南宗頓教最上大乘摩訶般若波羅蜜經六祖惠能大師於韶州大梵寺施法壇經一卷
The Sixth Patriarch's Platform Sutra of the Supreme Mahayana Sudden Teaching of the Southern School
兼授無相戒 弘法弟子法海集記
Conferring the Formless Precepts: Recorded by the Dharma Heir Fahai
黃連忠校訂
Huang Lianzhong's Revised Edition
【第一折】
Act 1
惠能大師於大梵寺講堂中，昇高座，說摩訶般若波羅蜜法，授無相戒。
Master Huineng ascended the high seat in the lecture hall of Dafan Temple, expounding the Dharma of the Great Perfection of Wisdom, and bestowing the Precepts of Formlessness.
其時座下僧尼、道俗一萬餘人，韶州刺史韋據及諸官僚三十餘人，儒士三十餘人，同請大師說摩訶般若波羅蜜法。刺史遂令門人僧法海集記，流行後代，與學道者承此宗旨，遞相傳授，有所依約，以為稟承，說此《壇經》。
At that time, more than ten thousand monks, nuns, laypeople, and followers of other paths were seated below the master's seat. Wei Qu, the prefect of Shaozhou, along with more than thirty officials and over thirty Confucian scholars, jointly requested the Master to teach the Dharma of the Great Perfection of Wisdom. The prefect then instructed the disciple-monk Fahai to compile and record it, so that it might spread in later generations. He wanted those who study the Path to receive this essential teaching, transmit it to one another in succession, have something to rely upon, and take it as their guiding principle. Thus was spoken this Platform Sutra.