Zen's Chinese Heritage: The Masters and Their Teachings by Andy Ferguson Read Free Book Online Page A

“I look for the transgression but I can’t find it.”
    Huike said, “There, I’ve absolved your transgression. Now you should abide in Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.”
    The layman said, “Seeing you here, I know what is meant by ‘Sangha,’ but I still don’t know what are called Buddha and Dharma.”
    Huike said, “Mind is Buddha. Mind is Dharma. Buddha and Dharma are not two different things. Along with Sangha they comprise the three jewels.” 18
    The layman said, “Today, for the first time, I realize that my transgression was not internal, was not external, and was not in between these two states. It was entirely within mind. Buddha and Dharma are not two things.”
    Huike recognized the layman to be a great Dharma vessel. He received him as a student and shaved his head, saying, “You are a great jewel. I give you the name Sengcan [‘Gem Monk’].”
    On the eighteenth day of the third lunar month of that year, Sengcan underwent ordination. From that time on his illness gradually subsided.
    Sengcan spent two years acting as Huike’s attendant. Then Huike said to him, “Bodhidharma came from India and transmitted to me the Treasury of the True Dharma Eye , along with the robe of the ancestral transmission. I now pass it to you. Uphold and sustain it, and don’t allow the lineage to be cut off. Listen to this verse of mine:
Fundamentally, karmic conditions have given rise to the ground
That allows the seeds of flowers to grow.
Fundamentally, nothing has been planted,
And flowers have not grown.”
     
    After transmitting Bodhidharma’s Dharma and robe to Sengcan, Huike said to him, “You have received my teaching, and now you should live deep in the mountains. Don’t circulate in the world, for the country will have a great calamity.”
    Sengcan said, “Since you know about this calamity in advance, please instruct me about it.”
    Huike said, “I have no foreknowledge about this. It is a prediction made by [the twenty-seventh Zen ancestor in India] Prajnadhara and transmitted to China by Bodhidharma, wherein he said, ‘While it will be auspicious to abide in mind, outside of this there will be evil.’ I have studied these times and see that [this calamity] may befall you. Consider the truth of this prediction and don’t be ensnared by the world’s turmoil. As for me, I have karmic retribution to suffer. You should go and practice what is good. Wait for the time when you can transmit the Dharma to someone else.”
    After Huike instructed Sengcan in this manner, Huike went to Yedu and expounded the Dharma. His teaching spread widely, and as a result a great number of people from all directions entered monastic life. He continued in this manner for thirty-four years, but then concealed himself and changed his appearance. Sometimes he would go to wine houses, sometimes to butcher shops, and sometimes he would mingle in the bustling lanes of the city. He also was found among the ranks of household servants.
    Some people asked him, “The master is a person of the Way. Why is he acting in this manner?”
    But Huike answered them, saying, “I have rectified my mind. Of what concern is this to you?”
    On one occasion, Huike expounded the unsurpassed Dharma to a large crowd before the front gate of Kuangqiu Temple in Guangcheng County. At the same time, the Dharma master Bianhe was lecturing on the Nirvana Sutra inside of the temple. As the congregation inside of the temple became aware of Huike’s Dharma talk outside, they gradually were drawn outside to listen to him. Bianhe was unable to control his anger, and slandered Huike to the city magistrate, who was named Di Zhongkan. Di was confused by Bianhe’s slanderous report and charged Huike with a crime. Huike [facing execution because of this criminal charge] remained calmly composed. Those who understand the truth said this episode was the “payment of a debt.” The master lived to the age of one hundred and seven. Huike died on the sixteenth