Foot southbound. In the middle of February. To the Great Ridge (Five Ancestors. Don't go to school for a few days. Suspicion. He asked. Monks are less sick and less annoyed. It is said that there is no disease. The law of clothing has been carried out. Ask who is taught. It is said that those who can get it. Hundreds of people came. Trying to take the mantle. A monk's surname is Chen, and his name is Huiming. First of all, General Sipin. Sexual roughness and extreme inquiry. For everyone first. Take advantage of Huineng. Huineng threw down his mantle and fell on the stone. This dress is a letter. You can fight for it. It can hide in the grass. Hui Ming to. Lift and don't move. It is to call the clouds. Walker Walker. I come for the Dharma. Not for clothes. Huineng then sat on the stone. Hui Ming made a gift cloud. The Lookout Walker spoke for me. Huineng Cloud. Thou hast come for the sake of the Dharma. You can take your breath away. Don't have a thought. I say it for you. Ming Liang Jiu. Huineng Cloud. Don't think good. Don't think evil. It's just the right time. Which is the true face of the Ming Throne? Hui Ming's words were enlightened. Re-ask the cloud. came up and whispered a secret accident. There is more secret no. Huineng Cloud. With you speaker. That is, non-secret. If you look back. Dense on your side. Ming said. Although Huiming is in Huangmei. I really didn't think about myself. Instructed today. Such as people drinking water. Warm and cold self-aware. The one who travels today is Master Huiming. Huineng said. If you do. I am the same teacher as you are Huangmei. Be self-supporting. Ming asked again. Where will Hui Ming go in the future? Huineng said. Every time Yuan stops. If you meet the blind, you will live. Ming Etiquette (Ming Hui to Lingxia. It is said to take advantage of the public. Xiang Zhi Cui Wei. There was no trace. Look for it in other ways. Take advantage of the crowd to think so. Huiming later changed to Daoming. Avoid the teacher on the word) Huineng to Cao Xi. and was sought out by the wicked. It is in the four meetings. Refuge Hunters. Fifteen years. When it comes to talking to hunters. Hunters often keep their nets. Every time you see life. Let it go. Every meal. Cook the meat in a pot with vegetables. Or ask. Then it is right. But eat meat side dishes. A day of thought. When the Dharma is propagated. Don't end up. Then he went to the Dharma Temple in Guangzhou. Venerable Master Zhiyin Sect talks about the Nirvana Sutra. From time to time, the wind blows. A monk said that the wind moved. A monk said that he moved. There was a lot of talking. Hui Neng said. It's not wind-moving. It's not a move. The benevolent are excited. The crowd was shocked. Yin Zong was extended to the upper seat. Ask for mysteries. See Hui Neng's words are concise and reasonable. Not by words. Zongyun. The walker must be very human. I have heard for a long time that Huang Meiyi is coming from the south. Mo is a walker or not. Huineng said. Can't. Then Zong made a salute. Please pass the mantle to show the public. Zong Fu asked. Huang Mei instructed. How to delegate. Huineng said. Assignment is none. But about insight. Regardless of meditation and liberation. Zong said. Why not meditate for liberation. Yes. For it is two laws. Not the Dharma. There is no only way to do Buddhism. Zong asked again. How is the Dharma the only way. Huineng said. The Master talks about the Nirvana Sutra. Buddha nature. It is the only way to do Buddhism. Such as the noble King Bodhisattva White Buddha words. Committing the four prohibitions and committing the five sins of rebellion. and a clarification, etc. When the good root Buddha nature is not. Buddha's words. There are two good roots. One is often. Both are impermanent. Buddha-nature is very impermanent. It's so on. The name is Fuji. One is good. The two are not good. Buddha-nature is neither good nor bad. It's the only name. Aggregates and boundaries. See two for ordinary people. The wise man has achieved the same nature. The non-duality is Buddha-nature. Yin Zongwen said. Joyful clasped hands. Speech. A person gave a lecture. Like rubble. Benevolence and righteousness. Like real gold. So he shaved for Huineng. Hair. Willing to be a teacher. Huineng was then under the Bodhi tree. Open the Dongshan method. Huineng obtained the law in Dongshan. It's hard work. Life is like a hanging thread. Today you have to make a messenger. Bureaucratic. Monks and nuns. The Tao is the same as this. It's not the fate of the calamity. It is also the past to give birth to ** Buddhas. The same kind of good roots. Fang Shi heard the reason for the Dharma as taught by the previous ton. The religion is preached in the first sanctuary. It's not Huineng self-intelligence. May you hear the Holy Religion of the Ancestors. Each order purifies the heart. Smell each other's doubts. There is no difference between the saints of the previous generations. Listen to the law. Rejoice and leave.

After reading the first line of the original text, Zhang Cambodia then explained:

The first sentence of the opening sentence of the "Six Ancestors Altar Sutra" only uses the word "time". Time, time! That is: in the spring of the second year of Tang Gaozong Yifeng, the six patriarchs came to the Baolin Temple in Caoxi Nanhuashan from the Faxing Temple in Guangzhou, and the Shaozhou Thorn Shi Weixuan and his subordinates entered the mountain to invite the six ancestors to the lecture hall of the Dafan Temple in the city, so as to open the cause of Buddhism and speak the Dharma for the public.

When the Sixth Patriarch ascended the altar, there were more than 30 people who heard the Dharma, including Wei Tingshi and his subordinates, as well as more than 30 leaders and scholars in the academic circles at that time, and more than 1,000 monks, nuns, Taoists, and laymen.

The Sixth Patriarch said to the people, "Everyone, good knowledge: everyone's bodhi nature is originally pure; As long as you use this pure bodhichitta, you will be able to become a Buddha right now. Everyone, good knowledge, first listen to my Huineng to seek the Fa and obtain the Fa's actions and experiences:

My father, originally from Fanyang, was demoted and exiled to Lingnan, where he became a citizen of Xinzhou. My life was unfortunate because my father died young, leaving my elderly mother and I to live together. Later, he moved to the South China Sea, and only sold firewood to make a living every day, and his life was very difficult and difficult.

One day, a customer bought firewood and asked me to deliver it to the inn. After the guest took the firewood, I got the money and when I exited the door, I saw a guest reading a Buddhist scripture. As soon as I heard the guest reciting the scriptures, my heart suddenly became enlightened, so I said to the guest, "May I ask you what you are reciting?"

The guest replied, "The Diamond Sutra." ”

I asked him again, "Where are you from?" How can we sustain this scripture?"

The guest replied: "I came from Dongchan Temple, Huangmei County, Qizhou, which is the dojo of the abbot of Master Hongren, and there are more than 1,000 people who follow him to study. I just went to the Dongchan Temple to worship the five ancestors and listened to this scripture. The master often advised the monks and lay people that as long as they recite the Diamond Sutra, they will naturally be able to see the nature of their own mind, and they will be able to become enlightened and become a Buddha at the moment. ”

After listening to the words of the guests, I also wanted to pay homage to the five ancestors. Because of the good karma I had formed in the past, a guest gave me ten taels of silver to teach me to prepare for my mother's living needs, and then I went to Huangmei County to pay homage to the five ancestors.

After I settled my mother, I said goodbye to my mother, and in less than 30 days, I went to Huangmei to worship the five ancestors.

When the Fifth Patriarch saw me, he asked, "Where are you?" What do you want to ask for here?"

I replied, "My disciple is a citizen of Lingnan Xinzhou, who has come from afar to worship the master, and only wants to be a Buddha and nothing else. ”

The Fifth Patriarch said, "You are a Lingnan native and a fang, how can you be a Buddha?"

I said, "Although there is a difference between north and south, there is no difference between north and south in Buddha nature!" Although the body of a fang is different from that of a monk, what is the difference between the Buddha nature that it has?"

The Fifth Patriarch wanted to talk to me more, but when he saw that the disciples were on his side, he ordered me to follow the people to do business.

I asked, "Huineng Yubai Monk!" The disciple's own heart often emerges with wisdom, and does not deviate from his own nature, this is Futian. I wonder what the monk is going to teach me to do?"

The fifth ancestor said: "Your fang's root is too good, you don't need to say more, go to the trough factory to do business!"

After I quit, I went to the backyard, and a walker told me to chop wood and rice, and I worked like this for more than eight months.

One day, the Fifth Patriarch came to the backyard and said to me, "I think your views can be used, but I am afraid that there are wicked people who will be unfavorable to you, so I won't talk to you more." You know what?"

I replied, "The disciple also knows Master's intentions, so he has not dared to come to the Dharma Hall, lest he arouse suspicions. ”

One day, the Five Patriarchs gathered all their disciples, "I say to you: All beings in the world are sinking in the sea of life and death, and how to liberate them from life and death is a major issue that needs to be solved urgently. You only know about cultivating blessings all day long, and you don't know how to ask for freedom from the sea of life and death. If you are deluded and unaware of your true nature, and you are only cultivating blessings, how can you attain it? Each of you goes back and looks at your own wisdom, looks at the nature of your own mind, and then each of you composes a verse to show me, and if you can understand the gist of the Dharma, I will pass on the Dharma to you as the sixth generation of patriarchs. Hurry up, everyone! No delay stagnation! The Dharma is useless once you think about it! If you are a person who is enlightened of your own nature, you can see it in a word. Such a person, even at the critical moment of fighting with a knife, can immediately see his own nature under his words. ”

After listening to the instructions of the five ancestors, the people retreated and discussed with each other: In fact, all of us don't have to think quietly and painstakingly make a verse, because even if we present it to the monk, what is the use? Shenxiu is now our professor, needless to say, he must have been selected. If we take the liberty and rashness to do it, it will be in vain.

After this discussion, all the people stopped thinking about being a servant, and everyone said, "We will rely on Shenxiu to sit down in the future, so why bother to do this more?"

Shenxiu also secretly thought to himself: The reason why they don't present it is because I am their professor, so I have to make a verse and present it to the monk; If I don't make a statement, how can a monk know the depth of my mind? If my intention is to pursue the Dharma, it is well-intentioned. If it is to seek the ancestral position, it is an evil deed, and how is it different from the ordinary mind of ordinary people who covet the holy throne with all their hearts? If I don't ask the monk to seal it, I won't be able to get the Dharma after all. It's a hard thing to do! It's hard to teach people!

In front of the Five Patriarchs' Dharma Hall, there are three corridors, which were originally intended to invite Lu Zhen to paint the "Lenga Sutra" in disguise and the bloodline map of the Five Ancestors, so that future generations can have something to pass on and make offerings.

After Shenxiu finished the verse, he wanted to present it to the Five Ancestors several times, but when he walked in front of the Dharma Hall, he was always in a trance, sweating all over his body, and wanted to present it, but he hesitated. Four days passed before and after, and a total of thirteen times were not presented.

Shenxiu then thought: It is better to write the verses in the corridor in front of the Dharma hall, and the monk himself will see it, if the monk reads it and says yes, I will come out to worship and say that it was made by my Shenxiu; If it is not good, then you can only blame yourself for coming to the mountains in vain for several years, and you can worship respectfully in front of everyone, what kind of Tao can you cultivate?

So, at the third watch that night, Shenxiu quietly walked out of the door, took the lamp himself, and wrote the verses on the wall of the south corridor to express his heartfelt opinions. The verse says:

The body is a Bodhi tree, and the mind is like a mirror.

Always wipe frequently, don't let the dust get involved.

After Shenxiu finished writing the verse, he returned to his dormitory, and the whole temple did not know about it. Shenxiu thought again: Tomorrow the five ancestors see this verse, if they are happy, it means that I have a relationship with the Dharma; If it's not good, it's naturally because I'm mistaken in my own heart, and my karma is too deep, so I shouldn't get the Fa. The holy will of the five ancestors is really hard to guess! Shenxiu thought left and right in the room, restless, until the fifth watch.

In fact, the five ancestors already knew that Shenxiu had not yet entered and had never seen his own nature. After dawn, the five ancestors invited Lu to come and prepare to paint pictures on the wall of the south corridor. At this time, he suddenly saw Shenxiu's verse, so he said to Lu Xian: "Worship, use the painting, and you have come from afar." It is written, "All appearances are vain." Therefore, only this verse is left for the public to recite and hold. If you can practice according to this verse, you will avoid falling into the three evil paths; There is also great benefit from practicing according to this verse. ”

Therefore, the Five Patriarchs told the disciples that they should worship the incense burning, and everyone recited this verse to see their own nature.

When the disciples recited this verse, they all exclaimed, "Very good!"

In the middle of the night, the Fifth Patriarch called Shenxiu into the Dharma Hall and asked, "Did you write that verse?"

Shenxiu replied: "It is indeed done by the disciple, the disciple does not dare to seek the ancestral position in vain, but only hopes that the monk will be merciful to see if the disciple has a little wisdom?"