Final Instructions
[10.1]One day, the Patriarch called together his disciples, Fahai, Zhicheng, Fada, Shenhui, Zhichang, Zhitong, Zhiche, Zhidao, Fazhen, Faru, and said, “You are different from others. After I pass away, each of you will be the teacher of one region. I will now teach you how to expound the Dharma so that you do not misrepresent the teachings of this school. First, I will explain the teaching of the three categories and the thirty-six pairs so that you will avoid the two extremes. Do not expound the Dharma apart from intrinsic nature. If someone suddenly asks for the Dharma, respond with dualistic pairs. Coming is the cause of going and going is the cause of coming; the two are mutual causes. When the two ways are completely eliminated there is nowhere to go.
[10.2]“The three categories are the aggregates, sense realms, and sense faculties. The five aggregates are form, feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness. There are twelve sense faculties. Externally there are six sense organs: forms, sounds, semlls, tastes, touch, and dharmas. Internally there are six sense organs: eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind. There are eighteen sense realms: the six sense objects, the six sense organs, and the six consciousnesses. Intrinsic nature can hold all phenomena, this is called the alaya consciousness. If one gives rise to thoughts, this is the manas consciousness. This gives rise to the six sense consciousnesses, which exit through the six sense organs and see the six sense objects. Thus the eighteen sense realms arise from intrinsic nature. If there is any wrong within intrinsic nature it will five rise to the wrong eighteen sense realms. If intrinsic nature is right, it will give rise to the right eighteen sense realms. If used unwholesomely, it is the function of sentient beings. If used wholesomely, it is the function of the Buddha. Where does this function come from? – from intrinsic nature.
[10.3]“Regarding external dharmas, there are five pairs related to external dharmas: heaven and earth, sun and moon, light and darkness, yin and yang, and water and fire. There are twelve pairs related to the language of dharma characteristics: language and dharma, existence and non-existence, form and formlessness, appearance and non-appearance, with outflows and without outflows, form and emptiness, motion and stillness, pure and defiled, ordinary and sagely, monastic and lay, old and young, and big and small. There are nineteen pairs related to the functions of intrinsic nature: long and short, wrong and right, ignorance and wisdom, foolishness and intelligence, distraction and concentration, loving kindness and cruelty, morality and immorality, straight and crooked, reality and illusions, danger and safety, affliction and bodhi, permanence and impermanence, compassion and malice, joy and anger, generous and miserly, progression and regression, arising and ceasing, Dharma body and physical body, and Nirmanakaya and Sambhogakaya.”
[10.4] The Patriarch continued, “If one uses and understands these thirty-six pairs, one can connect all the teachings of the sutras. Whether going or going, one can avoid the two extremes. Use the function of intrinsic nature to communicate with others. Externally, be with form and apart from form. Internally, be with emptiness and apart from emptiness. If one is completely attached to form, this increases wrong views. If one is completely attached to emptiness, this increases one’s ignorance. Those who are attached to emptiness slander the sutras, saying that they do not function through words. If they say “the sutras do not function through words,” then there is no reason to have language. This language is itself formed with words. They also say that direct teaching is not established through words, but “not established” are words. When they see others teach they slander them and say they rely on words. You should know that doing so is deluding yourself and slandering the sutras. Do not slander the sutras - the negative karmic effects will be endless.
[10.5] If people attach to forms externally, use Dharma practice to search for the Way, and widely establish temples to say that existence and non-existence is wrong, such people will not see their nature for many kalpas. Listen to and follow the Dharma to practice; but refrain from not thinking of anything, as this obstructs the nature of the Way. Listening to the Dharma and not practicing increases people’s wrong thoughts. Practice in accordance with the Dharma and do not attach to the form in which you give the Dharma. If you awaken to these teachings, follow them when you speak, follow them when you act, follow them when you practice, and follow them in everything you do, then you will not misrepresent the teachings of this school.
[10.5a]If someone asks you for teachings, answer a question on exisetence with non-existence, a question on non-existence with existence, a question on the ordinary with the sagely, and a question on the sagely with the ordinary. Through the mutual causes of these pairs the meaning of the
[10.6]In the seventh month of the first year of the Taiji era[1], the Patriarch instructed his disciples to go to
[10.7]The Patriarch said, “Only the young monk Shenhui understands wholesome and unwholesome. Unmoved by slander and fame, he is neither sad nor happy. The rest of you have yet to realize this. You have spent all these years here, what have you learned? For whom are you shedding your tears? If you are concerned that I do not know where I am going, I assure you that I know where I am going. If I did not know where I was going, I would not have notified you. You cry because you do not know where I am going. If you knew, you would not cry. Dharma nature originally is without birth and death, or coming and going. Take a seat and I will speak a gatha entitled, “True and False, Motion and Stillness.” If you recite this gatha you are in accordance with my understanding. Follow and practice it and you will not misrepresent the teachings of this school.
[10.8]All the monastics bowed and respectfully asked the Patriarch to speak the gatha. He said:
[10.9]All is without truth -
Do not regard what is seen as true.
If what is seen is taken as true,
This seeing is not true.
[10.10]The self can have truth.
Turning away from falsehood is the true mind.
If the intrinsic mind does not turn away,
Without this truth, what is truth?
[10.11]Sentient beings act.
Non-sentient beings do not act.
Cultivating the practice of inaction
Is the same as the inaction of non-sentient beings.
[10.12]Search for real inaction.
In action there is inaction.
Inaction is inaction.
Non-sentient beings are without the Buddha seed.
[10.13]For one who distinguishes characteristics well,
Supramundane truth is inactive.
But holding such a view
Is the function of suchness.
[10.14]Tell all Dharma practitioners,
Diligently attend to this:
Do not, in the gate of the Great Vehicle,
Attach to the wisdom of birth and death.
[10.15]If you can be in accordance with what I have spoken,
We can mutually discuss the Buddha’s teachings.
If you truly cannot be in accord with it,
Join your palms and be joyful.
[10.16]Originally this school is without arguements.
Arguing loses the meaning of the Way.
Attach to the opposing teachings and
Intrinsic nature enters birth and death.
[10.17]After listening to the gatha, everyone paid homage to the Patriarch. Having understood the Patriarch’s intention, each of them collected their minds and practiced the teachings without argument. Knowing that the Patriarch was not going to live for long, the seniot monk Fahai paid homage to the Patriarch again and asked, “After your passing, Venerable Master, who should receive the robe and bowl?”
[10.18]The Patriarch said, “Compile all the teachings I have given from the time I began teaching at
[10.19] Originally I came to this land
To transmit the Dharma and liberate deluded sentient beings.
One flower blooms with five petals;
Naturally the fruit will ripen.
[10.20]The Patriarch continued, “Good Dharma Friends, each of you purify your mind and listen to my Dharma talk. To attain all kinds of wisdom, one must enter single-perception samadhi and single-minded samadhi. Being in any environment without abiding in form, without hating or loving, without accepting or rejecting, and without any thought of benefit or harm, making yourself at ease and tranquil, feeling indifferent to fame and glory is called single-perception samadhi. Being in any environment, whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down while singularly pure and with a direct mind, such that it truly becomes the
[10.21] The mind’s ground contains all seeds,
The rain falls universally, and all sprout.
Having suddenly awakened to the feeling of flowers,
The fruit of bodhi naturally ripens.
[10.22]After speaking the gatha, the Patriarch said, “The Dharma is not dual; the mind is likewise. The Way is pure, without any form. All of you should be careful not to contemplate stillness or empty the mind. The mind is inherently pure; there is nothing to accept or reject. Each of you, practice diligently and fare well in all circumstances.” At that time the disciples paid homage to the Patriarch and left.
[10.23]On the eighth day of the seventh month, the Patriarch suddenly told his students, “I would like to return to Xinzhou. Quickly prepare the boat.”
[10.24]Everyone earnestly pleaded with the Patriarch to stay. The Patriarch said, “All Buddhas appear in this world, but must still enter Nirvana. When there is coming, there is going. This is certainly true . My physical body definitely has a place to return to.”
[10.25]Everyone asked, “Master, after you leave this time, when will you be back?”
[10.26]The Patriarch replied, “Leaves fall and return to the roots. When I come back there will be no speaking.”
[10.27]The disciples asked again, “To whom will you hand down the Treasury of the True Dharma Eye?”
[10.28]The Patriarch answered, “Those with the Way receive it. Those with no mind understand it.”
[10.29]Another question was raised, “Will there be trouble ahead?”
[10.30]The Patriarch responded, “Five to six years after my death, someone will come to take my head. Listen to my prophecy:
[10.31]Honoring the head as if honoring the parents.
There is a mouth that needs to be fed.[2]
The trouble of Man will be met
When Yang and Liu govern.”
[10.32]He continued, “Seventy years after my passing away, two bodhisattvas will come here from the east. One is a monastic, and the other is a layperson. Both will teach concurrently, establish my school, establish temples, and nurture Dharma teachers.”
[10.33]There was another question, “How many generations were there before the appearance of the Buddha? Please teach us.”
[10.34]The Patriarch replied, “The ancient Buddhas who have appeared in the world are countless. Presently, we only count back to the last seven Buddhas. In the past sublime kalpa, there were Vipasyin Buddha, Sikhin Buddha, and Visvabhu Buddha. In this current sagely kalpa, there are Krakucchandha Buddha, Kanakamuni Buddha, Kasyapa Buddha, and Sakyamuni Buddha. These are the seven Buddhas.
[10.35]“Sakyamuni Buddha first transmitted to Mahakasyapa, second to Ananda, third to Sanavasa, fourth to Upagupta, fifth to Dhitika, sixth to Miccaka, seventh to Vasumitra, eighth to Buddhanandi, ninth to Buddhamitra, tenth to Parsva, eleventh to Punyayasas, twelfth to Asvaghosa, thirteenth to Kapimala, fourteenth to Nagarjuna, fifteenth to Kanadeva, sixteenth to Rahulata, seventeenth to Samghanandi, eighteenth to Gayasata, nineteenth to Kumarata, twentieth to Jayata, twenty-first to Vasubandhu, twenty-second to Manorhita, twenty-third to Haklenayasa, twenty-fourth to Simha, twenty-fifth to Vasiasita, twenty-sixth to Puryamitra, twenty-seventh to Prajnatara, twenty-eighth to Bodhidharma, twenty-ninth to Huike, thirtieth to Sengcan, thirty-first to Daoxin, thirty-second to Hongren, and then to myself, Huineng, the thirty-third patriarch. Each of the patriarchs had inherited these teachings from a predecessor. You should, without fail, bequeath these teachings to later generations.”
[10.36]On the third day of the eighth month of the second year of the Xiantian era[3], the Patriarch finished his meal at
[10.37]Fahai spoke, “Venerable Master, what teachings will you leave behind so that the deluded people of future generations may see Buddha nature?”
[10.38]The Patriarch said, “Listen carefully: if the deluded people of future generations understand sentient beings, that is Buddha nature. If they do not understand sentient beings, even in ten thousand kalpas it will be difficult to see the Buddha. I will now teach you to understand the sentient beings in your mind so that you can see the Buddha nature of your mind. If you wish to see the Buddha, just understand sentient beings. If awakened to intrinsic nature, sentient beings are Buddhas. If intrinsic nature is misunderstood, the Buddha is a sentient being. When intrinsic nature is understood as equal, sentient beings are Buddhas. When instrinsic nature is understood erroneously and destructively, the Buddha is a sentient being. If your mind is destructive and cruel, then the Buddha is amidst sentient beings. With on even and straight thought, sentient beings become Buddhas. My mind originally has a Buddha. The intrinsic Buddha is the true Buddha. If you are without the Buddha mind, where do you look for the true Buddha? Your intrinsic mind is the Buddha. There can no longer be doubt. Not one thing can be established externally. All dharmas arise from the intrinsic mind. Therefore, the sutras say, “When the mind arises, all dharmas arise. When the mind ceases, all dharmas cease.” I now leave a gatha and will separate from you. The gatha is entitled, “The True Buddha of Intrinsic Nature.” Future generations will understand this gatha’s meaning, see their intrinsic nature, and attain Buddhahood:
[10.39]The gatha says:
[10.40] Suchness and intrinsic nature are the true Buddha
Erroneous views and the three poisons are King Mara.
When in error and deluded, Mara is in the body.
When one has right view, the Buddha is in the mind.
[10.41] When one’s nature has erroneous views, the three poisons arise;
This is King Mara coming to live in the body.
Right view itself can eliminate the three poisons from the mind.
Mara becomes the Buddha. This is true, not false.
[10.42] Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya, and Nirmanakaya
Three bodies are originally one body.
If you can see yourself in your nature,
This is the cause of the bodhi of becoming a Buddha.
[10.43] Originally, pure nature arises from the Nirmanakaya
Pure nature always exists within the Nirmanakaya
Such nature allows the Nirmanakaya to practice the right Way.
To be, in the future, completely true and endless.
[10.44] Originally, passionate nature is caused by pure nature.
Eliminating passion is the body of pure nature.
The nature in each of us must turn away from the five desires.
Seeing nature for a split-second is truth.
[10.45] If, in this life, one encounters the sudden teachings,
One can suddenly awaken to intrinsic nature and see the world-honored one.
If one wishes to cultivate and search to become a Buddha,
I do not know where you can find the truth.
[10.46] If one can see the Truth in the mind,
Having this Truth is the cause of becoming a Buddha.
Some do not see intrinsic nature, but search for the Buddha externally,
One who always thinks like this is a person of great ignorance.
[10.47]The teachings of the
To be liberated, wordly people need to liberate themselves.
Tell your future Dharma practitioners:
Not holding such a view will be a great worry.”
[10.48]After the Patriarch finished the gatha, he addressed his disciples, “All of you take care. After my passing, do not be depressed and tearful like wordly sentient beings. If you dress in mourning to meet those who come to pay their respects, you are not my disciple. It is also not the Right Dharma. Simply understand the inherent mind and see that your intrinsic nature is not in motion or still, does not arise nor cease, does not come nor go, is not right nor wrong, and neither stays nor leaves. I am concerned that your mind may be confused and that you may still not understand my intent. I will tell you again so that you can see your nature. After I am gone, follow and practice this and it will be as if I am still alive. If you turn away from my teachings, even if I am alive in the world, it is of no benefit to you. Again, I offer you this gatha:
[10.49]Being still, not cultivating what is wholesome.
Leisurely refraining from what is unwholesome.
Quietly turning away from seeing and hearing,
Vast is the mind without attachment.”
[10.50]The Patriarch, after reciting the gatha, sat upright until the third watch of the night. Suddenly, he said to his disciples, “I am going.” Then he passed away. At that time, an unusual fragrance filled the room, and a rainbow of white light touched the ground, bathing the trees and shrubs in a white light while animals called out mournfully.
[10.51]In the eleventh month, magistrates, monastics, and laypeople from the three prefectures of
[10.52]On the twenty-fifth day of the seventh month of the following year, the Patriarch’s body was taken out of the encasement. The Patriarch’s disciple, Fangbian, was about to apply incense paste to the body when other disciples recalled the prophecy about someone coming to take the Patriarch’s head. In light of this, metal sheets and lacquered cloth were applied to protect the neck before the body was placed in a pagoda. All of a sudden, a white light appeared in the pagoda, shooting up into the sky for three days before it dissipated. The magistrate of Shaozhou reported the news to the emperor, who instructed him to erect a memorial stele to honor the Patriarch’s life.
[10.53]The Patriarch lived for seventy-six years and received the robe when he was twenty-four. At thirty-nine, he shaved his head, and he taught the Dharma for thirty-seven years. Among his disciples, forty-three carried on in his footsteps, and numerous more awakened to the Truth. The robe that was handed down by Bodhidharma, the silk robe and crystal bowl that were awarded him by Emperor Zhongzong, the statue sculpted by Fangbian, and his personal artifacts were placed in the custody of
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