When the Sixth Ancestor Huineng said this, he told the villagers with emotion about his experience of becoming the Sixth Ancestor-

I lost my father when I was three years old, and I have been dependent on my mother since I was a child.

When he was 12 years old, he followed his mother to cultivate lychee crops, etc., and went to the village about five kilometers away, where the names of the place were Lak Road, Zhuhao Ridge, Longshan Foothill and Tianlu Mountain, and then he went to Xinzhou County to sell it.

Day after day, year after year, in the blink of an eye, I was twenty-four years old, and this year, just when my mother was about to arrange a marriage for me, my future grandfather was sick.

Lang Zhong prescribed a prescription, among which there was a taste of Ganoderma lucidum, which was lacking in local pharmacies, and said that it was sold in Guangzhou Gan Pharmacy.

So, I went to Guangzhou, and after buying Ganoderma lucidum, the shopkeeper kindly asked me to go in and have a cup of tea before leaving.

Just as I went in for tea, suddenly there was a sound of chanting from the guest room, and I listened attentively, and when the guest said "You should have no place to live and give birth to your heart", I seemed to have an understanding, and the guest just came out of the guest room.

I went up to the guest and asked, "Dare to ask Master, what sutra did you just read?" Where did you learn it? ”

The guest replied: "I just read the "Diamond Sutra", invited from the five ancestors of Dongchan Temple in Huangmei County, Hubei Province, Master Hongren, where the incense is prosperous, more than 1,000 people, why do you have this question?" Do you also want to study the scriptures? ”

I said, "I think so, but." I didn't say any more, and my face was sad.

The guest, who was a Buddhist, was passing by on business, and when he saw that I was about to speak, he asked, "Why do you have a sad face when you want to study Buddhism without saying a word?" Is there something unspeakable? ”

I replied, "I am sincere in my devotion to Buddhism, but I still have a mother in my 50s who is poor and has some worries about life. ”

When the guest saw that I was a dutiful son and that I was sincere, he took out ten taels of silver from his pocket and said to me, "Since you have the heart to study Buddhism, I will give you these taels of silver for your mother's living expenses." ”

I was ashamed of this, but I said disrespectfully, "How can you be embarrassed? ”

The guest said, "I am Xinzhou An Daocheng, a Buddhist disciple, compassion is the foundation, you can accept it." I also went to Dongzen Temple to listen to Master Hongren's lectures. If you want to go, when I finish the goods in Guangzhou, I can go back to Xinzhou with you. ”

I took the silver taels, thanked the shopkeeper Ann, took his hitchhiker back to the county seat of Xinzhou, and went home happily.

After I returned home, I told my mother about the fact that I went to Guangzhou to buy medicine and met the shopkeeper An to recite the scriptures and give me silver, and asked my mother to allow me to go to Huangmei to learn Buddhist scriptures.

At first, my mother and uncle didn't agree to me going. But I insisted on going. My uncle deliberately made things difficult and said, "If you insist on going, and ask me to agree, you can worship the big rock at the edge of my village, and you can go immediately." ”

My uncle's deliberate attempt to make things difficult made me feel a great resistance. But then I thought: sincerely. The golden stone is open! Then give it a try.

So I immediately took the incense and lit it to the stone at the edge of the village and planted it, knelt down three times, and after worshipping, I saw that the stone really had cracks and gradually separated into two pieces (this stone is still in the old Tulang Village, called Beimu Stone), and I immediately went back happily to tell my uncle.

Because of his words, my uncle had no choice but to agree.

In this way, I said goodbye to my mother, trekked through mountains and rivers, stayed overnight, and went through hardships to come to Hubei Huangmei Dongchan Temple to meet the five ancestors, the five ancestors once tested me and said: "Southerners have no Buddha nature. ”

At that time, I replied, "There is a distinction between the north and the south, but how can there be a distinction between the north and the south in Buddha nature?" ”

After my rebuttal, the five ancestors knew that I was of the Dongen caste, which was very accessible.

In order to test my will, the five ancestors asked me to go to the rice room and do the miscellaneous work of chopping wood and rice.

I worked diligently in the rice room, and whenever I had time, I listened to my brother's lectures, and asked my brother for advice if I didn't understand something, and after a while, I got along with everyone in harmony, and more than eight months passed without realizing it.

One day, the fifth patriarch Hongren felt that he was getting old and wanted to choose the heir to inherit the mantle, so he gathered all the disciples and made a gesture to show what he had learned, and if he could see the nature of his heart, he would have to pass on the mantle and become the sixth generation of patriarchs.

At that time, the elder brother Shenxiu, he made a note written on the wall:

Like a linden tree,

The heart is like a mirror.

Always diligent Buddha wipe,

Don't let it get dusty.

The five ancestors Hongren saw it, and thought that this side was only outside the door and did not enter the door, and did not see sex, so that the public could only recite it, and according to this practice, he would understand the mind and become a Buddha in the future.

One day, the little monk Shenqing recited this verse in the milling room, and I heard that I came forward to ask the reason, and learned that it was Master Hongren who chose the heir, so he asked Shenqing to take me to watch.

When I walked to the corridor to write the verse, I happened to have an official who entered the temple to offer incense, known as Zhang Beijia, who was reciting the poem on the wall.

When I heard this, I felt that I had never seen it before, so I was moved and said leisurely, "I also have one, can you write it for me?"

The don't drive said, "Look at you like a handyman, why don't you know how to do it?" ”

I replied, "The lower people have the upper wisdom, and the higher people have the upper wisdom, I will read it to you, and you can write it for me." ”

Zhang Beijia said suspiciously: "Oh...... You have a point, well, you read me and write. ”

"Okay." Then I said:

Bodhi has no tree,

Nor is Spiegel a platform.

There was nothing in the first place,

Where to stir up dust.

Zhang Beijia finished writing, and everyone present was very surprised. A rice boy can make such a good deed, it is indeed amazing, and everyone praises it.

Master Hongren also came to watch when he heard about it, and he also felt that this was extraordinary, and he secretly rejoiced in his heart.

However, when I saw that everyone was praising and talking about this, I was afraid that some people would become jealous and hurt me, so I took off one of my shoes, and while spitting, I wiped the sole of my shoe and said, "This is not sexual, it is ordinary." That is, he wiped it all away. Everyone present was surprised, for unknown reasons.

However, I secretly rejoiced, and realized in my heart that Master was passing on the Buddha's intentions orally, and I would go back to the house happily under his feet.

The next day, I was cooking rice in the room as usual.

I am small, lack of strength, often carry stones on my waist to increase the pressure of stepping on the weight, due to the stone and the flesh and clothes for a long time, the clothes are torn, the skin and flesh are damaged, and the flies point the eggs into maggots, squirming between my waist and the stones, sometimes a few fall to the ground, but I pick it up and put it back on the back, and say to myself: "Maggots, you don't eat the flesh on your body, but you eat the dust on the ground." ”

At this time, Master Hongren happened to enter the house, and when he saw me, he said, "The person who seeks the Tao forgets his body for the Fa? Thank you for your hard work, is the three-cylinder rice cooked? ”

I replied: "Forget your body for the Fa, what to say about hard work, the three jars of rice are ripe, and they are still not sifted." ”

Master Hongren held a tin rod and pointed to the sieve hanging on the wall next to the temple and said, "The sieve is here, you can take it yourself." As he spoke, he struck three times with a tin rod on the head of the mill, and left the chamber without saying a word.

I thought in my heart that the conversation between Master and me was really mysterious.

The Master asked himself if the seeker was familiar with rice. That is, you come to study the scriptures and learn the Buddha. How do you succeed? Is there an achievement? And his own answer that the three-cylinder rice is still under-sifted is also a hidden word, "I have basically achieved success in studying the scriptures, and I can understand and understand my heart, but I still need the guidance of the master." "It goes without saying that the master struck the stone three times, so didn't he tell me to go to see him in the third watch? The more I thought about it, the happier I became.

That night, I walked into the room of the five ancestors, knelt on the ground, and the five ancestors deliberately asked: "The third watch in the middle of the night, what are you doing here?" ”

I said, "When you come here to seek a teacher, you hit the stone three times during the day, didn't you signal me to come here for the third watch?" ”

The Fifth Patriarch smiled with satisfaction, then closed the door, covered the window with a robe, and explained the Diamond Sutra to me in a soft voice, so that I immediately realized that all the ten thousand laws are inseparable from my own nature.

I said to the Five Patriarchs, "The original from nature is contentment, the original from nature is pure, the original from nature is immortal and imperishable, and can give birth to ten thousand laws." ”

The Fifth Patriarch knew that I had realized my true nature, and said to me happily and in detail: "Cultivating virtue is meritorious, and virtue is manifested. Cultivating from nature, cultivating one's own nature, not knowing one's own mind, not knowing one's nature, learning the Fa is useless, if you know one's own mind. Knowing one's own nature, that is, the Buddha of heaven and man. ”

The third watch received the law, and no one knew it, and the five ancestors handed me the mantle of Dunjiao and the ancestral heirloom and said to me; "You will be the sixth generation of patriarchs in the future. From now on, you must be good at self-protection, spread the breadth of sentient beings, spread the future, and do not let it be cut off. And I was asked to memorize this verse and understand it well:

There is affection to plant,

Cause and effect are alive.

Ruthless and seedless,

There is no sex and no life.

I said, "Follow Master's teachings. ”

The fifth ancestor also said: "This mantle is a token passed down from generation to generation by the Bodhidharma patriarch, but the clothes are the source of disputes, so they will be passed on to you, don't pass them on anymore, if you pass on this clothes, your life is like a hanging thread, you have to leave this place quickly." ”

I said, "Where am I going now, and where is the best place to go?" ”

The fifth ancestor said: "When you are in love, you will stop, and when you meet, you will hide, where do you come from, where do you go back, after you arrive in Lingnan, you must avoid it for a while, and you must prevent someone from being jealous and harming you." At the right time, you can come out and find a teacher to ordain. ”

I said, "Thank you, Master, for teaching the Fa and teachings." ”

After I finished speaking, the Five Ancestors urged me to leave this place as soon as possible.

Master sent me down the mountain to find my way up.

When we went out of the temple gate, we saw the bright moon in the sky, walking on the rugged mountain road by the moonlight, and soon arrived at the mouth of the river, when an empty boat was parked by the river.

Master told me to get on the boat and sit down, ready to rock the boat, and said, "Let Master Wei cross you over." I said, "Don't worry about Master, Master is very old, I am lost in my time, I have come to seek the Dharma, thank Master for enlightening and imparting the mantle, now that I am enlightened, I should cross by my own nature." ”

Master said, "You are right, I am relieved that in the future, Zen Buddhism will depend on you to spread it." ”

When the boat reached the river, I went ashore and reluctantly watched as Master rocked the boat back to the river.

I watched Master rock the boat to the mouth of the river and go ashore. And they set out on the south.

One day, I just walked to the Dayu Mountain, and suddenly heard a lot of voices behind me, and I caught up with him not far away.

The one who ran at the front was named Chen Huiming, who was close enough to catch up, and he shouted loudly: "You cat fang, quickly leave the ancestral mantle." ”

I heard a shout and approached, so I put my mantle on a large rock and went into the grass to hide.

When Hui Ming approached, he saw that the mantle was placed on the stone, so he started to take it, but he used all his strength but did not move it, and he was frightened, and he shouted as soon as he turned around: "Master, Master, come out quickly, I am here for the Fa, please come out to see me." ”

When I heard his calm tone, which was different from the previous shout, I came out and sat down on the stone and said to Hui Ming with confidence: "This garment is a token that has been passed down from generation to generation, how can it be fought for with strength? ”

Hui Ming said, "I'm here to seek the Dharma, and I ask Master to give me the Dharma." ”

I said, "You are a monk, you should not think about good, you should not think about evil, that is, the six dusts are clean, the six knots are lifted, the three karma are pure, and you take killing and stealing as a precept, and your actions have already violated the precepts......

I said a lot of principles in a series of words, so that Hui Ming suddenly realized, that is, goodbye to the bottom of the mountain, and when he saw everyone coming, he said loudly to the comer: "I walked in the front, and I didn't see any trace of Hui Neng before turning back, let's look elsewhere!" ”

Therefore, he deceived the monks of the chasing brigade.

It is said that the group of monks chased after them, and many of them died on the way. Later, I don't know whether it was fear or nostalgia, many places set up incense on the roadside, and the roadside Buddha rose from this.

Later, when I went to Caoxi, there were still wicked people who sought and wanted to do harm. I remembered what Master said, "When you are in Huai, you will stop, and when you meet, you will hide", so I went to Huaiji, Sihui and other places to take refuge in the hunters' ranks.

Sometimes wicked people pursue them, but they are all avoided one by one. At the right time, I also preached the Dharma to the people and persuaded others to do good.

I went up to the mountains with the hunters to hunt, and when I kept the net, I lifted the bottom of the net and released all the creatures that the hunters drove down, and for this I was also punched and kicked by those people. Whenever I eat, I don't eat meat in the pot, only meat side dishes.

Later, I came to Huaiji Yanyan, which is a very large and very high cave, which is the only habitat of the Nanyang swiftlets on the mainland.

Every year, the swiftlets of the South Seas fly in and lay eggs on the top wall of the cave, so there are many bird's nests in the steep rock walls and stone crevices.

Some local villagers have ancestral skills, rock climbing and wall climbing have extraordinary skills, can climb more than ten zhang high rock cliffs with bare hands, and make a living by picking bird's nests.

I passed by the village next to Yanyan and heard someone crying in the house, and curiosity drove me into the house to ask what was going on.

It turned out that the only son of the villager had eaten too much barbecue food a few days ago, so that he had a high fever for three days and three nights, his cheeks were red, and the corners of his forehead were terrifyingly hot.

After taking many doses of traditional Chinese medicine prescribed by Lang Zhong nearby, it was not effective, and he knelt on the ground and burned incense to pray to God and worship Buddha, but he did not see the Bodhisattva's manifestation.

Seeing that his son's condition was gradually deteriorating, and he was dying waiting for the arrival of death, the old husband and wife were helpless and couldn't help crying at home.

After I learned about it, I knew that his son was suffering from a fever, and after comforting the two old men with good words, I immediately went to the nearby mountains to collect the right Chinese herbs and cured the two old men's only son.

The two old men were grateful and took out a few treasured bird's nests from the room and gave them to me.

I said that bird's nest was too precious and did not accept it, saying that I was strong and did not need to take so many supplements.

But the two old men stubbornly demanded that I definitely accept it, and said to me emotionally in turn, you saved my son's life, this is the spirit of heaven. Although bird's nest is precious, how can it be as precious as my son's life? Moreover, these bird's nests are just local specialties that we have mined from the steep rock faces. If you don't take it, you're looking down on us countrymen. You young people can not take this tonic, but the elderly in your family can take it.

These words of the two old people touched my longing for my family, my mother is old and frail, if I can eat this tonic should be of great benefit to her body, so under the other party's difficult hospitality, I had to accept these bird's nests.

The words of the two old men made me miss my mother even more, so I decided to go back to my hometown to visit my mother after a long absence.

When I first got home, not long after, Ah Gui, who was working as a companion at the Yuelai Hotel in Chengwei Town, and he was my mother's cousin, came to report that I was going to flee quickly, saying that the northern monks who were staying at the inn were coming to arrest me.

In a hurry, I braved the storm and carried my mother to the sky to hide.

On the way to the Heavenly Dew Mountain, I rescued a hunter who was bitten by a poisonous snake, his name was Liang Yaocheng, and later, our mother and son lived in Uncle Cheng's house.

Uncle Ah Cheng regards me as his savior, and treats our mother and son well, like a family.

In Tianlu Mountain, I practiced while treating my mother's illness, and also used Zen to resolve the grievances between villages, guiding them to change their lifestyles, hunting less, killing less, plowing mountains, cultivating fields, planting rice, planting green plums, planting tea, planting mushrooms and fungus.

Mushrooms, fungus, and unsellable or surplus green plum fruits are made into preserved fruits and transported to the Heavenly Polder to be sold.

At that time, Wang Tianlei, a hunter in the mountains, said movingly: "I thought that you told us to hunt less and kill less because you ruined our rice bowl, but it turned out that you gave us a better iron rice bowl." ”

Wang Tianlei's elder brother Wang Tianbao said: "If it continues to develop in the future, it may become a golden rice bowl!" ”

I said in a Zen-like tone: "If you regard the resources on Tianlu Mountain as an ordinary rice bowl, then it can only be an ordinary rice bowl. But if you think of it as a cornucopia, then it's a cornucopia. ”

At that time, I was actually a veritable sixth ancestor, and I used the Zen method of Zen Buddhism to make the people in the two villages on Tianlu Mountain turn their fighting into jade silk. I also found a new way out of life.

……

Later, my mother was seriously ill, and I came back to take care of my mother's funeral, and the villagers also saw it, so I won't talk about it here.

I have just completed three years of filial piety for my mother in Longshan, and it is almost the New Year, and I think that after the New Year, it is time to go out of the mountain to preach the Dharma.

Unexpectedly, one night near the Spring Festival, I walked out of the door after meditating in this thatched hut as usual, and saw an old monk chanting in the distance, calling me the Dharma King......

In the first year of Tang Yifeng (676 AD), on the eighth day of the first month, I came to the Dharma Temple in Guangzhou, and Master Yin Zong shaved my hair and gave me full precepts.

In the third year of Yifeng (677 years of Ding Chou), I bid farewell to the monks of the Dharma Temple, until the Caoxi Baolin Temple, Daxing Baolin Dojo, with "Bodhi self-nature, originally pure, but with this heart, straight to become a Buddha", promote the Dharma and benefit the living, exalt the "epiphany" Zen method, and promote the superior Buddhism......

……

Speaking of this, the Sixth Patriarch Huineng looked outside the hall and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, it is getting late, thank you very much for coming to listen to me talk about Zen, thank you very much. I have instructed the cook to add a few more dishes tonight to entertain the villagers, which can be regarded as a little bit of my Huineng to the villagers. ”

The villagers at the scene, after listening to the hardships of the sixth ancestor Huineng's journey to become an ancestor, all aroused tears of pain, and also regretted that Huineng could not start a family and went out to seek Buddhism, and they were even more proud of the unprecedented six ancestors of Zen Buddhism in Xialu Village.