Diamond Sutra, Heart Sutra, Altar Sutra

Chapter 12
This article narrates that when Master Huineng was in Baolin Temple in Caoxi, he was invited by Shaozhou governor Wei Chu to tell all living beings about his life and the cause of obtaining the Dharma in Dafan Temple.By telling the reasons of "enlightenment after hearing the scriptures" and Huangmei's visit to the Five Patriarchs, etc., it hints at the origin of the Southern Zen Buddhism, the "Diamond Sutra" and Dongshan Dharma.Through "although human beings have north and south, Buddha nature has no north and south. What is the difference between the body of a monk and a monk, and what is the difference between Buddha nature", and promotes the theory of Buddha nature of Southern Zen, that is, "all living beings have Buddha nature".It is recorded that the fifth patriarch Hongren wanted to pass on the mantle and ordered everyone to write gatha. Huineng's gatha "Bodhi has no tree, and the mirror is not a stand. There is nothing in the first place, where is the dust?" Receive the Dharma in the third watch and pass on the mantle.The Fifth Patriarch sent him across the river in person, and Huineng put forward the idea of ​​"teaching when you are lost, and saving yourself when you are enlightened". qualities of the Buddha.Then Huineng followed the instruction of the Fifth Patriarch "not to speak quickly", and hid himself in the hunter's team for fifteen years.Later, at the Faxing Temple in Guangzhou, it attracted the attention of the world because of the "Fengfan Discussion".

Original
At that time ①, the master arrived at Baolin ②, Shaozhou Governor Wei and the bureaucrats entered the mountain ③, and asked the teacher to leave.In the lecture hall of the Dafan Temple in the city ④, he opened the Dharma for the public ⑤.

Teacher promotion seat ⑥, more than [-] bureaucrats, more than [-] scholars of Confucianism, more than [-] monks, nuns, Taoists and laymen, bowed at the same time, willing to hear the Dharma.

The master told the audience: Good friends⑦, Bodhi’s own nature⑧ is originally pure, but with this mind, one can directly become a Buddha⑨.Good friends!Let's listen to Huineng's intention to obtain the law.

Huineng's strict father, originally from Fanyang⑩, descended from the left to Lingnan B11, and worked as a commoner in Xinzhou B12.Unfortunately, my father died early, my mother was orphaned, and I moved to B13 in the South China Sea, where I was poor and hard-working, and sold firewood in the market.Once a customer bought firewood and ordered it to be sent to the inn. The customer took it away. Huineng got the money, but when he went out, he saw a customer chanting scriptures B14. As soon as Huineng heard the scriptures, his mind became enlightened B15.Then I asked the guest what sutra to recite, and the guest said Diamond Sutra B16.Ask again where it came from, and hold this classic.Ke Yun: I come to B17 from Dongchan Temple, Huangmei County, Qizhou.The temple is B18 where the Fifth Patriarch Ninja master resides, and there are more than a thousand disciples.I went there to worship and listen to this sutra.The master often advises monks and laymen, but if you hold the Diamond Sutra, you will see your own nature B19 and become a Buddha directly.Huineng heard that in the past, there was a predestined relationship B20. He was met by a guest who took ten taels of silver and gave it to Huineng to fill his mother's clothes and food. After teaching, he went to Huangmei to attend the ceremony of the Fifth Patriarch.

注释
①Time: Buddhist classics often have a brief preface at the beginning, introducing the time, place, person, etc. of the Buddha's teaching. "Shi" means the time of the teaching, not the exact time. The "Tanjing" follows the format of Buddhist classics, and uses "time" to indicate the time when the sixth patriarch Huineng preached.

②Baolin: Baolin Temple is located in Caoxi Mountain, 35 kilometers south of Qujiang River, Guangdong Province. Today it is called Nanhua Temple, Nanhua Ancient Temple, and Nanhua Zen Temple.In the Liang Dynasty of the Southern Dynasties, it was established by the Indian monk Zhiyao.During the reign of Yifeng (676-678), Emperor Shangzong of the Tang Dynasty, Huineng presided over the promotion of Dharma, and the disciples gathered together, and the Dharma was greatly promoted. Today, there is a physical statue of the sixth patriarch Huineng.

③ Governor: official name.Han Dynasty setting.In the Sui Dynasty, the governor was changed to the prefect.In the Song Dynasty, there was no difference between the governor and the prefect.In the Qing Dynasty, it was used as another name for Zhizhou.The assassination history here refers to Wei Chu, the governor of Shaozhou.

④ Dafan Temple: Located in Qujiang, Guangdong. "Guangdong Tongzhi" records: "In Qujiang County, Shaozhou Prefecture, Baoen Guangxiao Temple is in Hexi. In the second year of Tang Kaiyuan (714), monk Zongxi built it, named Kaiyuan Temple, and changed its name to Dafan Temple. The sixth patriarch said "Tan Jing". In the third year of Song Chongning (1104), Zhuzhou was ordered to build Chongning Temple, and Zhihezhong changed Tianning Temple. In the third year of Shaoxing (1133), Huizong dedicated incense, and the forehead was given to Guangxiao Temple. "It can be known that this temple was built by the monk Zongxi in the second year of Kaiyuan (714) of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty.

⑤ Opening sayings: speaking Buddhist teachings to enlighten everyone.

⑥Ascension seat: Sit on the seat of the statement.

⑦ Good teacher: refers to a person who is upright and virtuous, guides people to the right way, and teaches all living beings to stay away from evil ways and practice good ways.Up to Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, down to humans and heavens, no matter what kind of posture they appear in, anyone who can guide all living beings to abandon evil, practice good, and enter the Buddha's way can be called a good teacher.Those who teach evil ways are called evil knowledgers.Good friends can be used to refer to monks who have become monks, and they can also be used to refer to Buddhists who have not become monks.

[-] Bodhi: Free translation of "jue", "wisdom", etc.Cutting off worldly troubles and reaching Nirvana wisdom can be called Bodhi.Bodhi is the fundamental idea of ​​Buddhism.Buddhism is mainly about explaining the content of Bodhi and the practice method of attaining Bodhi.The object of worship in Buddhism is the enlightened person who has obtained Bodhi, that is, the Buddha.

⑨But use this heart to become a Buddha: Zen believes that the human heart contains all the principles of Buddhism innately, and it is inherently sufficient. As long as you use this heart truthfully and present it, you can directly achieve Buddhism.

⑩Fan Yang: place name, a county in the Tang Dynasty, today's Daxing and Wanping areas in Beijing.

B11 Lingnan: Refers to the vast area south of Wuling, about today's Guangdong area.

B12 Xinzhou: Guangdong Xinxing today.

B13 South China Sea: This area belongs to Foshan, Guangdong.

B14 Chanting: Refers to reciting Buddhist classics, which is a merit.

B15 Enlightenment: Opened up the inherent Buddhist wisdom of the human heart, and realized the fundamental teachings of Buddhism.

B16 Diamond Sutra: A Buddhist classic, the full name is "The Sutra of Prajnaparamita Sutra of Breaking the Vajra", referred to as "Diamond Sutra", which was first translated by Kumarajiva in the later Qin Dynasty, one volume.The four verses at the end of the volume read: "All conditioned dharmas are like dreams and bubbles, like dew and electricity, and should be viewed as such." It is called the essence of the One Sutra, which means that everything in the world is illusory and unreal, and it is believed that one should "stay away from it." "All appearances" and "nowhere to live", that is, not to be attached to or nostalgic for the real world.Because this sutra is based on the wisdom of emptiness, and says that all dharmas have no self, the length is moderate, not too vast, and it is not too simple, so it has been widely spread throughout the ages, especially the Zen Buddhism after Huineng.

B17 Dongchan Temple in Huangmei County, Qizhou: Qizhou refers to Qichun, Hubei today.Huangmei County is the northwest area of ​​Huangmei, Hubei today.Dongchan Temple is located in the southwest of Huangmei, Hubei. "Huguang Tongzhi" records: "Huangmei County, Huangzhou Prefecture, Dongchan Temple is one mile southwest of Huangmei County." It is also called Lianhua Temple and Dongjian Temple.It was the dojo of Hongren (688-761), the fifth patriarch of Zen Buddhism. At that time, there were more than [-] monks.The Fifth Patriarch passed on the mantle to the Sixth Patriarch Huineng secretly in the middle of the night in the dui room of the temple.In the temple, there are still relics of the sixth patriarch's dustpan pool and falling waist stone.

B18 Master Ren of the Fifth Patriarch: Hongren, the fifth patriarch of Zen Buddhism in China.Hongren (602-675), a monk in the Tang Dynasty, was born in Huangmei, Hubei, with a common surname of Zhou.At the age of seven, he became a monk from the fourth patriarch Daoxin and got his heart transmission.After Dao Xin passed away, he inherited the teaching position and built Dongshan Temple in Fengmao Mountain, east of Huangmei Shuangfeng Mountain. Hongren carried forward the Zen style, with the purpose of realizing the origin of the mind and nature, and keeping the mind is the key to learning.It was called "Dongshan Method" at that time.Emperor Gaozong of Tang Dynasty passed away in the second year of Shangyuan (675) (that is, four years after the teaching of the Dharma), and his life span was 74.His posthumous posthumous title is "Zen Master Daman".There are many followers of Hongren, famous disciples include Shenxiu and Huineng.Hongren implemented Zen into daily life, and believed that walking, sitting, sitting and lying down are the behaviors and activities of becoming a Buddha. This has a great influence on Huineng and the thought of "Tanjing".Masterization: that is, to preside over enlightenment.

B19 Seeing nature: It refers to "consciousness", which refers to seeing the Buddha nature of one's own heart, which is the language of the Zen family.

B20 Predestined relationship in the past: the fate formed in the previous life.

Translation
At that time, Master Huineng came to Baolin Temple in Nanhua Mountain, Guangdong Province. Shaozhou Inspector Wei Chu went into the mountain together with his staff and invited Master Huineng to the lecture hall of Dafan Temple in the city to give a speech on the righteousness of Buddhism to the public.

The master sat down on the seat where he preached. More than 30 governors and officials, more than 30 Confucian scholars, more than 1000 monks, nuns and lay believers, all came to participate in the event. Everyone saluted the master together and hoped to listen to the master's speech on Buddhism. the essence.

The master told everyone: "Good friends, the human heart is born with the nature of enlightenment to become a Buddha. It is originally pure and free from pollution. As long as you use this pure heart, you can directly become enlightened and become a Buddha. Good friends, please listen to me first. Tell me about my causes and experiences in seeking the Dharma and attaining the Dao!"

"My Huineng's father, originally from Fanyang, was demoted and exiled to the Lingnan area because of some incidents, so he became an ordinary citizen in Xinzhou. Huineng was unlucky since he was a child. His father passed away very early, leaving us orphans and widows to depend on each other. He moved to the South China Sea. Due to his poor family, Huineng had to go to the mountains every day to collect firewood and sell it in the market to make ends meet. One day, a guest bought Huineng's firewood. And let it be sent to the guest room. After the delivery, the guest collected the firewood, and Huineng got the money. As soon as he walked outside the door, he saw a guest reciting Buddhist scriptures. Enlightenment. I asked the guest what classic he was reciting, and he told him it was the Diamond Sutra. Huineng then asked the guest where he came from and how to get this classic. The guest said, I came from the east of Huangmei County, Qizhou. When I came to the Zen Temple, the Fifth Patriarch Hongren presided over and carried forward the Dharma to educate all living beings. There were more than 1000 disciples. I went to Dongchan Temple to pay homage to the Fifth Patriarch Hongren and heard that he received this Buddhist scripture. Master Hongren often exhorts monks and Ordinary people instructed that as long as they practice according to the "Diamond Sutra", they can see the Buddha nature of their own mind and directly realize Buddhahood. After hearing what the guest said, Huineng felt that he had a predestined relationship with the Buddha Dharma in the past life, and he happened to be inspired by it. A guest took ten taels of silver for him, and asked him to use it to settle his mother's food and clothing, and then go to Dongchan Temple in Huangmei County to pay homage to the Fifth Patriarch."

Original
After Huineng settled his mother, even if he resigned, he went to Huangmei to worship the Fifth Patriarch in less than thirty days.

The ancestor asked, "Where are you from, and what do you want?"
Huineng said to him: "My disciple is a commoner in Xinzhou in the south of the Lingnan River. He came from afar to pay tribute to his teacher. He only wants to be a Buddha and nothing else."

The ancestor said: You are from Lingnan, and you are also a Liao. If you are worthy of being a Buddha?

Huineng said: Although human beings have north and south, Buddha-nature has no north-south.The Fifth Patriarch wanted to talk to him even more, and seeing that the disciples were always around, he ordered him to follow them to do the work⑤.

Huineng said: Monk Huineng, disciples always generate wisdom from their own minds⑥, and they are inseparable from their own nature, which is the field of blessings⑦.What does the untrial monk teach?
Zu Yun: The root of this scorpion is of great benefit⑧, let alone say it, go to the trough factory⑨.

Huineng retreated to the backyard, and there was a group of ⑩ who sent Huineng to break firewood and step on the pestle B11.

After more than eight months, the ancestor suddenly saw Huineng one day, and said: "I think your vision is useful. I am afraid that some evil people will harm you, so I will not tell you. Do you know?"
Huineng said: "The disciples also know the teacher's intentions, so they dare not go to the front of the hall, so people don't realize it."

注释
① Become a Buddha: become a Buddha. The "Lotus Sutra: Metaphors" says: "If you have the way of a bodhisattva, you should become a Buddha." Cut off delusion, open true enlightenment, eradicate ignorance and troubles, and open true enlightenment.

②Xiao Liao: It is an insult to the ethnic minorities who lived in the south at that time and lived by hunting.Such a title expresses contempt, implying that Huineng is an uncivilized and ignorant barbarian.

③Buddha nature: the nature of the Buddha, or the possibility of becoming a Buddha.Also known as Tathagata nature and awareness.It is a different name for Tathagata. The "Nirvana Sutra" says: "All sentient beings have Buddha nature, and the Tathagata lives forever without change."

④ Monk: Refers to a monk with high morals and high prestige, and also made peace.Paraphrasing pro-teacher, Lisheng, Jinchan, Yixue, and the teacher of the public.The monk is the teacher of the precepts, so Huayan, Tiantai, Pure Land and other sects are all called precept monks.Later generations continue to use it as the disciple's respectful title for the master.

⑤ Work with the crowd: work and work with everyone.

⑥ Wisdom: Knowing all things is called wisdom; understanding all things is called wisdom.Judgment is called wisdom, and simplicity is called wisdom.The common truth is called wisdom, and the true truth is called wisdom. "Mahayana Chapter Nine" says: "Seeing is called wisdom, and understanding is called wisdom. The two are different. Those who know the truth of the world call it wisdom. According to the first righteousness, they call it wisdom. If you understand it, you will have the same meaning."

⑦Inseparable from the self-nature is the field of blessing: It means that knowing the original mind of the self is like sowing seeds in the field of blessing, and the result of the harvest is the achievement of Buddhism, which does not need to be achieved through hard work such as following the crowd.Self-nature refers to the nature of the self.All dharmas have their own true and unchanging, pure and unmixed personality, which is called self-nature.Futian means that people can get blessings by doing good deeds, just like sowing crops in the earth and harvesting them.Here is the field as a metaphor, hence the name Futian. "The field regards growth as righteousness. The farmer sows in the field, and there will be benefits in the autumn harvest. If a person does good deeds, he will be rewarded with blessings and wisdom." Buddhism believes that anyone who respects the Buddha, monks, parents, and those who suffer can gain merit , merit.

⑧Gen Xing Dali: "Growth is the root, number habit is the nature." The root is the meaning of being able to grow, the habit of good and evil is called the nature, and human nature has the power to produce good or bad karma, so it is called the root.Italy, great, very good.This refers to the extremely high endowment of Huineng.

⑨Trough factory: stables, stables, refers to the place where horses are raised.

[-] Practitioners: Also known as pedestrians and practitioners, they generally refer to practitioners of Buddhism and Taoism in general, and are a general term for practicing Buddhism.It also refers to people who live in Buddhist temples but practice with hair. "Shishi Yaolan" volume on the cloud refers to those who have not been shaved but do all kinds of hard labor in the jungle, that is, those who have not become a monk but live in the temple to help with chores.There are those who have their hair shaved, and those who have not shaved their hair and bring their families.

B11 Treadmill: Invented in the Western Han Dynasty, it is a grain processing tool for dehulling and shelling.

Translation
After Huineng settled his old mother, he bid farewell to her and went north to Huangmei.In less than 30 days, Huineng arrived in Huangmei, met the Fifth Patriarch Hongren and paid homage to him.

The Fifth Patriarch asked, "Where are you from, and what do you want from me?"

Huineng replied: "My disciple, I am an ordinary citizen in Xinzhou, Lingnan. I came from a long way to pay homage to Master. I just want to become a Buddha, and I have nothing else to ask for."

The Fifth Patriarch said, "You are from the south of the Five Ridges and you are an uncivilized Liao. How can you become a Buddha?"

Huineng said: "Although human beings have regional differences between the south and the north, the Buddha nature of human beings is not different from the south and the north. Although my body is different from that of the master, the nature of becoming a Buddha that we all have is different. What's the difference?" The Fifth Patriarch wanted to continue talking with Huineng, but seeing many disciples surrounded him, he asked Huineng to go to work with everyone.

Huineng said: "Huineng told the master that the disciple always has the idea of ​​wisdom in his heart, and thinks that if he does not leave his own nature, he will achieve blessings. I don't know what the master wants me to do?"

The Fifth Patriarch said: "Unexpectedly, you have a good foundation and high endowment! You don't need to say more, go to work in the stable in the backyard first."

Huineng retreated to the backyard, and there was a walker who assigned Huineng the work of chopping firewood and pounding rice.

In this way, Huineng worked continuously for more than eight months. One day, the Fifth Patriarch suddenly saw Huineng and said, "I think your opinion is very useful. I'm afraid some bad people will be jealous and try to harm you, so I didn't do it that day." Have a deep talk with you, do you understand my intention?"

Huineng said: "I also know the master's intentions, so I never dare to go to the front hall, lest others notice."

Original
One day the ancestor called all the disciples to come: I tell you, life and death are important matters in the world.If the self-nature is lost, how can blessings be saved?Each of you goes, sees wisdom for yourself, draws from the prajna nature of the original mind, and composes a verse, and presents it to me.The fire goes quickly without delay.Thinking is useless ⑤ People who see their nature must see what they say.If this is the case, you can also see it when you go to the battle with a wheel knife.

The crowd was punished, and they retreated and handed over each other, saying: We all don't need to compose the gatha⑦ with a clear mind, and will present it to the monk. What is the benefit?The lord Shenxiu, who is now a professor, must be the one who got it; it is useless for us to write verses.When the rest of the people heard the words, they all calmed down, saying that we have already relied on Master Xiu⑩, why bother to write gatha.

Shenxiu's thought B11: Those who don't present the gatha, for me and him as the teacher, I have to write the gatha, and I will present it to the monk.If I don't present the gatha, how will the monk know the depth of my understanding.I express the meaning of the gatha, seeking the Dharma is good, and seeking the ancestors is evil, but farewell to the ordinary heart who seizes his holy position?If you don't present the gatha, you will never get the Dharma, and you will be in great difficulty.

In front of the Hall of the Five Patriarchs, there are three corridors. It is proposed to enshrine Lu Zhen's painting of the Lenga Sutra in disguise and the blood of the Five Patriarchs B12, and to spread and support B13.Shenxiu had completed her gatha, and wanted to present it several times, but when she walked to the front of the hall, she was in a trance, sweating all over her body, and couldn't make it.After four days, thirteen degrees, it is not possible to write gatha.

(End of this chapter)