No. 1597-1-b布袋老僧小序
Preface by Old Monk Budai
聖人觀眾生心是般若智。生死海是涅槃城。昧而不知。速須道破。念慈氏受釋尊之記。當末世開度生之方。繇是降兜率。遊四明。觸處建光明幢。逢人施甘露味。以布袋為佛事。以小子現童真。四儀神變莫測。六時妙化無窮。登禪窟者。死偷心於絕解之處。活神機於難辯之時。是故拈花悟旨。響應千古。笑談垂手。針芥相投。俾放下布袋。默契玄宗。政不待言。思而得者。教外別傳之旨也。噫。余以為補處。老僧贅千百載之剩語耳。 居士沈一貫拜撰
The sage contemplates sentient beings' minds, and this very contemplation is Prajna wisdom. The ocean of birth and death is itself the city of Nirvana. Yet sentient beings are deluded and do not realize this—their awakening must be swiftly unveiled. Consider Maitreya, who received Śākyamuni’s prophecy. In this degenerate age, he unfolds the method to liberate beings. Accordingly, he descended from Tuṣita Heaven and roamed the Four Bright Realms. Wherever he went, he raised a radiant banner; whoever he met, he bestowed the sweet dew of Dharma. With his cloth bag he performed Buddha’s work, manifesting as a young boy’s pure innocence. His four modes of conduct were mysteriously unpredictable; through the six periods of the day, his wondrous transformations were inexhaustible. Those who entered his meditation cave had their thieving mind killed at the point where understanding ends, and their spiritual functioning revived at moments hard to discern. That is why the flower-grasping realization still echoes across the centuries. With a laugh and a casual gesture, he reaches out his hand—a needle pricking a mustard seed, perfectly matched. He simply says, "Put down your cloth bag," and one mysteriously aligns with the profound principle. Such truth does not await words; it is realized beyond words. This is the special transmission outside the teachings. Ah! I consider this a superfluous commentary from a veteran monk—mere idle words strung across a thousand centuries. (With respect,) Layman Shen Yiguan respectfully composed.