On this day, the Sixth Patriarch said to the disciples, "Your Buddha has attained. Now, you should divide one side and promote our Zen path. ”

Although the disciples were reluctant to leave the master. But in the end, he said goodbye to the master in tears and left the Baoling Temple.

Let's say that Xuan Ce and the baby walked through the autumn, winter, spring and summer, and came to Yongjia, Zhejiang. On this day, Xuan Ce and the baby walked on the rugged mountain road of Xianyan Mountain in Ruian County, and the sun at noon was like a fire, roasting the mountain road straight to smoke.

The baby walked extremely hard, but he looked at Xuan Ce, but he never proposed to rest - "You deserve it, who made you die and beg Bailai to follow!" As long as he complained slightly, Xuan Ce would definitely say so.

Xuan Ce was secretly happy. He pointed to the pavilion halfway up the mountain in front of him and said, "Let's go to that pavilion and rest for a while." ”

In the pavilion, there was already a man resting on a bench, his face covered with a hat. Xuan Ce and Ying Xing sat down. The baby took off his straw sandals, looked at his red and swollen feet, and exhaled cool air.

Xuan Ce deliberately asked him, "What are we doing here?" ”

The baby didn't even think about it: "Walking." ”

Xuan Ce asked again: "Do you know what it means to walk feet?" ”

"I don't know." Infant replied crisply.

"I don't know what's best." Xuan Ce said it unfathomably. Knowing is knowing, not knowing is not knowing-Confucius said. If you know, you must not know, and if you are ignorant, you will know everything-Master Seng Zhao said in "The Theory of Prajna Ignorance". The sage is ignorant, and all things are in order; The Dharmakaya has no image, but the special form corresponds to it – the Preface to the Vimala Sutra says.

The baby suddenly realized! He shouted in regret, "Oh, I've fallen for the master again!" ”

"Who did you fall for?"

"Our master, that bad old man!"

Xuan Ce smiled: "Master, his old man didn't ask you to come with me, you came secretly with you willingly!" ”

Ying Xing said with a sad face: "It is precisely because the old monk knows that the more he doesn't let me come, the more I will try to follow you, so ...... Bitter - wow- there is no place to complain about suffering, this is really bitter! ”

"You deserve it, this is called being smart but being mistaken by being smart! However, this is the Master's transformation of you. Now that you have come, do not live in vain. If you travel to the county, you can play at will in the mountains and rivers; Winter here, summer there, migratory birds, that's just a bucket of rice, lose half a year's grain! There is no benefit. ”

Xuan Ce's big reasoning made Ying Xing very impatient, and he said angrily: "Yes, yes, yes!" Don't nag you, okay? I remember it all! Master once said, 'The Three Realms are idealistic, and the Ten Thousand Laws are only knowledge.'" ”

Xuan Ce suddenly shook out a cold edge: "Really? Since 'the Three Realms are idealistic, and the Ten Thousand Laws are only knowledge', is the big stone outside the pavilion in your heart, or outside your heart? ”

Ying Xing said without thinking: "The Three Realms Idealism, of course, is in the heart!" ”

Xuan Ce laughed: "How can you put such a big stone in your heart? Don't you feel heavy when you walk? ”

Ying Xing obviously felt the wit of Zen from Xuan Ce's words, but because he didn't work hard enough and didn't get home, he couldn't really grasp it, let alone respond to it randomly, so he was speechless.

It's like a hen hatching an egg. At some point, the old hen is afraid that her baby will suffocate in the hard eggshell, and will often tentatively peck the eggshell gently with her beak. If the chicks inside are just hatched and mature, they will suck with their mouths, which is called chick. At this time, the hen pecks from the outside, and the chick spews inside—the eggshell shatters open, and a new life is born.

Zen Buddhism refers to this kind of convergence between the Zen master and the scholar as "pecking at the same time".

The opportunity to peck can only be penetrated when the inside and outside correspond and there is no gap. If it is a "stupid" or "rotten egg", there is no reaction inside, and no matter how merciful the old hen is, she can't peck it out.

The current baby is just like a "stupid egg" that has not hatched and matured.

Looking at his embarrassed appearance, Xuan Ce persuaded earnestly: "Little junior brother, when we study Buddhism and practice Zen, we can't memorize the classics, let alone take the Zen quotations of the ancestors as our own words. The Zen words spoken by the patriarch are people's experience, not ours. Zen, like drinking water, knows its own warmth and coldness. It's up to you to understand everything! The man who was lying down and sleeping suddenly lifted the hat from his face and sat up. It turned out that he was also a bald monk. He asked thoughtlessly, "Who is your master?" Ying Xingzheng was not angry and said, "Our master, of course, is our master!" You're also here to join in the fun? ”

The bald monk said, "I'm asking, which monk is your master?" ”

The infant asked rhetorically, "Who are you?" ”

The Zen monk slapped his head: "Oh, it's me who is abrupt." ”

He stood up, folded his salute and said, "Poor monk Xuanjue, I just listened to the words of this master, and every sentence is in line with the Buddha's Zen machine, and I want to ask for a word or two." ”

Ying Xing suddenly laughed: "Xuan Jue, Xuan Ce, you two are destined." The Dharma numbers are all lined up. ”

Xuan Ce glared at him and replied, "My name is Xuan Ce, and this is my little junior brother Yingxing." Senior brother, where is your treasure temple? ”

Xuan Jue pointed to the reckless mountains: "I live in this Xianyan Mountain, and I don't have any dojo attached to it. However, I majored in the Tendai sect's method of meditation. The scriptures I have heard have their own relationship between teachers and teachers. Later, I read the Vimala Sutra and realized the Dharma Heart Sect, but no one has verified it for me, so I don't know if I am really enlightened. ”

Xuan Ce said solemnly: "Before the Weiyin King Buddha, there was no Buddha in the world, and he could pass through without a teacher and become a Buddha of Enlightenment. After the Weiyin King Buddha, there is no teacher to learn by himself, of course, it is a foreign way. ”

Xuan Jue bowed deeply and said: "Senior brother, the head is the Tao, and every sentence is Zen, especially the words just now with stones as a metaphor, it is even more Zen unlimited. So, I hope you can confirm it for me. ”

Xuan Ce said modestly and sincerely: "I am still knowledgeable, and I can't confirm it for you. Cao Xi's sixth generation Zen patriarch and six ancestors are our masters. Now, seekers from far and wide gather around him to hear him preach the Dharma. Why don't you go and ask him for advice? ”

Xuan Jue said, "Senior Brother Xie instructs. Please come to my hermitage and talk about it. Xuan Jue took Xuan Ce and Ying Xing and walked towards the other side of the mountain.

This Xuan Jue was born a Zen man. He was born in the second year of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty (665 AD), with the common surname Dai and the word Daoming. The Dai family is a famous family in Yongjia and has been worshipping Buddhism for generations, so Xuanjue became a monk on the same day as his brother Daoyi at a very young age and became a monk.

Xianyan Mountain stands next to the sea, the mountain is high and separates the dust, the road is dangerous and obstructs the vulgar guests, the forest hides the shadow of birds, and the grass is high to hide the traces of beasts. Xuan Jue built a thatched hut in the west rock with the mountains and the sea in the background, learned the teachings of the Tiantai religion, practiced the Mahabharata, practiced meditation, and recited the Huayan Sutra and the Vimala Sutra.

Ahead, the mighty sea cleanses his chest; Behind it, the majestic mountains are strong; Overhead, the white clouds are leisurely playing Zen; At the feet, the clear spring bubbles and preaches love. The sun rises and sets, the tide comes and goes, the aura of Xianyan Mountain nourishes Xuanjue into a handsome young monk, and the Buddha's scriptures and teachings have cultivated him into a chic Zen guest.

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 Baoling 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 rattle, circled around the six ancestors three times, and then stood on the ground, neither bowing nor making a sound.

The Sixth Ancestor 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?" ”

The Sixth Patriarch asked again, "In that case, why don't you comprehend the truth of immortality, immortality, and 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. ”

The Sixth Patriarch 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 amazed, 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, Xuan Jue arranged his robe, spread out the worship utensils, and respectfully kowtowed to the six ancestors 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 the six ancestors and was about to go back down the mountain. It's really a hurry to come and go.

The Sixth Ancestor 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? ”

The Sixth Ancestor said quietly, but with a deep voice: "Who knows if you have moved?" ”

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

The Sixth Patriarch affirmed Xuanjue: "You have realized the true meaning of lifelessness. ”

Non-birth is nirvana, the highest state of Buddhism. 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 attained enlightenment and has been officially recognized by the Sixth Patriarch 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.

The Sixth Ancestor Hui Neng was naturally not panicked, and 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:

The good 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.