At that time, Master Huineng saw that scholars and ordinary people from Guangzhou, Shaozhou, and all over the world had gathered in the mountains to hear about the Dharma, so he ascended to the Dharma throne and told the public: "Come, good knowledge! The major things related to the practice of becoming a Buddha must start from the realization of one's own nature. At any time, the mind can purify one's mind and correct one's behavior; Seeing one's own Dharma body and Buddha nature, saving oneself, and keeping one's vows by oneself, this is a worthwhile visit to Cao Xi. Since everyone has come from afar, it is all fate to be able to gather here together. Now please kneel on the spot, and I will first teach you the 'Five Divisions of Self-Nature Body Incense', and then the 'Confession of Nothingness'. "The public knelt according to their words."

Master Huineng said: "The first is to abstain from incense, that is, there is no fault or sin in one's heart, there is no psychology of jealousy and jealousy, there is no desire to be greedy and angry, and there is no intention to rob and kill, which is called abstaining from incense." The second is incense, that is, when you see all the good and evil conditions, your mind will not be scattered, which is called incense. The third is Huixiang, that is, there are no obstacles in one's own mind, and one always contemplates one's true nature with wisdom, and does not create bad karma, although it is practicing all kinds of good deeds, but the heart is not attached to the good deeds that are done. Respecting the elders, thinking of the subordinates, showing mercy to the orphans, and relieving the poor, this is called Huixiang. The fourth is the incense of liberation, that is, the mind does not climb the external realm, does not think about the distinction between good and evil, and the body and mind are at ease, without any obstacles, which is called the incense of liberation. The fifth is liberation and knowledge, that is, since the mind has nothing to climb to the good and evil, but it should not be empty and silent, but should study in many ways, listen to the scriptures and hear the Dharma, so as to understand the mind and reach the teachings of the Dharma; To treat others with humility and kindness, not to distinguish between others and self, from the beginning of the mind to the time of perfection of Bodhi, as if the nature does not change, this is called liberation and knowledge. ”

Master Huineng said, "Good knowledge! This 'self-nature five-point body incense' is mainly used to cultivate one's own mind, and must not be centrifuged and sought outwardly. Now I will teach you the 'Confession of Nothingness' to destroy the sinful karma of the three lifetimes, so that the three karmas of body, mouth, and mind can be purified. ”

Master Huineng said, "Good knowledge! Join me in reciting: 'Disciples, all the thoughts from the past, the present thoughts, and the thoughts to the future are not tainted by foolishness, and all the negative karma and foolish sins that have been created in the past are now completely repented with a sincere heart, and the vows can be completely eliminated at the same time, and they will never be recurred.' Disciples, etc., from the previous thoughts, present thoughts, to the later thoughts, are not polluted by madness, and all the negative karma and sins such as madness that they have committed in the past are now completely repented with a sincere heart, and their vows can be completely eliminated at the same time, and they will never be reborn in the future. Disciples, etc., who have been thinking from the past, the present, and the back to the future, are not polluted by jealousy, and all the negative karma and jealousy and other sins that they have created in the past are now completely repented with a sincere heart, and their vows can be completely eliminated at the same time, and they will never be recurred in the future. ”

Master Huineng said, "Good knowledge! What is preached above is called repentance. What is confession? What is repentance? The so-called confession is the repentance of all the sins that have been committed in the past, all the negative karma, foolishness, madness, jealousy, and other sins that have been created in the past, and completely repentance, and never again in the future, this is called repentance. The so-called repentance is to repent of one's own mistakes in the future, and from now on, all the sins of bad karma, foolishness, madness, jealousy, etc., have now been enlightened and completely and forever cut off, let alone no longer pretentious, and this is called repentance. That's why it's called confession. Ordinary people are foolish, and they only know how to repent of their previous sins and deeds, but they do not know the mistakes after repentance. Because we do not know the cause of repentance, the past sins are not destroyed, and the subsequent sins frequently arise. Since the karma of the past cannot be destroyed, and the subsequent sins are reborn, how can it be called repentance?"

Master Huineng said, "Good knowledge! Now that I have repented and purified, I will make four vows with you, and everyone should listen to the truth of your heart: The beings in your heart are boundless, and I vow to fulfill them; The troubles of my heart are boundless, and I vow to end them; The Dharma in my nature is immeasurable, and I vow to study; The Buddha path of my own nature is supreme, and I vow to fulfill it. ”

Master Huineng said, "Good knowledge! Didn't you say that all beings have boundless vows? So it's not me who has come to save you. Good knowledge! The sentient beings in the heart, that is, the so-called evil mind, delusional mind, unkind mind, jealousy mind, malicious mind, and so on, are all sentient beings in the heart, and everyone should be self-controlled, and this is called truthfulness. ”

Master Huineng said, "What is self-discipline? It is to treat the evil views, troubles, foolishness, and other sentient beings in one's heart with correct views. Now that we have the right view, we can use the wisdom of Prajna to break through the foolish and delusional beings and live in their own way. When evil views come, we use correct views, when attachments come, when we use enlightenment, when foolish thoughts come with wisdom, when evil thoughts come with good thoughts, and in this way we save the sentient beings in our hearts, which is called truthfulness. ”

Master Huineng said, "There is also the endless vow of afflictions, which is to use the wisdom of self-nature prajna to remove the mind of false discrimination. The immeasurable vow to learn the Dharma means that we must see our own nature and practice the Fa-rectification regularly, and this is called true learning. The supreme Buddha's vow is fulfilled, that is, since we can always practice the Dharma with humility in our hearts, and we can stay away from delusion without being attached to enlightenment, and if we are always intelligent in our hearts, we will be able to see our own Buddha nature and become a Buddha in a word. Being able to recite and practice these four vows from time to time is the way to make a vow!"

Master Huineng said, "Good knowledge! Now that I have made the four vows, I will teach you the good knowledge of the three precepts of non-appearance. Good knowledge! Returning to enlightenment is the supreme of blessing and wisdom; To be righteous is to be the supreme who is far from earthly desires; Returning to purity is the supreme respect of all beings. From now on, one should call the enlightened one the guru, never turn to other evil ways again, and always prove to himself with the Three Jewels of the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha of his own nature. I would like to advise all good knowledge to return to the Three Jewels of Self-Nature: the so-called Buddha is the Enlightened One; The so-called law is righteousness; The so-called monk is pure. If the mind returns to enlightenment, then the evil thoughts will not arise, and the desire for contentment will be less and can stay away from wealth, so it is called the supreme of happiness and wisdom. Because there is no reason for the wrong view, there is no attachment to self, arrogance, greed, etc., so it is called the supreme who is far away from earthly desires. The mind is pure, and in the realm of all earthly labor and love, the self-nature is not stained, so it is called the supreme respected by all beings. If you can practice in this way, you will be taking refuge in your own nature. Ordinary people cannot understand that there is no refuge, so they seek the formal three refuge vows from morning to night; If you say that you take refuge in the Buddha, where is the Buddha? If you can't see the Buddha, what can you rely on to take refuge? Therefore, it becomes vain to say that returning to the Buddha is false. ”

Master Huineng said, "Good knowledge! You have to experience and observe for yourselves, and don't misuse your mind! The scriptures clearly say that they return to the Buddha, but they do not say that they return to other Buddhas. If you don't take refuge in the Buddha of your own nature, you have no place to return. Now that you have attained enlightenment, you must each take refuge in the Three Jewels of Self-Nature. Inwardly, we should be good at adjusting our own mind, and outwardly we should respect others, which is self-return. ”