六祖壇經序
Preface to The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch
(原本（原）日本興聖寺所藏翻刻宋本。按此為唐僧惠昕所撰之本。晁公武郡齋讀書志及文獻通考並載之。但所載為三卷十六門。而此為兩卷十一門．實為惠昕原本。紹興時晁子健翻刻於蘄州。流傳日本。經興聖寺再行翻刻者。與燉煌本並為壇經古本。茲據日本森江書店鈴木貞太郎校訂本重刊。句讀勾乙及夾注校刊語。全依錄之。)
(Original text (source): A reprinted Song edition held at Kosho-ji Temple in Japan. This is the version compiled by the Tang monk Huixin. Chao Gongwu's Junzhai Dushu Zhi and the Wenxian Tongkao both record it. However, what they record is three fascicles and sixteen sections, whereas this is two fascicles and eleven sections—this is actually Huixin's original version. During the Shaoxing era, Chao Zijian reprinted it in Qizhou. It circulated to Japan and was reprinted again by Kosho-ji Temple. Together with the Dunhuang version, it is one of the ancient versions of the Platform Sutra. This edition is reprinted based on the edition collated by Suzuki Teitaro of the Morie Shoten in Japan. Punctuation, reading marks, and interlinear collation notes are all reproduced as they stand.)
依真小師邕州羅秀山惠進禪院沙門惠昕述
By True Junior Master Huixin of Huijin Chan Monastery, Luoxiu Mountain, Yongzhou
原夫真如佛性。本在人心。心正則諸境難侵。心邪則眾塵易染能止心念。眾惡自亡。眾惡既亡。諸善皆備。諸善要備。非假外求。悟法之人。自心如日。遍照十方。一切無礙。見性之人。雖處人倫。其心自在。無所惑亂矣。故我六祖大師。廣為學徒。直說見性法門。總令自悟成佛。目曰壇經。流傳後學。古本文繁。披覽之徒。初忻後厭。余以太歲丁卯。月在蕤賓。二十三日辛亥。於思迎塔院。分為兩卷。凡十一門。貴接後來。同見佛性者。
The true Tathagata-nature and Buddha-nature are originally present in people's minds. When the mind is upright, external conditions find it hard to encroach; when the mind is crooked, the dusts of defilement easily stain it. If one can still the mind's thoughts, all evils naturally perish. Once all evils have perished, all virtues are complete. And these virtues, being inherently complete, are not to be sought outside oneself.
For one who understands the Dharma, their own mind is like the sun, illuminating the ten directions everywhere without any obstruction. One who has seen their true nature, even while living among people, keeps their mind free and unobstructed, and is no longer deluded or confused.
Therefore our Sixth Patriarch, the Great Master, for the sake of his students at large, directly taught the Dharma-gate of seeing one's true nature, always leading them to awaken on their own and become Buddhas. He titled it the Platform Sutra, so that it might be passed down to later learners. The ancient text was verbose, so that those who read it would at first be delighted and later grow weary. On the twenty-third day, a xinhai day, in the fifth month of the dingmao year, at the Siyeng Pagoda Monastery, I divided it into two scrolls, making eleven chapters in all, so that those who come after may connect with it and together see the Buddha-nature.
子健被旨入蜀。回至荊南。於族叔公祖位。見七世祖文元公所觀寫本六祖壇經。其後題云。時年八十一。第十六次看過。以至點句標題。手澤具存。公歷事太宗真宗仁宗三朝。引年七十。累章求解禁職。以太子少保致仕。享年八十四。道德文章。具載國史。冠歲過高士劉惟一。訪以生滅之事。劉曰。人常不死。公駭之。劉曰。形死性不滅。公始寤其說。自是留意禪觀。老而愈篤。公平生所學。三教俱通。文集外。著昭德編三卷。法藏碎金十卷。道院集十五卷。耄智餘書三卷。皆明理性。晚年尚看壇經。孜孜如此。子健來佐蘄春郡。遇太守高公世臾。篤信好佛。一日語及先文元公所觀壇經。欣然曰。此乃六祖傳衣之地。是經安可闕乎。乃用其句讀鏤版刊行。以廣其傳。壇經曰。後人得遇壇經。如親承吾教。若看壇經。必當見性。咸願眾生同證此道。
Zijian received orders to go to Shu. On his return to Jingnan, in the home of his clan uncle, Duke Gongzu, he saw the handwritten copy of the Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch that his seventh-generation ancestor, Duke Wenyuan, had studied. At the end was written: "At the age of eighty-one, read through for the sixteenth time." Even the punctuation and headings, the traces of his hand, were all preserved. The Duke served three reigns—Taizong, Zhenzong, and Renzong. At the age of seventy, he petitioned for retirement, repeatedly submitting memorials to be released from his official posts, and retired with the title of Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent. He lived to the age of eighty-four. His moral character and writings are fully recorded in the national history. In his youth, he visited the eminent scholar Liu Weiyi and asked about the matter of birth and death. Liu said, "People never truly die." The Duke was startled. Liu said, "The body dies, but the nature does not perish." The Duke then awakened to this teaching. From then on, he focused his attention on Chan contemplation, becoming more earnest with age. Throughout his life, what he studied encompassed all Three Teachings. In addition to his collected works, he wrote the Zhaode Bian in three fascicles, the Fayu Suijin in ten fascicles, the Daoyuan Ji in fifteen fascicles, and the Maozhi Yushu in three fascicles—all illuminating principle and nature. In his later years, he still read the Platform Sutra, so diligent was he. When Zijian came to serve as assistant in Qichun Commandery, he met the governor, Duke Gao Shiyu, who was a devout believer in the Buddha. One day, when the conversation turned to the Platform Sutra that his late ancestor Duke Wenyuan had studied, he said with delight, "This is the very place where the Sixth Patriarch transmitted the robe. How could this sutra be lacking?" So he used its punctuation and had it carved on woodblocks for publication, to spread its transmission widely. The Platform Sutra says: "If people of later generations encounter the Platform Sutra, it is as if they personally received my teaching. If one reads the Platform Sutra, one will surely see one's true nature." May all beings together realize this Path.
紹興二十三年六月二十日 右奉議郎權通判蘄州軍州事晁子健謹記
Written respectfully by Chao Zijian, Right Fengyilang and Acting Tongpan of Qizhou military affairs, on the twentieth day of the sixth month, the twenty-third year of Shaoxing.
六祖壇經卷上
The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch, Volume One
- 一、緣起說法門。
- 二、悟法傳衣門。
- 三、為時眾說定慧門。
- 四、教授坐禪門。
- 五、說傳香懺悔發願門。
- 六、說一體三身佛相門。