Preface to the Jeweled Teachings of the Chan Forest

Preface to the *Treasury of Precepts*:

This collection was originally compiled long ago at Miaoxi Zhuan’an, when the hermitage of the Bamboo Hut was still being built in Jiangxi. In the Chunxi era, I traveled to Yunju and obtained a copy from the elderly monk Zu’an. Sadly, due to its age, the scroll had been damaged by insects, and both the beginning and end were incomplete. Later, I found some of its passages scattered in records and biographies. Over ten years, I managed to gather just over fifty entries. I then supplemented these with selections from the teachings of elders from the Huanglong school down to Fotong Jiantang, editing and organizing them into about three hundred entries.

Though these teachings were collected at different times, I arranged them without strict regard for chronological or historical order. In essence, their purpose is to guide practitioners to shed worldly concerns like power, profit, and ego, and to move toward moral virtue and benevolence. The style of the text is smooth and unpretentious, free from lofty absurdities or strange exaggerations. It truly serves as a helpful guide on the path to enlightenment.

Now I intend to publish this collection to make it widely available. I am sure there will be like-minded individuals who, upon reading it, will recognize its value. Even if I grow old and live out my days in a mountain hut, this will more than satisfy my life’s aspiration.

Written by the eastern Wu monk Jingshan.