Platform Sutra of the Dharma Jewel of the Sixth Patriarch

平等如夢幻，不起凡聖見，

all are equal as dreams and illusions, so they do not give rise to views distinguishing ordinary from holy,

不作涅槃解，二邊三際斷。

nor do they form an understanding of 'nirvana,' and the two extremes and the three times of past, present and future are cut off.

常應諸根用，而不起用想，

They constantly respond with the functions of the six faculties, yet do not give rise to the thought 'I am using them';

分別一切法，不起分別想。

they discriminate all dharmas, yet do not give rise to the thought 'I am discriminating.'

劫火燒海底，風鼓山相擊，

Even if the great fire at the end of the kalpa burns to the bottom of the sea, and the raging wind makes the mountains collide,

真常寂滅樂，涅槃相如是。

the bliss of true, constant stillness remains unmoved; such is the form of nirvana.

吾今彊言說，令汝捨邪見，

Now I speak with words only reluctantly, in order to make you discard wrong views;

汝勿隨言解，許汝知少分。」

do not follow the literal meaning to understand it, and then I will allow you to know a little."

志道聞偈大悟，踴躍作禮而退。

Zhidao, hearing the verse, awakened greatly, bowed with joy and withdrew.

行思禪師，生吉州安城劉氏。聞曹溪法席盛化，徑來參禮，遂問曰：「當何所務，即不落階級？」師曰：「汝曾作什麼來？」曰：「聖諦亦不為。」師曰：「落何階級？」曰：「聖諦尚不為，何階級之有？」師深器之，令思首眾。一日，師謂曰：「汝當分化一方，無令斷絕。」思既得法，遂回吉州青原山，弘法紹化(諡弘濟禪師)。

Chan Master Xingsi was born into the Liu family of Anchang in Jizhou. Hearing that the Dharma seat at Caoxi flourished in teaching, he came straight to pay respects, and asked: "What should one do so as not to fall into stages and ranks?" The Master said: "What have you done before?" He said: "I do not even practice the holy truths." The Master said: "Then into what stage do you fall?" He said: "If I do not even practice the holy truths, what stages are there?" The Master greatly valued him and made him head seat. One day the Master said to him: "You should go and teach in a region separately, and not let the Dharma be cut off." After Xingsi received the Dharma, he returned to Qingyuan Mountain in Jizhou to spread the Dharma and carry on the teaching. (His posthumous title is Chan Master Hongji.)

懷讓禪師，金州杜氏子也。初謁嵩山安國師，安發之曹溪參扣。讓至禮拜，師曰：「甚處來？」曰：「嵩山。」師曰：「什麼物？恁麼來？」曰：「說似一物即不中。」師曰：「還可修證否？」曰：「修證即不無，汙染即不得。」師曰：「只此不汙染，諸佛之所護念。汝既如是，吾亦如是。西天般若多羅讖，汝足下出一馬駒，踏殺天下人。應在汝心，不須速說(一本無西天以下二十七字)。」讓豁然契會，遂執侍左右一十五載，日臻玄奧。後往南嶽，大闡禪宗(勅諡大慧禪師)。

Chan Master Huairang was a son of the Du family of Jinzhou. At first he called on National Teacher Hui'an of Mount Song, who sent him to Caoxi to inquire. When Huairang arrived and bowed, the Master asked: "Where do you come from?" He said: "Mount Song." The Master said: "What thing is it that has come thus?" He said: "To say it is like any thing would be wrong." The Master said: "Can it still be cultivated and realized?" He said: "It is not that there is no cultivation and realization, but it cannot be defiled." The Master said: "It is just this non-defilement that all Buddhas protect and keep in mind. Since you are so, I am also so. Prajnatara of the Western Heaven prophesied: from your disciples will come a colt who will trample the whole world to death. These words should be kept in your heart, and need not be spoken hurriedly." (Some texts lack the twenty-seven characters from "Western Heaven" on.) Huairang suddenly understood and agreed, and so served at the Master's side for fifteen years, day by day going deeper into the profound. Later he went to Nanyue and greatly spread the Chan school. (He was granted by imperial decree the posthumous title Chan Master Dahui.)

永嘉玄覺禪師，溫州戴氏子。少習經論，精天台止觀法門。因看《維摩經》發明心地。偶師弟子玄策相訪，與其劇談，出言暗合諸祖。策云：「仁者得法師誰？」曰：「我聽方等經論，各有師承。後於《維摩經》悟佛心宗，未有證明者。」策云：「威音王已前即得，威音王已後，無師自悟，盡是天然外道。」曰：「願仁者為我證據。」策云：「我言輕。曹溪有六祖大師，四方雲集，並是受法者。若去，則與偕行。」覺遂同策來參，繞師三匝，振錫而立。師曰：「夫沙門者，具三千威儀、八萬細行。大德自何方而來，生大我慢？」覺曰：「生死事大，無常迅速。」師曰：「何不體取無生，了無速乎？」曰：「體即無生，了本無速。」師曰：「如是，如是！」玄覺方具威儀禮拜，須臾告辭。師曰：「返太速乎？」曰：「本自非動，豈有速耶？」師曰：「誰知非動？」曰：「仁者自生分別。」師曰：「汝甚得無生之意。」曰：「無生豈有意耶？」師曰：「無意，誰當分別？」曰：「分別亦非意。」師曰：「善哉！少留一宿。」時謂一宿覺。後著《證道歌》，盛行於世(諡曰無相大師，時稱為真覺焉)。

Chan Master Xuanjue of Yongjia was a son of the Dai family of Wenzhou. In his youth he studied the sutras and treatises, and was well versed in the Tiantai method of calming and insight. By reading the Vimalakirti Sutra he came to understand the mind-ground. It happened that the Master's disciple Xuance visited and talked at length with him, and found that his words tallied silently with the patriarchs of all generations. Xuance asked: "Who is the teacher from whom you got the Dharma?" He said: "I heard the Vaipulya sutras and treatises, each with its own lineage. Later on the Vimalakirti Sutra I awakened to the mind-school of the Buddha, and no one has yet verified it for me." Xuance said: "Before the Buddha Bhishmagarjitasvararaja, one could awaken by oneself; after the Buddha Bhishmagarjitasvararaja, those who awaken without a teacher are all natural heretics." He said: "I hope you will bear witness for me." Xuance said: "My words carry little weight. At Caoxi there is the Sixth Patriarch, and students from the four directions gather like clouds, all going to receive the Dharma. If you go, I will go with you." Xuanjue then came with Xuance to see the Master, circled the Master three times, shook his staff and stood still. The Master said: "A renunciant should possess three thousand dignified bearings and eighty thousand fine practices. Virtuous one, where do you come from, that you give rise to such great pride?" Xuanjue said: "Birth and death are the great matter, and impermanence comes swiftly." The Master said: "Then why not realize that which is unborn and unceasing, and penetrate that in which there is originally no swiftness or slowness?" He said: "Realizing it is itself the unborn; penetrating it, there is originally no swiftness or slowness." The Master said: "Just so, just so!" Only then did Xuanjue complete the formalities and bow, and after a short while he took his leave. The Master said: "Are you not going back too quickly?" He said: "Originally there was no moving; how can one speak of quickness?" The Master said: "Who knows that there is no moving?" He said: "It is you, sir, who give rise to discrimination." The Master said: "You have gained the meaning of the unborn very well." He said: "How can the unborn have any meaning?" The Master said: "If there is no meaning, who is discriminating?" He said: "Discrimination itself is not a meaning either." The Master said: "Good! Stay one night." At that time people called him the "Awakened by One Night's Stay." Later he wrote the Song of Realizing the Way, which circulated widely in the world. (His posthumous title is Great Master Wuxiang, and he was called True Awakened at the time.)

禪者智隍，初參五祖，自謂已得正受。菴居長坐，積二十年。師弟子玄策，遊方至河朔，聞隍之名，造菴問云：「汝在此作什麼？」隍曰：「入定。」策云：「汝雲入定，為有心入耶？無心入耶？若無心入者，一切無情草木瓦石，應合得定；若有心入者，一切有情含識之流，亦應得定。」隍曰：「我正入定時，不見有有無之心。」策云：「不見有有無之心，即是常定。何有出入？若有出入，即非大定。」隍無對，良久，問曰：「師嗣誰耶？」策云：「我師曹溪六祖。」隍云：「六祖以何為禪定？」策云：「我師所說，妙湛圓寂，體用如如。五陰本空，六塵非有，不出不入，不定不亂。禪性無住，離住禪寂；禪性無生，離生禪想。心如虛空，亦無虛空之量。」隍聞是說，徑來謁師。師問云：「仁者何來？」隍具述前緣。師云：「誠如所言。汝但心如虛空，不著空見，應用無礙，動靜無心，凡聖情忘，能所俱泯，性相如如，無不定時也(一本無汝但以下三十五字。止云：師憫其遠來，遂垂開決)。」隍於是大悟，二十年所得心，都無影響。其夜河北士庶，聞空中有聲云：「隍禪師今日得道。」隍後禮辭，復歸河北，開化四眾。一僧問師云：「黃梅意旨，甚麼人得？」師云：「會佛法人得。」僧云：「和尚還得否？」師云：「我不會佛法。」

The meditator Zhihuang first called on the Fifth Patriarch and believed himself to have already attained right reception. He sat long in his hermitage, for twenty years. The Master's disciple Xuance, traveling around the Heshuo region, heard Zhihuang's name and came to the hermitage and asked: "What are you doing here?" Zhihuang said: "Entering concentration." Xuance said: "You say you enter concentration; do you enter with a mind or without a mind? If you enter without a mind, then all the insentient grasses, trees, tiles and stones should also attain concentration; if you enter with a mind, then all sentient beings that possess consciousness should also attain concentration." Zhihuang said: "When I am just entering concentration, I do not see a mind of 'having' or 'not having.'" Xuance said: "If you do not see a mind of 'having' or 'not having,' then you are always in concentration; what entering or leaving concentration is there? If there is leaving and entering, it is not great concentration." Zhihuang had no reply, and after a long time asked: "From whom did you inherit the Dharma, teacher?" Xuance said: "My teacher is the Sixth Patriarch of Caoxi." Zhihuang said: "What does the Sixth Patriarch take as meditative concentration?" Xuance said: "What my teacher says is: wondrously clear, perfect and still, substance and function are suchness without duality. The five aggregates are originally empty and the six dusts are not truly existent; neither leaving nor entering, neither concentrated nor disturbed. The nature of meditation abides nowhere, so one should leave dwelling in meditative stillness; the nature of meditation is originally unborn, so one should leave giving rise to the thought 'I am in meditation.' The mind is like empty space, yet has no measure of 'empty space' either." Hearing these words, Zhihuang went straight to see the Master. The Master asked: "Virtuous one, where do you come from?" Zhihuang told in detail all that had happened. The Master said: "It is indeed as he said. Only let your mind be like empty space without clinging to a view of emptiness, let its use be unobstructed, do not give rise to mind in either movement or stillness, forget the emotional clinging to ordinary and holy, extinguish subject and object, with nature and form as suchness without duality, and then there is no time when you are not in concentration." (Some texts lack the thirty-five characters from "only let your mind" on, saying only that the Master took pity on his coming from afar and so instructed him and resolved his doubts.) Zhihuang then awakened greatly, and the mind he had attained over twenty years vanished without a trace. That night the scholars and common people of Hebei heard a voice in the air saying: "Chan Master Zhihuang has attained the Way today." Later Zhihuang took his leave and returned to Hebei, teaching the fourfold assembly. A monk asked the Master: "Who has obtained the meaning of Huangmei?" The Master said: "One who understands the Buddha Dharma has obtained it." The monk said: "Have you obtained it, Master?" The Master said: "I do not understand the Buddha Dharma."

師一日欲濯所授之衣而無美泉，因至寺後五里許，見山林欝茂，瑞氣盤旋。師振錫卓地，泉應手而出，積以為池，乃跪膝浣衣石上。忽有一僧來禮拜，云：「方辯是西蜀人，昨於南天竺國，見達磨大師，囑方辯速往唐土。吾傳大迦葉正法眼藏及僧伽梨，見傳六代，於韶州曹溪，汝去瞻禮。方辯遠來，願見我師傳來衣缽。」師乃出示，次問：「上人攻何事業？」曰：「善塑。」師正色曰：「汝試塑看。」辯罔措。過數日，塑就真相，可高七寸，曲盡其妙。師笑曰：「汝只解塑性，不解佛性。」師舒手摩方辯頂，曰：「永為人天福田。」

One day the Master wanted to wash the robe he had received but had no good spring water, so he walked about five li behind the monastery and saw the mountain forest lush and auspicious air circling. The Master shook his staff and planted it in the ground, and spring water gushed out at the touch and gathered into a pool, and he knelt on a rock and washed the robe. Suddenly a monk came to bow, saying: "Fangbian is a native of western Shu. Yesterday in the land of southern India I saw the Great Master Bodhidharma, who told Fangbian to hurry to the Land of Tang: 'The right Dharma eye treasury of Mahakasyapa and the sanghati robe that I transmitted have been passed down to the sixth generation, at Caoxi in Shaozhou; go and pay your respects.' Fangbian has come from afar and wishes to see the robe and bowl transmitted by my teacher." The Master then brought them out to show him, and then asked: "What is your craft, venerable one?" He said: "I am good at making statues." The Master said sternly: "Try making one." Fangbian was at a loss. After a few days he made a likeness about seven inches tall, exquisite in every respect. The Master said with a smile: "You understand only the 'nature' of making statues; you do not understand Buddha-nature." The Master reached out and stroked Fangbian's head and said: "May you be a field of blessings for humans and gods forever."

(師仍以衣酬之。辯取衣分為三，一披塑像，一自留，一用椶裹瘞地中。誓曰：「後得此衣，乃吾出世，住持於此，重建殿宇。」宋嘉祐八年，有僧惟先，修殿掘地，得衣如新。像在高泉寺，祈禱輒應)。

(The Master also thanked him with the robe. Fangbian divided the robe into three parts: one part he draped on the statue, one part he kept for himself, and one part he wrapped in palm fiber and buried in the ground, vowing: "Whoever later obtains this robe will be me coming again into the world, to preside here and rebuild the halls." In the eighth year of Jiayou in the Song dynasty, a monk Weixian, repairing the hall, dug into the ground and found the robe, as if new. The statue is at Gaoquan Temple, and prayers there are often answered.)

有僧舉臥輪禪師偈曰：

A monk cited a verse by Chan Master Wolun:

「臥輪有伎倆，能斷百思想，

Wolun has the skill to cut off all kinds of thought;

對境心不起，菩提日日長。」

facing realms the mind does not stir, and bodhi grows day by day."

師聞之，曰：「此偈未明心地，若依而行之，是加繫縛。」因示一偈曰：

The Master, hearing it, said: "This verse has not yet understood the mind-ground; if one follows it, it will only add to one's bonds." So he presented a verse:

「惠能沒伎倆，不斷百思想，

Huineng has no skill, and does not cut off any kinds of thought;

對境心數起，菩提作麼長。」

facing realms the mind arises again and again, and what growth of bodhi is there to speak of?"

時，祖師居曹溪寶林，神秀大師在荊南玉泉寺。於時兩宗盛化，人皆稱南能北秀，故有南北二宗頓漸之分，而學者莫知宗趣。師謂眾曰：「法本一宗，人有南北。法即一種，見有遲疾。何名頓漸？法無頓漸，人有利鈍，故名頓漸。」然秀之徒眾，往往譏南宗祖師，不識一字，有何所長。秀曰：「他得無師之智，深悟上乘。吾不如也。且吾師五祖，親傳衣法。豈徒然哉！吾恨不能遠去親近，虛受國恩。汝等諸人，毋滯於此，可往曹溪參決。」一日，命門人志誠曰：「汝聰明多智，可為吾到曹溪聽法。若有所聞，盡心記取，還為吾說。」志誠稟命至曹溪，隨眾參請，不言來處。時祖師告眾曰：「今有盜法之人，潛在此會。」志誠即出禮拜，具陳其事。師曰：「汝從玉泉來，應是細作。」對曰：「不是。」師曰：「何得不是？」對曰：「未說即是，說了不是。」師曰：「汝師若為示眾？」對曰：「常指誨大眾，住心觀靜，長坐不臥。」師曰：「住心觀靜，是病非禪；長坐拘身，於理何益？聽吾偈曰：

At that time, the Patriarch was staying at Baolin in Caoxi, and Great Master Shenxiu was at Yuquan Temple in Jingnan. At that time the teachings of both lines flourished, and people called them "Neng in the south, Xiu in the north," so there arose the two schools of north and south, sudden and gradual, and students did not know the main point and direction of each. The Master said to the assembly: "The Dharma is originally one school, but people are of north and south. The Dharma is of one kind, but seeing one's nature may be fast or slow. What is sudden and gradual? The Dharma has no sudden or gradual; people have sharp or dull faculties, and so it is called sudden or gradual." Yet Shenxiu's disciples often mocked the Patriarch of the southern school, saying he did not know a single character, so what merit did he have. Shenxiu said: "He has attained the wisdom that comes without a teacher, deeply awakened to the supreme vehicle, and I cannot match him. Moreover, my teacher the Fifth Patriarch personally transmitted the robe and Dharma to him; was that without reason! I regret that I cannot travel far to be near him and have in vain received the nurture of the state. All of you, do not linger here; you may go to Caoxi to inquire and resolve your doubts." One day he instructed his disciple Zhicheng: "You are clever and wise; go to Caoxi for me to listen to the Dharma. If you hear anything, record it faithfully, and come back and tell me." Zhicheng received the order and reached Caoxi, joined the assembly to ask for instruction, and did not say where he came from. At that time the Patriarch told the assembly: "Today there is a Dharma thief hidden in this gathering." Zhicheng immediately came forward, bowed, and gave a true account. The Master said: "You come from Yuquan, so you must be a spy." He replied: "No." The Master said: "How is it not?" He replied: "Before saying it, I was; having said it, I am not." The Master said: "How does your teacher instruct the assembly?" He replied: "He often instructs the assembly: fix the mind and contemplate purity, and sit long without lying down." The Master said: "To fix the mind and contemplate purity is a sickness and not meditation; to sit long restraining the body, what benefit is that to the principle? Listen to my verse:

「生來坐不臥，死去臥不坐，

In life one sits and does not lie down; in death one lies down and does not sit;

一具臭骨頭，何為立功課？」

it is only a stinking set of bones; why build a daily practice upon it?"

志誠再拜曰：「弟子在秀大師處學道九年，不得契悟。今聞和尚一說，便契本心。弟子生死事大，和尚大慈，更為教示。」師云：「吾聞汝師教示學人戒定慧法，未審汝師說戒定慧行相如何？與吾說看。」誠曰：「秀大師說，諸惡莫作名為戒，諸善奉行名為慧，自淨其意名為定。彼說如此，未審和尚以何法誨人？」師曰：「吾若言有法與人，即為誑汝。但且隨方解縛，假名三昧。如汝師所說戒定慧，實不可思議。吾所見戒定慧又別。」志誠曰：「戒定慧只合一種，如何更別？」師曰：「汝師戒定慧接大乘人，吾戒定慧接最上乘人。悟解不同，見有遲疾。汝聽吾說，與彼同否？吾所說法，不離自性。離體說法，名為相說，自性常迷。須知一切萬法，皆從自性起用，是真戒定慧法。聽吾偈曰：

Zhicheng bowed again and said: "This disciple studied the Way for nine years under Master Shenxiu and could not awaken. Today, hearing the Venerable speak once, I accord with my original mind. For this disciple, birth and death are a great matter; Venerable, in your great kindness and compassion, please teach me further." The Master said: "I have heard that your teacher teaches students the Dharma of precepts, concentration and wisdom, but I do not know what your teacher's precepts, concentration and wisdom are like. Tell me." Zhicheng said: "Master Shenxiu said: not doing any evil is called precepts, doing all good is called wisdom, and purifying one's own mind is called concentration. That is what he said; I do not know what Dharma the Venerable uses to teach people." The Master said: "If I said I had some Dharma to give people, I would be deceiving you. I only loosen people's bonds according to each one's situation, borrowing the name 'samadhi'. As for the precepts, concentration and wisdom your teacher speaks of, they are truly inconceivable; but what I see as precepts, concentration and wisdom is different." Zhicheng said: "There should be only one kind of precepts, concentration and wisdom; how can they differ?" The Master said: "Your teacher's precepts, concentration and wisdom receive people of the Great Vehicle; my precepts, concentration and wisdom receive people of the Supreme Vehicle. Awakening and understanding differ, and seeing one's nature is quick for some and slow for others. Listen to what I say and see whether it is the same as his. The Dharma I speak does not depart from self-nature; to speak of the Dharma apart from the essence is called teaching attached to appearances, and then self-nature is always in delusion. You must know that all the ten thousand dharmas arise in function from self-nature; this is the true Dharma of precepts, concentration and wisdom. Listen to my verse:

「心地無非自性戒，心地無痴自性慧，

No wrong in the mind-ground is the precepts of self-nature; no folly in the mind-ground is the wisdom of self-nature;

心地無亂自性定，不增不減自金剛，

no distraction in the mind-ground is the concentration of self-nature. Neither increasing nor decreasing, the body itself is diamond;

身去身來本三昧。」

the body comes and the body goes, yet it is originally within samadhi."

誠聞偈，悔謝，乃呈一偈曰：

Hearing the verse, Zhicheng repented and begged pardon, and then offered a verse:

「五蘊幻身，幻何究竟？迴趣真如，

The illusory body formed by the five aggregates, what ultimate is there in an illusion? Turning back toward True Suchness,

法還不淨。」

even this 'Dharma' is still not pure."

師然之，復語誠曰：「汝師戒定慧，勸小根智人；吾戒定慧，勸大根智人。若悟自性，亦不立菩提涅槃，亦不立解脫知見。無一法可得，方能建立萬法。若解此意，亦名佛身，亦名菩提涅槃，亦名解脫知見。見性之人，立亦得、不立亦得，去來自由，無滯無礙，應用隨作，應語隨答，普見化身，不離自性，即得自在神通遊戲三昧，是名見性。」志誠再啟師曰：「如何是不立義？」師曰：「自性無非、無痴無亂，念念般若觀照，常離法相，自由自在，縱橫盡得，有何可立？自性自悟，頓悟頓修，亦無漸次，所以不立一切法。諸法寂滅，有何次第？」志誠禮拜，願為執侍，朝夕不懈(誠吉州太和人也)。

The Master approved him, and said further to Zhicheng: "Your teacher's precepts, concentration and wisdom exhort people of small capacity and wisdom; my precepts, concentration and wisdom exhort people of great capacity and wisdom. If one awakens to self-nature, one does not even set up bodhi or nirvana, nor even set up the knowledge and vision of liberation. Only when there is no single dharma to be obtained can the ten thousand dharmas be established. If you understand this meaning, you may call it the Buddha body, or bodhi and nirvana, or the knowledge and vision of liberation. One who has seen his nature may set up or not set up, comes and goes freely, without hindrance or obstruction, using what should be used and answering what should be answered, universally manifesting transformation bodies without leaving self-nature; thus he obtains free spiritual powers and the samadhi of play, and this is called seeing one's nature." Zhicheng asked further: "What does 'not setting up' mean?" The Master said: "Self-nature has no wrong, no folly and no distraction; in every thought it is illumined by prajna, always apart from the characteristics of dharmas, free and at ease, moving freely without obstruction; what is there to set up? Self-nature awakens by itself, with sudden awakening and sudden practice and no gradual stages, so one does not set up any dharma. All dharmas are originally still and extinct; what stages could there be?" Zhicheng bowed, wishing to attend at his side, morning and evening without slackness. (Zhicheng was a native of Taihe in Jizhou.)

僧志徹，江西人，本姓張，名行昌，少任俠。自南北分化，二宗主雖亡彼我，而徒侶競起愛憎。時北宗門人，自立秀師為第六祖，而忌祖師傳衣為天下聞，乃囑行昌來刺師。師心通，預知其事，即置金十兩於座間。時夜暮，行昌入祖室，將欲加害。師舒頸就之，行昌揮刃者三，悉無所損。師曰：「正劍不邪，邪劍不正。只負汝金，不負汝命。」行昌驚僕，久而方蘇，求哀悔過，即願出家。師遂與金，言：「汝且去，恐徒眾翻害於汝。汝可他日易形而來，吾當攝受。」行昌稟旨宵遁。後投僧出家，具戒精進。一日，憶師之言，遠來禮覲。師曰：「吾久念汝，汝來何晚？」曰：「昨蒙和尚捨罪，今雖出家苦行，終難報德，其惟傳法度生乎？弟子常覽《涅槃經》，未曉常無常義。乞和尚慈悲，略為解說。」師曰：「無常者，即佛性也。有常者，即一切善惡諸法分別心也。」曰：「和尚所說，大違經文。」師曰：「吾傳佛心印，安敢違於佛經？」曰：「經說佛性是常；和尚卻言無常。善惡之法乃至菩提心，皆是無常；和尚卻言是常。此即相違，令學人轉加疑惑。」師曰：「《涅槃經》吾昔聽尼無盡藏讀誦一遍，便為講說，無一字一義不合經文。乃至為汝，終無二說。」曰：「學人識量淺昧，願和尚委曲開示。」師曰：「汝知否？佛性若常，更說什麼善惡諸法，乃至窮劫無有一人發菩提心者；故吾說無常，正是佛說真常之道也。又，一切諸法若無常者，即物物皆有自性，容受生死，而真常性有不遍之處。故吾說常者，正是佛說真無常義。佛比為凡夫、外道執於邪常，諸二乘人於常計無常，共成八倒，故於《涅槃》了義教中，破彼偏見，而顯說真常、真樂、真我、真淨。汝今依言背義，以斷滅無常及確定死常，而錯解佛之圓妙最後微言。縱覽千遍，有何所益？」行昌忽然大悟，說偈曰：

The monk Zhiche was a native of Jiangxi, originally surnamed Zhang, named Xingchang, who in his youth loved to play the knight-errant. Since the teaching was divided between south and north, although the masters of the two schools had dissolved their views of each other, their followers vied in giving rise to love and hatred. At that time, the disciples of the northern school on their own account proclaimed Shenxiu the Sixth Patriarch, and, fearing that the matter of the Patriarch's transmitted robe was known to all, they commissioned Xingchang to go and assassinate the Master. The Master, who had spiritual powers in his mind, knew of this in advance, and placed ten taels of gold on his seat. That night, Xingchang entered the Patriarch's room to do violence. The Master stretched out his neck for him to cut; Xingchang swung his blade three times and did no harm at all. The Master said: "The upright sword is not crooked, and the crooked sword is not upright. I owe you only gold, not a life." Xingchang fell to the ground in terror, and after a long time came to, pleading and repenting, and at once wished to leave home. The Master gave him the gold and said: "For now, leave; I fear the community will turn and harm you. You may come again another day in a changed appearance, and I will take you in." Xingchang took the instruction and fled that night. Later he joined a monk and left home, received the full precepts and practiced diligently. One day, remembering the Master's words, he came from afar to pay his respects. The Master said: "I have been thinking of you for a long time; why did you come so late?" He said: "Formerly I received the Venerable's pardon of my offense, and now though I have left home and practice austerities, I can hardly repay the kindness; perhaps only by transmitting the Dharma and saving beings? This disciple often reads the Nirvana Sutra but does not understand the meaning of 'permanent' and 'impermanent'; I beg the Venerable in compassion to explain briefly." The Master said: "What is called impermanence is precisely the Buddha-nature; what is called permanence is precisely the discriminating mind about all good and evil dharmas." He said: "What the Venerable says greatly contradicts the sutra." The Master said: "What I transmit is the Buddha's mind-seal; how would I dare contradict the Buddha's sutra?" He said: "The sutra says Buddha-nature is permanent, yet the Venerable says it is impermanent; the sutra says good and evil dharmas, even the bodhi mind, are impermanent, yet the Venerable says they are permanent. This is a contradiction and makes the student all the more confused." The Master said: "The Nirvana Sutra I once heard recited once by the nun Wujinzang, and I explained it for her, and not one word or meaning disagreed with the sutra; even today in explaining it to you, there has never been a second explanation." He said: "This student's understanding is shallow; I wish the Venerable would explain in detail." The Master said: "Do you know? If Buddha-nature were permanent, what would be the use of speaking of good and evil dharmas, and not a single person would give rise to the bodhi mind even to the end of the kalpas; so when I say 'impermanent', that is exactly the true permanent Way spoken by the Buddha. Again, if all dharmas were impermanent, then each thing would have its own nature and each would accept birth and death by itself, and the nature of true permanence would have places it did not reach; so when I say 'permanent', that is exactly the meaning of true impermanence spoken by the Buddha. It is precisely because ordinary people and non-Buddhists cling to a false permanence, and people of the Two Vehicles in turn reckon impermanence on top of permanence, together making the eight inversions, that in the definitive teaching of the Nirvana Sutra he broke down their partial views and plainly proclaimed true permanence, true bliss, true self and true purity. Now you rely on the letter and turn away from the meaning, taking annihilationist impermanence and fixed, rigid permanence, and misread the Buddha's perfect, wonderful and final subtle words. Even if you read it a thousand times, what benefit would there be?" Xingchang suddenly awakened greatly and spoke a verse:

「因守無常心，佛說有常性，

Because beings cling to the mind of 'impermanence', the Buddha said there is a 'permanent' nature;

不知方便者，猶春池拾礫。

one who does not understand that this is expedient teaching is like picking up pebbles by a spring pond.

我今不施功，佛性而現前，

Now I have not put in any effort, and Buddha-nature appears of itself;

非師相授與，我亦無所得。」

this was not given to me by my teacher, and I have not gained anything."

師曰：「汝今徹也，宜名志徹。」徹禮謝而退。

The Master said: "Now that you are thorough, you should be named Zhiche." Zhiche bowed in thanks and withdrew.

有一童子，名神會，襄陽高氏子。年十三，自玉泉來參禮。師曰：「知識遠來艱辛，還將得本來否？若有本則合識主。試說看。」會曰：「以無住為本，見即是主。」師曰：「這沙彌爭合取次語？」會乃問曰：「和尚坐禪，還見不見？」師以柱杖打三下，云：「吾打汝痛不痛？」對曰：「亦痛亦不痛。」師曰：「吾亦見亦不見。」神會問：「如何是亦見亦不見？」師云：「吾之所見，常見自心過愆，不見他人是非好惡，是以亦見亦不見。汝言：『亦痛亦不痛。』如何？汝若不痛，同其木石；若痛，則同凡夫，即起恚恨。汝向前見、不見是二邊，痛、不痛是生滅。汝自性且不見，敢爾弄人！」神會禮拜悔謝。師又曰：「汝若心迷不見，問善知識覓路。汝若心悟，即自見性依法修行。汝自迷不見自心，卻來問吾見與不見。吾見自知，豈代汝迷？汝若自見，亦不代吾迷。何不自知自見，乃問吾見與不見？」神會再禮百餘拜，求謝過愆。服勤給侍，不離左右。

There was a boy named Shenhui, son of the Gao family of Xiangyang. At thirteen he came from Yuquan Temple to pay homage. The Master said: "Good teacher, you have come from afar and must be weary; have you brought that 'original' with you? If there is an original, you should know the master. Try to say it." Shenhui said: "Non-abiding is the original, and seeing is the master." The Master said: "How can this novice speak so carelessly?" Shenhui then asked: "When the Venerable sits in meditation, does he see or not see?" The Master struck him three times with his staff and said: "When I strike you, does it hurt or not?" He answered: "It both hurts and does not hurt." The Master said: "I both see and do not see." Shenhui asked: "What does it mean to both see and not see?" The Master said: "What I see is always my own faults, and I do not look at others' rights and wrongs, goods and bads; so I say I both see and do not see. As for what you call 'both hurts and does not hurt', what is that? If it does not hurt, you are the same as wood or stone; if it hurts, you are the same as an ordinary person and will give rise to resentment. The 'seeing' and 'not seeing' you spoke of just now fall on two sides, and 'hurting' and 'not hurting' are arising and ceasing. You have not even seen your own nature, and you dare to come and toy with people!" Shenhui bowed and repented. The Master said further: "If your mind is deluded and does not see, you should ask a good teacher for the path; if your mind is awakened, you should see your nature yourself and practice according to the Dharma. You are deluded yourself and cannot see your own mind, yet you come and ask me whether I see or not. I know for myself whether I see or not; how could that substitute for your delusion? If you see it yourself, it cannot substitute for my delusion either. Why do you not know and see for yourself, and instead come and ask me whether I see or not?" Shenhui bowed over a hundred more times, begging pardon for his fault, and from then on served diligently, never leaving his side.

一日，師告眾曰：「吾有一物，無頭無尾，無名無字，無背無面。諸人還識否？」神會出曰：「是諸佛之本源，神會之佛性。」師曰：「向汝道：『無名無字』，汝便喚作本源佛性。汝向去有把茆蓋頭，也只成箇知解宗徒。」祖師滅後，會入京洛，大弘曹溪頓教，著《顯宗記》，盛行於世(是為荷澤禪師)。

One day the Master told the assembly: "I have a thing that has no head and no tail, no name and no designation, no back and no front. Do you all recognize it?" Shenhui came forward and said: "This is the source of all Buddhas, and it is Shenhui's Buddha-nature." The Master said: "I told you it has 'no name and no designation', and you insist on calling it the source and Buddha-nature. In the future, even if you have a thatched hut to cover your head, you will only be a follower of the school of intellectual understanding." After the Patriarch passed away, Shenhui went to the region of the two capitals, greatly spread the sudden teaching of Caoxi, and wrote the Xianzong Ji (Record Revealing the Doctrine), which circulated widely. (This is Chan Master Heze.)

師見諸宗難問鹹起惡心，多集座下愍而謂曰：「學道之人，一切善念惡念應當盡除。無名可名，名於自性，無二之性，是名實性。於實性上建立一切教門，言下便須自見。」諸人聞說，總皆作禮，請事為師。

The Master, seeing that those from the various schools who came to challenge him had all developed evil intentions and gathered in large numbers below his seat, said to them with compassion: "Students of the Way should eliminate all good thoughts and evil thoughts. That which has no name to call it by is only reluctantly called self-nature; this nature without opposites is called real nature. On the basis of real nature, all teaching gates are established, and on hearing them one should see it oneself at once." The assembly, hearing this, all bowed and asked to take him as their teacher.

神龍元年上元日，則天、中宗詔云：「朕請安、秀二師宮中供養。萬機之暇，每究一乘。二師推讓云：『南方有能禪師，密授忍大師衣法，傳佛心印，可請彼問。』今遣內侍薛簡，馳詔迎請，願師慈念，速赴上京。」師上表辭疾，願終林麓。薛簡曰：「京城禪德皆云：『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？」師曰：「道由心悟，豈在坐也。經云：『若言如來若坐若臥，是行邪道。』何故？無所從來，亦無所去。無生無滅，是如來清淨禪。諸法空寂，是如來清淨坐。究竟無證，豈況坐耶。」簡曰：「弟子回京，主上必問。願師慈悲，指示心要，傳奏兩宮及京城學道者。譬如一燈，然百千燈，冥者皆明，明明無盡。」師云：「道無明暗，明暗是代謝之義。明明無盡，亦是有盡，相待立名故。《淨名經》云：『法無有比，無相待故。』」簡曰：「明喻智慧，暗喻煩惱。修道之人，倘不以智慧照破煩惱，無始生死憑何出離？」師曰：「煩惱即是菩提，無二無別。若以智慧照破煩惱者，此是二乘見解。羊鹿等機，上智大根，悉不如是。」簡曰：「如何是大乘見解？」師曰：「明與無明，凡夫見二；智者了達，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？」師曰：「外道所說不生不滅者，將滅止生，以生顯滅，滅猶不滅，生說不生。我說不生不滅者，本自無生，今亦不滅，所以不同外道。汝若欲知心要，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，表奏師語。

On the fifteenth day of the first month of the first year of Shenlong, Empress Wu Zetian and Emperor Zhongzong issued an edict saying: "We have invited the two Masters Hui'an and Shenxiu to be supported in the palace, and in the intervals of managing the myriad affairs we often investigate the Dharma of the One Vehicle. The two Masters declined, saying: 'In the south there is Chan Master Huineng, who secretly received the robe and Dharma from Master Hongren and transmits the Buddha's mind-seal; you may invite him and ask.' Now We send the palace attendant Xue Jian to rush the edict and invite him; we hope the Master, in compassion and mindfulness, will hasten to the capital." The Master submitted a memorial declining, saying he was ill and wished to end his days in the mountains and forests. Xue Jian said: "The great virtuous ones of the Chan schools in the capital all say: 'To realize the Way, one must sit in meditation and practice concentration. To attain liberation without relying on meditation and concentration has never happened.' I do not know what the Master's Dharma is like." The Master said: "The Way is awakened to by the mind; how could it lie in sitting? The sutra says: 'If one says the Tathagata sits or lies, this is practicing a false path.' Why? Because the Tathagata comes from nowhere and goes nowhere; neither arising nor ceasing, this is the Tathagata's pure meditation. All dharmas are empty and still, and this is the Tathagata's pure sitting. In the end there is not even 'realization', let alone sitting." Xue Jian said: "When this disciple returns to the capital, the Emperor will surely ask. I hope the Master, in compassion, will point out the essentials of the mind, so that I may relate them to the two palaces and to those studying the Way in the capital. It is like one lamp lighting hundreds of thousands of lamps, so that all that is dark becomes bright, and the brightness continues without end." The Master said: "The Way has no brightness and darkness; brightness and darkness mean taking turns replacing each other. 'Brightness without end' too in fact has an end, because it is a name established in dependence on something. The Vimalakirti Sutra says: 'Dharma has nothing to compare it to, because it is not in dependence on anything.'" Xue Jian said: "Brightness is a metaphor for wisdom and darkness a metaphor for afflictions. If a practitioner of the Way does not use wisdom to illuminate and break through afflictions, by what means can he escape from birth and death from beginningless time?" The Master said: "Afflictions are bodhi; there is no difference and no distinction. To say that one uses wisdom to illuminate and break through afflictions is the view of the Two Vehicles, of the capacity of the goat cart and deer cart; people of superior wisdom and great capacity do not view it so." Xue Jian said: "What is the view of the Great Vehicle?" The Master said: "Brightness and non-brightness, ordinary people see as two; the wise understand that their nature is not two. This not-two nature is real nature. What is called real nature neither decreases in the foolish and ordinary nor increases in the worthy and sage, is not scattered when dwelling in afflictions and not dead still when abiding in concentration. It is neither cut off nor permanent, neither coming nor going, neither in the middle nor inside or outside, neither arising nor ceasing; nature and characteristics are such as they are and not two, ever-abiding and unchanging; this is called the Way." Xue Jian said: "The Master says neither arising nor ceasing; how does this differ from non-Buddhists?" The Master said: "The non-arising and non-ceasing spoken of by non-Buddhists is using 'ceasing' to halt 'arising' and using 'arising' to show 'ceasing'; ceasing is still not truly ceased, and arising is called non-arising. The non-arising and non-ceasing I speak of is that originally there is no arising and now there is no ceasing, so it is different from non-Buddhists. If you wish to know the essentials of the mind, simply do not think about any good or evil, and you will naturally enter the pure body of the mind, clear and ever still, with wondrous function numerous as the sands of the Ganges." Xue Jian received this instruction and was suddenly greatly awakened. He bowed in farewell and returned to court, submitting a memorial reporting the Master's words.

其年九月三日，有詔獎諭師曰：「師辭老疾，為朕修道，國之福田。師若淨名託疾毘耶，闡揚大乘，傳諸佛心，談不二法。薛簡傳師指授如來知見，朕積善餘慶，宿種善根，值師出世，頓悟上乘。感荷師恩，頂戴無已，並奉磨衲袈裟及水晶缽，勅韶州刺史修飾寺宇，賜師舊居為國恩寺。」

On the third day of the ninth month of that year, an edict was issued praising the Master: "The Master declined on account of age and illness and cultivates the Way for Us; he is a field of blessing for the state. The Master is like Vimalakirti who feigned illness in the city of Vaisali, expounding the Great Vehicle, transmitting the mind of all Buddhas and speaking of the Dharma of non-duality. Xue Jian transmitted the Tathagata's knowledge and vision that the Master pointed out. We, from the surplus blessing of accumulated goodness and the good roots planted in past lives, met the Master's appearance in the world and were able to awaken suddenly to the Supreme Vehicle. Mindful of the Master's kindness, We bear it on Our head without ceasing, and respectfully offer a ground-cloth kasaya and a crystal bowl, and order the Prefect of Shaozhou to refurbish the temple buildings and to bestow on the Master's old residence the name Guo'en Temple (Temple of National Gratitude)."

師一日喚門人法海、志誠、法達、神會、智常、智通、志徹、志道、法珍、法如等，曰：「汝等不同餘人，吾滅度後，各為一方師。吾今教汝說法，不失本宗：先須舉三科法門，動用三十六對，出沒即離兩邊。說一切法，莫離自性。忽有人問汝法，出語盡雙，皆取對法，來去相因。究竟二法盡除，更無去處。三科法門者，陰、界、入也。陰是五陰——色、受、想、行、識是也。入是十二入，外六塵——色、聲、香、味、觸、法；內六門——眼、耳、鼻、舌、身、意是也。界是十八界，六塵、六門、六識是也。自性能含萬法，名含藏識。若起思量，即是轉識。生六識，出六門，見六塵。如是一十八界，皆從自性起用。自性若邪，起十八邪；自性若正，起十八正。若惡用即眾生用，善用即佛用。用由何等？由自性有，對法外境。無情五對：天與地對，日與月對，明與暗對，陰與陽對，水與火對；此是五對也。法相語言十二對：語與法對，有與無對，有色與無色對，有相與無相對，有漏與無漏對，色與空對，動與靜對，清與濁對，凡與聖對，僧與俗對，老與少對，大與小對；此是十二對也。自性起用十九對：長與短對，邪與正對，痴與慧對，愚與智對，亂與定對，慈與毒對，戒與非對，直與曲對，實與虛對，險與平對，煩惱與菩提對，常與無常對，悲與害對，喜與瞋對，捨與慳對，進與退對，生與滅對，法身與色身對，化身與報身對；此是十九對也。」師言：「此三十六對法，若解用即道，貫一切經法，出入即離兩邊。自性動用，共人言語，外於相離相，內於空離空。若全著相，即長邪見；若全執空，即長無明。執空之人有謗經，直言不用文字。既雲不用文字，人亦不合語言。只此語言，便是文字之相。又云：『直道不立文字。』即此不立兩字，亦是文字。見人所說，便即謗他言著文字。

One day the Master called his disciples Fahai, Zhicheng, Fada, Shenhui, Zhichang, Zhitong, Zhiche, Zhidao, Fazhen, Faru and others, and said: "You are different from others. After my passing, each of you is to be a teacher in one region. Now I will teach you how to teach the Dharma so that you do not lose our original school: first, bring up the Dharma gate of the three categories, use the thirty-six pairs, and in coming out and going in leave the two sides. In speaking of all dharmas, do not depart from self-nature. If someone suddenly asks you about the Dharma, every utterance should come in pairs, taking opposites, so that coming and going depend on each other; when you reach the ultimate, remove both kinds of dharma, so that there is nowhere further to go. The Dharma gate of the three categories is the skandhas, the realms and the entrances. The skandhas are the five: form, feeling, perception, volition and consciousness. The entrances are the twelve: the six outer dusts (form, sound, smell, taste, touch and dharma) and the six inner gates (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind). The realms are the eighteen, namely the six dusts, six gates and six consciousnesses. Self-nature can contain the ten thousand dharmas, and is called the storehouse consciousness; if thinking arises, that is the evolving consciousness: the six consciousnesses are produced, go out from the six gates and see the six dusts. These eighteen realms all arise in function from self-nature. If self-nature is false, it gives rise to eighteen falsities; if self-nature is right, it gives rise to eighteen rightnesses. If used for evil, it is the function of sentient beings; if used for good, it is the function of the Buddha. Where does the function come from? From the opposed dharmas and outer objects within self-nature. The five pairs of the insentient: heaven opposite earth, sun opposite moon, light opposite dark, yin opposite yang, water opposite fire; these are five pairs. The twelve pairs of dharma characteristics and language: speech opposite dharma, existence opposite non-existence, with form opposite without form, with characteristics opposite without characteristics, with outflows opposite without outflows, form opposite emptiness, movement opposite stillness, clear opposite turbid, ordinary opposite sage, monk opposite layperson, old opposite young, large opposite small; these are twelve pairs. The nineteen pairs of the function arising from self-nature: long opposite short, false opposite right, folly opposite wisdom, ignorance opposite intelligence, disorder opposite concentration, kindness opposite poison, precepts opposite wrong, straight opposite crooked, real opposite empty, steep opposite level, affliction opposite bodhi, permanent opposite impermanent, compassion opposite harm, joy opposite anger, giving opposite stinginess, advance opposite retreat, arising opposite ceasing, Dharma body opposite form body, transformation body opposite reward body; these are nineteen pairs." The Master said: "These thirty-six pairs of dharmas, if you know how to use them, are interpenetrated with the Way and thread through all the sutras and teachings, leaving the two sides in coming out and going in. When self-nature arises in function and you speak with people, outwardly you are in characteristics yet apart from characteristics, and inwardly you are in emptiness yet apart from emptiness. If you cling entirely to characteristics, you increase false views; if you cling entirely to emptiness, you increase ignorance. Some who cling to emptiness slander the sutras and say outright that words are not to be used. Since they say words are not to be used, people also should not speak; the speaking itself is the characteristic of words. And he says: 'The direct way does not establish words.' These two words 'not establish' are also words. Seeing others speak, he slanders them for clinging to words.

汝等須知，自迷猶可，又謗佛經。不要謗經，罪障無數。若著相於外，而作法求真；或廣立道場，說有無之過患。如是之人，累劫不得見性。但聽依法修行，又莫百物不思，而於道性窒礙。若聽說不修，令人反生邪念。但依法修行，無住相法施。汝等若悟，依此說、依此用、依此行、依此作，即不失本宗。若有人問汝義，問有將無對，問無將有對，問凡以聖對，問聖以凡對。二道相因，生中道義。如一問一對，餘問一依此作，即不失理也。設有人問：『何名為闇？』答云：『明是因，闇是緣，明沒即闇。』以明顯闇，以闇顯明，來去相因，成中道義。餘問悉皆如此。汝等於後傳法，依此轉相教授，勿失宗旨。」

(The Master continued:) You must know that if you are deluded yourself, that is one thing, but to slander the sutras as well! Do not slander the sutras, for the karmic obstruction is without number. If outwardly you cling to characteristics and practice the Dharma seeking truth, or widely set up places of practice and debate the faults of existence and non-existence, such people cannot see their nature even through many kalpas. You should only listen and practice according to the Dharma, and do not think nothing at all, which blocks the nature of the Way. If you only hear others speak and do not practice, you instead cause people to give rise to false thoughts. Just practice according to the Dharma and do the Dharma-giving that does not cling to characteristics. If you have understood, speak accordingly, use accordingly, act accordingly and do accordingly, and you will not lose the original school. If someone asks you about meaning, when asked about 'existence', answer with 'non-existence'; when asked about 'non-existence', answer with 'existence'; when asked about 'ordinary', answer with 'sage'; when asked about 'sage', answer with 'ordinary'. The way of the two sides depends on each other and gives rise to the meaning of the middle way. In this way, with one question and one answer, do all other questions likewise, and you will not lose the principle. Suppose someone asks: 'What is called dark?' answer: 'Brightness is the cause, darkness is the condition, and when brightness is gone, it is darkness.' Use brightness to show darkness and darkness to show brightness; coming and going depend on each other and bring about the meaning of the middle way. All other questions are like this. When you transmit the Dharma later, follow this and teach one another in turn, and do not lose the essential point."

師於太極元年壬子，延和七月(是年五月改延和，八月玄宗即位方改元先天，次年遂改開元。他本作先天者非)命門人往新州國恩寺建塔，仍令促工，次年夏末落成。七月一日，集徒眾曰：「吾至八月，欲離世間。汝等有疑，早須相問，為汝破疑，令汝迷盡。吾若去後，無人教汝。」法海等聞，悉皆涕泣。惟有神會，神情不動，亦無涕泣。師云：「神會小師卻得善不善等，毀譽不動，哀樂不生；餘者不得。數年山中竟修何道？汝今悲泣，為憂阿誰？若憂吾不知去處，吾自知去處。吾若不知去處，終不預報於汝。汝等悲泣，蓋為不知吾去處；若知吾去處，即不合悲泣。法性本無生滅去來，汝等盡坐，吾與汝說一偈，名曰真假動靜偈。汝等誦取此偈，與吾意同，依此修行，不失宗旨。」眾僧作禮，請師說偈。偈曰：

In the seventh month of the first year of Taiji, renzi (in the fifth month of that year the era name was changed to Yanhe, and only in the eighth month, when Xuanzong took the throne, was it changed to Xiantian, and the next year to Kaiyuan; some editions write Xiantian, which is incorrect), the Master ordered his disciples to build a pagoda at Guo'en Temple in Xinzhou, urged the work on, and it was completed at the end of summer the next year. On the first day of the seventh month he gathered the community and said: "In the eighth month I shall leave the world. If you have doubts, come and ask early, and I will break them for you so that all your delusions are ended. Once I have gone, there will be no one to teach you." Fahai and the others, hearing this, all wept. Only Shenhui's expression did not change, and he shed no tears. The Master said: "The young master Shenhui has indeed attained equality of good and not good, unmoved by praise or blame, with sorrow and joy not arising; the rest of you have not. What Way have you been cultivating in these mountains all these years? For whom are you grieving now? If you grieve because you do not know where I am going, I know where I am going; if I did not know where I was going, I would not have told you in advance. You weep precisely because you do not know where I am going; if you knew, you should not weep. The nature of the Dharma originally has no arising, ceasing, going or coming. All of you sit down, and I will speak to you a verse called the 'Verse on True and False, Moving and Still'. Recite this verse, and you will be of one mind with me; practice according to it and you will not lose the essential point." The monks bowed and asked the Master to speak the verse. The verse says:

「一切無有真，不以見於真，

No thing has any real 'truth', so do not look for truth in them;

若見於真者，是見盡非真。

if one thinks he has seen truth, that 'seeing' itself is entirely not true.

若能自有真，離假即心真，

If one can have truth of oneself, that is leaving falsity, and the mind at that moment is true;

自心不離假，無真何處真？

if one's own mind does not leave falsity, then since there is no truth, where can truth be sought?

有情即解動，無情即不動，

What has sentience can move, and what has no sentience does not move;

若修不動行，同無情不動。

if one cultivates the practice of 'not moving', it is the same as the unmoving of insentient things.

若覓真不動，動上有不動，

If you seek true non-movement, that non-movement lies within movement;

不動是不動，無情無佛種。

the non-movement of mere stillness is an insentient thing, with no seed of Buddhahood.

能善分別相，第一義不動，

Being able to skillfully discriminate the various characteristics while not moving in the first principle;

但作如此見，即是真如用。

just hold this view, and that is the function of True Suchness.

報諸學道人，努力須用意，

I tell all who study the Way: when you strive, you must use your mind;