of night there will certainly be a commotion; I hope the master will not be alarmed." He bowed and took his leave. The master saw him off to the gate and watched; he saw an escort winding along like a king's retinue, with mountain mist and haze mingled, banners and jade pendants flickering in the sky and disappearing. That night there were indeed violent winds and roaring thunder, racing clouds and shaking lightning, the beams and eaves rocked, and the roosting birds cried. The master said to the assembly: "Do not be afraid, do not be afraid. The spirit and I have made an agreement." The next morning the weather was clear and calm, and the pines and junipers of the northern cliff had all moved to the eastern ridge, standing in dense rows. The master told his disciples: "After I die, do not let outsiders know. If it becomes a topic, people will take me for a sorcerer." In the bingchen year, the fourth year of Kaiyuan, he instructed his disciples: "I first lived on the eastern ridge of the monastery. After I die, you must place my remains there." After saying this, he passed as if shedding a skin. He was seventy-three. His disciples built a stupa.

前嵩山普寂禪師法嗣忍大師(第三世)

Dharma heirs of the earlier Chan Master Puji of Mount Song, third generation of Great Master Hongren

終南山惟政禪師平原人也。姓周氏。受業於本。州延和寺詮澄法師。得法於嵩山普寂禪師。既決了真詮。即入太一山中。學者盈室。唐大和中文宗嗜蛤蜊。沿海官吏先時遞進。人亦勞止。一日御饌中有擘不張者。帝以其異即焚香禱之。俄變為菩薩形。梵相具足。即貯以金粟檀香合覆以美錦。賜興善寺。令眾僧瞻禮。因問群臣。斯何祥也。或言太一山有惟政禪師。深明佛法博聞彊識。帝即令召至問其事。師曰。臣聞物無虛應。此乃啟陛下之信心耳。故契經云。應以此身得度者。即現此身而為說法。帝曰。菩薩身已現。且未聞說法。師曰。陛下覩此為常非常耶。信非信耶。帝曰。希奇之事朕深信焉。師曰。陛下已聞說法了。時皇情悅豫得未曾有。詔天下寺院各立觀音像以答殊休。因留師於內道場。累辭入山。復詔令住聖壽寺。至武宗即位。師忽入終南山隱居。人問其故。師曰。吾避仇矣。後終於山舍。年八十七。闍維收舍利四十九粒。以會昌三年九月四日入塔。

Chan Master Weizheng of Mount Zhongnan was a native of Pingyuan, surnamed Zhou. He received training from Dharma Master Quancheng of Yanhe Monastery in that prefecture, and obtained the Dharma from Chan Master Puji of Mount Song. Having resolved the true meaning, he entered Mount Taiyi, where his students filled the rooms. In the Dahe era of the Tang, Emperor Wenzong was fond of clams, and officials along the coast sent them in advance, so that people were also toiling. One day among the imperial dishes there was one that could not be pried open, and the emperor, finding it strange, burned incense and prayed. In an instant it changed into the form of a bodhisattva, with all the Brahma marks complete, and so he stored it in a gold-millet sandalwood box covered with fine brocade and gave it to Xingshan Monastery for the monks to view and bow to. He then asked his ministers: "What omen is this?" Someone said that on Mount Taiyi there was Chan Master Weizheng, who deeply understood the Buddha-Dharma and was learned and had a strong memory. The emperor summoned him and asked about it. The master said: "Your servant has heard that things do not respond in vain; this is to open Your Majesty's faith. Therefore the sutra says: to those who should be saved by this body, one manifests this body and teaches the Dharma." The emperor said: "The bodhisattva's body has appeared, but I have not yet heard it teach the Dharma." The master said: "Does Your Majesty see this as permanent or impermanent? As faith or not faith?" The emperor said: "For a rare event I have deep faith." The master said: "Your Majesty has already heard the Dharma taught." At that time the emperor was delighted, as never before, and ordered monasteries throughout the empire to set up images of Guanyin in response to the extraordinary blessing. He kept the master in the inner meditation hall, and the master repeatedly asked to return to the mountain, and was then ordered to live at Shengshou Monastery. When Emperor Wuzong took the throne, the master suddenly entered Mount Zhongnan to live in seclusion. When people asked the reason, he said: "I am avoiding an enemy." He later died in a mountain dwelling, at eighty-seven. He was cremated, yielding forty-nine relics, and was enshrined in a stupa on the fourth day of the ninth month of the third year of Huichang.

益州無相禪師法嗣忍大師(第四世)

Dharma heirs of Chan Master Wuxiang of Yizhou, fourth generation of Great Master Hongren

益州保唐寺無住禪師。初得法於無相大師。乃居南陽白崖山。專務宴寂經累歲。學者漸至勤請不已。自此垂誨。雖廣演言教而唯以無念為宗。唐相國杜鴻漸出撫坤維。聞師名思一瞻禮。大歷元年九月。遣使到山延請。時節度使崔寧。亦命諸寺僧徒遠出迎引。十月一日至空慧寺。時杜公與戎帥。召三學碩德俱會寺中致禮訖。公問曰。頃聞師嘗駐錫於此。而後何往耶。曰無住性好疎野多泊山間。自賀蘭五臺周遊勝境。聞先師居貴封大慈寺說最上乘。遂遠來摳衣忝預函丈。後棲遲白崖已逾多載。今幸相公見召。敢不從命。公曰。弟子聞金和尚說無憶無念莫妄三句法門是否。曰然。公曰。此三句是一是三。曰無憶名戒。無念名定。莫妄名慧。一心不生具戒定慧。非一非三也。公曰。後句妄字莫是從心之忘乎。曰從女者是也。公曰。有據否。曰法句經云。若起精進心是妄非精進。若能心不妄精進無有涯。公聞疑情盪焉。又問。師還以三句示人否。曰對初心學人還令息念澄停識浪。水清影現。悟無體念。寂滅現前。無念亦不立也。於時庭樹鵶鳴。公問。師聞否。曰聞。鵶去已。又問。師聞否。曰聞。公曰。鵶去無聲云何言聞。師乃普告大眾。佛世難值正法難聞。各各諦聽。聞無有聞非關聞性。本來不生何曾有滅。有聲之時是聲塵自生。無聲之時是聲塵自滅。而此聞性不隨聲生不隨聲滅。悟此聞性則免聲塵之所轉。當知聞無生滅。聞無去來。公與僚屬大眾稽首。又問。何名第一義。第一義者從何次第得入。師曰。第一義者無有次第。亦無出入。世諦一切有。第一義即無。諸法無性性說名第一義。佛言。有法名俗諦。無性第一義。公曰。如師開示實不可思議。公又曰。弟子性識微淺。昔因公暇撰得起信論章疏兩卷。可得稱佛法否。師曰。夫造章疏皆用識心。思量分別有為有作。起心動念然可造成。據論文雲。

Chan Master Wuzhu of Baotang Monastery in Yizhou. He first obtained the Dharma from Great Master Wuxiang and lived on Baiya Mountain in Nanyang, devoting himself to quiet stillness for years. Students gradually arrived, and when they requested unceasingly he began to give instruction. Although he expounded the teaching widely, he took only no-thought as his principle. The Tang chancellor Du Hongjian, going out to pacify the southwest, heard of the master and wished to pay respects. In the ninth month of the first year of Dali, he sent a messenger to the mountain to invite him. At that time the military governor Cui Ning also ordered the monks of various monasteries to go far out to welcome him. On the first day of the tenth month he arrived at Konghui Monastery. At that time Duke Du and the military commander gathered the eminent virtuous monks of the three studies at the monastery, and after the courtesies were completed, the duke asked: "I recently heard that the master once stayed here; where did you go afterward?" He said: "Wuzhu is by nature fond of the wild and often stays in the mountains. I traveled to scenic places from Helan to Wutai, and hearing that my late teacher taught the supreme vehicle at Daci Monastery in your territory, I came from afar to be his student and humbly took a place at his seat. Afterward I lingered at Baiya for many years. Now I am fortunate to be summoned by the chancellor and dare not disobey." The duke said: "I have heard that Venerable Kim teaches the three-phrase teaching of no-recollection, no-thought and no-delusion; is that so?" He said: "Yes." The duke said: "Are these three phrases one or three?" He said: "No-recollection is called precepts, no-thought is called concentration, and no-delusion is called wisdom. When a single mind does not arise, one possesses precepts, concentration and wisdom, neither one nor three." The duke said: "The character 'wang' (delusion) in the last phrase, is it not the one with the heart radical meaning forgetting?" He said: "It is the one with the woman radical." The duke said: "Is there a basis?" He said: "The Dharmapada Sutra says: If one arouses a diligent mind, it is delusion and not diligence; if the mind can be without delusion, diligence has no limit." Hearing this, the duke's doubts were completely cleared. He asked again: "Do you still show people the three phrases?" He said: "For beginners, I still have them put a stop to thoughts and settle the waves of consciousness. When the water is clear, the reflection appears; realizing that there is no substance to thought, stillness appears before one, and even no-thought is not established." At that time a crow cawed in a tree in the courtyard. The duke asked: "Master, do you hear it?" He said: "I hear it." After the crow had gone, he asked again: "Master, do you hear it?" He said: "I hear." The duke said: "The crow has gone and there is no sound; how can you say you hear?" The master then addressed the whole assembly: "A Buddha's age is hard to meet and the true Dharma is hard to hear. Each of you listen carefully. Hearing has no hearing and is not related to the nature of hearing. It is originally unborn; how could it ever cease? When there is sound, the sound-dust arises by itself; when there is no sound, the sound-dust ceases by itself. But this nature of hearing does not arise with sound and does not cease with sound. Realizing this nature of hearing, one avoids being turned by sound-dust. Know that hearing has no arising or ceasing and hearing has no coming or going." The duke and his officials and the assembly bowed their heads to the ground. He asked again: "What is called the first principle? By what stages is the first principle entered?" The master said: "The first principle has no stages and no entering or leaving. In conventional truth, all exists; in the first principle there is none. All dharmas have no nature, and this nature is called the first principle. The Buddha said: the dharma that exists is called conventional truth; no-nature is the first principle." The duke said: "As the master has explained, it is truly inconceivable." The duke added: "My nature and consciousness are shallow. In the past, in my free time from official duties, I composed a commentary on the Awakening of Faith in two fascicles; can it be called Buddha-Dharma?" The master said: "All who compose commentaries use the discriminating mind, with thinking and distinguishing, with doing and making, and only by arousing thoughts can they be composed. According to the treatise:

當知一切法從本以來。離言說相。離名字相。離心緣相。畢竟平等無有變異。唯有一心故名真如。今相公著言說相。著名字相。著心緣相。既著種種相。云何是佛法。公起作禮曰。弟子亦曾問諸供奉大德。皆讚弟子不可思議。當知彼等但徇人情。師今從理解說合心地法。實是真理不可思議。公又問。云何不生。云何不滅。如何得解脫。師曰。見境心不起名不生。不生即不滅。既無生滅即不被前塵所縛。當處解脫。不生名無念。無念即無滅。無念即無縛。無念即無脫。舉要而言。識心即離念。見性即解脫。離識心見性外。更有法門證無上苦提者。無有是處。公曰。何名識心見性。師曰。一切學道人隨念流浪。蓋為不識真心。真心者。念生亦不順生。念滅亦不依寂。不來不去。不定不亂。不取不捨。不沈不浮。無為無相。活鱍鱍平常自在。此心體畢竟不可得。無可知覺。觸目皆如無非見性也。公與大眾作禮。稱讚踴躍而去。後居保唐寺而終。

(The master continued:) 'Know that all dharmas from the beginning are free from the mark of speech, free from the mark of names, free from the mark of mental conditioning, ultimately equal, without change, with only one mind, and so are called suchness.' Now the chancellor is attached to the mark of speech, attached to the mark of names, attached to the mark of mental conditioning. Having attached to such marks, how can it be Buddha-Dharma?" The duke rose and bowed, saying: "I once asked the various honored virtuous monks, and all praised me as inconceivable. I know those people were only following human sentiment. The master's explanation now, according to principle, accords with the dharma of the mind-ground and is truly the real principle, inconceivable." The duke asked further: "How is it not arising? How is it not ceasing? How does one attain liberation?" The master said: "When the mind does not arise on seeing an object, it is called not arising. Not arising is not ceasing. Since there is no arising or ceasing, one is not bound by the former dust, and at that very place is liberated. Not arising is called no-thought. No-thought is no ceasing. No-thought is no bondage. No-thought is no liberation. To put it briefly, to recognize the mind is to be free from thought, and to see the nature is liberation. Apart from recognizing the mind and seeing the nature, to claim there is another Dharma gate by which to realize supreme enlightenment is impossible." The duke said: "What is called recognizing the mind and seeing the nature?" The master said: "All students of the Way drift along with thoughts only because they do not recognize the true mind. The true mind does not follow a thought when it arises, does not rely on stillness when it ceases, neither comes nor goes, is neither settled nor disturbed, neither takes nor abandons, neither sinks nor floats, is unconditioned and without marks, lively and ordinary and free. The substance of this mind ultimately cannot be found and cannot be known. Whatever meets the eye is thus, and nothing is not seeing the nature." The duke and the assembly bowed, praised him and left jubilantly. Later he lived at Baotang Monastery and died there.

第三十三祖慧能大師

The Thirty-third Patriarch, Great Master Huineng

第三十三祖慧能大師法嗣四十三人西印度堀多三藏

Forty-three Dharma heirs of the Thirty-third Patriarch, Great Master Huineng. The Tripitaka Master Gupta of West India

韶州法海禪師

Chan Master Fahai of Shaozhou

吉州志誠禪師

Chan Master Zhicheng of Jizhou

匾簷山曉了禪師

Chan Master Xiaoliao of Biandan Mountain

河北智隍禪師

Chan Master Zhihuang of Hebei

洪州法達禪師

Chan Master Fada of Hongzhou

壽州智通禪師

Chan Master Zhitong of Shouzhou

江西志徹禪師

Chan Master Zhiche of Jiangxi

信州智常禪師

Chan Master Zhichang of Xinzhou

廣州志道禪師

Chan Master Zhidao of Guangzhou

廣州法性寺印宗和尚

Venerable Yinzong of Faxing Monastery in Guangzhou

吉州青原山行思禪師

Chan Master Xingsi of Mount Qingyuan in Jizhou