One night, when Xuan Jue was reading the Vimala Sutra, he suddenly felt that the inside and outside were clear, and the realm mentioned in the scriptures was no different from his inner world, and his own nature was like that. He wrote a letter to his friend Zuoxi Xuanlang to tell him about his enlightenment.

Master Xuan Lang encouraged him to go out of the mountain and to the vast world to learn about the great virtues of Zen. Xu is a coincidence, Xu is the opportunity is ripe, on this day, he was about to go out to travel, but in the Mid-Levels Pavilion and Xuan Ce, the infant unexpectedly met.

He and Xuan Ce both read the scriptures and books, so they hit it off at first sight, and their words were very speculative. So the two decided to go back to Caoxi, Shaozhou together, and consult the six ancestors Huineng.

What about babies? The infant continued to wander alone. Between the vast world and the world, it seems that there are traces of him everywhere, and there is his figure everywhere......

When Xuan Jue and Xuan Ce came to Baolin Temple, the Sixth Patriarch Hui Neng was meditating on the meditation bed. Xuan Jue didn't wait for Xuan Ce's introduction, he stepped forward, shook the tin staff in his hand with a rattling sound, circled around Huineng three times, and then stood on the ground, neither bowing nor making a sound.

Huineng glanced at him and said slowly: "Looking at your behavior, it looks like you have been a monk for many years. Then, you should know that as a monk, you should have 3,000 prestige and 80,000 fine deeds. Where did you come from to be so arrogant? ”

Xuan Jue didn't care, and said: "Life and death are the biggest things in life, and the changes of various causes and conditions are rapid and impermanent, and other things are not important in my opinion, how can I have time to take care of what is not majestic or not, and what etiquette is not courteous?" ”

Huineng asked again: "In that case, why don't you comprehend the truth of immortality, no speed and no slowness?" ”

Xuan Jue replied: "According to my experience, knowing self-nature, I know that everything in the world has no life and death, existence or absence; If you understand your true mind, you will realize that there is no speed or slowness in the universe. ”

Huineng patted the meditation bed with great joy and praised sincerely: "That's it, Zen, that's it." ”

The monks standing on either side of the abbot were very surprised, because the Sixth Patriarch rarely praised people in such a way. From this point of view, this new Yunshui monk is very unusual! After getting the seal of the six ancestors, Xuanjue arranged his robe, spread out the worship utensils, and respectfully kowtowed to Huineng three times in accordance with the etiquette and rules of the Zen monks worshipping the mountain and visiting the senior monks.

This Xuanjue, first and then respectfully, is beyond the expectations of ordinary people. Who knows, what is even more unexpected is that as soon as he kowtowed, he said goodbye to Huineng and was about to go back down the mountain. It's really a hurry to come and go.

Huineng said, "Are you really leaving?" If you're here, why do you leave so quickly? ”

Xuanjue had no wind and waves, and once again took the initiative to provoke a legal war with the Six Ancestors. He said: "I didn't move in the first place, that is, there was no coming and going, where is the difference between fast and unpleasant? ”

Huineng said quietly but clearly: "Who knows if you moved?" ”

Xuan Jue didn't let it go, and replied lawlessly: "It's Master, you have a difference in your own heart." ”

Hui Neng bowed his head and affirmed Xuan Jue: "You have realized the true meaning of lifelessness. "Unborn is nirvana, the highest state of the Dharma. To realize that there is no birth is to attain the highest wisdom of eliminating all afflictions and being free from birth and death. In other words, Xuanjue has been enlightened and has received the official seal of the Sixth Ancestor Huineng.

However, Xuan Jue did not accept it when he saw it, he still refused to give up, and pushed the lightning and thunder, the ever-changing, and interesting Zen machine to a deeper level. He said, "If you have no life, is there any meaning?" ”

Yes, is there any enlightenment to be attained? Are all the forms of everything in the world deliberate? There is life before there is death. If there is no life, there is no extinction.

Huineng is naturally not busy, he said slowly: "Whether it is intentional or unintentional, who is aware and who is separating?" ”

Sure enough, Xuan Jue smiled knowingly. He was like a child, smiling happily. Then, he made a summary of this wonderful master-apprentice battle: "Kindness can distinguish all things, but it is not conscious, let alone deliberate. Just like the moon in Bitan, because it is unintentional, it can be objectively reflected regardless of whether it is cloudy or sunny. ”

Huineng laughed heartily and said, "You have realized the wonderful Zen principle, great, really good!" It's getting dark, so let's stay overnight and go. ”

Xuan Jue settled down at the abbot and had a long conversation with the six ancestors for a whole night. The content of the Zen words of Huineng and Xuanjue is no longer known, and the allusion of "One Night" has been passed down to this day.

The meeting between Huineng and Xuanjue can be described as a single knife straight in, the arrows are on each other, the spear is against the fast gun, and the tip of the needle is against Maimang. Only when the stones hit each other can a blazing spark burst out; Blocks of clouds are intertwined to create a flash of light that shines through the sky. Zen does not need to be long-winded, but goes straight to the source of the heart; Zen practitioners, there is no need to be vague and reckless, but to be straightforward. Facing the sixth generation of Zen patriarchs, Xuan Jue showed the demeanor of a Zen man: concise, direct, not blindly following authority, not bound by rules and regulations.

It can be said that those who are free in heart are free, and they are all accessible after they are sexually proficient. There is no life to endure under the stick, and the teacher will not be allowed to do so. Xuan Jue stayed at Baoling Temple for one night, and early the next morning, he descended the mountain along Cao Xi.

Passing by Caohou Village, the old woman who sold glutinous rice dumplings shouted eagerly: "Master, come, eat a glutinous rice cake and drink a bowl of tea, so that you can hurry." ”

Xuan Jue replied without stopping: "Thank you, mother-in-law, I drink the milk of the Six Ancestors, and I am neither thirsty nor hungry. ”

"But there's someone waiting for you here." Mo Daojun walked early, and there were even more early pedestrians. It's a friend Xuan Ce. Still a staff, a bowl, a hat, a wandering monk's outfit.

"Senior Brother Xuan Ce, you've been a layman for a year, and you've just come back for a day, and you're going to travel again?"

"Aren't you the same? After decades of searching, I just talked with my heart-to-heart master for a night, and then waved goodbye. What a 'night' sleep! The two walked together on the top of the dangerous peaks of the Great Yu Mountains, the bottom of the deep valley: the pine reflects the blue pool, and the sun shines brightly. The breeze sweeps the white clouds, and the eyes are too empty.

Within a day, they walked to Ganzhou. It's time to break up, Xuan Ce wants to continue to go north, swim Kuangshan and cross the Yangtze River; Xuanjue has to travel thousands of miles east and return to his hometown. Zen people have no worries, drink a cup of tea and say goodbye. So, the two came to the bank of the Gan River:

The copper bowl scoops the river water, the stone is set up as the stove, the dead branches have their own fire, and the tea becomes after the smoke is dispersed.

The freshly boiled tea was very hot, and Xuan Jue cooled a cup of tea in front of him. As a result, the teacup reflects the green mountains and green trees, the blue sky and white clouds. He pointed to the tea and said, "The mountains, rivers and the earth, all kinds of things, are all in it." ”

Hearing this, Xuan Ce picked up the teacup, poured the tea back into the waves of the Ganjiang River, and then asked, "Where is it?" ”

Xuan Jue said it skillfully, and Xuan Ce forced it even better. The ancients said that they were not broken, nor were they excited. Under the mutual encouragement, the two people have a heart-to-heart connection, and the great Zen machine is like a surging river, overwhelming and rolling in. Xuan Jue is a great master, and he has his own wisdom.

At this moment, a huge carp happened to rise high above the water, struck a silver lightning bolt in the air, and then fell back into the water. Xuan Jue shouted loudly: "Fish, fish, fish!" ”

Senluo is reflected in the tea, the tea is dissolved into the river water, and the carp swims freely in the river, so the carp is the manifestation of Senluo.

What's even more mysterious is that a small boat came from nowhere, and a fisherman on the boat threw a big net and covered the big carp that had just gotten carried away in it and fished it out of the bow. The fisherman laughed heartily with the drenched fish, laughing so much that the two Zen masters looked at each other, not knowing what to do. Laughing enough, the fisherman threw it back into the river.

Xuan Jue's heart flashed and jumped into the boat. Xuan Ce also had a good heart and jumped up. The fisherman said: "Two, my old man is driving a fishing boat, and he does not carry passengers. ”

Xuan Jue smiled and said: "Why don't you take passengers on the fishing boat, and the painting boat can also fish." ”

"A fishing boat is a ferry, and a fisherman is equal to a captain." Xuan Ce said.

The fisherman was also full of pride, holding his long beard and chanting: "Cast a net to catch the bright moon, and the boat will carry the monk back." ”

The rivers and rivers are all flowing water; When the Zen guests met, He Lao asked.

The boat went down the river. I didn't know where it came from, and now I don't know where it is going......

Xuan Ce said: "Old man, I delayed your fishing. ”

Before the fisherman could answer, Xuan Jue said, "Can the fishing be delayed?" The fisherman is not a farmer, the crops conform to the season, and the farming time does not wait for idlers. And fishing, frequently casting nets, may not be very rewarding; When the fish arrive, the net can be fully loaded. ”

The fisherman nodded frequently: "What the old man wants is the freedom and ease of this livelihood." A boat and a boat, alone, eyes and minds, the water is clear and the sky is wide. ”

"What a worldly master! What a Zen realm. Xuanjue applauded, "Then, let's go down the river for thousands of miles to the vast Poyang Lake!" ”

The fisherman said, "The creek leads to the great river, and the great river connects to the sea." Let's go to the Yangtze River, to the East China Sea! ”

The so-called rise and start, and the rise ends. They did not reach Poyang Lake, let alone the sea, but abandoned the boat and landed near Jizhou after traveling 400 miles down the river. Because, Qingyuan Mountain on the right bank of the Gan River is the dojo of the elder brother Xingsi Abbot. However, when he climbed Qingyuan Mountain and came to the abbot of Jingju Temple, Xuan Ce did not enter the door, but pushed Xuan Jue, who had never seen the senior brother, into it alone.

Zen practitioners have the same mind. Of course Xuan Jue understood what he meant. Therefore, he did not explain his identity, but after bowing according to the rules of the Zen monk worshipping the mountain, he asked, "How is the general idea of the Dharma?" ”

This question seems to be bland, but there is a needle hidden in it, and if you take it a little, you will prick your hand. Because, how can the meaning of the Dharma be explained in words? The so-called non-establishment of writing, and the transmission of information outside the church, is for this reason.

But obviously it can't be explained in words, and the Zen master must also say, otherwise, how can the monk be inspired to enter the Zen machine? Therefore, the Zen master's practice, insight, and kung fu, whether he sees his own heart and understands his own nature are all in this sentence.

So, how does Xingsi answer? Xingsi didn't answer and asked: "What is the price of rice in Luling?" ”

Luling is a necessary place to come to Qingyuan Mountain, but what does the price of rice in Luling have to do with the general meaning of Buddhism? What's even more strange is that when he heard this, Xuan Jue inside the door and Xuan Ce outside the door both laughed and kowtowed respectfully to the senior brother.