Preface to the Five Schools

In the year Yichou, during the summer retreat at the Wanguan Pass of Sheng'en Chan Monastery, four senior monks attended to the pass. Among them, Min Zhi was deeply enlightened. One day, they all straightened their robes, bowed respectfully, and asked, "We have heard that some esteemed elders in various places wish to dismiss the teachings of the five schools, advocating only the transmission of the Buddha's flower-holding gesture as the direct path to enlightenment. We wonder if the establishment of the five schools is indeed mistaken. We humbly request your guidance to resolve this difficulty."

Yu Mi replied, "A general must have a military seal to command troops; one who awakens the mind must transmit the Dharma seal. If the seal does not match, it is deceitful; if the Dharma differs, it is heretical. Since the time of Vairocana Buddha, not a single word or teaching has existed outside the seal of the five schools. The ancients realized this and silently aligned with its subtlety without division. Later generations followed, thus establishing the schools to guard against falsehood. Those who dismiss the five schools and claim to transmit only the direct path are like rebels who break the seal and destroy the insignia for their own convenience. How can they be loyal to the five schools or true generals of the Seven Buddhas? Alas, the decline of the Dharma worries both humans and gods, and this is precisely the reason. Should we not fear this?"

They asked further, "In the past, there were those who burned incense, practiced austerities, and secretly transmitted the teachings. Dahui exposed them with a public notice to dismantle their deceitful tricks. If so, why are the teachings of today still valued?"

Yu Mi answered, "What they transmitted were stolen seals and false credentials. As for those who understand each teaching clearly and whose minds resonate in mutual recognition, how could they be compared to those who rigidly adhere to secret transmissions in closed rooms? Those who claim to transmit the teachings have not truly awakened to them; those who dismiss the teachings do not truly understand them. Now is the time to uphold the unbroken secret seal and apprehend the deceitful factions that falsely rely on it. This is the true duty of those who carry the lifeblood of the Tathagata's teachings today. How can the frivolous and unqualified mix among them?"

Thus, he explained the origins of the five schools and entrusted this understanding to the four monks. They bowed in gratitude, each vowing to uphold the seal and ensure the true transmission endures.

In the spring of the Wuchen year of the Chongzhen reign, Dharma Treasury of Wanfeng composed this preface at the Mi residence.