348期 2026.2.8 星期日 晨语
《札记·涿州》06篇
六祖慧能
六祖慧能,唐代高僧,禅宗南宗开山之祖。以顿悟成佛之旨,革新禅法,流布天下,为中国佛教史上影响至深之宗师。其出身寒微,祖籍范阳,落籍岭南。幼年丧父,以卖柴奉母,生计清苦,然宿根深厚,一闻佛法,心向往之,早植求道之根。
一日,慧能闻人诵读《金刚经》,至“应无所住而生其心”,豁然开悟,遂决意远游求法。辞别老母,北上湖北黄梅东禅寺,参礼五祖弘忍*。初见五祖,即直言:“人虽有南北,佛性本无南北。”一语道破心性平等之理,深为五祖所器重。为避众疑,乃随众劳作,腰石舂米,苦行不怠,于日用中体认自性,不向外求,默养本心。
后五祖命*各作一偈,以验修行见地。上座神秀书偈:“身是菩提树,心如明镜台,时时勤拂拭,勿使惹尘埃。”此偈偏重渐修除垢,尚未彻见本性。慧能闻之,自知所悟更深,乃口占一偈,请人书壁:“菩提本无树,明镜亦非台,本来无一物,何处惹尘埃。”此偈直指自性本空、本来清净,超渐修之执,彻心源之实。五祖见偈,知其已悟真如,深夜为其说法,付以衣钵,立为禅宗六祖,并嘱其即刻南归,待时弘法。
慧能南还,隐于四会、怀集山间十余年,避祸养晦,静心待时。后至广州法性寺,值印宗法师讲经,风吹幡动,二僧相争,一曰风动,一曰幡动。慧能进曰:“不是风动,不是幡动,仁者心动。”一言震彻满座。印宗知其得道高人,遂为剃度,慧能正式出家。此后驻锡曹溪宝林寺,开坛说法三十余载,广接十方,大阐顿悟心法。
其禅法以无念为宗,无相为体,无住为本,主张不立文字、直指人心。倡言众生自性本自具足,清净圆满,不生不灭。迷则众生,悟即佛陀,修行不必外求,不执*字句。常谓“菩提只向心觅,何劳向外求玄”,以行住坐卧为道场,融佛法于日用平常,不离世间,不离自心,使禅法平易可行,普被群生。
慧能一生不尚形式,不务虚行,唯以明心见性为根本。其言教由*辑为《六祖坛经》,乃中土僧人著述中唯一尊称为“经”者,影响千载,泽被后世。圆寂后真身不坏,供奉南华寺,万世景仰。
一介樵夫,悟彻菩提;片言契机,直指心源。慧能以最平实之语,说最究竟之理,开南宗顿悟之宗,使禅宗深入民间,融入华夏文脉。其一生昭示世人:佛性本在自心,不假外求;迷悟之隔,只在一念。其禅法智慧,至今照彻人心,为千古不朽之精神宝藏。
(刘会军 2026年2月8日涿州) 字数:1000字
英文翻译:"Notes on Zhuozhou" 06
The Sixth Patriarch Huineng
Huineng, the Sixth Patriarch, was a eminent monk of the Tang Dynasty and the founder of the Southern School of Zen. With the tenet of achieving enlightenment and becoming a Buddha through sudden awakening, he reformed Zen practices and spread them throughout the land, becoming a master with profound influence in the history of Chinese Buddhi*. He came from a humble background, with his ancestral home in Fanyang (present-day Zhuozhou) and his *mily later settling in Lingnan (southern China). He lost his *ther in childhood and made a living by selling firewood to support his mother, leading a hard life. However, he had a deep innate root of wisdom; upon hearing the Dharma, his heart yearned for it, planting the seeds of seeking the Way at an early age.
One day, Huineng heard someone reciting the Diamond Sutra, and when he heard the line "One should generate a mind that abides in nothing," he suddenly attained enlightenment. Thus, he resolved to travel *r to seek the Dharma. After bidding *rewell to his mother, he went north to Dongchan Temple in Huangmei, Hubei, to pay homage to the Fifth Patriarch, Master Hongren. When he first met the Fifth Patriarch, he straightforwardly said, "Although people may be from the south or north, the Buddha-nature is without such distinction." This statement revealed the principle of the equality of mind-nature, earning him the deep regard of the Fifth Patriarch. To avoid doubts from others, he joined the others in labor, carrying a stone on his waist to pound rice, practicing ascetici* without slack. In daily life, he realized his inherent nature, not seeking externally, but silently nurturing his original mind.
Later, the Fifth Patriarch ordered his disciples to compose a gatha (verse) to test their understanding of practice. The senior monk Shenxiu wrote: "The body is a bodhi tree, the mind is a bright mirror stand. Always diligently wipe it clean, not allowing it to gather dust." This gatha emphasized gradual cultivation to remove defilements, without fully seeing one's inherent nature. When Huineng heard it, he knew his own realization was deeper, so he dictated a gatha and asked someone to write it on the wall: "Bodhi is originally no tree, the bright mirror is also no stand. Originally, there is not a single thing—where can dust gather?" This gatha directly pointed to the emptiness of inherent nature, its original purity, transcending the attachment to gradual cultivation and penetrating the reality of the source of mind. When the Fifth Patriarch saw it, he knew Huineng had realized the True Suchness. He taught him the Dharma in the middle of the night, passed on the robe and bowl to him, established him as the Sixth Patriarch of Zen, and instructed him to return south immediately to wait for the time to propagate the Dharma.
Huineng returned south and lived in seclusion in the mountains of Sihui and Huaiji for more than ten years, avoiding misfortune, biding his time, and calming his mind. Later, he went to Faxing Temple in Guangzhou. At that time, Master Yinzong was giving a lecture on the sutras. A wind blew, causing a banner to move, and two monks argued—one said the wind was moving, the other said the banner was moving. Huineng stepped forward and said: "It is not the wind moving, nor the banner moving; it is the仁者's mind that is moving." This statement shook the entire assembly. Yinzong knew he was an enlightened master, so he ordained him, and Huineng formally became a monk. After that, he resided at Baolin Temple in Caoxi, giving lectures for more than thirty years, widely receiving followers from all directions and expounding the sudden enlightenment mind method.
His Zen teaching took "no-thought" as the sect, "no-form" as the essence, and "no-abiding" as the foundation, advocating not establishing words and letters, directly pointing to the human mind. He proclaimed that all sentient beings inherently possess complete, pure, and unchanging Buddha-nature. When deluded, one is a sentient being; when enlightened, one is a Buddha. Practice does not require seeking externally, nor clinging to the words and sentences of sutras. He often said, "Bodhi is only to be sought from the mind—why bother seeking mysteries externally?" Taking daily activities as the道场 (practice ground), he integrated the Dharma into daily life, not departing from the world or one's own mind, making Zen practices accessible and widely beneficial to all beings.
Huineng did not value formality or empty practices throughout his life, only taking the awakening of mind and seeing of nature as fundamental. His teachings were compiled by his disciples into the Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch, the only work by a Chinese monk honored as a "sutra," which has influenced for a thousand years and benefited later generations. After his parinirvana, his physical body remained incorrupt and is enshrined in Nanhua Temple, receiving reverence for all eternity.
A woodcutter who thoroughly understood Bodhi; a few words that契合 the opportunity, directly pointing to the source of mind. With the plainest language, Huineng expounded the most ultimate principles, establishing the Southern School of sudden enlightenment, enabling Zen to penetrate the people and integrate into the Chinese cultural context. His life shows the world: Buddha-nature is inherently in one's own mind, not to be sought externally; the difference between delusion and enlightenment lies in a single thought. His Zen wisdom still illuminates people's hearts today, being an immortal spiritual treasure through the ages.
(Liu Huijun, Zhuozhou, February 8th, 2026) (Word count: 1000)
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