Platform Sutra of the Dharma Jewel of the Sixth Patriarch

用本無生，雙修是正。」

its function is originally unborn, and cultivating concentration and insight together is the right path."

法海言下大悟，以偈讚曰：

Fahai had a great awakening at these words and praised it with a verse, saying:

「即心元是佛，不悟而自屈，

This mind is originally Buddha; not awakening is wronging oneself;

我知定慧因，雙修離諸物。」

now that I understand the cause of concentration and insight, cultivating both lets me leave all attachments."

僧法達，洪州人，七歲出家，常誦《法華經》。來禮祖師，頭不至地。師訶曰：「禮不投地，何如不禮？汝心中必有一物。蘊習何事耶？」曰：「念《法華經》已及三千部。」師曰：「汝若念至萬部，得其經意，不以為勝，則與吾偕行。汝今負此事業，都不知過。聽吾偈曰：

The monk Fada was a native of Hongzhou, who left home at seven and often recited the Lotus Sutra. He came to pay homage to the Patriarch, but his head did not touch the ground. The Master rebuked him: "To bow without your head touching the ground is no better than not bowing. There must be something in your heart. What do you usually practice?" He said: "I have recited the Lotus Sutra three thousand times." The Master said: "If you recite it ten thousand times and truly grasp the meaning of the sutra without taking pride in it, then you may walk side by side with me. Now you carry this achievement on your back and have no idea where you are wrong. Listen to my verse:

「禮本折慢幢，頭奚不至地？

Bowing is meant to break the lofty banner of pride; why does your head not touch the ground?

有我罪即生，亡功福無比。」

When there is an "I" in the heart, offenses arise; forgetting your own merit, blessings become beyond compare."

師又曰：「汝名什麼？」曰：「法達。」師曰：「汝名法達，何曾達法？」復說偈曰：

The Master asked again: "What is your name?" He said: "Fada." The Master said: "Your name is Fada, but when have you ever penetrated the Dharma?" And he spoke another verse:

「汝今名法達，勤誦未休歇，

Now your name is Fada, and you toil at reciting the sutra without rest;

空誦但循聲，明心號菩薩。

but reciting with an empty mouth is merely following the sound; one who understands his own mind deserves to be called a Bodhisattva.

汝今有緣故，吾今為汝說，

Now you have an affinity with me, so I will tell you:

但信佛無言，蓮華從口發。」

Only believe that the Buddha is originally wordless, and lotus flowers will bloom from your mouth of themselves."

達聞偈，悔謝曰：「而今而後，當謙恭一切。弟子誦《法華經》，未解經義，心常有疑。和尚智慧廣大，願略說經中義理。」師曰：「法達！法即甚達，汝心不達。經本無疑，汝心自疑。汝念此經，以何為宗？」達曰：「學人根性闇鈍，從來但依文誦念，豈知宗趣？」師曰：「吾不識文字，汝試取經誦一遍，吾當為汝解說。」法達即高聲念經，至譬喻品，師曰：「止！此經元來以因緣出世為宗，縱說多種譬喻，亦無越於此。何者因緣？經云：『諸佛世尊，唯以一大事因緣出現於世。』一大事者，佛之知見也。世人外迷著相，內迷著空；若能於相離相、於空離空，即是內外不迷。若悟此法，一念心開，是為開佛知見。佛，猶覺也。分為四門，開覺知見、示覺知見、悟覺知見、入覺知見。若聞開示，便能悟入，即覺知見，本來真性而得出現。汝慎勿錯解經意，見他道：『開示悟入，自是佛之知見。我輩無分。』若作此解，乃是謗經毀佛也。彼既是佛，已具知見，何用更開？汝今當信，佛知見者，只汝自心，更無別佛。蓋為一切眾生，自蔽光明，貪愛塵境，外緣內擾，甘受驅馳。便勞他世尊，從三昧起，種種苦口，勸令寢息，莫向外求，與佛無二。故云：『開佛知見。』吾亦勸一切人，於自心中，常開佛之知見。世人心邪，愚迷造罪，口善心惡，貪瞋嫉妬，諂佞我慢，侵人害物，自開眾生知見。若能正心，常生智慧，觀照自心，止惡行善，是自開佛之知見。汝須念念開佛知見，勿開眾生知見。開佛知見，即是出世；開眾生知見，即是世間。汝若但勞勞執念，以為功課者，何異犛牛愛尾。」達曰：「若然者，但得解義，不勞誦經耶？」師曰：「經有何過，豈障汝念？只為迷悟在人，損益由己。口誦心行，即是轉經；口誦心不行，即是被經轉。聽吾偈曰：

Fada, hearing the verse, repented and apologized, saying: "From now on I will be humble toward all. Though I recite the Lotus Sutra, I do not understand its meaning, and doubts are always in my mind. The Master's wisdom is vast; I hope you will briefly explain the principles in the sutra." The Master said: "Fada! The Dharma is originally penetrating; it is your mind that does not penetrate. The sutra originally has no doubt; it is your own mind that raises doubt. When you recite this sutra, what do you take as its main point?" Fada said: "This student's faculties are dim and dull, and I have only ever recited according to the words; how would I know any main point?" The Master said: "I do not know how to read; try taking up the sutra and recite it once, and I will explain it for you." Fada then recited the sutra aloud, and when he reached the chapter on Parables, the Master said: "Stop! This sutra at root takes 'appearing in the world through causes and conditions' as its main point, and though many parables are spoken, none go beyond this. What are the causes and conditions? The sutra says: 'The Buddhas, World-Honored Ones, appear in the world only for one great matter.' The one great matter is the Buddha's knowledge and vision. People of the world are deluded outwardly and cling to forms, and deluded inwardly and cling to emptiness; if one can be in form and be apart from form, be in emptiness and be apart from emptiness, then one is not deluded inside or outside. If you awaken to this teaching, the mind opens in a single thought, and this is 'opening the Buddha's knowledge and vision.' 'Buddha' means awakened. It is divided into four gates: opening the awakened knowledge and vision, showing the awakened knowledge and vision, awakening to the awakened knowledge and vision, and entering the awakened knowledge and vision. If, on hearing 'opening' and 'showing,' you can 'awaken' and 'enter,' then that is the awakened knowledge and vision, and the original true nature thereby appears. You must by no means misread the sutra's meaning, seeing others say: 'Opening, showing, awakening and entering are the Buddha's knowledge and vision, and we have no share in it.' If you take it this way, you are slandering the sutra and defaming the Buddha. Since he is already a Buddha, he already has knowledge and vision, so why 'open' it again? You should now believe: what is called the Buddha's knowledge and vision is only your own mind, and there is no other Buddha. It is only because all beings cover their own light, crave the dusty realms, are pulled outside by clinging and stirred up within, willingly driven by them, that the World-Honored One had to rise from samadhi and urge them with all kinds of bitter words to rest and not seek outside, and then they would be no different from the Buddha. This is why it is said 'opening the Buddha's knowledge and vision.' I also urge everyone to keep opening the Buddha's knowledge and vision within their own mind. Worldly people hold crooked views in the heart, are deluded and create offenses, speak good words with evil in the heart, are greedy, angry, jealous, flattering and arrogant, harm others and damage all things; that is opening the knowledge and vision of beings yourself. If you can set your heart right, constantly give rise to wisdom, contemplate your own mind, stop evil and do good, that is opening the Buddha's knowledge and vision yourself. You must open the Buddha's knowledge and vision in every thought, and not open the knowledge and vision of beings. Opening the Buddha's knowledge and vision is going beyond the world; opening the knowledge and vision of beings is the world. If you merely cling toilsomely to recitation and treat it as your daily task, how is that different from a yak cherishing its own tail?" Fada said: "If that is so, then is it enough to understand the meaning, with no need to recite the sutra?" The Master said: "What fault does the sutra have; does it hinder your reciting? It is only that delusion and awakening lie in the person, and loss and gain come from oneself. If the mouth recites and the heart acts, you are turning the sutra; if the mouth recites and the heart does not act, you are turned by the sutra. Listen to my verse:

「心迷法華轉，心悟轉法華，

When the heart is deluded, one is turned by the Lotus; when the heart awakens, one can turn the Lotus;

誦經久不明，與義作讎家。

reciting the sutra for a long time without understanding turns one into the enemy of its meaning.

無念念即正，有念念成邪，

To recite without thought, the recitation is right; to recite with attachment, the recitation becomes wrong;

有無俱不計，長御白牛車。」

when neither being nor non-being is weighed, one can ride that white ox cart forever."

達聞偈，不覺悲泣，言下大悟，而告師曰：「法達從昔已來，實未曾轉法華，乃被法華轉。」再啟曰：「經云：『諸大聲聞乃至菩薩，皆盡思共度量，不能測佛智。』今令凡夫但悟自心，便名佛之知見。自非上根，未免疑謗。又經說三車，羊鹿牛車與白牛之車，如何區別？願和尚再垂開示。」師曰：「經意分明，汝自迷背。諸三乘人，不能測佛智者，患在度量也。饒伊盡思共推，轉加懸遠。佛本為凡夫說，不為佛說。此理若不肯信者，從他退席。殊不知，坐卻白牛車，更於門外覓三車。況經文明向汝道：『唯一佛乘，無有餘乘若二若三。』乃至無數方便，種種因緣譬喻言詞，是法皆為一佛乘故。汝何不省，三車是假，為昔時故；一乘是實，為今時故。只教汝去假歸實，歸實之後，實亦無名。應知所有珍財，盡屬於汝，由汝受用，更不作父想，亦不作子想，亦無用想。是名持法華經，從劫至劫，手不釋卷，從晝至夜，無不念時也。」

Fada, hearing the verse, unwittingly wept, had a great awakening at these words, and told the Master: "Since the past, Fada has truly never turned the Lotus, but has rather been turned by it." He asked again: "The sutra says: 'Even if the many great shravakas, up to the Bodhisattvas, exhausted their thought and together conjectured, they could not measure the Buddha's wisdom.' Now you let ordinary people be told that merely awakening to their own mind is called the Buddha's knowledge and vision. If one is not of the highest capacity, one will inevitably doubt and slander. Furthermore, the sutra speaks of three carts, the goat cart, the deer cart and the ox cart, and the white ox cart; how are they to be distinguished? I hope the Master will instruct me further." The Master said: "The meaning of the sutra is clear; it is you who have lost your way and turned away from it. People of the three vehicles cannot measure the Buddha's wisdom, and the fault lies in 'measuring.' Let them exhaust their thought and seek together; they will only get further away. The Buddha originally spoke for ordinary people, not for Buddhas. If one is unwilling to believe this principle, let them leave the assembly. They do not even realize they are seated in the white ox cart, yet go outside the gate to seek the three carts. What is more, the sutra says plainly to you: 'There is only the One Buddha Vehicle, there is no other vehicle; why speak of two vehicles or three?' Up to countless expedients, all kinds of causes, conditions, parables and words, these dharmas are all for the sake of the One Buddha Vehicle. How is it that you do not realize: the three carts are provisional, for that time; the One Vehicle is real, for now. It only teaches you to remove the false and return to the true; after returning to the true, even the name 'true' does not exist. You should know that all the treasures and property belong entirely to you, for you to use, and you need no longer think of a father, nor of a son, nor of 'using.' This is what is called upholding the Lotus Sutra: from kalpa to kalpa the scroll never leaves your hand, and from day to night there is no time when you are not reciting."

達蒙啟發，踴躍歡喜，以偈讚曰：

Fada, enlightened, leapt with joy and praised it with a verse, saying:

「經誦三千部，曹溪一句亡，

Having recited the sutra three thousand times, it was all wiped out by one sentence from Caoxi;

未明出世旨，寧歇累生狂。

without understanding the purpose of coming into the world, how could one rest the wild mind of many lifetimes?

羊鹿牛權設，初中後善揚，

The goat cart, deer cart and ox cart are set up as expedients, with early good, middle good and later good proclaimed in order;

誰知火宅內，元是法中王。」

who would know that right within this burning house is originally the king of the Dharma."

師曰：「汝今後方可名念經僧也。」達從此領玄旨，亦不輟誦經。

The Master said: "From now on you can be called a sutra-reciting monk." From then on Fada grasped the profound purpose, and did not stop reciting the sutra either.

僧智通，壽州安豐人。初看《楞伽經》。約千餘遍，而不會三身四智。禮師求解其義，師曰：「三身者，清淨法身，汝之性也；圓滿報身，汝之智也；千百億化身，汝之行也。若離本性，別說三身，即名有身無智；若悟三身無有自性，即明四智菩提。聽吾偈曰：

The monk Zhitong was a native of Anfeng in Shouzhou. At first he read the Lankavatara Sutra about a thousand times and more, yet did not understand the three bodies and four wisdoms. He bowed to the Master and asked for their meaning, and the Master said: "As for the three bodies: the pure Dharma-body is your own nature; the perfect Reward-body is your wisdom; the hundred billion Transformation bodies are your conduct. If one leaves the nature and talks of the three bodies separately, that is called having bodies without wisdom; if one awakens to the three bodies having no self-nature, one understands the bodhi of the four wisdoms. Listen to my verse:

「自性具三身，發明成四智，

Self-nature is originally complete in the three bodies; when developed, they become the four wisdoms;

不離見聞緣，超然登佛地。

without leaving the conditions of seeing and hearing, one can transcendently ascend to the Buddha stage.

吾今為汝說，諦信永無迷，

Today I explain it to you; if you truly believe, you will never be deluded;

莫學馳求者，終日說菩提。」

do not imitate those who run outward in their seeking, who all day speak of bodhi with their mouths."

通再啟曰：「四智之義，可得聞乎？」師曰：「既會三身，便明四智。何更問耶？若離三身，別談四智，此名有智無身。即此有智，還成無智。」復說偈曰：

Zhitong asked again: "May I hear you explain the meaning of the four wisdoms?" The Master said: "Since you have understood the three bodies, you understand the four wisdoms; why ask again? If one leaves the three bodies and discusses the four wisdoms separately, that is called having wisdom without a body; even if there is wisdom, it becomes no wisdom." He spoke another verse:

「大圓鏡智性清淨，平等性智心無病，

The Great Mirror Wisdom is the purity of the original nature; the Wisdom of Equality is the mind without sickness;

妙觀察智見非功，成所作智同圓鏡。

the Wisdom of Wondrous Observation is seeing naturally without effort; the Wisdom of Accomplishing Action is the same as the Great Mirror Wisdom.

五八六七果因轉，但用名言無實性，

The first five consciousnesses and the eighth turn at the stage of fruition, while the sixth and seventh turn at the stage of cause; this is only a matter of names and words, with no real self-nature.

若於轉處不留情，繁興永處那伽定。」

If, in the place of turning, one leaves not a trace of emotional clinging, then even as the myriad conditions arise in profusion, one stays forever in the great concentration of a naga (dragon)."

(如上轉識為智也。教中云，轉前五識為成所作智，轉第六識為妙觀察智，轉第七識為平等性智，轉第八識為大圓鏡智。雖六七因中轉，五八果上轉，但轉其名而不轉其體也)。

(The above speaks of turning consciousness into wisdom. The teaching schools say: turning the first five consciousnesses is the Wisdom of Accomplishing Action, turning the sixth consciousness is the Wisdom of Wondrous Observation, turning the seventh consciousness is the Wisdom of Equality, and turning the eighth consciousness is the Great Mirror Wisdom. Though the sixth and seventh consciousnesses turn at the stage of cause and the fifth and eighth at the stage of fruition, what turns is only the name and not their substance.)

通頓悟性智，遂呈偈曰：

Zhitong suddenly awakened to the wisdom of his original nature, and presented a verse:

「三身元我體，四智本心明，

The three bodies are originally my own substance, and the four wisdoms are originally the light of the mind;

身智融無礙，應物任隨形。

body and wisdom interfuse without obstruction, responding to all things and appearing according to their form.

起修皆妄動，守住匪真精，

To set out cultivating with a stirred mind is all delusion, and clinging stubbornly is not true subtlety either;

妙旨因師曉，終亡染汙名。」

this wondrous meaning I understood through my teacher, and in the end I have forgotten even the name of 'defilement.'"

僧智常，信州貴溪人，髫年出家，志求見性。一日參禮，師問曰：「汝從何來？欲求何事？」曰：「學人近往洪州白峰山禮大通和尚，蒙示見性成佛之義。未決狐疑，遠來投禮，伏望和尚慈悲指示。」師曰：「彼有何言句？汝試舉看。」曰：「智常到彼，凡經三月，未蒙示誨。為法切故，一夕獨入丈室，請問：『如何是某甲本心本性？』大通乃曰：『汝見虛空否？』對曰：『見。』彼曰：『汝見虛空有相貌否？』對曰：『虛空無形，有何相貌？』彼曰：『汝之本性，猶如虛空，了無一物可見，是名正見；無一物可知，是名真知。無有青黃長短，但見本源清淨，覺體圓明，即名見性成佛，亦名如來知見。』學人雖聞此說，猶未決了，乞和尚開示。」師曰：「彼師所說，猶存見知，故令汝未了。吾今示汝一偈：

The monk Zhichang was a native of Guixi in Xinzhou, who left home as a child and set his will on seeing his nature. One day he came to pay respects, and the Master asked: "Where do you come from? What do you want to seek?" He said: "Recently this student went to Baifeng Mountain in Hongzhou to bow to the monk Datong, and received his instruction on the principle of seeing one's nature and becoming a Buddha, but my doubts were not resolved, and I came from afar to pay homage, earnestly hoping the Master will compassionately instruct me." The Master said: "What did he say? Try to quote it for me." He said: "When Zhichang arrived there, three months passed without his instruction. Because I was eager to seek the Dharma, one evening I entered his abbot's room alone and asked: 'What is my original mind and nature?' Datong said: 'Do you see empty space?' I answered: 'I see it.' He said: 'Does empty space have any appearance?' I answered: 'Empty space has no form; what appearance could it have?' He said: 'Your nature is like empty space, seeing nothing at all; this is called right view; knowing nothing at all, this is called true knowledge. With no blue or yellow, long or short, seeing only that the original source is pure and the awakened essence is perfectly bright, this is called seeing one's nature and becoming a Buddha, and is also called the Tathagata's knowledge and vision.' Although this student heard these words, I still have not resolved and understood it, and I beg the Master to instruct me." The Master said: "What he said still retains 'seeing' and 'knowing,' and that is why you cannot understand. Now I give you a verse:

「不見一法存無見，大似浮雲遮日面，

To say one sees not a single dharma, yet still keep a 'seeing of nothing,' is like floating clouds covering the sun;

不知一法守空知，還如太虛生閃電。

to say one knows not a single dharma, yet still guard an 'empty knowing,' is like lightning arising in the great void.

此之知見瞥然興，錯認何曾解方便，

When this knowing and seeing suddenly arises, it is a mistaken recognition, and how could it count as understanding skillful means;

汝當一念自知非，自己靈光常顯現。」

if in a single thought you know its wrongness yourself, your own spiritual light will always appear."

常聞偈已，心意豁然。乃述偈曰：

When Zhichang had heard the verse, his mind opened and cleared, and he composed a verse:

「無端起知見，著相求菩提，

Without cause, knowing and seeing arise, and clinging to forms one seeks bodhi;

情存一念悟，寧越昔時迷。

with the thought 'I have a single thought of awakening' still in the heart, how can one surpass the former delusion?

自性覺源體，隨照枉遷流，

Self-nature is originally the source substance of awakening, yet it drifts in vain following the outward illumination;

不入祖師室，茫然趣兩頭。」

if one does not enter the Patriarch's gate, one will only run aimlessly between two extremes."

智常一日問師曰：「佛說三乘法，又言最上乘。弟子未解，願為教授。」師曰：「汝觀自本心，莫著外法相。法無四乘，人心自有等差。見聞轉誦是小乘；悟法解義是中乘；依法修行是大乘；萬法盡通，萬法俱備，一切不染，離諸法相，一無所得，名最上乘。乘是行義，不在口爭。汝須自修，莫問吾也。一切時中，自性自如。」常禮謝執侍，終師之世。

One day Zhichang asked the Master: "The Buddha speaks of the three vehicles, and also of the supreme vehicle. This disciple does not understand; I hope you will instruct me." The Master said: "Contemplate your own original mind, and do not cling to external forms of dharmas. The Dharma has no four vehicles; it is that human minds have their own differing grades. Seeing, hearing, and reciting is the Small Vehicle; awakening to the meaning of the Dharma is the Middle Vehicle; practicing according to the Dharma is the Great Vehicle; fully penetrating all dharmas, fully possessing all dharmas, undefiled by anything, free of all forms of dharmas, attaining nothing at all, is called the Supreme Vehicle. 'Vehicle' means practice, and does not lie in arguing with the mouth. You must practice yourself and not ask me. At all times your own nature is naturally suchness." Zhichang bowed and thanked him, and from then on served the Master until his death.

僧志道，廣州南海人也。請益曰：「學人自出家，覽《涅槃經》十載有餘，未明大意，願和尚垂誨。」師曰：「汝何處未明？」曰：「諸行無常，是生滅法；生滅滅已，寂滅為樂。於此疑惑。」師曰：「汝作麼生疑？」曰：「一切眾生皆有二身，謂色身、法身也。色身無常，有生有滅；法身有常，無知無覺。經云：『生滅滅已，寂滅為樂』者，不審何身寂滅？何身受樂？若色身者，色身滅時，四大分散，全然是苦，苦不可言樂。若法身寂滅，即同草木瓦石，誰當受樂？又法性是生滅之體，五蘊是生滅之用，一體五用，生滅是常。生則從體起用，滅則攝用歸體。若聽更生，即有情之類，不斷不滅；若不聽更生，則永歸寂滅，同於無情之物。如是，則一切諸法被涅槃之所禁伏，尚不得生，何樂之有？」師曰：「汝是釋子，何習外道斷常邪見，而議最上乘法？據汝所說，即色身外別有法身，離生滅求於寂滅。又推涅槃常樂，言有身受用。斯乃執悋生死，耽著世樂。汝今當知，佛為一切迷人，認五蘊和合為自體相，分別一切法為外塵相，好生惡死，念念遷流，不知夢幻虛假，枉受輪迴。以常樂涅槃翻為苦相，終日馳求。佛愍此故，乃示涅槃真樂。剎那無有生相，剎那無有滅相，更無生滅可滅，是則寂滅現前。當現前時，亦無現前之量，乃謂常樂。此樂無有受者，亦無不受者，豈有一體五用之名？何況更言涅槃禁伏諸法，令永不生。斯乃謗佛毀法。聽吾偈曰：

The monk Zhidao was a native of Nanhai in Guangzhou. He asked: "Since leaving home, this student has read the Nirvana Sutra for more than ten years and still does not understand its main meaning; I hope the Master will instruct me." The Master said: "What do you not understand?" He said: "'All conditioned things are impermanent; they are the law of arising and ceasing; when arising and ceasing have ceased, stillness is bliss.' I have a doubt about this line." The Master said: "What is your doubt?" He said: "All beings have two bodies, the physical body and the Dharma-body. The physical body is impermanent, with birth and cessation; the Dharma-body is permanent, without knowing or sensing. The sutra says 'when arising and ceasing have ceased, stillness is bliss'; I do not know which body is still? Which body experiences bliss? If it is the physical body, when the physical body perishes the four elements disperse, and it is entirely suffering, and suffering cannot be called bliss. If it is the Dharma-body that is still, then it is the same as grass, trees, tiles and stones; who would experience bliss? Moreover, the Dharma-nature is the substance of arising and ceasing and the five aggregates are the function of arising and ceasing, one substance with five functions, and arising and ceasing are constant. Arising is the function arising from the substance, and ceasing is gathering the function back into substance. If rebirth is allowed, then sentient beings neither end nor cease; if rebirth is not allowed, then one is forever in stillness, the same as insentient things. In this way all dharmas are bound up by nirvana, unable even to arise; what bliss is there?" The Master said: "You are a disciple of the Buddha; why practice the wrong views of annihilation and permanence of outside paths, and still come to discuss the Supreme Vehicle Dharma? By what you say, there is a Dharma-body outside the physical body, and one leaves arising and ceasing to seek stillness; you also imagine the permanent bliss of nirvana, saying there is a body enjoying it. This is precisely clinging to birth and death and being unwilling to let go, and craving the pleasures of the world. You should know now: the Buddha, for all deluded people, took the combination of the five aggregates as their own substance and form, took the discriminating of all dharmas as external dust-forms, liked life and hated death, drifted from thought to thought, not knowing that it is a false dream, and in vain suffered the pain of the cycle; taking the permanent bliss of nirvana for a form of suffering, they ran outward all day seeking. The Buddha pitied this, and so revealed the true bliss of nirvana: in an instant there is no form of arising, in an instant there is no form of ceasing, and there is no arising and ceasing to cease, and then stillness is present. At the very moment it is present, there is no measure of 'being present' to speak of, and this is called permanent bliss. This bliss has no one who receives it and no one who does not receive it; how could there be any such names as one substance and five functions? What is more, to say that nirvana binds all dharmas and keeps them from ever arising is slandering the Buddha and defaming the Dharma. Listen to my verse:

「無上大涅槃，圓明常寂照，

Supreme great nirvana, perfect and bright, always still yet illuminating;

凡愚謂之死，外道執為斷，

foolish ordinary people take it as death, outside paths cling to it as annihilation,

諸求二乘人，目以為無作，

and those who seek the two vehicles see it as having nothing to be done.

盡屬情所計，六十二見本。

All these belong to the conjecturing of emotional consciousness, and are the root of the sixty-two wrong views.

妄立虛假名，何為真實義，

To set up false names recklessly, how can one speak of the true meaning;

惟有過量人，通達無取捨。

only those who go beyond ordinary measure are open, with no taking and no discarding.

以知五蘊法，及以蘊中我，

Because they know the dharma of the five aggregates, and the so-called 'self' within the aggregates,

外現眾色象，一一音聲相，

and also the many forms appearing outside, and each and every kind of sound,