My Play Bodhi Mind

MY PLAY DUDE-THEME-The MIND "The main French-sold-leader, practice the correct key-France, who then called a religious-easy-Lai."                                         Business School-A-Jaw   My College-Admit Ly-Veterinary Records Three-La-Suite-Multi Play The Bodhi-Mind 50th-anniversary of Buddha, which the Director in nail-yameen (1957) Room-author: Like-Mind-I.e.   SOUTH COMMON SHIFANG TISSUE-BASED T-PRIVACY           One year full-time,             On the twentieth-anniversary of Buddha, which the Director last year (1956) I heart-prayer session-room and press-full year operating the sutras, the thin-typically, universal-for every e-Buddha-body profile.             Complete the scene incredibly difficult-difficult, complex-periodicals, only a heart patient complaint, news-idea where Tam-the family-households, both in the 50th-anniversary of Buddha, which the Director this year (1957), 12 episodes consisting of 22 volumes and 4 small products was born.             Record a Italy-the prayer, would like-the kind words-anniversary and presented the n up T-bail-intelligent. Feedback-driven industry-Germany to Master, you Direct-owner who had a religious experience and support-– into the capital, along the four printing, green led, France-about us-born, are both full-time as the Buddha-casting director.             SaigonThe season-Leader in Nail-yameen (1957)           Like-Mind-I.e.     MY COLLEGE-ADMIT LY-VETERINARY RECORDS THREE-LA-SUITE-MULTI PLAY the Bodhi-mind[1] -The Elegant eight-word translation, Breaking out in simplified script -Love-Heart-Latin translation of Chinese into Vietnamese.             When Germany World-religion speaking out loud as the roaring lion[2], secret-intelligent display Of-tri-band[3] and then, successively, the Great Portuguese Slapped Maitreya (From-Shi), from his seat to stand up, chễ Austria as owner, ownership of land, steep pillow on your knees please, pieced together, provide direction to the Buddha, White says: "You must change-Hoa-Hoa instead! The great Saints of world-religion, often bringing Center Zan-bi-Cyrillic letters and speaking out "secret cam-Lo-Sheng Da-la-ni[4] thus, to its capital-Regent-about, dear please Germany World-religion us mercy-born actor told Radio France-upper Bodhi, prompting the owner-love (us-born) no mind, how play is? Owner – the who play it, how tu-action be? And, since human-what charm did not regress to transfer the College-admit-mind. [5]             Now, Germany That Bao Dai-ton Bo-Slapped Maitreya: "If in good faith-male-female-friendly, user-agent, wanted for possession-love, tu Dai Hanh-love-friendship scraps and want an agent to Nirvana, first need to play in hostile mind-to win. In mind the enemy-what's victory? -One is for the owner-love, who plays the great-from-cans, flasks-wide Modeler. The two are, for the most-required-vaccine-position[6], the mind does not regress-switch. Thirdly, with regard to the possession, as the start-Italy-idea as close friends and in every insurance-accident, vowed to save-them. Four is, for the owner-sex, usually run out Italy-idea is owed them. The year is usually carrying the infamous lap-Tigress, think how would paid their debt? The play is in the mind, the decision soon proved to be the main upper level-infinity-ball key-sense ". [7]             Then again, the great Portuguese Slapped Maitreya! What is for in-surplus, for the mind of tu-onions, are real-world-shifting? -Like ancient, a bright, intelligent media – traders – throughout, often working people-from, tastes-pros, seeing my parents, they found, usually poor-parting the body-mind-set, know what the media used also-levels, help-block? Injured-worker's impairment-think: "nothing more than was hot, picked up the jewel As-Italy-security[8], to bring about new levels from the also-to be poor!" Because human-thing, the coast and trade who played-dung-Meng, not pity themselves-destined, from home, included transport, search-private stuff-Liang (Liang-real, object-use), the same search you heal, boat and yacht-monk (sail).             While trade-human skull to halfway, meet a stranger, from the hot back, the other strangers ask trade-entertainment that: "He wants to go, search hurry-gold?" Injured-worker's full answer the charm-as above: to help the people of cork-along, should now want to go hot, find the jewel As-Italy-security, bring about investment-level for them. Stranger says: "before I leave home, as well as that, because want to save fuselage-eliminated the suffering-poor brains-together. When I play the mind then go out on the road, I met many risk-nan, would undergo the same wide, across the gravel sand (s-Mac), there is a vast area of butt-ch t water, a tree, a lot of the same elephant, Tiger, quote, Sai-lang, snake, lion etc.; or experiencing aggressors stole, big river, big mountains, hungry, hot, wet weather, economic — scary shit, fear-fear. Through it, I am the same boat – engineer on to hot to see big wind to, big fish, wickedly-long, Thunder, hail, clap, maelstrom ... There are numerous archive-accident, can't say much. But endure the agony-accident like that, but still can't find the jewel As-Italy-security, which is what helps the body, temporarily provides enough for themselves, rather than have to help the poor lack of trunk-clan. Now I suggest human-imitation, not subject to time-time, fatigue only gauge for yourself only! I want the same human-imitation of other arrangements, in other places. Why is that? Because, in the other large tanks have much tribulation, rather than an accident, would: Black-Black-painted Maple,, pharmacy-soa, La-police, giant fish, gynostemma pentaphyllum-long ... but, only ever heard the name n As-Italy, the thousands of people seeking the jewel, has yet to make one, two were her jewel. By human-Human, I highly recommend her charm-Jia should soon come! "             At the time, the other home traders-listen now and then, more and more falling-TIEN and emit fee-mind three wins, decisively on hot search n not back. Three fee-what's winning mentality? -A is the thought that my parents, brother, poorer consumers-they like, we dare you to not get help for each other is what? The two are, to think that the body belongs to me, earlier abundance, please help us food, clothes, mercy me much, now suffering from extreme poverty-the same, trunk-not rescue all are, I dare you would let go of that, which would like to move back? Thirdly, we think that when at home, look after the House, dictate me-I'm a big, small, and rebuke it, could you would them poverty, not hurt them, so they are fun, but want to go back? So, the coast-thinking of getting charged an-Germany, spear-thing playing Center-dung-Meng, determination-to proto-advance, Costa into the hot, look Like-Italy-privacy, then come home, offering help for the body part, spoiled consumer, from the period of extreme-nan, forever ". [9]             The Bo-Bo as well as in the great Slap-Slap Bodhi plays-mind, a thought-Green-Beast, Quartet-b.[10] of the ten directions, both my parents died before, because of the mercy me, should make any evil karma, to sa-fallen into hell, ain't the devil, animal-born, bear all the suffering-brain. By itself, the coast-we-think: "what transport is used, to help to those who are suffering-she '? Italian boots-anniversary then, found only on the hot College-France Luc Ba-la-suite-most bridge, Buddha-vaccine-position, can help be suffering birth-death for possession-love it! Bo-Slapped my thoughts-think like that and then, play Center-dung-must not regress hid, essential-crane forward, not lazy--lazy, bored-out, included transport, search-private stuff-Liang, seeking sensory healing-enlightenment (Bodhi) and France (main-France) and France-monk.             When Bo-Slaps to halfway, meet a Ma-Wang, President-business map-them, or it does do a body the Sun, or it does do a body, or it does make her body-la-Mon, or it does do a body home, caravan or it does make your body Pop-dark chocolate, dark chocolate-ni-Switch, or it does do an other species. MA-United Kingdom across the Federation United-who play Slap that: "Now he wants to place a rush-gold? -Bo-him a: "because all they were born-brain-gauge, now wants to enter in a large tank Corps-level, demand for Buddhist-vaccine-as-Italy Told-i.e., to save all of them-born being poor" lack. Ma-Wang said: "I also played when the new world because they want an all-born being miserable-the brain out of the House, e-mail me through the birth place of the great desert, sa-cabinet-save-transfer (other tossed forever), good enough all the starving, steals the aggressors, scared-scared every accident, rather than an accident, new to being in hot record-level-France. Or to see the applicants, or having people asking for eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, hands, feet, chi-Xue, heart, lungs, intestines, stomach, liver, thick-suite, spleen, kidney, to this country, up, wife, children, children in the son, the son in girls, the wrong person — making, things like who, depending on what application will give the student's heart sẻn-sorry, just bridge the mind-the jewel (position-intellectual property, the Buddha-mind). Experience endless-the amount of shit born-electronics store-switch in the tank the gauge, but the bear all the suffering-accident, still not be infinity-upper Bodhi, which just returned to the bridge resulted in A-la-Han, the new out of the three realms and was President-kill Nirvana. Now I tell him, not subject to the labour-power, pained should suicide-Tri, I want him and stepped up between the result of that. Why, because, I think of the three evil way is often subject to poverty, the mind think of eating, heads side up rotten-no, can anyone give me mouth a feast no where? All the user-set distress-suffering-mind, destined the impermanence, the faster the water flows down the mountain, steps charity-tri-mode (you heal) while difficult to meet, if not to believe in, practice-passive, after eating-s copy up! In the hot death-birth, save-moving uncertainty, the mind like the Moon water bottom, what makes him! The evil man-trí-recipe (you wicked) easy to see, easy to see, often advised supporters-run Portuguese Director-Slaps, dropping by-wealth, body-face value, expecting to lead Bodhi. The genus lettered Buddha was born, how the new time out once, a thousand, ten thousand people demand relief Bodhi, are one, two people are. Therefore, I suggest that human-imitation shouldn't be subjected to lao-gauge, which should get a-bridge, self certified Nirvana. Again, in three loads of shit, bear all have new evidence, gauge is Buddha-fruit Bo-Slaps, but here, the right in this life, or in just three years will witness was the fruit A-la-Han, is a quadratic Scalar-learning, subject to suffering do read! Stupid-si infinity-mind, mind they longed to bridge the Buddha-fruit, go through ridiculous-the amount of shit, bear all the time-gauge, has yet to hear evidence is the fruit of A-la-Han, the only evidence was directed to the fruit Loads-upper Bodhi! For as someone caught a little bird, the Golden bird sightings-sí, he successively drop the bird caught, are grasped in hand, proceed forward, Chase birds Kim-sí kia, but big bird, flapping wing fly high, bird also flown. Stupid bridge Buddha-fruit, as well as put the fruit A-la-Han, a Buddha-other, two are lost. Know then, expecting him soon Hui-right in this life, he decided to plan A la fruit were Chinese! "             Sailings now, Bo-listen well, he Slapped the more courageous-Meng, who three plays out. 01 What's mind? -First, to think that all of them – from the life of the disabled-only I could birth-death to date, which is the body of the mine, or is elected-you, are currently subject to the agony-brain, yet escape was, could you do me back down back? The two are, to think that all of them – born from unconscious-so far, only I could provide us levels-food, clothes, mercy me deep-set, now they suffered much agony-in London-feedback, I've told them temple, could you do me the world of mind-transfer students? Thirdly, we all thought-born, from childhood until now, only I could infinity-they are all bereaved-belongs to I was wrong-making and sometimes his rebuke-accountability, we don't have any enemies-a gift of them all! By human-favored him, we shouldn't regress hid, needed more proof to homogeneous dung-Director-Bodhi fruit. If shown to be the most essential-Bodhi-mind-protect, use get help them-born being miserable-in birth-death, so called Great-United-Slapped in College-admit, for tu-mind is real-world-turning. [11]             Then again, Dude-Slapped Maitreya! He should know as Bo-tu-art-happy Slapping admit, played out in the mind. During the year, the first heart centre is for the owner-love, play-run Center-bi; the second mind is because the owners – the Most bridge-set-location, the mind does not regress-switch; two mind then, for great-admit, Bo-Slapped need essential-Dr. tu-action. The third mind is all right-with my friend; Center for Wednesday's friendly all-sex for me is I don't have anything else of enemies-in response; Center for Thursday's friendly all-sex is progeny-in I had against them starting out the real business-friendly, non-penalty charge, yelled at his rebuke, the intensive-care of Tiger-infamous, as would the temple paid! Three's mind, leaving the Portuguese Slapped dung-Meng real-depression, until shown to be directed-Major-upper level-Invisible result key-sense ". [12]                   [1] This is the business of 261, in the greater-Organ-Trading. Topics-this clearly had items in Journal-Y T-Bao ". Beijing has 10 product range: Product Specification-Y T-the first, the product of da-La-Ni Monday and works-Bodhi-mind here was the third. Bodhi-mind has three grades: Bodhi-mind of Rod-writer, Bodhi-mind of Charm-and the Bodhi-mind of the Buddhas, this talk about infinity-Upper Bodhi-mind i.e., Bodhi-mind of Bodhi Buddha (Bodhi): Ancient room as "Scouts", which translates as "Vigilance". Play-Bodhi-mind: i.e. play-run Center for Foot Bridge-or play-run Center for main bridge-Buds. [2] The roaring lion: lion is the animal species, one hour it is other animals up dragons are awesome. for reliable enough for Buddha-Germany, in great-they said what the answer is to make decisions-designated, not scared-scared and on the contrary, they listen, mind-brain goals-tan, ma-United Kingdom scared-scared, so male-example lyrics Buddha said as lion roar. [3] Total-Tri Band: News, da-la-ni-Da subject.-la-ni (Dhàrani) Chinese translation is Of-maintenance, which means keeping the no loss, keep storage batteries do not run. Take the notion, trying, how wisdom, United-States, meditate on, tu Slapped full wisdom was the German one. Subjects: it means "French subjects". France-Division Of strictly maintenance-includes 4 kinds: legal, sense, paying attention, patient, but usually just for you-subjects of the Suite-the Church, called General-maintenance-keeper. [4] Mon da-la-ni is very secret, micro-magic, enemies-win and have Italy-explaining-release cam-highway. [5] This is the charm-originator, Mr. Bo-Slapped Maitreya concur-the English slang-German secret-intelligent display Of-maintenance-Buddha's subjects, and Bo-slapped the Maitreya Buddha asked: How did for them-born Player was Ill-upper Bodhi-mind, who does play the tu-is and how not to regress-transfer? [6] -The setting-strain-rest: News Buddha-mind. Means taking a position of Member-Buddha, know all the French-led vassal state of Buddha and knows all their charm-human-born. [7] On this the Buddha answered questions of the Bo-Slapped Maitreya is they'd Age-almond-born tu and reaches Nirvana needs to emit fee-mind year wins. The five then swab does not regress-turn and quickly shown to be direct – Endless results-upper Bodhi. [8] As-Italy-Bao (Cintãmani): also known as Ma-ni-i.e., that is, from where this jewel, played-out everything with the Italy-our prayer-born expectation. As-Italy-said male-example for the Buddha-mind News For-set-vaccine-position. [9] The above paragraphs the Buddha speaks of the merchants, because of under-intelligent, knowing a-close detector-due, said mercy parent, national body addressing-mind playing him in hot search n As-what do bring relief to all though between someone can stop, having covered by insurance-accident, still not pleasing frayed, frustrated, that reaches the destination of Italy-Chapel, to male-example for the Portuguese who discovered the great happy-Slapped tu admit to that. [10] Green-Beast: Natural, human, A-tu-la, hell, the devil fell, cattle-born. Sichuan province Born: species eggs, species of bear, species where wet, moist chemical species--born. [11] On it says Dude who plays the great-almond Slapped tu-admit, reaching infinity-upper Bodhi need for center-forward, though more serious-and Ma-Wang, thank you-coax. [12] The passage above is the link into about five fee-win mentality.END=VIETNAMESE TRANSLATE ENGLISH BY=THICH CHAN TANH.THE MIND OF ENLIGHTMENT.WORLD VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST ORDER=VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=GOLDEN LOTUS MONASTERY=THE EIGHTFOLD PATH.AUSTRALIA,SYDNEY.20/3/2015.

The Sixth Patriarch's Dharma Jewel Platform Sutra

Chapter 1

ACTION AND INTENTION

 

 

Commentary:
In this first chapter of the Sutra, the Sixth Patriarch gives his disciples a biographical sketch of himself. “Action” refers to the Sixth Patriarch’s activities and “intention” is that upon which he based his cultivation. “Action and Intention” refers to the source–where it all began.

Sutra:
At one time the Great Master arrived at Pao Lin. Magistrate Wei Ch’ü of Shao Chou and other local officials climbed the mountain and invited the Master to come into the city to the lecture hall of the Ta Fan Temple to speak the Dharma to the assembly.

When the Master had taken his seat, the Magistrate and over thirty other officials, more than thirty Confucian scholars, and more than one thousand Bhikshus, Bhikshunis, Taoists, and laypeople, all made obeisance at the same time, wishing to hear the essentials of Dharma.

Commentary:
For every Sutra, six requirements must be met. Commonly explained in the opening sentences, they are: faith, hearing, time, host, place, and assembly. Only when these six are fulfilled is the orthodox Dharma being spoken.

To conduct a Sutra session, there must be an assembly; Magistrate Wei Ch’ü and the gathering of disciples and followers fulfills this requirement.

Then there must be a place to speak the Dharma; Pao Lin Mountain fulfills this requirement. A Dharma Master who thoroughly understands the Dharma must be present as host; here it is the Great Master the Sixth Patriarch. “At one time” suffices for the time requirement, and that “all made obeisance at the same time” fulfills the faith requirement. They came “wishing to hear the essentials of Dharma,” and that fulfills the requirements of hearing.

Wei Ch’ü and the officials climbed Pao Lin Mountain which is about ten miles from Shao Chou where Ta Fan Temple, now called Ta Chien Temple, is located. I lived there for a while. This is where the Sixth Patriarch spoke The Dharma Jewel Platform Sutra.

Sutra:
The Great Master said to the assembly, “Good Knowing Advisors, the self-nature of Bodhi is originally clear and pure. Simply use that mind, and you will straightaway accomplish Buddhahood. Good Knowing Advisors, listen while I tell you about the actions and intentions by which Hui Neng obtained the Dharma.”

Commentary:
The Great Master spoke to the assembly; “You are people with good roots and much wisdom. The self-nature of Bodhi is one’s own originally enlightened clear and pure nature. It cannot be produced or destroyed, defiled or purified, increased or decreased. Use this mind. Don’t use your false-thinking mind.”

Using his own name, in the formal style, the Sixth Patriarch calls himself “Hui Neng,” saying, “Now I will tell you how Hui Neng obtained the Dharma. Listen!”

Sutra:
“Hui Neng’s stern father was originally from Fan Yang. He was banished to Hsin Chou in Ling Nan, where he became a commoner. Unfortunately, his father soon died, and his aging mother was left alone. They moved to Nan Hai and, poor and in bitter straits, Hui Neng sold wood in the market place.”

Commentary:

From his native district of Fan Yang, Hui Neng’s father was sent to Ling Nan. Because the father is more apt to discipline the children, he is respectfully called “stern.” The mother ordinarily offers loving kindness to her children, and so she is spoken of as “compassionate.”

Hui, “kind,” means that he was kind and compassionate, bestowing Dharma upon living beings. Neng, “able,” means that he was able to do the Buddha’s work. The Sixth Patriarch’s family name was Lu.

Hui Neng’s father was banished to Ling Nan, a frontier region during the T’ang Dynasty inhabited by government exiles. The Sixth Patriarch’s father, an official, may have been convicted of an offense and thus banished to Ling Nan.

Hui Neng had an unfortunate and unlucky life. His father died when the Master was between the ages of three and five years, leaving him alone with his widowed mother. He and his mother moved to Nan Hai where they endured the hardships of poverty. How did they survive? Master Hui Neng hiked into the mountains and chopped wood, returned and sold it in the market place, using the money to buy rice for his mother and himself.

Sutra:
Once a customer bought firewood and ordered it delivered to his shop. When the delivery had been made, and Hui Neng had received the money, he went outside the gate, where he noticed a customer reciting a Sutra. Upon once hearing the words of this Sutra: “One should produce that thought which is nowhere supported.” Hui Neng’s mind immediately opened to enlightenment.

Commentary:
Because the Sixth Patriarch’s family was poor, he received little formal schooling and could not read. At that time in China one needed money to go to school. But in spite of his illiteracy, the Sixth Patriarch’s disposition was extremely sharp; and as soon as he heard the line of the Sutra which says that one should have a true mind which is nowhere attached, he immediately became enlightened. He understood what he had never understood before.

Many will hear the sentence; “One should produce that thought which is nowhere supported.” Are there any who will open to enlightenment?

Someone exclaims, “Why, I have!”

I ask you, what is the enlightenment you have opened? What is the enlightenment unopened? Ask yourself.

Sutra:
Thereupon he asked the customer what Sutra he was reciting. The customer replied, “The Diamond Sutra.”

Then again he asked, “Where do you come from, and why do you recite this Sutra?”

The customer said, “I come from Tung Ch’an Monastery in Ch’i Chou, Huang Mei Province. There the Fifth Patriarch, the Great Master Hung Jen dwells, teaching over one thousand disciples. I went there to make obeisance and heard and received this Sutra.”

Commentary:
The Great Master the Fifth Patriarch lived in Tung Ch’an Monastery with more than a thousand disciples whom he taught and transformed. At that time in China the study of the Dharma was so fervently pursued that it was not unusual to have a thousand people on one mountain studying the Buddhadharma together.

Where in America are there a thousand Buddhist disciples studying the Dharma together? Such a large country yet there is no such place. It is possible, however, that later there will be more than ten thousand people studying the Buddhadharma, but this is not assured. We will have to watch my disciples and see how hard they work.

Most Americans are intelligent, but there are some whose intelligence surpasses itself. Everyday from morning to night they are caught up in taking confusing drugs. By taking these drugs they may attain small and different states of consciousness which they cannot obtain without drugs. These people try drugs again and again until one day they see that it is useless. They think, “I’ve been taking drugs for such a long time now and I still have not become enlightened.” When they realize this, they may turn toward the truth.

I teach you the Buddhadharma so in the future you can speak the Dharma to teach and transform living beings. Do not be careless, but work well and without confusion and then many will come to study.

You who are now studying this Sixth Patriarch’s Sutra must know the origin of your learning. When people ask, “Where did you study the Buddhadharma?” you can reply, “We studied at the Buddhist Lecture Hall of the Sino-American Buddhist Association.” This is just what is meant by this passage of text.

Sutra:
“The Great Master constantly exhorts the Sangha and laity only to uphold The Diamond Sutra. Then, they may see their own nature and straightaway achieve Buddhahood.”

Hui Neng heard this and desired to go and seek the Dharma, but he recalled that his mother had no support.

From past lives there were karmic conditions which led another man to give Hui Neng a pound of silver, so that he could provide clothing and food for his aging mother. The man instructed him further to go to Huang Mei to call upon and bow to the Fifth Patriarch.

Commentary:
You should be clear that the “Great Master” referred to here is the Fifth Patriarch not the Sixth Patriarch.

When Hui Neng heard that there was a place where over one thousand people were studying the Buddhadharma together, he became very excited. “What am I to do? I really want to study there!” he exclaimed to the customer. “I heard you recite The Diamond Sutra and I understood the principles. I want to go seek the Buddhadharma, but I have an aging mother who has no one to care for her. What can I do?”

Since Bodhisattvas do not seek fame, the Sixth Patriarch did not say which great Bodhisattva helped him at this time. The Sutra simply says that, because of former karmic conditions, a customer gave Hui Neng a pound of silver. This was certainly a valuable offering. The yield of a day’s work chopping firewood was worth only a few copper pennies in the market place so even if Hui Neng had sold all the wood gathered in a thousand days, its value would not have equaled the gift of silver.

The silver provided for his mother’s food and lodging. Maybe the man said, “You are poor and yet you want to study the Buddhadharma. Here, I will help you a bit,” and gave him an offering that he might go and seek Dharma. The merit and virtue of this offering was great, and in the future this man will certainly be a flesh body Bodhisattva. Now, perhaps one of us is doing this kind of work; think to yourself, “Have I done this kind of meritorious deed?” You don’t remember? It doesn’t matter, there’s no need to have false thinking about it.

The man urged him on, saying, “You have such great faith that as soon as you heard this Sutra you opened to enlightenment and understood the principle. Hurry! Go right away to see the Great Master at Huang Mei! It will surely be worth your while. Do not delay, go at once!”

Sutra:
After Hui Neng had made arrangements for his mother’s welfare, he took his leave. In less than thirty days he arrived at Huang Mei and made obeisance to the Fifth Patriarch, who asked him, “Where are you from and what do you seek?”

Hui Neng replied, “Your disciple is a commoner from Hsin Chou in Ling Nan and comes from afar to bow to the Master, seeking only to be a Buddha, and nothing else.”

The Patriarch said, “You are from Ling Nan and are therefore a barbarian, so how can you become a Buddha?”

Hui Neng said, “Although there are people from the north and people from the south, there is ultimately no north or south in the Buddha nature. The body of the barbarian and that of the High Master are not the same, but what distinction is there in the Buddha nature?”

The Fifth Patriarch wished to continue the conversation, but seeing his disciples gathering on all sides, he ordered his visitor to follow the group off to work. Hui Neng said, “Hui Neng informs the High Master that this disciple’s mind constantly produces wisdom and is not separate from the self nature. That, itself, is the field of blessing. It has not yet been decided what work the High Master will instruct me to do.”

The Fifth Patriarch said, “Barbarian, your faculties are too sharp. Do not speak further, but go to the back courtyard.” Hui Neng withdrew to the back courtyard where a cultivator ordered him to split firewood and thresh rice.

More than eight months had passed when the Patriarch one day suddenly saw Hui Neng and said, “I think these views of yours can be of use but fear that evil people may harm you. For that reason I have not spoken with you. Did you understand the situation?”

Hui Neng replied, “Your disciple knew the Master’s intention and has stayed out of the front hall, so that others might not notice him.”

Commentary:
As soon as the Sixth Patriarch made arrangements for his mother’s welfare, he left. Some thirty days later he arrived at the east side of Shuang Feng mountain, at Tung Ch’an Monastery. During his journey he had had no false thoughts and so he was unaware of how much time had passed before he arrived at Huang Mei. The Master was twenty-two years old at the time.

When the Great Master asked from where he had come, Hui Neng told him that he was from the south, from Hsin Chou. “I don’t want anything at all!” he said, “I only want to be a Buddha. All the rest is irrelevant.”

The Fifth Patriarch said, “You are a southerner, and southerners are all barbarians.” The word “barbarian” is, in Chinese, “ke liao.” “Ke” is dog-like animal with an extremely short snout. “Liao” refers to the coarse people of the borderlands. Basically, this means that those who cannot understand the principles of being human belong to the category of animals. “And how can you become a Buddha?” asked the Fifth Patriarch.

The Sixth Patriarch answered him promptly: “Although people are from the north and from the south,” he said, “the Buddha nature is one and is everywhere the same.”

The Fifth Patriarch’s disciples were gathered all around, so he said no more. He simply told the Sixth Patriarch, “Good, you have come. Now, go to work with the others. Hurry off!”

Hui Neng said his own mind always produced wisdom. This wisdom is produced from one’s own self-nature, and the fields of blessings are not separate from it. “I do not yet know what the Master wants me to do,” he said.

The Patriarch heard Hui Neng talking this way and said, “This barbarian has sharp roots!” He cautioned Hui Neng to be more discreet and not talk so much. “Speak no more!” he said. “Go to the back courtyard!” In the back courtyard a cultivator told Hui Neng what to do. When people first come to a place, they are always bullied. This disciple, who had not yet left home said to Hui Neng, “You! Every day you must cut wood, build the fire and cook the food. Here’s an axe, and be sure to cut kindling too! Besides that, every day you must thresh the rice.” Over eight months later, the Patriarch saw Hui Neng working on the threshing ground and said to him, “I think that your wisdom and opinions can be used, but fearing jealous people might harm you, I have not spoken with you too much. Did you know that?” Hui Neng said, “I understand. I have not dared go into the front Dharma hall to speak with the Master lest others notice my actions or the Master’s compassion toward me.”

Sutra:
One day the Patriarch summoned his disciples together and said, “I have something to say to you: for people in the world, the matter of birth and death is a great one.

“All day long you seek fields of blessings only; you do not try to get out of the bitter sea of birth and death. If you are confused about your self-nature, how can blessings save you?”

Commentary:
The Fifth Patriarch said, “Regardless of whether you are extremely rich or bitterly poor, you cannot avoid birth and death. Consequently, you should know how you were born. If this question of birth and death is not resolved, life is dim and confused, and you are confused with coming and going.

“You do nothing but seek merit among the gods and among humans; you do not know how to seek wisdom. Thus, you swirl and drift in the suffering sea of birth and death.”

It is said that one who cultivates wisdom and does not cultivate merit is like an Arhat with an empty begging-bowl; he is very wise, but no one makes offerings to him. But if one cultivates merit and neglects wisdom, he is just like a big elephant wearing a pearl necklace; beneath the adornments of blessing, he is stupid and will never solve the problem of birth and death.

Sutra:
“Each of you go back and look into your own wisdom and use the Prajna-nature of your own original mind to compose a verse. Submit it to me so that I may look at it.

“If you understand the great meaning, the robe and Dharma will be passed on to you and you will become the sixth patriarch. Hurry off! Do not delay! Thinking and considering is of no use in this matter. When seeing your own nature it is necessary to see it at the very moment of speaking. One who does that perceives as does one who wields a sword in the height of battle.”

Commentary:

“Verse” here is the Sanskrit word “gatha.” A gatha is composed of lines of uniform length, though the length may vary from gatha to gatha.

“Go quickly!” said the Fifth Patriarch. “Go as if a fire were about to overtake you. Do not dawdle and procrastinate saying, ‘Oh, I cannot do it today. I will do it tomorrow instead,’ and then the next day saying, ‘Not today either, perhaps tomorrow...’ Do not keep putting it off and do not try to think about it. It is useless to use your discriminating mind. If you have deep prajna wisdom, you understand the moment you hear the words spoken. Just as one grabs a weapon and confronts the oncoming enemy, so do you perceive. You can see your nature in the same immediate way.

Sutra:
The assembly received this order and withdrew, saying to one another, “We of the assembly do not need to clear our minds and use our intellect to compose a verse to submit to the High Master. What use would there be in this?”

“Shen Hsiu is our senior instructor and teaching transmitter. Certainly he should be the one to obtain it. It would be not only improper for us to compose a verse, but a waste of effort as well.”

Hearing this, everyone put his mind to rest, and said, “Henceforth, we will rely on Master Shen Hsiu. Why vex ourselves writing verses?”

Commentary:
They went away to other courts, other gardens, and other buildings, saying to themselves, “Why worry about writing this verse? We do not need to waste the effort.”

I believe the people who spoke this way were of Shen Hsiu’s party. Why did they not write verses? Because Shen Hsiu’s followers were trying to make him the patriarch; all his followers, disciples, Dharma brothers, friends, and relatives contrived to set up the position for Shen Hsiu. They convinced everyone else not to write verses, because if anyone else wrote verses, then perhaps Shen Hsiu might not get to be the next patriarch.

They secretly passed it around and whispered behind the scenes, like friends of a candidate for President who say, “Hey! Vote for this one! He can be President!” They spread it about and stuffed the ballot box.

Convinced that they had no learning, the assembly decided it was useless to write verses. Swayed by the rumors, they said, “The Senior-Seated Shen Hsiu is second to the Abbot. His literary skill is good, his virtue is high, he lectures on the Sutras and speaks Dharma for us. Certainly he should become the sixth patriarch.”

When the assembly heard Shen Hsiu’s followers saying things like, “If we write verses, they will be very unpolished and certainly not good enough to submit,” they all decided not to write verses themselves. They didn’t want to compete with Shen Hsiu, their superior.

Sutra:
Shen Hsiu then thought, “The others are not submitting verses because I am their teaching transmitter. I must compose a verse and submit it to the High Master.

“If I do not submit a verse, how will the High Master know whether the views and understanding in my mind are deep or shallow?

“If my intention in submitting the verse is to seek the Dharma, that is good. But if it is to grasp the patriarchate, that is bad, for how would that be different from the mind of a common person coveting the holy position? But, if I do not submit a verse, in the end I will not obtain the Dharma. This is a terrible difficulty!”

Commentary:
The Fifth Patriarch had announced that in order to obtain the Dharma, one must compose a verse. Shen Hsiu knew that if he did not submit one, the Fifth Patriarch would not know whether Shen Hsiu had wisdom and he could not transmit the Dharma to him. Shen Hsiu fretted and worried, “What shall I do? This is very hard; it is just too difficult!”

Sutra:
In front of the Fifth Patriarch’s hall were three corridors. Their walls were to be frescoed by Court Artist Lu Chen with stories from the Lankavatara Sutra and with pictures portraying in detail the lives of the five patriarchs, so that the patriarchs might be venerated by future generations.

Commentary:
A court artist is one appointed as an official to the Imperial Court because of his talent.

The title of The Lankavatara Sutra has two meanings: “city” and “cannot be gone to.” This city, located behind Malaya Mountain, is inaccessible to those without spiritual powers. Shakyamuni Buddha used his spiritual powers to go there and speak The Lankavatara Sutra for the benefit of those who had spiritual powers. The court artist was to depict the miraculous, inconceivable, wonderful transformations which took place in the assembly on Lanka Mountain.

The court artist was also to paint pictures illustrating the flow of the Dharma from Great Master Bodhidharma, the First Patriarch, to the Great Master Hui K’o, the Second Patriarch, and onward from generation to generation, to the Fifth Patriarch, Great Master Hung Jen. The paintings would remain in the world so that future generations might receive benefit from respecting and making offerings to them.

Sutra:
After composing his verse, Shen Hsiu made several attempts to submit it. But whenever he reached the front hall, his mind became agitated and distraught, and his entire body became covered with perspiration. He did not dare submit it, although in the course of four days he made thirteen attempts.

Commentary:
Shen Hsiu’s students were not greedy to become patriarch, but Shen Hsiu had a great desire for the position.

Whenever he tried to submit his verse, he went a little crazy. “What am I going to do? Is this verse right or not? Can I submit it?” He did not know if it was right or wrong. “Ah, maybe...is it this way or is it that way? Maybe it isn’t. Maybe it is...more or less.” Endless questions flooded his mind, making him extremely nervous. Every time he tried to hand it in, he broke out in a heavy sweat. Why? It was a huge gamble; if he failed, he would not be a patriarch, but if he passed, he would. Fear of failure caused his extreme agitation.

It was really suffering, really hard work! It is not easy to be a patriarch. Look at how much effort he expended. For four entire days and nights he never shut his eyes. He just kept trying to submit his verse. At night he would go as far as the Fifth Patriarch’s hall, peer around, break out in a sweat, and flee back to his room. During the day he tried again. In the periods in between, he could not sit, lie down, or sleep, and when he tried to eat, he couldn’t swallow.

He went before the Patriarch’s hall thirteen times and still did not submit the verse. Now, when I give you a quiz, you write the answers very promptly and hand them in. Suppose I were to give you a patriarch test! I think your hands would tremble so that you could not write out the answers. Finally, after so many attempts, when Shen Hsiu had almost worried himself to death, he thought, “Hey! Get hold of yourself. Calm down and think this thing over. Meditate and enter samadhi!”

Sutra:
Then he thought, “This is not as good as writing it on the wall so that the High Master might see it suddenly. If he says it is good, I will come forward, bow, and say, ‘Hsiu did it.’ If it does not pass, then I have spent my years on this mountain in vain, receiving veneration from others. And as to further cultivation–what can I say?”

That night, in the third watch, holding a candle he secretly wrote the verse on the wall of the South corridor, to show what his mind had seen.

Commentary:
“That’s it!” he said with relief. “I will write it on the wall and when he sees it he will say, ‘This is truly a fine verse, truly wonderful!’ and I will admit that I wrote it. But if he says, ‘This is too confused. It is nothing but useless trash!’ then I will know that I have wasted my time here on the mountain.”

He crept stealthily, like a thief in the night He carried just a little candle, for if the light were too bright, someone might have seen him.

Sutra:
Verse:

The body is a Bodhi tree,
The mind like a bright mirror stand.
Time and again brush it clean,
And let no dust alight.

After writing this verse, Shen Hsiu returned to his room, and the others did not know what he had done.

Then he thought, “If the Fifth Patriarch sees the verse tomorrow and is pleased, it will mean that I have an affinity with the Dharma. If he says that it does not pass, it will mean that I am confused by heavy karmic obstacles from past lives, and that I am not fit to obtain the Dharma. It is difficult to fathom the sage’s intentions.”

In his room he thought it over and could not sit or sleep peacefully right through to the fifth watch.

Commentary:
He bounded back to his room two steps at a time, as if he were being chased, but quietly, taking great, silent leaps like an expert military spy. He was afraid that if anyone saw him, they would know he wrote the verse. But no one saw him, no one knew–not even the ghosts and spirits. “If he likes this verse,” thought Shen Hsiu, “then I must have conditions with the wonderful mind-to-mind seal of the Buddhas, and it is my destiny to be patriarch. But if it does not pass, my confusion from the karma created in past lives must be a heavy obstruction. It is hard to figure out what he will say. There is just no way to know.”

Actually, his verse was not bad, but he had not fully understood. So after he returned to his room, he was still uneasy.

Sutra:
The Patriarch already knew that Shen Hsiu had not yet entered the gate and seen his own nature. At daybreak, the Patriarch called Court Artist Lu Chen to fresco the wall of the south corridor. Suddenly he saw the verse and said to the court artist, “There is no need to paint. I am sorry that you have been wearied by coming so far, but The Diamond Sutra says, ‘Whatever has marks is empty and false.’ Instead leave this verse for people to recite and uphold. Those who cultivate in accordance with this verse will not fall into the evil destinies and will attain great merit.”

He then ordered the disciples to light incense and bow before it, and to recite it, thus enabling them to see their own nature. The disciples all recited it and exclaimed, “Excellent!”

Commentary:
“If you cultivate according to the principles contained in this verse,” said the Fifth Patriarch, “you will not fall into rebirth in the three evil paths of the hells, animals, or hungry ghosts, and you will receive many benefits.”

Sutra:

At the third watch, the Patriarch called Shen Hsiu into the hall and asked him, “Did you write this verse?”

Shen Hsiu said, “Yes, in fact, Hsiu did it. He does not dare lay claim to the position of Patriarch, but hopes the High Master will be compassionate and see whether or not this disciple has a little bit of wisdom.”

The Patriarch said, “The verse which you wrote shows that you have not yet seen your original nature but are still outside the gate. With such views and understanding you may seek supreme Bodhi, but in the end will not obtain it. Supreme Bodhi must be obtained at the very moment of speaking. In recognizing the original mind, at all times, in every thought, you yourself will see that the ten thousand Dharmas are unblocked; in one truth is all truth and the ten thousand states are of themselves ‘thus,’ as they are. The ‘thusness’ of the mind, just that is true reality. If seen in this way, it is indeed the self nature of supreme Bodhi.”

Commentary:
The Patriarch chose the same hour at which Shen Hsiu had written the verse on the wall the night before. He secretly called him in and said, “Psst! Was it you who wrote that verse?”

“Yes, yes,” Shen Hsiu whispered back, “yes, in fact, I, Hsiu, wrote it. I do not dare seek the status of the patriarch, but...”

“Your verse shows that you are still an outsider,” said the Fifth Patriarch. “You have not yet seen your nature. As soon as you speak the words, know your original nature!”

When you understand the mind and see your own nature, you know that the nature is not produced and not destroyed; for at all times, all dharmas are perfectly fused, without the slightest bit of obstruction. There is no place where all dharmas are not identical.

When you understand one truth, all truth is understood. The ten thousand externals are all produced from the state which is “thus, unmoving,” and within the mind which is “thus, thus, unmoving,” true reality is to be found. Seen in this way, this state is the original nature exactly; it is the highest enlightenment. And so, in response to Shen Hsiu, I wrote a verse myself:

Because of the Way, ten thousand things are born.
One who obtains it penetrates the mystery oneself;
Awakened, the basic substance is fathomed:
Bodhi does not decrease or increase.

Sutra:
“Go and think it over for a day or two. Compose another verse and bring it to me to see. If you have been able to enter the gate, I will transmit the robe and Dharma to you.”

Shen Hsiu made obeisance and left. Several days passed, but he was unable to compose a verse. His mind was agitated and confused and his thoughts and mood were uneasy. He was as if in a dream; whether walking or sitting down, he could not be happy.

Commentary:
After the Great Master had explained that the Bodhi self-nature cannot be sought with the mind that wants to take advantage of things, he told Shen Hsiu, “If you obtain the original substance, become enlightened and understand the mind and see your self-nature, entering the gate of the Buddhadharma so that you are no longer on the outside, I will transmit the Dharma to you.” “Enter the gate” means “understand the mind and see your own nature.”

As the days passed, Shen Hsiu gradually went insane. Neither his mood nor his thoughts would calm down. Although he was unable to fall asleep he was as if in a dream. He didn’t know what he was doing because his desire to become patriarch was so great. I believe that, after he failed the initial test and then was unable to compose another verse, he even considered suicide.

Sutra:
Two days later, a young boy chanting that verse passed by the threshing room. Hearing it for the first time, Hui Neng knew that the writer had not yet seen his original nature. Although he had not yet received a transmission of the teaching, he already understood its profound meaning. He asked the boy, “What verse are you reciting?”

“Barbarian, you know nothing,” replied the boy. “The Great Master has said that birth and death are a profound concern for people in the world. Desiring to transmit the robe and Dharma, he ordered his disciples to compose verses and bring them to him to see. The person who has awakened to the profound meaning will inherit the robe and Dharma and become the Sixth Patriarch. Our senior, Shen Hsiu, wrote this ‘verse without marks’ on the wall of the south corridor. The Great Master ordered everyone to recite it, for to cultivate in accord with this verse is to avoid falling into the evil destinies and is of great merit.”

Commentary:
A young lad ventured close to the threshing floor where the Sixth Patriarch was working, singing as he walked,

The body is a Bodhi tree.
The mind like a bright mirror-stand.
Time and again, brush it clean;
Let no dust alight.

The youth was chanting Shen Hsiu’s verse because he wished to obtain great benefit, avoid the three evil destinies of rebirth, and see his nature.

When the Sixth Patriarch asked the boy what he was reciting, the boy replied, “You barbarian! Don’t you know that the Fifth Patriarch said that of all the problems people face, the problem of birth and death is the most grave?”

A “verse without marks” is one which reveals that its author is not attached to marks.

“You really have no good roots!” the boy said to the Sixth Patriarch. “After so many days, you still don’t know? You are useless, capable only of toiling at bitter work; all you can do is pound rice. You shouldn’t let such a fine opportunity slip by. Listen closely, and I will tell you what has happened and teach you this verse so that you too can become enlightened and see your nature. Pay attention and rely on this verse as you cultivate so that in your next life you won’t have to endure such suffering as you endure now. You won’t have to be a horse or a cow or fall among the other animals or into the hells. At the very least you’ll be a wealthy and respected person of good fortune.”

The youth’s heart wasn’t bad at all. END=NAM MO SAKYAMUNI BUDDHA.( 3 TIMES ).WORLD VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST ORDER=VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=GOLDEN LOTUS MONASTERY=THE EIGHTFOLD PATH.THICH CHAN TANH.THE MIND OF ENLIGHTMENT.AUSTRALIA,SYDNEY.20/3/2015.

The Sixth Patriarch's Dharma Jewel Platform Sutra

A General Introduction

 

Edited by Bhikshu Fa Hai of the T’ang Dynasty

What follows is not the Sutra text, but an introduction to the Sutra which was written by The Sixth Patriarch’s disciple, Fa Hai. When the Sixth Patriarch taught Dharma, Master Fa Hai followed him, recording all of the things the Patriarch said. Later, he compiled and edited his notes, calling them The Sixth Patriarch’s Dharma Jewel Platform Sutra. Had he not done this, we would have no way to study the Sixth Patriarch’s Dharma. Therefore, we should certainly be grateful for such compassion as his.

Dharma Master Fa Hai’s lay name was Chang, and his common name was Wen Yün. He was a native of Ch’ü Chiang, which is about ten miles from Nan Hua monastery. He was a “room-entering disciple,” that is, a disciple to whom the Master had transmitted the Dharma. Though his introduction is not part of the Sutra proper, I will explain it to you, because it narrates some important events in the life of the Great Master.
Text:
The Great Master was named Hui Neng. His father was of the Lu family and had the personal name Hsing T’ao. His mother was of the Li family. The Master was born on the eighth day of the second month of the year Wu Hsü, in the twelfth year of the Chen Kuan Reign of the T’ang Dynasty (A.D. 638).

At that time, a beam of light ascended into space and a strange fragrance filled the room. At dawn, two strange Bhikshus came to visit. They addressed the Master’s father saying, “Last night a son was born to you and we have come to name him. It can be Hui above and below, Neng.”

The Father said, “Why shall he be called Hui Neng?”

The Monk said, “‘Hui’ means he will bestow the Dharma upon living beings. ‘Neng’ means he will be able to do the Buddha’s work.” Having said this, they left. No one knows where they went.

The Master did not drink milk. At night, spirits appeared and poured sweet dew over him.
Commentary:
The Great Master refers to the Sixth Patriarch, Hui Neng. The Master’s merit and virtue was great, he had great wisdom and compassion and so was a master of gods and humans.

When one is alive, one has a personal name. After one dies, that name is avoided. Hence it is called a personal name, a name which is not spoken.

When the Great Master’s mother gave birth to him, a fine beam of light arose, like that which the Buddha emits from his forehead. A strange, fragrant incense which had never been smelled before filled the room.

At dawn, the heavens are half dark and half light. Chü Hsi in “The Song of Household Affairs” wrote:

At dawn, get up;
Sprinkle and sweep the hall.
The inside, the outside,
You must clean it all.
In China at that time there was no linoleum. In the morning, people sprinkled water on the mud floors, waited a bit, and then swept their houses clean inside and out.

The two strange Bhikshus were quite different from ordinary people. They were like the Fourth Patriarch who, by merely opening his eyes, caused everyone to tremble in fright. These two unusual Bhikshus came to name the Sixth Patriarch. Isn’t this strange? Who has two Bhikshus come to name him?

To say “above” and “below” when referring to a person’s name, is a most respectful form of address.

What the newly born Patriarch ate was sweet dew.
Text:
He grew up, and at the age of twenty-four he heard the Sutra and awoke to the Way. He went to Huang Mei to seek the seal of approval.
Commentary:
Some say that the Sixth Patriarch was twenty-four, others say that he was twenty-two. As the Chinese count he was twentyfour and as Westerners count, he was twenty-two. Whether he was twenty-two or twenty-four is not really important.

When the Sixth Patriarch heard the layman recite The Diamond Sutra and reach the line, “One should produce that thought which is nowhere supported,” the Sixth Patriarch said, “Oh! Not supported anywhere!” He was immediately enlightened.

A great many people had heard The Diamond Sutra, but none of them had become enlightened. Now in the West, perhaps someone will hear, “One should produce that thought which is nowhere supported” and, understanding the principle, become enlightened. That is what I hope. Whether or not it will actually happen is another matter.

After becoming enlightened, he did not say, “Hah! I am enlightened.” He was not like some people today who do not understand even a hair’s breadth of the Buddhadharma, yet claim to be enlightened.

The ancients, even when they had become enlightened, did not recklessly say, “I am enlightened!” Even less would people who had not become enlightened claim to have done so. It is necessary to seek certification from a good knowing advisor, a person who has already awakened. That is why the Sixth Patriarch went to Huang Mei to seek the Fifth Patriarch’s seal of certification.

Enlightened ancients did not attempt to certify themselves. Today, however, there are those who have not become enlightened and yet say that they have. Enlightenment and nonenlightenment are as different as heaven and earth.

Moreover, many naive young people take stupefying drugs and claim to have “gone to the void.” Confused demons, posing as good knowing advisors, certify them saying, “Yes, you have attained to emptiness. However, there is no place for you to live in emptiness. Come Back. Come to my place. I have buildings and houses; I have a commune!”

The young people say, “That’s not bad at all!” They take the demons as their teachers. Ultimately these “bad knowing advisors” do not know themselves if they are true or false. You and I do not know either.

But now we should use the Sutras for certification. The Sutras do not say that any foolish person has a commune in empty space. Even though rockets now go to the moon, space settlements have not yet been built. So this kind of talk simply does not get by.

Now we are exceedingly busy. In the morning, everyone gets up at four o’clock to recite Sutras. We are busy building houses on the Earth, not in heaven. Why? We are people on earth and so our houses should be built on the earth. We are forging our bodies into indestructible vajra bodies. Our bodies are our houses, but they sometimes go bad. Now, from morning to night, we are busy constructing them, cultivating them to be in the end like indestructible vajra bodies.

With an indestructible vajra body you can go wherever you wish. You can go into empty space, up to the heavens, down into the earth, or to the dragon king’s palace. It is very simple and you do not need a passport or a schedule. You are free to take off at your convenience. But first construct your indestructible body. Then you can do it.
Text:
The Fifth Patriarch measured his capacity and transmitted the robe and Dharma so that he inherited the Patriarchate. The time was the first year of the reign period Lung Shuo, cyclical year Hsin Yu (A.D. 661).

He returned south and hid for sixteen years.
Commentary:
After the Sixth Patriarch left Huang Mei, he had no safe place to live. Because Shen Hsiu’s disciples and followers of nonThe Buddhist religions wished to harm him, the Great Master went to live with hunters for sixteen years.

During this time no one knew that he was the Sixth Patriarch. He worked hard practicing Dhyana meditation while watching over the animals and birds the hunters had caught and secretly releasing the ones which had been only slightly injured and could still travel safely. He had much time to cultivate and perfect his skill, for no one came to trouble him.

If you do not truly cultivate, everything is easy, but if you do cultivate truly, demon-obstacles arise from the four corners and the eight directions. Unexpected circumstances prevail and things you never dreamed could happen do happen.

In his sixteen years with the hunters, the Sixth Patriarch dwelt without disturbance, living just as they did. That is genuine hiding. He did not seek fame or profit and he did not try to take advantage of circumstances. He practiced genuine cultivation.
Text:
On the eighth day of the first month in the first year of the reign period I Feng (A.D. 676), the cyclical year Ping Tsu, he met Dharma Master Yin Tsung. Together they discussed the profound and mysterious, and Yin Tsung became awakened to and united with the Master’s doctrine.
Commentary:
They talked back and forth, querying each other on principle. Who asked whom? Dharma Master Yin Tsung asked the Great Master, the Sixth Patriarch. The Great Master had solved the dispute over whether the flag or the wind moved, by explaining that it was the mind that moved, and Dharma Master Yin Tsung had been astounded to hear a layman speak in such a deep and wonderful way. He got down from his Dharma seat and escorted the Sixth Patriarch to his room for a chat.

“Where did you come from and what is your name?” he asked. Dharma Master Yin Tsung knew that this layman was a room-entering disciple of the Fifth Patriarch, one to whom the Fifth Patriarch had transmitted the Dharma. He immediately bowed to the Great Master. They then investigated the profound and mysterious; they talked about the wind and the flag. Until his talk with the Sixth Patriarch, Dharma Master Yin Tsung had not correctly understood the principle of the Dhyana School.
Text:
On the fifteenth day of that month, at a meeting of all the four assemblies, the Master’s head was shaved. On the eighth day of the second month, all those of wellknown virtue gathered together to administer the complete precepts. Vinaya Master Chih Kuang of Hsi Ching was the Precept Transmitter.
Commentary:
During the week of the eighth to the fifteenth day of the first month, Dharma Master Yin Tsung gathered the four assemblies together: the Bhikshus, Bhikshunis, Upasakas, and Upasikas. The purpose of the meeting was to shave the Master’s head so that he could leave home and become a Bhikshu.

People leave home for various reasons. Some find it difficult to obtain food and clothing. They see that those who have left home are well provided for, and so they leave home so they can eat and be clothed. Others leave home because they are old and have no children. They think, “I will leave home and take a young disciple who will care for me as a son would.” It is uncertain whether people who leave home for these reasons can really cultivate.

Some leave home because they are bandits or runaways. They leave home and cut off their hair so that the government won’t find them and cut off their heads! Some leave home when small, but it is not certain whether they can cultivate.

Some people have “confused beliefs.” Even so, they still believe, and that is good. For instance, the parents of a sick child may say, “The child may die of disease. We should give him to a temple and he can become a Bhikshu and we can go visit him. That is better than letting him die!” So out of confused belief, the parents give their child to the temple.

People of confused belief may not necessarily be bad, but people who “believe in confused principles” are definitely not good. They have faith, but it is misplaced. That is confusion within confusion and it is not good.

Some are “confused and without belief.” In their confusion they do not believe in anything. Finally there are the “believing and unconfused.” These people study the Buddhadharma with a faithful heart until they are no longer confused.

Of these last four types of people who have left home, one cannot say that any of them will be able to cultivate, nor can one say for sure that they cannot. Perhaps only one or two per cent can cultivate the Dharma. However, if you resolve to attain enlightenment in order to end birth and death, you can surely cultivate upon leaving home.

Again, there are those who no longer have a family and so leave their worldly homes.

Some leave the home of the three realms: the realm of desire, the realm of form, and the realm of formlessness. Once out of Ithese three realms there are no desires, no forms, and no formless consciousness. Because of their non-attachment, these people see the three realms as empty, and so it is said that they have left the home of the three realms.

Some leave the home of afflictions. It is essential to leave afflictions behind. If you do not cut them off, you may leave home, but you cannot know the Way.

The Sixth Patriarch cannot be put into any of these categories, for he was a special case. He had attained mastery, and so whether or not he left home made no difference. Even when he appeared to be a layman, he practiced the profound conduct of a Bodhisattva and he did not behave like a layman. In this way his act of leaving home did not resemble that of others in the assembly.

The eighth day of the second month is the day when Shakyamuni Buddha left home. On that day all the illustrious, virtuous and learned Dharma Masters gathered from the ten directions. Chinese Dharma Masters and Indian Dharma Masters came to administer the complete precepts to the Sixth Patriarch.

Dharma Master Yin Tsung invited Dharma Master Chih Kuang of Hsi Ching to administer the complete precepts to the Sixth Patriarch. Hsi Ching is another name for Ch’ang An.

The person who administers the precepts is called the Precept Transmitter. Precepts have a substance and mark and a dharma. If you wish a more detailed explanation, even finer discriminations can be made.

I do not use Ting Fu Pao’s commentary because it is often in error. In this case he says that three people are required to administer the precepts, while actually only one is necessary. At that time, Dharma Master Chih Kuang acted as Transmitter.

Chih Kuang was also a Vinaya Master, one who diligently studies the precepts and thoroughly understands the rules. In walking, standing, sitting and lying down, in each of these four great comportments, he must conduct himself in the awesome manner, not daring to deviate for the space of a single step. Every move a Vinaya Master makes must be in accord with the rules. Therefore the Shurangama Sutra says, “Severe and pure in Vinaya, they are noble models for the Triple World.”
Text:
Vinaya Master Hui Ching of Su Chou was the Karmadana. Vinaya Master T’ung Ying of Ching Chou was the Teaching Transmitter. Vinaya Master Ch’i To Lo of Central India recited the precepts. Tripitaka Master Mi To of India was the Precept Certifier.
Commentary:
Ting Fu Pao writes that there should be four Karmadanas, yet the Sutra mentions only one. He says that the one mentioned was the most famous of the four. Because he didn’t understand the precepts, his commentary is confused. There was only one Karmadana.

Karmadana is a Sanskrit word which means “to arrange events,” or “to explain rules.” The Karmadana makes certain that everything is done in accord with Dharma, in accord with the rules established by Shakyamuni Buddha. Anything not in accord with the Buddha’s rules is unacceptable to the Karmadana.

When conferring the precepts, the Precept Transmitter asks the Karmadana, “May the precepts be transmitted to this person?” The question is asked three times, and each time the Karmadana must reply, “Yes.”

On the precept Platform, the Karmadana and the Teaching Transmitter sit immediately to the left and right of the Precept Transmitter. The remaining seven certifiers sit on either side. That is the arrangement of the three masters and seven certifiers. They represent the Buddhas of the ten directions in speaking Dharma and transmitting precepts. Therefore, when leaving home, receiving precepts is especially important.

The Teaching Transmitter transmits the Sutras.

Ch’i To Lo, transliterated from the Sanskrit, means “flower of merit and virtue.”

Dharma Master Mi To understood the three divisions of the Tripitaka, Sutras, Sastras, and Vinaya, and so he is called a Tripitaka Master. He is closely associated with the Chinese Vinaya because he translated the Dharmagupta Vinaya from the Sanskrit into Chinese. All the precept spirits protected this intelligent master, and there are many miraculous events connected with his life. Mi To means flourishing. His full name was Ta Mo Mi To, flourishing Dharma.
Text:
Construction of the precept platform had begun in the former Sung Dynasty by Tripitaka Master Gunabhadra. He erected a stone tablet which said, “In the future, a Bodhisattva in the flesh will receive the precepts in this very place.”
Commentary:
The “former Sung” was the dynasty that preceded the Sui Dynasty, not the well-known Sung Dynasty of Sung T’ai Tsu.

Gunabhadra means “a worthy of merit and virtue.” This master established a precept platform at what is now called Kuang Hsiao Monastery. His engraving foretold the coming of a Bodhisattva in the flesh: not a Bodhisattva who had gone to Nirvana, but a living Bodhisattva.
Text:
Further, in the first year of the T’ien Chien reign of the Liang Dynasty (A.D. 502) Tripitaka Master Jnanabhaishajya came by sea from West India carrying a Bodhi-tree branch, which he planted beside the platform. He, too, made a prophecy, saying, “After one hundred and seventy years, a Bodhisattva in the flesh will proclaim the Supreme Vehicle beneath this tree. Taking measureless multitudes across, he will be a true transmitter of the Buddha’s mind-seal, a Dharma Host.”
Commentary:
Tripitaka Master Jnanabhaishajya, “wisdom medicine,” predicted that a living Bodhisattva would speak the Supreme Vehicle Dharma from beneath that Bodhi-tree, teaching the Dharma of a direct pointing to the mind to see the nature and realize Buddhahood.

As a true transmitter of the Buddha’s mind-seal, this Bodhisattva would “use the mind to seal the mind.” Shakyamuni Buddha held a flower in his fingers and smiling subtly, transmitted the mind seal of all the Buddhas to the First Patriarch, Mahakashyapa. Transmitters of the mind-seal are patriarchs. A Dharma Host is one who lectures Sutras and explains the Dharma.

Jnanabhaishajya brought a Bodhi-tree branch from India to China; not a whole tree, just a cutting. Bodhi-trees will grow almost anywhere. There are many such trees in China today. The Venerable Master Jnanabhaishajya’s flesh body has not decayed. It is preserved for veneration at Yüeh Hua monastery about five miles from Nan Hua Monastery. The caretaker there, who has left home, does not feed visitors, so if you wish to visit, you must bring your own food. When I was living at Nan Hua Temple, I went to see the Master Jnanabhaishajya’s body and found it in excellent condition.
Text:
In keeping with the former predictions, the Master arrived to have his hair cut and to receive the precepts. He instructed the four assemblies on the essentials of the exclusive Dharma transmission.
Commentary:
The Sixth Patriarch had his head shaved and received the complete precepts. He then explained the Dharma for the four assemblies, teaching them the exclusive Dharma transmission, that is, the Dharma which has been passed down through every generation since the time of Shakyamuni Buddha.
Text:
In the spring of the following year, the Master took leave of the assembly and returned to Pao Lin. Yin Tsung, together with more than a thousand black-robed monks and white-robed layfolk, accompanied him directly to Ts’ao Hsi.
Commentary:
The Sixth Patriarch left and returned to Ts’ao Hsi.

The black-robed are those who have left home; at that time laypeople wore white robes. They all went directly to Ts’ao Hsi with the Master. Some people say that they have been to Ts’ao Hsi when they have not. They falsely claim to transmit the Ts’ao Hsi Dharma and Dhyana source, the basis of meditation. The Dharma-ending age is just that: false Buddhists with phony credentials.
Text:
At that time Vinaya Master T’ung Ying of Ching Chou and several hundred students followed the Master and came to dwell there. When the Master arrived at Pao Lin, in Ts’ao Hsi, he saw that the hall the buildings were bleak and small, insufficient to contain the multitude. Wishing to enlarge them, he paid a visit to the villager, Ch’en Ya Hsien and said, “This Old Monk comes to the Alms-giver seeking a sitting cloth’s worth of ground. Is that possible?”
Commentary:
As soon as he realized that the Great Master was the Sixth Patriarch, a transmitter of the Buddha’s mind-seal, Vinaya Master T’ung Ying led his disciples to Ts’ao Hsi to study the Dharma under the Great Master.

When the Sixth Patriarch arrived at Ts’ao Hsi, he saw that the buildings were too small. Wishing to enlarge them, he paid a visit to the wealthy landowner Ch’en Ya Hsien. In this passage, the Sixth Patriarch refers to himself as the “Old Monk.” When he was twenty-four, he went to see Huang Mei; then he hid for sixteen years. At forty years of age, he called himself an “Old Monk,” and so I am entitled to do the same. The Master told Ch’en Ya Hsien that if he gave alms, he could transcend birth and death.
Text:
Hsien asked, “How big is the High Master’s sitting cloth?”

The Master took out his sitting cloth and showed it to Ya Hsien, who thereupon agreed. But when the Patriarch unfolded and spread out his sitting cloth, it completely covered the four borders of Ts’ao Hsi. The Four Heavenly Kings appeared and sat as protectors in each of the four directions.
Commentary:
The Great Master handed his sitting cloth to Ch’en Ya Hsien, who said, “If you only want that large a piece of land, fine.”

But when he spread it out, the sitting cloth covered not only the area around Nan Hua Monastery, but everything within ten miles of where they stood. The Four Heavenly Kings appeared and stood guard in each of the four directions.
Text:
It is due to this occurrence that the mountain range bordering the monastery is called “The Range of the Heavenly Kings.”

Hsien said, “I know that the High Master’s Dharma power is vast and great. However, the burial ground of my great-great grandfather lies on this land. In the future, if you build a stupa, I hope that this area will remain undisturbed. As for the rest, I wish to give it all to be forever a treasured place. This ground has the flowing current of a living dragon and a white elephant. Level only heaven; do not level earth.”

Later, the monastery was constructed according to his words. The Master roamed within these boundaries, and at places where the scenes of nature were fine he stopped to rest.
Commentary:
The area belongs to a living dragon; it has a flowing current and the mountain is like an elephant. Here, one may build a “treasured place,” a Bodhimanda.

“Level only heaven; do not level earth,” that is, where the land is high, the buildings may be made lower, and where the land is low, the buildings may be made taller. But do not level the earth, for if you do you will ruin the fine conditions of wind and water and the land will lose its efficacious energies.

The Sixth Patriarch often roamed about the countryside and stopped to rest where the landscapes were especially beautiful.
Text:
Accordingly, thirteen Aranyas were erected, among them the present Hua Kuo Hall. The site of the Pao Lin Bodhimanda was decided upon long ago by Indian Tripitaka Master Jnanabhaishajya, who, during his journey from Nan Hai, passed through Ts’ao Hsi, where he cupped up the water with his hands and found it to be delicious. Surprised, he told his disciples. “This water is not different from that in India. Its source would surely be an excellent site on which to build a monastery.”

He followed the water and looked in the four directions. The mountains and waters encircled one another and the peaks were impressive. He sighed and said. “This is just like Jewelled Wood Mountain in India.”
Commentary:
Why is the area around Nan Hua Monastery called Pao Lin? Pao Lin means “jewelled wood.” When the Venerable Jnanabhaishajya drank the water at Ts’ao Hsi, its taste was identical to that of the water in a certain place in India. He knew that the source of the spring was indeed an efficacious spot on which to build a temple. At dusk, he reached the site of Nan Hua Monastery. Gazing up at the mountain, he said, “This mountain looks just like Jewelled Wood Mountain in India. We shall call this ‘Jewelled Wood Bodhimanda.’”

Master Jnanabhaishajya was not alone; many of his disciples were travelling with him. He said to them, “The source of this stream is certainly a good site for building a temple.” Monastic buildings are called Aranyas, a Sanskrit word meaning, “silent place.” They are pure, quiet places for cultivation.

The clear blue waters reflected the bright shining mountain peaks. The area was particularly beautiful.
Text:
He said to the villagers of Ts’ao Hou, “A pure dwelling may be built here. After one hundred and seventy years, the Unsurpassed Dharma Jewel will teach here. Those who attain the Way in this place will be as numerous as the trees of this forest. It should, therefore, be called ‘Pao Lin.’”

At that time Magistrate Hou Ching Chung of Shao Chou reported these words to the Emperor who assented and conferred upon it the name ‘Pao Lin Bodhimanda.’ The construction of the pure halls began in the third year of the T’ien Chien reign of the Liang dynasty (A.D. 504).
Commentary:
The village was called Ts’ao Hou, “descendents of Ts’ao,” because its inhabitants were descendents of General Ts’ao Ts’ao of the Period of the Three Kingdoms.

One hundred and seventy years after Master Jnanabhaishajya made this prediction, the Sixth Patriarch received the precepts and taught living beings at Pao Lin. The “Unsurpassed Dharma Jewel” refers to the Sixth Patriarch.

Sangha and laypeople who were to attain enlightenment at this place would be as numerous as the trees in a forest. It was therefore to be called “Jewelled Wood.”
Text:
In front of the hall was a pond in which a dragon often swam, bumping and scraping the trees of the forest. One day he appeared, larger than ever, covering the area with a thick mist. The disciples were afraid, but the Patriarch scolded him, saying, “Hah! You can only make yourself appear in a large body, not in a small one. If you were a divine dragon, you could transform the great into the small and the small into the great.”
Commentary:
The dragon was so big that you could only see the dragon; you couldn’t see the pond at all. He danced on top of the water, splashing it everywhere in waves which were ten feet, twenty feet, and even thirty feet high. He was showing off.

“Incredible!” said the disciples. “This dragon certainly intends to harm us.”

The Sixth Patriarch shouted at the dragon. He said, “If you really had spiritual powers, you could transform nothing into something and something into nothing; you could transform yourself or not be transformed, just as you wished, manifesting the great within the small and the small within the great.”
Text:
The dragon suddenly disappeared, but returned an instant later in a small body, skipping about on the surface of the pond. The Master held out his bowl and teased him, saying, “You don’t dare climb into the old Bhikshu’s bowl.” At that moment the dragon swam in front of the Master, who scooped him out of the water with his bowl. The dragon couldn’t move. Holding the bowl, the Master returned to the hall and explained the Dharma to the dragon.
Commentary:
When the dragon heard the Sixth Patriarch dare him to manifest a small body, he disappeared. Strange? Think about it. Suddenly he wasn’t there. Then, in the time it takes to feel a hunger pang, a little dragon appeared, dancing on top of the water. The Great Master said, “You have a little body now, but you wouldn’t dare get into my bowl, would you? You wouldn’t dare. Dragon! I dare you to get into my bowl!”

The dragon flew across the water and swam up before the Patriarch. The Patriarch didn’t wait for the dragon to jump into his bowl, but reached right down and scooped him out of the water.

In Manchuria, where I am from, there is a saying, “Before there were people in Manchuria, you could scoop up the fish with a bucket and chickens fell into the cooking pot.” As for rabbits, you could just step outside, swing a stick, and knock over a few. This is what is meant by “scooped.” Catching the dragon was as easy as scooping for fish in Manchuria.
Text:
The dragon then shed his skin and left. His bones, only seven inches long and complete with head, tail, horns, and claws, were preserved in the temple. Later the Master filled in the pond with earth and stones. Now, in that place, in the front of the hall on the right side is an iron stupa.
Commentary:
Dharma Master Fa Hai’s introduction says that the pond was on the left side of the hall, but it was actually on the right. One commentator, Ting Fu Pao, had never been there and consequently did not realize that the direction of the pond should have been determined from the Patriarch’s position when sitting in the hall, that is, on the right side. END=NAM MO SAKYAMUNI BUDDHA.( 3 TIMES ).WORLD VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST ORDER=VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=GOLDEN LOTUS MONASTERY=THE EIGHTFOLD PATH.THICH CHAN TANH.THE MIND OF ENLIGHTMENT.AUSTRALIA,SYDNEY.20/3/2015.