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Chapter 10 FINAL INSTRUCTION (Continued)
Sutra: (in Chinese) On the eighth day of the seventh month, the Master suddenly said to his disciples, "I wish to return to Hsin Chou. Quickly get ready a boat and oars." The great assembly entreated him earnestly to stay, but the Master said, "All Buddhas appear in the world and then are seen to enter Nirvana. This body of mine must return somewhere." The assembly said, "Master, you are leaving, but sooner or later you will return." The Master said, "Falling leaves return to the root. There was no day on which I came." They further asked, "Who has received the transmission of the Right Dharma-eye Treasury?" The Master said, "The one who has the Way obtains it; the one without a mind penetrates it." Commentary: "Patriarch," said the assembly, "you are leaving now, but we can't believe that you will enter Nirvana. Sooner or later you will come back, won't you?" The Master said, "Just as leaves fall and return to the root of the trees, I must go. Besides, there was no day on which I came." The Chinese text reads, "When I came I had no mouth," but this is a misprint for the word "day." "However, you can also explain it as, "When I came I had no mouth." On the day when the Patriarch came into this world, he had no mouth; that is, he had no words. He did not speak Dharma when he came and he did not speak Dharma when he left; coming and going he did not speak Dharma. The Dharma does not increase or decrease and although he spoke Dharma for so many years, he never spoke Dharma at all. There are no fixed Dharmas. You can explain it any way you wish, as long as you are in accord with principle. But if you don't explain it correctly, you can explain to your listeners right into the hells, and that is taking the unfixed Dharma too far. The Patriarch's disciples, unable to bear the thought of their Master's imminent departure, tried to delay him with questions until the Master, in exasperation, probably decided that they were just too much trouble. "I'm getting out of here," he probably thought. The "Right Dharma-eye Treasury" refers to the robe and bowl. So many disciples, and yet not one of them knew who had received the Dharma transmission. If they hadn't been greedy for it themselves, they wouldn't have asked this question. Why else would they be "standing by the river and gazing out into the sea?" If you weren't longing for the sea, why would you be standing there? Everyone thought the robe and bowl was extremely important but the Sixth Patriarch was not a businessman. If he had been, at $65.00 a transmission, he could have made a lot of money. "Who has got the transmission? The one who has the Way obtains it the one without a mind penetrates it. Whoever has no self-seeking mind understands my Dharma, because he has obtained the Samadhis of the One Mark and the One Conduct." The Sixth Patriarch's Dharma is to be found in these verses and these principles, and if you cultivate according to them you will obtain his Dharma.
Sutra: (in Chinese) They further asked, "In the future, there won't be any difficulties, will there? The Master said, "Five or six years after my extinction, a man will come to take my head. Listen to my verse: Offerings to the parents with bowed head. Commentary: Remembering the demonic difficulties which had beset the Master during his lifetime-assassination attempts, arson, thievery, and spying - the Master's disciples wondered what would happen when he was gone. I know that the Sutra does not record all of the hardships the Master underwent. There were at least six attempts made to steal the robe and bowl and the thieves were armed and prepared to kill the Master, if necessary. So his disciples asked hopefully, "There won't be any difficulties like that in the future, will there? No one will want to kill us, will they? Will they try to kill us instead of you?" While he was alive, they tried to take his life. After his death, they tried to steal his head. In those days it wasn't easy to be the Patriarch. It's not so difficult today, however, so don't retreat. The Sixth Patriarch's verse was a prophecy. No one understood it at the time, but later it came true. Five or six years after the Master's death, a Korean monk named Chin Ta Pei hired Chan Ching Man of Hung Chou to steal the Patriarch's head and bring it back to Korea so that he could make offerings to it. Chan Ching Man was poor and hungry and so he took the money because "there must be food in the mouth." The Korean monk was no doubt very rich. At the time of the "difficulty" of Chan Chin "Man," the Magistrate was named Liu T'ien and the Governor was named Yang K'an. The flesh-body of the Patriarch was housed in the pagoda. Having heard the Master's prediction, his disciples had bound his neck with sheets of iron for protection. Chan Ching Man chopped at it with his knife, but he wasn't able to remove the Master's head. He made a lot of noise, and when the Bhikshus came running to catch him they saw a man wearing white mourning clothes run from the pagoda. The Bhikshus reported the incident to the police and within five days the thief was arrested and brought to Nan Hua Temple to be tried. "Why did you try to steal the Sixth Patriarch's head?" they asked. A Korean monk paid me to do it," he said, "and I was hungry, so I took his money." The Magistrate turned to the Master's disciple Ling T'ao and said, "What do we do now?" Ling T'ao said, "According to the law, he deserves to die, but in the Buddha's teaching there are no friends or enemies. Besides, the Master predicted that this would happen. Let him go." "The Buddha's gate is indeed wide," said the Magistrate, and he set the criminal free.
Sutra: (in Chinese) The Master also said, "Seventy years after my departure, two Bodhisattvas, one who has left home and one who is a layman will simultaneously come from the east to propagate and transform. They will establish my School, build and restore monasteries, and glorify the Dharma for its heirs." Commentary: The Bodhisattva who had left home was Patriarch Ma Tsu Tao I. He built many monasteries in China. It is said, "Ma Tsu built the temples and Pai Chang wrote the rules." Pai Chang was Ma Tsu's Dharma successor. The Bodhisattva who had not left home was P'ang Yün, the so-called enlightened layman. His entire family was enlightened: his wife, his daughter, and his son. They all went to Nirvana. Layman P'ang was incredibly wealthy. One day, he built a big boat, put all of his money in it and sailed out to the sea. Then he dumpedall his money overboard. Some say that the two Bodhisattvas were Dhyana Master Huang Po and layman P'ei Hsiu...... Layman P'ang gave all his money as a gift to be used for remodeling the Dragon Palace at the bottom of the sea. He returned to his home and took up a lowly occupation. In the midst of their bitter poverty, the P'ang family cultivated the Way. One day, Mr. P'ang sighed, It's hard, it's hard "What do you know, old man?" said Mrs. P'ang,"It's not hard at all. In fact, It's easy, it's easy She thought it was easy and he thought it was hard. Then their little daughter came and disagreed with both of them. She said, It's not easy, "There's nothing to it!" she said. Although Mr. P'ang was married, he and his wife were like good friends and did not carry on their lives like ordinary men and women. As a result, they became enlightened. Lay people should all imitate their inconceivable purity.
Sutra: (in Chinese) The assembly made obeisance again and asked, "Will you please let us know for how many generations the teaching has been transmitted since the first Buddhas and patriarchs appeared in the world?" The Master said, "The Buddhas of antiquity who have responded to appear in the world are numberless and uncountable." Commentary: "Their number is incalculable," said the Master. "Besides, I never learned to read or write and I'm not very good at arithmetic. So let's not count them."
Sutra: (in Chinese) "But now I will begin with the last seven Buddhas. In the Past 'Adorned Eon' there were Vipashyin Buddha, Shikhin Buddha, and Vishvabhu Buddha. In the present 'Worthy Eon' there have been Krakucchanda Buddha, Kanakamuni Buddha, Kashyapa Buddha, and Shakyamuni Buddha." Commentary: In the Adorned Eon (Alamkarakalpa), a thousand Buddhas appeared in the world. The 998th Buddha of that kalpa was Vipashyin Buddha. His name means "Victorious Contemplation," "Every Kind of Contemplation," "Victorious View," or "Every Kind of View." ........ "Shikhin in Buddha." Shikhin is translated as "fire." "Vishvabhu Buddha" was the last Buddha of the Adorned Eon. We are now living in the Worthy Eon (Bhadrakalpa), because many worthy sages will appear during this eon.. Of the thousand Buddhas of this eon, Krakucchanda Buddha was the first. His name means "Worthy of Offerings," because he should receive the offerings of humans and gods. His name also means "Adornment." The second Buddha was Kanakamuni, the third, Kashyapa, and the fourth, Shakyamuni. These are the most recent Buddhas.
Sutra: (in Chinese) "From Shakyamuni Buddha, the transmission went to Arya Mahakashyapa Arya Ananda, Arya Sanakavasa, Arya Upagupta, Arya Dhrtaka Arya Miccaka, Arya Vasumitra Arya Buddhanandi, Arya Buddhamitra, Arya Parshva�.", Commentary: Shakyamuni Buddha, in the midst of the millions of humans and gods who were circumaviating him, picked up a flower and Mahakashyapa, the First Patriarch, had to smile. No one knew what was happening when Shakyamuni Buddha said, "I have the Right Dharma-eye Treasury, the wonderful mind of Nirvana, the real mark, which is unmarked. This is the mind-to-mind transmission, transmitted outside the teaching. I have already given it to Mahakashyapa in mind-to-mind transmission." The Third Patriarch, the Venerable Sanakavasa, was born wearing clothes, and as he grew, his clothes grew along with him. After he left home under Arya Ananda, his clothes changed into a great Samghati robe. Just before he died, he said, "This robe will not decay until Shakyamuni Buddha's Dharma is completely extinguished." The Tenth Patriarch, Arya Parshva, lived in his mother's womb for more than sixty years. He was born with white hair and a white beard, just like Lao Tzu in China. Lao Tzu lived in his mother's womb for eighty-one years and was born with white hair and a long white beard. The name "Lao Tzu" means "Old Child". He wasin fact a reincarnation of Mahakashyapa. He was reborn in China because Shakyamuni Buddha had noticed that the Chinese had good karmic roots. Most of them did not believe in the Buddha, however, so Mahakashyapa was sent to China to found the religion of Taoism, which is similar to the Brahman religion of India and which cultivates purity of conduct. Arya Parshva, the Tenth Patriarch, was born with a liking for cultivation. When he met the Ninth Patriarch, Buddhamitra, he left home and the Dharma door of the Buddha's mind-seal was transmitted to him.
Sutra: (in Chinese) "...Arya Punyayashas, Mahasattva Ashvaghosha, Arya Kapimala, Mahasattva Nagarjuna, Arya Kanadeva, Arya Rahulata Arya Sanghanandi, Arya Gayashata�." Commentary: When the Eleventh Patriarch, Punyayashas, met Parshva he asked him, "How can I realize Buddhahood ?" Parshva said, "You wish to realize Buddhahood ? It is just your present non-realization." Punyayashas sai, "You ssid that my present non-realization is the Buddha, but how can I know that ?" Parshva replied, "How can you know that your present non-realization is not the Buddha ?" With that question and that answer, Punyayashas became enlightened and received the Dharma transmission. Later on, he met the Great Master Ashvaghosha, the Eleventh Patriarch. Mahasattva Ashvaghosha was extremely intelligent. Punyayashas knew that Ashvaghosha's conditions were ripe -- he was ready to become the twelfth Patriarch. When Punyayashas went to teach him, Ashvaghosha asked, "How can I know the Buddha?''� Punyayashas said, "You wish to know the Buddha? You are just not knowing." Ashvaghosha said, "Not knowing the Buddha: how can I know that my not knowing is the Buddha?" Punyayashas said, "If you do not know the Buddha, how can you know that your not knowing is not the Buddha?"
Ashvaghosha said, "Ah ! So this is the meaning of sawing ! You said this and I say that, and we hack at the principle like sawing through a piece of wood." Punyayashas replied, "Ah ! So that is the meaning of wood ! But what is the meaning of sawing ?" Ashvaghosha said, "It's just what you are! And what is the meaning of wood ?" Punyayashas said, "You have just been sawed open by m. You have just been liberated by me." Ashvaghosha was instantaneously enlightened. He left home, received the transmission, and became the Twelfth Patriarch. He was called Ashvaghosha, "horse cry," because when he spoke the Dharma all the horses cried out. He was a Mahasattva, i.e., a "great being", a great Bodhisattva. Nagarjuna Bodhisattva, the Fourteenth Patriarch, was the one who went to the Dragon Palace and brought back the Avatamsaka Sutra. He was very, very wise. Sanghanandi, the Seventeenth Patriarch, asked Gayashata, the Eighteenth Patriarch, "How old are you?" The child replied, "I'm one hundred years old." "But you're so young." said the Patriarch, "How can you be a hundred years old?" "If I were a hundred years old and did not understand the Buddhadharma, I would not be as good as a one-day-old baby who did." Hearing such an intelligent answer, the Seventeenth Patriarch let the child leave the home life under him and later transmitted the Dharma to him.
Sutra: (in Chinese) "...Arya Kumarata, Arya Jayata Arya Vasubandhu, Arya Manorhita, Arya Haklena Arya Aryasimha, Arya Basiasita, Arya Punyamitra, Arya Prajnatara, Arya Bodhidharma, Great Master Hui K'o, Great Master Seng Ts'an, Great Master Tao Hsin, Great Master Hung Jen, and I, Hui Neng, am the Thirty-Third Patriarch. Thus the transmission has been handed down from patriarch to patriarch. In the future, transmit it accordingly from generation to generation. Do not allow it to become extinct." The assembly heard and faithfully accepted what the Master had said, bowed, and withdrew. Commentary: Aryasimha, the Twenty-Fourth Patriarch, was a native of central India. In his practice of the Buddhadharma, he traveled to Kashmir. The King of Kashmir did not believe in the Buddha, but instead followed two non-Buddhist leaders who planned to destroy Buddhism. As Bhikshus were not allowed within the country, the King demanded of Aryasimha, "Have you ended birth and death ?" Aryasimha wanted to convert the King. "I have ended it," he answered. "The Buddha's teaching says that in practising the Bodhisattva way, you must give up your head, your eyes, your brains, and your blood. You must give up whatever someone happens to need. Now, I need your head. Give it to me! Since you have ended birth and death, you must give me your head. Can you do it?" "I don't even have birth or death," said Aryasimha. "What does it matter if I lose my head? It's yours. Take it." The King sliced off Aryasimha's head but instead of blood, a milky white fluid ran out of his neck. The King's arm fell to the ground. No one cut it off. It just fell off by itself because he had murdered an Arhat. The King then put the two leaders of the non-Buddhist religion to death. There was nothing special about their executions. They bled just like everyone else. The King prohibited their non-Buddhist religion and spread the Buddhadharma widely.
Sutra: (in Chinese) On the third day of the eighth month of the year Kuei Ch'ou, the second year of the Hsien T'ien reign (A.A.713), after a meal in Kuo En Temple, the Master said, "Each of you take your seat, for I am going to say goodbye." Fa Hai said, "What teaching dharma will the High Master leave behind so that confused people can be led to see the Buddha-nature?" The Master said, "All of you please listen carefully. If those of future generations recognize living beings, they will have perceived the Buddha-nature. If they do not recognize living beings, they may seek the Buddha throughout many eons, but he will be difficult to meet. "I will now teach you how to recognize the living beings within your mind and how to see the Buddha-nature there. If you wish to see the Buddha, simply recognize living beings, for it is living beings who are confused about the Buddha and not the Buddha who is confused about living beings. "When enlightened to the self-nature, the living being is a Buddha. If confused about the self-nature, the Buddha is a living being. When the self-nature is impartial, the living being is the Buddha. When the self- nature is biased, the Buddha is a living being. "If your thoughts are devious and malicious, the Buddha dwells within the living being, but by means of one impartial thought, the living being becomes a Buddha. Our minds have their own Buddha and that Buddha is the true Buddha. If the mind does not have its own Buddha, where can the true Buddha be sought? Your own minds are the Buddha; have no further doubts. Nothing can be established outside the mind, for the original mind produces the ten thousand dharmas. Therefore the Sutras say, 'The mind produced, all dharmas are produced; the mind extinguished, all dharmas are extinguished.'" Commentary: The Great Master instructed his disciples to take their seats. In Buddhism, everything has a fixed order. Those who take precepts first stand or sit in front of those who take them later........ Once again Fa Hai, number one, heard that the Sixth Patriarch was going, and so he acted as a spokesman. He was the oldest, so naturally he was higher than everyone else. "What Dharma will you leave with us, High Master, so that we can teach the deluded ones of the future generations to understand the mind and see the nature?" The Master said, "If you want to find the Buddha, you must look among living beings. If you recognize living beings, you recognize the Buddha-nature." Why does Never-Slighting Bodhisattva bow before everyone he meets? Because he knows that everyone is a Buddha, he will accomplish Buddhahood himself. If he saw everyone as a demon, he would become a demon. See the Buddha within your own mind. Don't seek him outside. If you wish to see the Buddha you must first respect living beings and recognize them all as the Buddhas. Then you've understood the mind and seen your nature. Confused living beings do not recognize the Buddha. But the Buddha recognizes living beings. If you are biased and continually pick at other people's faults, even if you are a Buddha, you turn into a living being. Living beings and the Buddha are a thought apart. Buddha is mind; mind is Buddha. Right thoughts are the Buddha; deviant thoughts are the demon -- Pure thoughts are the Buddha; defiled thoughts are the demon. Take a look at your thoughts. If you can keep your mind clean, that is the real Buddha. Without a clear, pure, genuine Buddha-mind, where can you go to find the Buddha? You'll never find him. The Buddha is made in your mind; do not seek him outside. Nothing is separate from the self-nature. Nothing is separate from your own mind. The ten thousand dharmas are all produced from your mind, not from outside. The Buddha spoke all dharmas
Sutra: (in Chinese) "Now, to say goodbye, I will leave you a verse called the 'Self-Nature's True Buddha Verse'. People of the future who understand its meaning will see their original mind and realize the Buddha Way. The verse runs: The true-suchness self-nature Commentary: The most important part of the Platform Sutra is this last verse. It explains everything extremely well. The Sixth Patriarch left it not just for the people of his day, but for us, now, to cultivate according to its principles. He saw that you and I would be here listening. We all have a share, and we should cu1tivate according to this verse because we are all people of future generations, not animals. The animals of future generations will have to be reborn as people before they can have a share. The Sixth Patriarch spoke this verse for people, not for animals. Animals who wish to become Buddhas must first be reborn as human beings. We should not lose this opportunity. "The true-suchness self-nature is the true Buddha." The self-nature is your mind. Your true-suchness self-nature is also called the real mark, the Tathagata Store, the Buddha-nature, and your own nature. True suchness is just your own nature, which is the true Buddha. "Deviant views, the three poisons, are the demon king." If you know the true Buddha, you should also know the demon king. The demon king is just your deviant views: greed, hate, and delusion are the three poisons. Greed for riches, greed for sex, or greed for anything at all is nothing but poison. If, after you leave home, you are still greedy and self-seeking, that too is poison. If you scheme to get more disciples, that is poison. So, you see, we have been here for a long time and not many have taken refuge and become disciples. Those who take refuge must do it on their own. No one advises them. If I told you to take refuge with me, you might wonder if I had the right to be your teacher and Good Knowing Advisor. I don't know myself whether I am a Good Knowing Advisor, and so I do not go about it in this way.
Sutra: (in Chinese) At times deviant confusion Commentary: "Deviant confusion" is ignorance. Ignorance creates love and desire, and that is the demon king dwelling in your house. If you have proper views and not the wrong ones of greed, hate, and delusion, then your mind is pure and the Buddha is there. The Buddha and the demon are both manifested from your own nature. When you hold deviant views, the true poisons arise, and the demon comes to dwell in your house. What is your house? Your body. Proper views spontaneously expel the three poisons, and the demon immediately changes into Buddha. This principle is absolutely true; it cannot possibly be false. You need only hold proper views, and that is the Buddha. Improper views are the demon.
Sutra: (in Chinese) Dharma-body, Reward-body, Commentary: Although spoken of as three, the clear, pure Dharma-body, the perfect, full Reward-body, and the hundred thousand myriads of Transformation bodies are fundamentally one. The three bodies are simply transformations of your one body. This is called "Three in one, one in three." Your seeing for yourself the true Buddha within your self-nature is a cause for your future realization of Buddhahood. It is a seed of Buddhahood. Having planted the Bodhi-seed, you will certainly reap the Bodhi-fruit and become a Buddha. The clear, pure self-nature originally arises from the Transformation-body. Your pure self-nature, your pure Dharma-body, is within your Transformation body. In the future, your Bodhi self-nature will be perfected, and the perfect, full Reward-body will be truly inexhaustible.
Sutra: (in Chinese) The root cause of purity Commentary: Everyone has sexual desire, but you do not need to be afraid of it. In The Shurangama Sutra we read about Ucchusma, the "Fire-Head Vajra" whose sexual desire was unbearably intense when he first began to cultivate. But he was able to discipline and temper the fire of lust, transforming it into the fire of wisdom. and transforming himself into the "Fire-Head Vajra." "The root cause of purity is the lust nature." Proper thoughts are the cause of purity in the nature, and deviant thoughts the cause of impurity. Therefore, you have to cut off the nature of sexual desire,-- which means transforming it. This certainly is not telling you to castrate yourself. That's not the answer. Just change your thoughts and make them pure in nature. You don't have to cut off sexual desire. Don't cut it off, but transform it instead. Transform lust into purity, which is simply proper knowledge and proper views. The lust within the nature is simply deviant knowledge and deviant views. "Once rid of lust, the substance of the nature is pure." To get rid of lust means to transform it. You don't have to throw it away. All you have to do is transform it. You don't have to throw it away. All you have to do is change your thoughts and direct them to the pure nature. That is the clear, pure, substance of the self-nature, the Dharma-body. The five desires are those for wealth, sex, fame, food, and sleep. They may also be explained as forms, sounds, smells, tastes, tangible objects, and objects of the mind. In general, you have to stay far away from them; do not have deviant thoughts within your self-nature. Cultivate proper knowledge and proper views, and abandon the five desires. Once you leave the five desires, you can see the nature in an instant and obtain your own true-suchness wonderful nature.
Sutra: (in Chinese) If in this life you encounter Commentary: Having encountered the Sudden Teaching of the Dhyana school, you may become instantly enlightened and understand your original mind and see your original nature. At that moment you will personally meet the World Honored Ones, the Buddhas of the ten directions; you can see them all. Unless you apply effort in the self-nature instead of looking outside, you will never find the genuine Buddha. Understand your mind and see your nature: that is the way to realize Buddhahood. If you do not turn the light around and seek within yourself; but run outside instead to look for the Buddha, you are being stupid, stupid, extremely stupid. You must cultivate the Dharma of Sudden Enlightenment on you own. Do not fail to cultivate. If you do not hold the notions expressed in this verse, you are wasting your time. You'll never obtain the smallest advantage.
Sutra: (in Chinese) Having spoken the verse the Master continued, "All of you should take care. After my extinction, do not act with worldly emotion. If you weep in sorrow, receive condolences, or wear mourning clothes, you are not my disciples, for that is contrary to the proper Dharma. Simply recognize your own original mind and see your own original nature which is neither moving nor stiI1, neither produced nor extinguished, neither coming nor going, neither right nor wrong, neither dwelling nor departing." Commentary: The Master said, "Unlike common, vulgar, worldly folk, do not make an emotional display of your feelings. Don't behave like that. Don't weep tears like rain to irrigate the fields. My disciples have to obey me! If you do such things, not only are you not my disciples, but you are also contradicting the Buddhadharma. "Don't strike up false thinking. Don't fail to put it down. Don't fail to break through it. You must see through it, smash it and put it all down. Then you can be free." "If we are not supposed to mourn, then what should we do?" the disciples wondered. "Recognize your original mind. What is it like? It doesn't move and it isn't still. It doesn't come or go. It's not right or wrong, good or bad, black or white, long or short. It doesn't stay and it doesn't leave. It's neither here nor there. Work to see the self-nature; understand your mind. Then you will not have wasted your time."
Sutra: (in Chinese) "Because I am afraid that your confused minds will misunderstand my intention, I will instruct you again so that you may see your nature. After my extinction, continue to cultivate accordingly, as if I were still present. Should you disregard my teaching, then even if I were to remain in the world, you would obtain no benefit." He further spoke this verse: Firm , firm: Do not cultivate the good. Commentary: "Firm, firm" means not moving: "thus, thus unmoving," clear, clear, and constantly bright. "Do not cultivate the good" does not mean that you should not cultivate good. It just means that you should not be attached when you cultivate the good. Don't be like that greedy-minded ghost Emperor Wu of Liang who thought, "Look at all my merit!" "High, high," means happy and cheerful, independent and content from morning to night. "Do not do evil" does not mean that you can think, "I am not attached to doing evil, so it's no problem." Attached or not attached, you should not do evil. What is evil? Killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct. Of the ten-thousand evils Do not walk this road. Do not do evil. "Still, still. Cut off sight and sound." This state is peaceful, comfortable, and happy. Still, still, quiet, quiet. You cut off sight and sound by not producing deviant thoughts at the gates of the six sense organs. It is all right to have proper thoughts, but cut off the deviant ones. Cut off deviant sights and sounds. For example, if people are speaking improperly, don't listen to them. "Vast, vast, the mind unattached." This mind's capacity extends throughout the universe and fills up heaven and earth. It is high, great, broad, vast, limitless, and unbounded, and it is not attached anywhere.
Sutra: (in Chinese) After speaking this verse, the Master sat upright until the third watch, when suddenly he said to his disciples, "I am going!" In an instant he changed, and a rare fragrance filled the room. A white rainbow linked with the earth, and the trees in the wood turned white. The birds and the beasts cried out in sorrow. Commentary: The Master sat meditating with his disciples until the middle of the night, at twelve o'clock, when he said, "The time has come to go. See you all again!" His energy was cut off and he no longer moved. He had entered Nirvana. "He changed" means that he moved to a new house. Who has moved? The flesh-body Bodhisattva! The forest turned white because the white rainbow light shone on it. You could also say that the trees knew that the Master was dead and so they expressed their grief by wearing the white clothes of mourning. All the animals on the mountain cried uncontrollably. Grass and trees seem to be without feelings, but they put on mourning clothes; birds and beasts ordinarily don't understand very much, but they showed forth a spiritual nature and wept.
Sutra: (in Chinese) In the eleventh month, a dispute arose among the officials, disciples, Sangha, and laity of the three countries of Kuang Chou, Shao Chou, and Hsin Chou as to who should receive the true body. As they could not agree, they lit incense and prayed saying, "The
Master will be returned to the place indicated by the incense smoke." The smoke went directly to Ts'ao Hsi and so, on the thirteenth day of the eleventh month, the reliquary and the transmitted robe and bowl were returned there. In the following year, on the twenty-fifth day of the seventh month, the body was removed from the reliquary and Disciple Fang Pien anointed it with incense paste. Remembering the prophecy that his head would be taken, the disciples wrapped sheets of iron and lacquered cloth around his neck for protection and then placed his body in the pagoda. Just then a white light appeared within the pagoda, shot up into the sky, and did not fade for three days. The Magistrate of Shao Chou reported this to the Emperor and received an imperial order to erect a stone tablet commemorating the Master's conduct in the Way. The Master's springs and autumns were seventy-six. The robe was transmitted to him when he was twenty-four and when he was thirty-nine his hair was cut. For thirty-seven years he spoke Dharma to benefit living beings. Forty-three men inherited his Dharma, and an uncountable number awoke to the way and overstepped the common lot. The robe of belief transmitted from Bodhidharma, the Mo Na robe and precious bowl conferred by Emperor Chung Tsung, as well as the lifelike image sculpted by Fang Pien and other articles of the Way, were entrusted to the attendant in charge of the stupa and were permanently retained at the Pao Lin Bodhimandala for the Bodhimanda's protection. The Platform Sutra has been transmitted to set forth the principles of our school, to glorify the Triple Jewel, and to benefit all living beings. Commentary: Those from Kuang Chou wanted to take the body to Fa Hsing Temple. "The Sixth Patriarch had his head shaved here. He should return here now to receive offerings." The Hsin Chou people all said, "The Great Master is a native Of Hsin Chou. He should retun there!" and those of Shao Chou insisted that since the Patriarch had expounded his teaching there he should not be returned to that place. While the Patriarch was alive, they had never quarreled over him, for he had been mostly independent. But now the Master had completed the stillness and everyone felt as if they personally had the right to remove his body and make offerings to it. "Wasn't the Sixth Patriarch originally from Hsin Chou? And didn't the Master himself say, 'Falling leaves return to the root?'" "But the Sixth Patriarch himself built Nan Hua Temple," said those of Shao Chou. "He really should return there." "The Patriarch left home in Kuang Chou. He let his hair fall there and his Dharma should all fall back to us!" The text says that "they could not agree," indicating that the situation was extremely grave; it was a crisis. Everyone was trying to take the body away by force. They argued and argued until one intelligent person said, "Stop! While he was alive, we obeyed the Master's instructions. Now that he has died, we should still listen to him. Let's ask the Master to decide!" "But he's already dead," they said. "How can he tell us where he wants to go?" "The Master has great spiritual powers," he said, "And he knows all of our thoughts. It must displease him to see us here fighting over the right to make offerings to his body. Let's light some incense, and in whatever direction the smoke drifts, that is where the Master wants to go. Then no one can argue about it." The smoke went straight to Nan Hua Temple and there was nothing that the people from Kuang Chou and Hsin Chou could say. The lectures are now complete and the Sutra has been explained. You have undergone much suffering, but I don't know whether you realized it was suffering or not. If you felt it was suffering, you are just a common person, but if you did not feel that it was suffering, then you are just a rock or a piece of wood. Well, was it suffering? As to my explanation, I don't know whether I explained it well or badly, and I also don't know if you listened well or badly. Good and bad - get rid of them both ! Explaining is just explaining and listening is just listening. We have met because of a karmic affinity. We have heard the story of the Sixth Patriarch's life and of his cultivation of the Way. You should not look for good or bad points, but look instead to see whether you believe. Advance down the right road and retreat from the wrong. You should cultivate according to the Dharma. Memorize the last verse of this Sutra and recite it often. If you reflect on its meaning you will certainly realize Buddhahood. And don't discriminate as to whether I explained the Sutra well or not. Just look to see whether or not you cultivate. If you cultivate, what is bad is good, but if you do not cultivate, what is good is bad. Now I am going to ask you a question. The Sixth Patriarch was an illiterate, and illiterates cannot have much knowledge. How could someone who couldn't even read speak a Sutra? What does this mean? [student: "I think the Sutra shows that you don't need a lot of scholarly learning in order to become enlightened. The Sudden Teaching is just the mind, realizing the mind, and we should do it.] Who else has a view? ...... Speak up! [Student: "In the Sixth Patriarch's Dharma explanation, where could a word arise?"] [Student: "The principles contained in the Sutra are so clear and out in front, that, every time I try to say something about them, I get tied up in dualism and feel hopelessly overwhelmed."] Does anyone else have an opinion? [Student: "Master, when the Sixth Patriarch was about to enter Nirvana, he said, 'See you later.' Where is he now?"] He comes right from where you are speaking! Now, why was it that the Master never learned to read? During the time of the Sixth Patriarch, schools were not available to all. To attend a school, you had to have money. The Sixth patriarch's family was extremely poor, because his father was an honest official who never took bribes. As a boy, even getting food to eat was a problem for the Master, so of course he couldn't go to school. It was a question of environment, then. He never learned to read because his family was poor and because schools were not available. But there is yet another reason. Why did the Sixth Patriarch choose to appear in a poor family? He did it to show us that even illiterates can realize Buddhahood and become Patriarchs. Thus he raised the hopes of those who could not read. Seeing the Sixth Patriarch, everyone thought, "He never went to school but he cultivated and obtained the fruit of the Way. We can do it too!" It is not the case that if you can't read, you can't cultivate. If you think, "Only educated people can cultivate," you are holding a prejudice. The Sixth Patriarch appeared to cause us all to lay down such prejudices. As I see it, these are the three reasons why the Sixth Patriarch never learned to read. The one more thing you should recognize clearly bout the Sixth Patriarch: he was not lazy. He always practised the Buddhadharma. He became enlightened and after his Enlightenment he spoke the Platform Sutra. Being able to read is just worldly knowledge. The Sixth Patriarch understood his mind, saw his nature, and opened up to his inherent wisdom. Because this Sutra was spoken from the bright light of this wisdom, its value is incomparable. It is the same as Sutra spoken by the Buddha, so do not take him lightly just because he couldn't read. |
