景德傳燈錄

The Thirty-Five Patriarchs of India (of these, thirteen Patriarchs are recorded; twenty-two collateral Patriarchs (21) are not recorded).

15. Patriarch Ca-na De-ba (Aryadeva), 16. Patriarch La-hau-la-da, 17. Patriarch Tang-gia Nan-de, 18. Patriarch Tang-gia Xa-da, 19. Patriarch Cuu-ma-la-da, 20. Patriarch Xa-da-da, 21. Patriarch Ba-tu Ban-dau (Vasubandhu)(22), 22. Patriarch Ma-noa-la, 23. Patriarch Hac-lac-na, 24. Venerable Patriarch Su Tu.

Dat-ma-dat (a collateral successor of Venerable Su Tu).

Nhan-da-la, Cu-la Ki-loi-ba (two collateral Patriarchs descending from Dat-ma-dat).

Dat-ma Thi-loi-de, Na-gia Nan-de, Pha-lau-cau Da-la, Ba-la-ba-de (four collateral Patriarchs descending from Nhan-da-la).

Ba-la Bat-ma, Tang-gia La-xoa (two collateral Patriarchs descending from Cu-la Ki-loi-ba).

Ma-de-le Bat-la, Ha-loi-bat-mau (two collateral Patriarchs descending from Dat-ma Thi-loi-de).

Hoa-tu Ban-dau, Dat-ma Ha-de, Chien-da-la-da (three collateral Patriarchs descending from Pha-lau-cau Da-la).

Lac-na Da-la, Ban-dau Da-la, Ba-la Ba-da (three collateral Patriarchs descending from Ba-la Bat-ma).

Ty-xa-da Da-la, Ty-lau-la Da-ma, Ty-lat-so Da-la, Uu-ba-thien-da, Ba-nan-de-da (five collateral Patriarchs descending from Tang-gia La-xoa).

(The twenty-two Patriarchs above left no recorded sayings and therefore are not included.)

25. Patriarch Ba-xa Tu-da, 26. Patriarch Bat-nhu Mat-da, 27. Patriarch Bat-nha Da-la.

India had thirty-five Patriarchs in all (thirteen Patriarchs are recorded in this second fascicle).

15. Patriarch Ca-na De-ba, 16. Patriarch La-hau-la-da, 17. Patriarch Tang-gia Nan-de, 18. Patriarch Gia-da Xa-da (Tang-gia Xa-da), 19. Patriarch Cuu-ma-la-da, 20. Patriarch Xa-da-da, 21. Patriarch Ba-tu Ban-dau, 22. Patriarch Ma-noa-la, 23. Patriarch Hac-lac-na, 24. Venerable Patriarch Su Tu, 25. Patriarch Ba-xa Tu-da, 26. Patriarch Bat-nhu Mat-da, 27. Patriarch Bat-nha Da-la.

Dat-ma-dat was a collateral successor of Venerable Patriarch Su Tu.

From Dat-ma-dat came two Patriarchs: 1. Nhan-da-la, 2. Cu-la Ki-loi-ba.

From Nhan-da-la came four Patriarchs: 1. Dat-ma Thi-loi-de, 2. Na-gia Nan-de, 3. Pha-lau-cau Da-la, 4. Ba-la-ba-de.

From Cu-la Ki-loi-ba came two Patriarchs: 1. Ba-la Bat-ma, 2. Tang-gia La-xoa.

From Dat-ma Thi-loi-de came two Patriarchs: 1. Ma-de-le Bat-la, 2. Ha-loi-bat-mau.

From Pha-lau-cau Da-la came three Patriarchs: 1. Hoa-tu Ban-dau, 2. Dat-ma Ha-de, 3. Chien-da-la-da.

From Ba-la Bat-ma came three Patriarchs: 1. Lac-na Da-la, 2. Ban-dau Da-la, 3. Ba-la Ba-da.

From Tang-gia La-xoa came five Patriarchs: 1. Ty-xa-da Da-la, 2. Ty-lau-la Da-ma, 3. Ty-lat-so Da-la, 4. Uu-ba-thien-da, 5. Ba-nan-de-da.

(The twenty-two collateral Patriarchs above left no recorded encounters or sayings and therefore are not included.)

15. Patriarch Ca-na De-ba.

(Kanadeva, Aryadeva)

He was a native of southern India and belonged to the Ty-xa-la clan. At first, he sought meritorious deeds and delighted in debate. Later, he went to pay his respects to the great master Nagarjuna. As he was about to arrive at the gate, Nagarjuna knew that he was a man of wisdom and beforehand instructed an attendant to fill an alms bowl with water and set it before the Patriarch's seat. When the Venerable One saw it, he immediately took a needle and dropped it into the bowl of water, then went straight in to pay his respects to the Patriarch. Master and disciple met and joyfully understood one another.

Nagarjuna then expounded the Dharma for him and, while seated, manifested the form of a full moon. The assembly heard only his voice and did not see the Patriarch's form.

The Venerable One told the assembly:

– By this auspicious sign, the Master today intends to reveal the Buddha-nature and demonstrate that the preaching of the Dharma is not a matter of sounds or visible forms.

After attaining the Dharma, the Venerable One went to the country of Ty-la. There lived an elder named Pham-ma Tinh Duc. One day, large mushrooms of exceptionally fragrant and delicious flavor grew upon a tree in the elder's garden. Only the elder and his second son, La-hau-la-da, were able to pick and eat those mushrooms. Whenever all the large mushrooms had been picked, another layer would grow. Apart from the members of the family, others sitting nearby could not see the mushrooms.

At that time, the Venerable One knew the causes and conditions from their former lives and therefore went to that household. The elder asked him the reason for this phenomenon. The Venerable One said:

– In a former life, your family once made offerings to a bhiksu. But because that bhiksu's eye of the Way had not yet become clear and he accepted the faithful donors' offerings in vain, he has received the karmic retribution of becoming mushrooms upon this tree. Only you and your son (the Chanh Tong records: “and your second son”), who made offerings with sincere devotion, can partake of these mushrooms; no one else can do so.

He further asked:

– How old are you, Elder?

The elder replied:

– Seventy-nine.

The Venerable One then spoke this verse:

Nhap dao bat thong ly,

Phuc than hon tin thi.

Nhu nien bat thap nhat,

Thu tho bat sanh nhi.

Translation:

Entering the Way without comprehending its principle,

He repays the faithful donors with his body.

When you reach the age of eighty-one,

This tree will cease producing mushrooms.

Upon hearing the verse, the elder admired him all the more. He then said: “This disciple is old and frail and cannot follow and serve the Master. I wish to ask that my second son be permitted to follow the Master and leave the household life.”

The Venerable One said:

– Long ago, the Tathagata bestowed a prediction upon this son, saying that during the second five-hundred-year period* he would become a great leader of the Teaching. Our meeting today also accords with causes from the past.

The Venerable One then shaved the head of the second son and made him his attendant.

The Venerable One went to the city of Pataliputra, where he heard that the non-Buddhists had long been obstructing the Buddhadharma. He therefore took up a long banner and entered their assembly.

A non-Buddhist asked the Venerable One:

– Why do you not look ahead?

The Venerable One replied:

– Why do you not look behind?

The non-Buddhist then said:

– You resemble a base man.

The Venerable One replied:

– You resemble a good man.

He further asked:

– What Dharma do you know?

The Venerable One replied:

– You do not know enough.

The non-Buddhist then said:

– I wish to attain Buddhahood.

The Venerable One said:

– It is through my discerning examination that Buddhahood is attained.

The non-Buddhist then said:

– You will not attain it.

The Venerable One said:

– Earlier you said, “I wish to attain it”; in truth, it is you who will not attain it.

The non-Buddhist further asked:

– Since you have not attained it, how can you speak of attainment?

The Venerable One said:

– Because you possess a self, you cannot attain it. Because I am without self—without the conceit of self (23)—I shall naturally attain it.

His arguments having been refuted, the non-Buddhist then asked:

– What is your name?

The Venerable One said:

– My name is Ca-na De-ba.

Having heard of the Master's reputation, the non-Buddhist repented his error and gave thanks. At that time, the members of the assembly were still heatedly challenging one another. With unhindered eloquence, the Venerable One resolved their disputes, and thereby they submitted to him.

As he was about to enter quiescence, the Venerable One addressed his foremost disciple, La-hau-la-da, transmitted the Dharma-eye to him, and spoke this verse:

Bon doi truyen phap nhan,

Vi thuyet giai thoat ly.

U phap thuc vo chung,

Vo chung diec vo thuy.

Translation:

Originally, for the person who transmits the Dharma,

The principle of liberation was explained.

In the Dharma, there is truly no attainment;

There is neither end nor beginning.

After speaking the verse, the Venerable One entered the samadhi of vigorous exertion. His body emitted eight rays of light, which then withdrew back into him, and he entered quiescence. The community of students built a stupa and made offerings to the Venerable One.

This occurred in the nineteenth year of Emperor Wen of the Former Han dynasty, the geng-chen year (160 BCE).(24)

16. Patriarch La-hau-la-da.

(Rahulabhadra)

He was a native of the country of Kapilavastu. While traveling and teaching, he came to the city of Sravasti. There was a river there called Golden Water, whose water possessed an exceptionally fragrant and delicious flavor. Moreover, five images of Buddhas appeared in the middle of the river.

The Venerable One told the assembly:

– About five hundred li from here, at the source of this river, there dwells a sage named Tang-gia Nan-de. The Records of the Buddha's Prophecies state that after one thousand years (25), he will succeed to the sacred office.

Having spoken, the Venerable One led the community of students upstream. When they arrived, they saw Tang-gia Nan-de sitting silently in samadhi. The Venerable One and the assembly observed him and waited. Only after three seven-day periods (twenty-one days) did Nan-de emerge from samadhi.

The Venerable One asked:

– Is your body in samadhi, or is your mind in samadhi?

He replied:

– Both body and mind are in samadhi.

The Venerable One asked:

– If both body and mind are in samadhi, how can there be entering and emerging?

He replied:

– Although there is coming and going, the characteristic of meditative concentration is not lost, just as gold within a well remains ever quiescent in its essential nature.

The Venerable asked:

– Whether the gold is in the well or has come out of the well, if the essential nature of gold is unmoving and quiescent, what is it that comes and goes?

He replied:

– The essential nature of gold is neither moving nor quiescent. Yet if one says that gold comes and goes, meaning that gold moves and becomes still, then what is it that comes and goes?

The Venerable said:

– If the gold is in the well, what gold is it that comes out? If the gold is outside the well, what is the thing that remains within?

He replied:

– If the gold is outside the well, what remains within is not gold; if the gold is in the well, what comes out is not a thing.

The Venerable said:

– This meaning is incorrect.

He replied:

– That principle misses the mark.

The Venerable said:

– This meaning must fail.

He replied:

– That meaning cannot be established.

The Venerable said:

– That meaning cannot be established, but my meaning is established.

He replied:

– Although my meaning is established, the Dharma is not a self.

The Venerable said:

– My meaning is already established, because there is self yet no-self.

He asked:

– What meaning, then, is established by there being self yet no-self?

The Venerable said:

– Because there is self yet no-self, your meaning is established.

He asked:

– Virtuous one! From which holy sage did you obtain this no-self?

The Venerable replied:

– My master, Kanadeva, realized this no-self.

Nandi said:

– I bow my head before Master Deva, who brought forth such a virtuous one. Because you are without self, I wish to serve you as my master.

The Venerable said:

– Because I am already without self, you should behold my true self. If you regard me as your master, you should know that this person before you is not my true self.

Upon hearing this, Nandi’s mind became open and unencumbered, and he requested deliverance.

The Venerable said:

– Your mind is free and is not bound by self.

Having said this, the Venerable raised a golden bowl with his right hand to the Brahma palace, obtained fragrant rice there, and returned to offer a meal to the assembly. But the assembly suddenly gave rise to aversion, and the Venerable said:

– This is due to your karma; it is not my fault.

He then instructed Sanghanandi to share his seat and eat with him. The assembly again became suspicious of Nandi. The Venerable said:

– Your inability to eat is entirely due to this: You should know that the one sharing my seat is none other than the Tathagata Salarajavara of the past, who, out of compassion for all beings, left behind this portent. During the Adornment Kalpa, all of you also attained the third fruition of an anagamin, but you have not yet realized the untainted state.

The assembly said:

– Only our master’s spiritual powers are worthy of belief. As for his being a Buddha of the past, we still harbor doubts.

Knowing that the assembly had given rise to arrogance, Sanghanandi then said:

– While the Blessed One was still present, the world was level and even, without hills, mounds, streams, ravines, rivers, or waterways. The water was all sweet, the vegetation luxuriant, the lands enjoyed abundant harvests and good government, and the people practiced the ten wholesome deeds and were free from the eight

sufferings. More than eight hundred years have passed since he manifested entry into nirvana beneath the twin sala trees. The world is now filled with hills and mounds, the trees and plants are withered, people lack deep faith, they make light of right mindfulness, and, disbelieving true suchness, delight only in spiritual powers.

Having said this, he slowly extended his right hand deep into the earth, reaching the Vajra Wheel, where he drew forth amrita water, placed it in a crystal vessel, and brought it to the Dharma assembly. Seeing this, the great assembly immediately revered him, repented of their faults, and bowed in homage. The Venerable therefore entrusted the lifeblood of the teaching to Sanghanandi and transmitted to him the Dharma eye.

The verse said:

Ư pháp thật vô chứng,

Bất thủ diệc bất ly.

Pháp phi hữu vô tướng

Nội ngoại vân hà khởi?

Translation:

In the Dharma, truly there is no attainment;

Neither grasping nor departing.

The Dharma bears no mark of being or nonbeing;

How could inner and outer arise?

After transmitting the Dharma, the Venerable sat serenely and entered quiescence. The fourfold assembly erected a stupa in his honor.

This occurred in the twenty-eighth year of Emperor Wu of the Former Han dynasty, the wuxu year (112 BCE!)(26).

17. Patriarch Sanghanandi.

(Samghanandi, Sangha of the Multitude).

He was the son of King Ratnavyuha in the city of Sravasti. As soon as he was born, he could speak and often praised the works of the Buddha. At the age of seven, weary of worldly pleasures, he recited a verse asking his parents to permit him to renounce the household life:

Khể thủ đại từ phụ,

Hòa nam cốt huyết mẫu

Ngã kim dục xuất gia,

Hạnh nguyện ai mẫn cố.

Translation:

I bow before my greatly compassionate father,

And reverently salute my deeply loving mother.

Now I wish to renounce the household life;

May you compassionately grant my request.

His parents resolutely tried to dissuade their son. He refused food throughout the entire day, compelling them to relent and provisionally allow him to renounce the household life. He received the name Sanghanandi and practiced in the royal palace. The king invited the sramana Dhyana-hita to serve as his teacher. Throughout nineteen years of practicing while still dwelling at home, he never once grew weary. He often thought to himself, “My body dwells within the royal palace; how can this be called renouncing the household life?”

Then, one evening when the sky was clear and cloudless, he came upon a level road and unconsciously began walking leisurely along it. After traveling about ten miles, he reached a lofty mountain. Seeing a stone cave, he entered and sat in meditation there.

The next morning, when the king learned that the crown prince had disappeared, he immediately expelled Dhyana-hita from the kingdom and sent people everywhere to search for the prince, but they could not find him. After ten years, Sanghanandi received a prediction and attained the Dharma under Patriarch Rahulata.

Later, while the Venerable was traveling and teaching in the kingdom of Magadha, a cool breeze suddenly swept over them. Everyone felt an extraordinary ease in body and mind, but no one knew why. The Venerable said:

– This wind has been evoked by the virtue of the Way. A holy sage is about to appear in the world and continue the lamp of the patriarchs.

Having spoken, the Venerable used his spiritual powers to lead the assembly through the mountain valleys. Before long, they arrived beneath a mountain, and the Venerable told the assembly:

– Purple clouds cover the summit of this mountain like a canopy. The holy one is already here!

Together with the assembly, he waited in eager anticipation. Suddenly, they saw a young boy coming from a lodge in the mountain toward the Venerable, holding a round mirror in his hand. The Venerable asked:

– How old are you?

He replied:

– One hundred years old!

The Venerable asked:

– You are still young. Why do you say you are one hundred years old?

He replied:

– I do not understand the principle; I am exactly one hundred years old.

The Venerable asked:

– Do you possess the conditions for awakening to the Buddha’s teaching?

He replied:

– The Buddha taught: If a person lives for a hundred years without understanding the conditions for awakening to the Buddha’s teaching, how can that compare with living for a single day and understanding them clearly?

The Venerable asked:

– What does the object—the round mirror—in your hand signify?

The boy replied:

Chư Phật đại viên giám,

Nội ngoại vô hà ế.

Lưỡng nhân đồng đắc kiến,

Tâm nhãn giai tương tợ.

Translation:

The great round mirror of all Buddhas

Is flawless within and without.

When both persons behold it together,

Their mind-eyes are alike.(27)

When the boy’s parents heard their son’s exchange with the Venerable, they allowed him to renounce the household life. The Venerable took the boy by the hand and led him back to the monastery. After conferring upon him the full precepts, he gave him the name Gayasata.

One day, as the wind blew and the bells hanging in the Buddha hall sounded, the Venerable asked Master Sata:

– Is it the bells that ring, or the wind that rings?

The master replied:

– It is neither the bells that ring nor the wind that rings; it is my mind that rings.

The Venerable asked:

– What, then, is mind?

The master replied:

– All is quiescent.

The Venerable said:

– Excellent, excellent! Who other than you could continue my Way?

The Venerable then spoke a verse transmitting the Dharma:

Tâm địa bổn vô sanh,

Nhân địa tòng duyên khởi.

Duyên chủng bất tương phương,

Hoa quả diệc phục nhĩ.

Translation:

The ground of mind is originally unborn;

The causal ground arises in dependence upon conditions.

Conditions and seeds do not obstruct one another;

Flowers and fruits are likewise so.

After transmitting the Dharma, the Venerable raised his right hand, grasped a tree branch, and passed away. The great assembly discussed the matter: The Venerable had entered quiescence beneath the tree’s canopy; perhaps that tree would spread its shade to shelter his descendants. They then intended to carry the Venerable’s intact body to the highlands and erect a stupa in his honor, but they were unable to lift it. They therefore built the stupa at the foot of the tree.

This was in the thirteenth year of Emperor Zhao of the Former Han dynasty, the ding-wei year (73 BCE).

18. Patriarch Gayashata.

(Samghayathata, “Praised by the Assembly”)

He was a native of the kingdom of Magadha and belonged to the Uddharama clan. His father was Tiangai, and his mother was Fangsheng. While carrying him, his mother once dreamed of a tall deity holding a mirror in his hand; seven days later, she gave birth. At birth, his body was translucent like lapis lazuli and naturally pure and fragrant, though he had never been bathed. As a child, he delighted in ease and quietude, spoke extraordinary words, and often wandered about carrying a mirror. He encountered Patriarch Nandi, who delivered him.

After attaining the Dharma, the Venerable led his assembly to the kingdom of Great Yuezhi, where he saw unusual signs about the house of a certain brahmin.

The Venerable wished to enter the house, and the householder Kumaralata came out and asked:

“What assembly is this?”

He replied:

“These are disciples of the Buddha.”

Upon hearing the name of the Buddha, the householder became frightened and immediately shut the door. The Venerable stood waiting for a long while and then knocked on the door himself.

Kumaralata said:

“There is no one in this house.”

The Venerable asked:

“Who is it that answered, ‘There is no one’?”

Hearing this question, Kumaralata realized that he was an extraordinary person and hurriedly opened the door to receive him.

The Venerable said:

“Long ago, the Blessed One made this prophecy: ‘One thousand years after my nirvana, a great being, a bodhisattva, will appear in the kingdom of Yuezhi and carry on and bring flourishing to my work of teaching and transformation.’ Now that you have encountered me, you accord with that auspicious destiny.”

Thereupon Kumaralata awakened the knowledge of former lives and, with a heart of reverence, left home and received full ordination.

After transmitting the Dharma, the Venerable spoke this verse:

Where there is seed, there is the ground of mind;

Causes and conditions can bring forth the sprout.

Amid conditions, they do not obstruct one another;

What is about to arise arises yet does not arise.

Translation:

There is a seed, there is the ground of mind;

Causes and conditions help it sprout.

Amid conditions, they do not obstruct one another;

What is about to arise arises yet does not arise.(28)

Having entrusted the Dharma, the Venerable soared into the sky and manifested the eighteen kinds of miraculous transformation. Entering the samadhi of fiery radiance, he immolated his own body. The assembly gathered his relics and erected a stupa in his honor.

This was in the twentieth year of Emperor Cheng of the Former Han dynasty, the wu-shen year (12 BCE).

19. Patriarch Kumaralata.

(Kumaralata, “Youthful Nature”)

He was born into a brahmin family in the kingdom of Great Yuezhi. In a former life, he was a being in the Heaven of Mastery over Others’ Creations, the sixth heaven of the desire realm. When he saw the bodhisattva Yingluo, he suddenly conceived a mind of affection and consequently fell into rebirth in the Trayastrimsha Heaven, the second heaven of the desire realm. There he heard Kaushika expound the prajnaparamita. Through hearing this supreme Dharma, he ascended to the Brahma Heaven of the form realm. Because of his keen faculties and skill in expounding the essentials of the Dharma, the devas revered him as a teacher of the Way who would succeed to the Patriarchal seat. When the time came, he descended to be born in the kingdom of Yuezhi.

After attaining the Dharma, the Venerable traveled to a kingdom in central India. There, a great being named Jayata came and asked:

“My parents have always had faith in the Three Jewels, yet illness continually pursues them, and none of our livelihood or undertakings goes as we wish. By contrast, our neighbors engage in the work of chandalas—base and evil work—yet they are always healthy and their affairs prosper. I do not know what good fortune they possess or what offense my family has committed.”

The Venerable replied:

“How could you doubt cause and effect? Moreover, the fruition of good and evil encompasses the three periods of time. People in the world

often see the benevolent die young while the brutal live long, the rebellious meet with good fortune while the loyal and righteous suffer calamity; they therefore deny cause and effect and consider offenses and merit to be empty fabrications. They are utterly unaware that the effects of cause and effect, offense and merit, follow one another like a body and its shadow, without deviating by even a hair’s breadth. Even after hundreds of thousands of myriads of kalpas, they do not disappear.”

When Jayata heard these words, his doubts were immediately dispelled.

The Venerable said:

“Although you now believe in the three kinds of karma, you do not yet understand this: karma arises from delusion; delusion exists because of consciousness; consciousness follows non-awakening; and non-awakening follows the mind. From the beginning, the mind is pure, neither arising nor ceasing, neither acting nor receiving retribution, neither superior nor inferior; it is ever quiescent, yet spiritually aware. If you can enter this Dharma gate, you can be one with all Buddhas, and all dharmas—good and evil, conditioned and unconditioned—will be like dreams and illusions.”

Taking the opportunity afforded by the Venerable’s instruction, Jayata comprehended the essential purport. His wisdom from former cultivation(29) immediately awakened, and he earnestly requested permission to leave home. After Jayata had received full ordination, the Venerable told him:

“The time has now come for me to enter quiescence. You shall succeed me, journeying wherever conditions lead and teaching through skillful means.”

He then transmitted the Dharma eye. His verse said:

Within the nature, there is fundamentally no arising;

It is spoken for the sake of those who seek.

Since there is nothing to attain in the Dharma,

How could one hope for certainty or uncertainty?

Translation:

Within the nature, there is fundamentally no arising;

It is spoken because people have need of it.

Since there is nothing to attain in the Dharma,

Why hope for certainty or uncertainty?(30)

The Venerable said:

“This is the Tathagata’s wondrous utterance for seeing the nature in its purity. You should transmit it widely to later students.”

Having spoken, he remained seated and used his fingernail to score his face, revealing a red color like a newly opened crimson lotus. From that lotus shone a great radiance that illuminated the fourfold assembly, after which he entered quiescence. Jayata erected a stupa in his honor.

This was in the fourteenth year of Xin Shi, the ren-wu year (22 CE).

20. Patriarch Jayata.

(Sayata)

He was a native of northern India. His wisdom was profound, deep, and serene, and those he instructed were immeasurably numerous.

Later, he went to the city of Rajagriha to proclaim the sudden teaching. The students of the Way there valued only disputation, and their leader was named Vasubandhu, translated into Chinese as “Universal Practice.” Universal Practice ordinarily ate only once a day, never lay down, and paid homage to the Buddha throughout the six periods of the day. His mind was pure, simple, and detached, and so a great multitude looked to him for refuge.

Wishing to deliver him, the Venerable first asked his followers:

“This dhuta practitioner Universal Practice diligently cultivates the pure conduct. Can he attain the Buddha Way?”

The assembly asked in return:

“Our teacher is diligent. Why should he not attain it?”

The Venerable said:

“Your teacher is still far from the Way. Even if he were to practice austerities for as many kalpas as there are motes of dust, they would all remain roots of delusion.”

The assembly asked:

“What virtue do you possess, Venerable, that you disparage our teacher?”

The Venerable replied:

“I neither seek the Way nor abide in inversion. I neither bow to the Buddha nor treat him with contempt. I neither sit for prolonged periods nor indulge in indolence. I neither eat only once a day nor consume impure mixtures of food. I neither practice contentment nor harbor desire. When the mind has nothing it seeks, that is called the Way.”

Upon hearing this, Universal Practice awakened undefiled wisdom and joyfully offered praise. The Venerable then said to that assembly:

“Do you understand what I have said? I spoke thus because your teacher’s resolve to seek the Way was too intense. A string stretched too tightly will inevitably snap; therefore I did not approve of his practice, so that he might abide in a place of ease and enter the wisdom of all Buddhas.”

The Venerable then said to Universal Practice:

“When I spoke in that way before the assembly, did I wrong you, worthy one? Surely you were not troubled by it?”

He replied:

“I recall that seven kalpas ago I was born in the Land of Eternal Peace and Bliss and served the wise Master Yuejing as my teacher. Master Yuejing predicted that I would before long realize the fruit of a once-returner. At that time, the bodhisattva Great Radiance appeared in the world. Because I was old, I had to support myself with a staff when I went to pay homage to the bodhisattva.

“Master Yuejing rebuked me, saying, ‘You honor the child while slighting the father—how foolish you are!’ At the time, I examined myself and found no fault, so I asked Master Yuejing to point out my error. The Master said, ‘When you bowed to the bodhisattva Great Radiance, you propped your staff against an image of the Buddha painted on the wall. Because of this offense of irreverence, you have lost two stages of attainment.’ From then onward, I reproached myself and repented, not daring to disbelieve; even when I heard abusive words, they seemed like a passing breeze or an echo.”

How much less, now that I have received the supreme amrita from you, Venerable One, could I give rise to anger? I only pray that, in your great compassion, you will graciously teach me the wondrous Way.

The Venerable One said:

– You have cultivated abundant merit and virtue and shall inherit my lineage. Listen to my verse:

Words accord with the unborn,

Identical with the nature of the Dharma-realm.

If one can understand in this way,

One shall fully penetrate phenomena and principle.

After transmitting the Dharma, the Venerable One remained upon his seat and suddenly entered quiescence. The assembly cremated his body, collected the relics, and erected a stupa in which to enshrine them.

This occurred in the seventeenth year of Emperor Ming of the Later Han dynasty, the jiaxu year (74 CE).

21. Patriarch Vasubandhu.

(Vasubandhu, Thế Thân, Thiên Thân)

He was a native of the city of Rajagriha and belonged to the Vaisakha clan. His father was Quang Cái and his mother was Nghiêm Nhất. Though the family was wealthy, they had no children. His parents went to make offerings at a stupa enshrining the Buddha, praying for an heir. One night, his mother dreamed that she swallowed two pearls, one bright and one dark. When she awoke, she knew that she had conceived.

Seven days later, an arhat named Hiền Chúng came to their home. Quang Cái arranged a ceremonial reception, and Hiền Chúng sat upright to receive his homage. When Nghiêm Nhất came forward to bow, however, Hiền Chúng withdrew, not daring to accept her homage, and said:

– Turn around and pay homage instead to the great being who is a Dharma-body.

Quang Cái did not understand why. He then took a precious pearl, knelt, and presented it to Hiền Chúng, asking him to determine whether it was genuine or false. Hiền Chúng immediately accepted the pearl without the slightest polite refusal.

Unable to bear this, Quang Cái asked:

– I, her husband, pay homage to you, yet you take no notice of it. What virtue does my wife possess that causes you, Venerable One, to deferentially avoid her homage?

Hiền Chúng replied:

– I accepted your offering of the precious pearl only to help you create merit. Your wife is carrying a holy child who, after his birth, will be a sun of

wisdom and a lamp perpetuating the patriarchal succession. That is why I treat her with deference; it is not because I esteem women.

Hiền Chúng continued:

– Your wife is about to give birth to two sons. One will be named Vasubandhu, whom I revere; the second will be named Sô-ni (translated into Chinese as “the magpie's child”). Long ago, when the Tathagata was cultivating the Way in the Snow Mountains, the Sô-ni bird built its nest upon his head. After the Buddha attained the Way, the Sô-ni bird received the karmic recompense of becoming king of the country of Na-đề. The Buddha bestowed this prediction upon it: “After I enter nirvana, during the second five-hundred-year period, you will be born in the city of Rajagriha, into the Vaisakha household, sharing the same womb with a holy being. At present, your mind is not yet illumined.”

One month later, Nghiêm Nhất indeed gave birth to two sons. At the age of fifteen, Vasubandhu sought ordination under the arhat Quang Độ, whereupon the bodhisattva Tỳ-bà-ha came and conferred the precepts upon him.

After attaining the Dharma from Patriarch Jayata, the Venerable One traveled to teach in the country of Na-đề. Its king was named Thường Tự Tại and had two sons: the elder was named Mahala, and the younger Manorata.

The king asked the Venerable One:

– Are the customs and climate of the city of Rajagriha the same as those here, or are they different?

The Venerable One replied:

– Three Buddhas have appeared in that country, while in Your Majesty's kingdom there are now two teachers spreading the teaching.

The king asked:

– Who are those two teachers?

The Venerable One replied:

– The Buddha predicted that, during the second five-hundred-year period after his nirvana, a great being possessed of spiritual powers would renounce the household life and inherit the holy succession. Your Majesty's younger son, Manorata, is one of those two teachers. Though my virtue is slight, I venture to acknowledge myself as the other.

The king said:

– If it is indeed as you say, Venerable One, I shall permit my younger son to become a sramana.

The Venerable One said:

– Excellent! Great King, you are able to follow the Buddha's teaching.

The Venerable One conferred full ordination upon Manorata and then spoke a verse transmitting the Dharma:

Bubbles and illusions merge without obstruction;

Why do you not awaken completely?

Realize the Dharma in their very midst;

It is neither present nor ancient.

After transmitting the Dharma, the Venerable One soared into the air to a height of half a yojana and stood alone, towering aloft. The fourfold assembly gazed upward and reverently implored him to return to his seat. The Venerable One's body returned to the seat, where he sat in the lotus posture and entered quiescence. The assembly cremated him, gathered his relics, and built a stupa in which to enshrine them.

This occurred in the twelfth year of Emperor Shang of the Later Han dynasty, the dingsi year (117 CE).

22. Patriarch Manorata.

(Manorata)

He was a native of the country of Na-đề and a son of King Thường Tự Tại. At the age of thirty, he encountered Patriarch Vasubandhu, under whom he renounced the household life and received the Dharma transmission.

The Venerable One traveled to western India. The king of that country, named Đắc Độ, belonged to the Gautama clan. He had taken refuge in the Buddha Vehicle and cultivated diligently. One day, a small stupa suddenly appeared at the place where the king practiced. The king wished to take up the stupa and make offerings to it, but even a large group of people could not lift it. The king subsequently convened a great assembly of three groups—practitioners of pure conduct, practitioners of meditative contemplation, and practitioners of mantra arts—to inquire into this mystery.

The Venerable One also attended this assembly. None of the three groups could explain it. The Venerable One then expounded at length to the king the origin of the stupa (it had been built by King Asoka, but there is no need to record the matter extensively here), saying that its present manifestation had been invoked by the power of the king's merit-making.

Having heard this explanation, the king said:

– A supremely holy being is difficult to encounter, while worldly pleasures do not endure.

The king immediately relinquished the throne to the crown prince and followed the Patriarch into the monastic life. Within seven days, he realized the four stages of fruition.

The Venerable One consoled and further instructed the king, saying:

– Remain in this country and skillfully bring others to liberation. At present, there is a great vessel of the Dharma in another region; I shall teach him and enable him to attain liberation.

The king said:

– Master, if your manifested body directs a thought toward the ten directions, they will come. Why should you trouble yourself to journey afar?

The Venerable One said:

– Indeed.

The Venerable One then burned incense and spoke from afar to the bhiksu Haklena, who was in the country of the Yuezhi: “In that country, you teach and guide the flock of cranes, and they are about to realize the fruit of the Way. You should know this yourself.”

At that time, Haklena was speaking verses and expounding a sutra to King Bảo Ấn of that country, the Yuezhi. They suddenly perceived a wondrous fragrance that gathered into a flower.

The king asked:

– What auspicious sign is this?

He replied:

– Patriarch Manorata, who transmits the Buddha's mind-seal, is coming here from western India. He has first sent this fragrance as a token.

The king asked:

– What spiritual powers does that master possess?

He replied:

– That master received the Buddha's prediction long ago. He is now in that country, western India, extensively expounding and teaching the most profound Dharma.

The king and Haklena then both paid homage from afar. Knowing this, the Venerable One took leave of the bhiksu Đắc Độ, traveled to the country of the Yuezhi, and received offerings from the king and Haklena.

Haklena later asked the Venerable One:

– I have dwelt in this forest for nine years (in India, one summer retreat is counted as one year). I have a disciple named Long Tử who, though still young, is intelligent and wise. With my ability to know the three periods of past existence, I have investigated him thoroughly, yet I still do not know his origins. From where does he come?

The Venerable One said:

– Five lives ago, this disciple was born into a brahmin family in the country of Diệu Hỉ. He once donated sandalwood to a Buddhist monastery to make a mallet for striking the bell. Consequently, he has received the karmic recompense of keen intelligence and is admired and revered by the assembly.

Haklena further asked:

– What karmic affinity do I possess that causes the flock of cranes to be so fond of me?

The Venerable One replied:

– Four lives ago, you were a bhiksu. When you were about to attend a vegetarian feast at the dragon palace, all your disciples wished to accompany you. You examined the assembly of five hundred people, but not one possessed sufficient merit to be worthy of receiving such exquisite offerings.

At that time, the disciples reproached him: “Our master always taught the Dharma thus: ‘Be impartial with regard to food and drink, and likewise impartial with regard to the Dharma.’ Now you have failed to act accordingly. Even if you abandon this life, pass through life after life, and move from one land to another, what sanctity do you possess that you should attend the assembly?” Because those five hundred disciples had meager merit and scant virtue, they were reborn among the birds. Still cherishing gratitude for his kindness, they became a flock of cranes that followed him wherever he went.

Hearing this, Haklenayasa asked:

– By what skillful means may they be liberated?

The Venerable One replied:

– I possess the unsurpassed treasure of the Dharma. You should hear and receive it, and teach and transform beings throughout the future.

He then spoke this verse:

The mind turns according to the myriad circumstances;

Where it turns is truly profound and subtle.

Following the current, one recognizes the nature;

There is neither joy nor sorrow.

Translation:

The mind turns according to myriad circumstances;

The place of its turning is truly profound.

Following the current, one realizes the nature;

Neither rejoicing nor grieving.

When the flock of cranes had heard the verse, they rose into the air, crying as they flew away. The Venerable One sat silently in the full lotus posture and suddenly passed into transformation. Haklenayasa and King Jewel Seal built a stupa in his honor.

This occurred in the nineteenth year of Emperor Huan of the Later Han dynasty, the year Yisi (165 CE).

23. Patriarch Haklenayasa.

(Haklenayasa)

(Lenayasa is Sanskrit, while “Hạc,” meaning crane, is Chinese. Because, throughout the Venerable One’s life, flocks of cranes were moved to follow him with affection, he received this name.)

He was a native of the Yuezhi kingdom and was of Brahmin lineage. His father was Heavenly Victory, and his mother was Golden Light. Because they had no children, his parents went to pray for a child before the seven Buddhas enshrined at Golden Banner. Lady Golden Light dreamed that a divine boy stood atop Mount Sumeru, holding a golden

ring in his hand, and came to her, saying, “I have come.” When she awoke, she knew that she had conceived.

At the age of seven, while playing in the village, he saw that the people engaged in improper worship and offerings. He entered the shrine and rebuked them:

– You fabricate tales of inflicting calamities and bestowing blessings in order to deceive people. Every year you slaughter living beings in sacrifice and squander resources, causing grievous harm to both people and creatures!

As soon as he finished speaking, the shrine suddenly collapsed. From then on, the villagers called him the “Child Saint” (Holy Child). At the age of twenty-two, he left the household life, and at thirty he encountered the Venerable Manorhita, who transmitted to him the Treasury of the Eye of the Dharma.

The Venerable One traveled and taught until he reached central India. The king of that land, named Fearless Ocean, devoutly revered the Buddha’s teaching. While the Venerable One was expounding the True Dharma to the king, the king suddenly saw two figures dressed in white silk robes approach and bow before the Venerable One.

The king asked:

– Who are these two?

The Master replied:

– They are the two celestial princes of the Sun and Moon—the sun deity and the moon deity. Long ago, I taught the Dharma to them, and so they have come to pay homage.

After a while, they vanished, leaving only an extraordinary fragrance.

The king asked:

– How many lands do the two deities of the Sun and Moon possess altogether?

The Venerable One replied:

– The Buddha Shakyamuni teaches and transforms the three-thousandfold world-system. Each world contains tens of billions of Mount Sumerus, suns, and moons. Were I to explain them fully, I could never reach the end.

The king rejoiced upon hearing this. The Venerable One then expounded the unsurpassed Way, liberating those with affinities. Longzi, mentioned above, had died young. His elder brother, Simha, was widely learned, possessed a retentive memory, and followed the Brahmanical path. After his teacher had died and his younger brother had also passed away, Simha went to take refuge with the Venerable One and asked:

– If I wish to seek the Way, how should I apply my mind?

The Venerable One replied:

– If you wish to seek the Way, apply the mind without an object to which it is applied (apply the mind).(32)

He asked:

– If there is no object to which the mind is applied, then who performs the work of the Buddha?

The Venerable One replied:

– If you have an object to which the mind is applied, that is without merit. Only when you are without contrivance—when there is no agent of action—is it the work of the Buddha. The sutra says: “I perform meritorious deeds, yet there is nothing that I perform.”

Upon hearing these words, Simha immediately entered the Buddha’s wisdom. At that moment, the Venerable One suddenly pointed toward the northeast and asked:

– What sign is that?

Simha replied:

– I see a vapor resembling a white rainbow covering heaven and earth, with five streams of black vapor stretching across it.

The Venerable One asked:

– What does that omen signify?

He replied:

– I cannot know.

The Venerable One said:

– Fifty years after I enter nirvana, a calamity will arise in a kingdom of northern India, and it will fall upon

you. I am about to enter cessation. I now entrust the Dharma Eye to you; guard it well.

He then spoke this verse:

When the nature of mind is recognized,

It may be called inconceivable.

Clearly, there is nothing that can be attained;

At the time of attainment, one knows without speaking.

Translation:

When the nature of mind is realized,

Only then can it be called inconceivable.

Clearly, nothing can be attained;

When it is attained, one knows but does not speak.

Bhikshu Simha delighted in hearing the verse but did not yet understand what calamity would befall him, so the Venerable One privately explained it to him. Having finished speaking, the Venerable One manifested eighteen miraculous transformations and passed into quiescence.

After his body was cremated, the relics were divided, and each party wished to build a separate stupa to enshrine its share. The Venerable One again appeared in the sky and spoke this verse:

One Dharma is all dharmas;

All dharmas are embraced by one Dharma.

My body is neither existent nor nonexistent;

Why divide it among many stupas?

Translation:

One Dharma is all dharmas;

One Dharma gathers all.

My body is neither being nor nonbeing;

Why divide it among many stupas?

After hearing the verse, the assembly ceased dividing the relics. Together they went to the Dhatu courtyard and built a stupa there to enshrine them.

This occurred in the twentieth year of Emperor Xian of the Later Han dynasty, the year Jichou (209 CE).

24. Patriarch Bhikshu Simha.

(Also called the Venerable Simha and Simhabodhi)

He was a native of central India and was of Brahmin lineage.

After attaining the Dharma under Patriarch Haklenayasa, the Venerable One traveled throughout the regions until he reached the kingdom of Kashmir. There was a man named Palika who had long practiced meditative contemplation. His disciples were already divided into five groups: 1. Meditation, 2. Knowledge and Vision, 3. Attachment to Characteristics, 4. Relinquishment of Characteristics, and 5. Purity of Speech. The Venerable One questioned and instructed them.

Four groups silently submitted with heartfelt conviction. Only Dharmadata, the teacher of the meditation group, became angry when he heard that the other four groups had been subdued. He therefore went to meet the Venerable One and challenge him.

The Venerable One asked:

– Worthy one, if you practice samadhi, why have you come here? Since you have come, how can you claim to be practicing samadhi?

He replied:

– Although I have come here, my mind remains undisturbed. Samadhi accompanies the practitioner; how could it depend upon a place?

The Venerable One said:

– Since you have come, the one who practices samadhi has also come. If it does not depend upon a place, then what practitioner remains for it to accompany?

He replied:

– It is samadhi that practices the person, not the person who practices samadhi. Although I have come here, that samadhi still practices constantly.

The Venerable One asked:

– The person does not practice samadhi, but samadhi practices the person. Then, precisely when you came here, whom did that samadhi practice?

He replied:

– It is like a luminous pearl, pure within and without, without any obscuring blemish. If samadhi is penetrating and unobstructed, it must be like this.

The Master said:

– If samadhi is penetrating and unobstructed, it is exactly like a luminous pearl. Yet as I see you now, worthy one, you are not a disciple of the luminous pearl.

The other said:

– That pearl shines with penetrating clarity and is settled within and without. My mind is undisturbed, just like that purity.

The Master said:

– That pearl has neither within nor without, neither subject nor object. How, then, can you, as the one who settles, settle a defiled object without being moved? Such samadhi is not the purity of the luminous pearl.

Through the Venerable One’s instruction, Dharmadata awakened, and the ground of his mind became luminous and clear. After the Venerable One had completely won over all five groups, his fame spread far and wide. Still seeking someone to inherit the Dharma, the Venerable One encountered an elder accompanied by his son.

The elder asked:

– My son here is named Sida. From the moment he was born, his left hand has remained tightly clenched. Now he has grown up, yet he still will not open it. I beg the Venerable One to reveal to me the causes and conditions from his former life.

The Venerable One looked at Sida, extended his hand to receive something, and said:

– Return my pearl to me.

The boy immediately opened his hand and presented the pearl to him. The assembly was astonished. The Venerable One said:

– In a former life, the body born of my karma was that of a monk, and I had a young attendant named Bà-xá. I often went with the youth to partake of meals at the Western Sea. After receiving a pearl as an offering, I gave it to him. It is only natural that he now returns the pearl to me.

The elder then allowed his son to renounce the household life, and the Venerable One conferred upon him the full precepts. Because of this former affinity, the Venerable One named him Bà-xá Tư-đa.

The Venerable One further said to Tư-đa:

– My master once privately gave a prophecy that I would meet with calamity. I now transmit the Tathagata’s Treasury of the True Dharma Eye to you. You should preserve it and cause it to permeate all the way to the furthest reaches of the future.

The verse says:

When true seeing and knowing are rightly expounded,

Seeing and knowing are entirely mind.

This very mind is seeing and knowing;

Seeing and knowing are the very present.

Translation:

When true seeing and knowing are rightly expounded,

Seeing and knowing are all mind.

This very mind is seeing and knowing;

Seeing and knowing are this very moment (33).

After reciting the verse, the Venerable One secretly entrusted his sanghati robe to Tư-đa and instructed him to go to another land and teach in accordance with conditions. Tư-đa obeyed and went directly to Southern India.

The Venerable One believed that one should not hope to escape calamity and therefore remained alone in the kingdom of Kế Tân. At that time, there were two non-Buddhists in that kingdom, one named Ma-mục-đa and the other Đô-lạc-già. They had mastered arts of illusion and wished to conspire together in rebellion. They therefore disguised themselves in the appearance and attire of monks from the Venerable One’s Sangha and secretly entered the royal palace as assassins. They also said, “If the affair fails, we shall lay the blame upon the sons of the Shakya.” Before the demons could bring their own ruin very far, the plot was exposed.

The king was greatly enraged and said:

– I have long devoted myself to revering the Three Jewels. Why, then, would they seek to inflict such excessive violence upon me?

The king immediately ordered the monasteries destroyed and the Buddhist Sangha suppressed. Then, personally taking up his sword, he went to meet the Venerable One and asked:

– Have you attained the emptiness of the skandhas—the emptiness of self?

The Venerable One replied:

– I have attained the emptiness of self.

The king asked:

– Have you transcended birth and death?

The Venerable One replied:

– I have transcended birth and death.

The king asked:

– Since you have transcended birth and death, can you give me your head?

The Venerable One said:

– This body is not the self; why, then, should I begrudge the head?

The king immediately swung his sword and severed the Venerable One’s head. White milk spurted several feet into the air. The king’s right arm also fell to the ground together with the head, and seven days later the king died. Crown Prince Quang Thủ lamented:

– For what reason did my father bring this calamity upon himself?

At that time, an immortal dwelling on Mount Tượng Bạch, who clearly understood the causes and effects involved, came and fully related to Quang Thủ the causes from their former lives, thereby dispelling his web of doubt. (The former-life circumstances between the Venerable One and the king are fully recorded in the Thánh Trụ Tập and the Bảo Lâm Truyện.) He then received the remains of the Venerable Sư Tử and erected a stupa there to enshrine them.

This occurred in the twentieth year of King Tề of the Wei dynasty, the jǐmǎo year (259 CE). (It should actually be the sixth year of Duke Cao Quý Hương, because King Tề, whose personal name was Phương, was deposed after reigning for fifteen years. The Chánh Tông Ký states, “The Bảo Lâm Truyện mistakenly records the year as jǐmǎo; it should be the dīngmǎo year of King Tề Phương”—247 CE. Thus, it was the eighth year of King Tề.)

The Venerable Sư Tử transmitted the mind Dharma and the robe of authentication to Bà-xá Tư-đa as his legitimate Dharma heir. In addition, there was a collateral lineage beginning with Đạt-ma-đạt, which extended through four generations and comprised twenty-two persons.

25. Patriarch Bà-xá Tư-đa

(Basasita)

He was a native of the kingdom of Kế Tân and belonged to the Brahmin caste. His father was named Tịch Hạnh, and his mother was named Thường An Lạc. At first, his mother dreamed of a divine sword and consequently became pregnant. From the time he was born, he kept his left hand clenched. Later, when he met the Venerable Sư Tử, the circumstances of their former lives were revealed, and he secretly received the Patriarch’s mind-seal.

Afterward, he traveled southward to Central India, where the king of that land, Ca Thắng, arranged an offering ceremony in his honor. At that time, there was a non-Buddhist known as Vô Ngã Tôn. At first, seeing the great reverence with which the king honored the Patriarch, he became jealous and wished to challenge the Patriarch to a debate on doctrine, hoping that by winning he might strengthen his own standing.

Then, in the king’s presence, Vô Ngã Tôn said to the Patriarch:

– I understand the doctrine through silent discourse, without employing verbal explanation.

The Patriarch asked:

– If verbal explanation is not employed, how can it be known who wins and who loses?

He replied:

– The essential point is not to dispute victory or defeat, but only to grasp the meaning.

The Patriarch asked:

– What do you take as the meaning?

He replied:

– No-mind is the meaning.

The Patriarch asked:

– Since you have no mind, how can a meaning be established?

He replied:

– What I call “no-mind” is precisely a name, not a meaning.

The Patriarch said:

– You say that no-mind is precisely a name, not a meaning. I say that non-mind is precisely a meaning, not a name.

He asked:

– If it is precisely a meaning and not a name, who is able to discern that meaning?

The Patriarch asked:

– You say it is precisely a name and not a meaning; then what name is that name?

He replied:

– Because a name is provisionally employed to discern what is not a meaning, that name is nameless.

The Patriarch said:

– If the name is already not a name and the meaning is also not a meaning, then who is the one who discerns, and what is there to discern?

They debated back and forth in this manner fifty-nine times before the non-Buddhist finally fell silent and submitted in faith. At that moment, the Patriarch suddenly looked northward, joined his palms, and cried in lamentation: “My master, the Venerable Sư Tử! Today he has met with calamity. How grievous!”

He then took leave of the king and journeyed southward. Upon reaching Southern India, the Patriarch concealed himself in a mountain valley. At that time, the king of that land, named Thiên Đức, welcomed and invited him to receive offerings. The king had two sons: one was fierce by nature and physically strong, while the other was gentle but continually afflicted by illness. The Patriarch explained to the king the causes and effects pertaining to both sons, and the king’s doubts were immediately dispelled.

There were also masters of incantation arts who, jealous of the Patriarch’s Way, secretly put poison into his food and drink. The Patriarch knew this but consumed them nevertheless. The calamity rebounded upon those men, and they bowed their heads before the Patriarch and requested ordination. The Patriarch conferred the full precepts upon them.

Sixteen years later, Crown Prince Đắc Thắng ascended the throne and again placed his faith in non-Buddhists, wishing to harm the Patriarch. Crown Prince Bất-như Mật-đa, the son of King Đắc Thắng, was imprisoned for remonstrating with his royal father.

The king, in his anger, hastily asked the Patriarch:

– My kingdom has always been free of demons. To what school does the teaching you transmit belong?

The Patriarch replied:

– Your Majesty’s kingdom has indeed never had any false Dharma. What I have received is precisely the school of the Buddha.

The king asked:

– It has now been twelve hundred years since the Buddha entered nirvana. From whom did you attain it?

The Patriarch replied:

– The Great Being Ẩm Quang personally received the Buddha’s mind-seal. It was transmitted successively until it reached the twenty-fourth generation, the Venerable Sư Tử, from whom I attained it.

The king said:

– I have heard that the bhikshu Sư Tử could not avoid being beheaded. How, then, could he have transmitted the Dharma to a later successor?

The Patriarch replied:

– Before my master’s calamity arrived, he secretly transmitted to me the Dharma verse and the robe of authentication as tokens verifying the transmission of his lineage.

The king asked:

– Does that robe still exist?

The Patriarch immediately took the robe from his bag and presented it to the king. The king ordered the robe burned. Yet five-colored rays of light remained brilliantly visible; when the firewood had been reduced to ashes, the robe remained intact just as before. The king regretted what he had done and arranged a ceremony to express remorse before Patriarch Sư Tử. Once the authentic transmission from Patriarch Sư Tử had been verified, the king granted amnesty to the crown prince. The crown prince then asked the Patriarch for permission to renounce the household life.

The Patriarch asked the crown prince:

– For what purpose do you wish to renounce the household life?

He replied:

– If I renounce the household life, it will not be for that affair.

The Patriarch asked:

– Not for what affair?

He replied:

– Not for worldly affairs.

The Patriarch asked:

– Then for what affair will it be?

He replied:

– It will be for the Buddha’s work.

The Patriarch said:

– The crown prince’s wisdom has arisen naturally; the sages will surely reveal an auspicious sign.

The Patriarch then permitted the crown prince to renounce the household life. After serving as his attendant for six years, the crown prince received the full precepts within the royal palace. At the time the precepts were transmitted, the great earth trembled, and many wondrous signs appeared.

The Patriarch instructed him:

– I am old and frail and shall not remain in this world much longer. You must carefully preserve the treasury of the true Dharma eye and universally deliver all beings.

Listen to my verse:

The noble one expounds knowing and seeing;

Amid circumstances, there is neither right nor wrong.

I have now awakened to the true nature;

There is neither the Way nor any principle.

Translation:

The noble one points directly to knowing and seeing;

Confronting circumstances, there is neither right nor wrong.

I have now awakened to the true nature;

There is neither the Way nor any principle.

After hearing the verse, Punyamitra again addressed the Patriarch:

– Should the Dharma robe be transmitted?

The Patriarch said:

– Because my master encountered persecution, he temporarily borrowed this robe as proof. Since you will suffer no such calamity, what need have you of this robe? When you teach and transform beings, people throughout the ten directions will place their faith in you.

Having heard this instruction, Punyamitra bowed and withdrew. The Patriarch manifested miraculous transformations and produced the fire of samadhi to cremate his own body. His relics rose about one foot above the level ground, and King Victorious Virtue had a stupa built in which to enshrine them.

This occurred during the Eastern Jin dynasty, in the third year of the Taining era under Emperor Ming, the yiyou year (325 CE).

26. Patriarch Punyamitra.

(Punyamitra)

He was a crown prince, the son of King Victorious Virtue in southern India.

After Patriarch Vasasita had converted him and he had attained the Dharma, the Venerable One traveled to eastern India. The king of that country was named

Firmness. He followed a non-Buddhist path and revered the Brahmin Long Nails—so called because he kept his fingernails long—as his teacher.

When the Venerable One was about to arrive, the king and the assembly of Brahmins all saw white vapors filling heaven and earth. The king asked:

– What auspicious sign is this?

The Brahmin knew beforehand that the Venerable One was entering the kingdom. Fearing that the king would turn toward the good, he replied:

– It is a sign that a demon is coming. What could be auspicious about it?

The Brahmin then assembled all his disciples and said in deliberation:

– Punyamitra is about to enter the capital. Who can stop him?

The disciples replied:

– Each of us possesses magical spells capable of shaking heaven and earth and of entering water and fire. What is there to fear?

As the Venerable One approached, he first saw black vapors upon the walls of the royal palace and said, “It is only a minor tribulation.” He then went directly to the palace and requested an audience with the king. The king asked:

– Why have you come here?

The Venerable One replied:

– To deliver sentient beings.

The king asked:

– What Dharma will you use to deliver them?

The Venerable One replied:

– I shall deliver each according to their kind.

When the Brahmins heard the Patriarch say this, they could not restrain their anger. Using illusory arts, they conjured a great mountain above the Venerable One’s head. The Venerable One pointed a finger at the Brahmins, and the mountain suddenly appeared above their heads instead. Terrified, the Brahmins begged that their lives be spared. Out of compassion for their delusion, the Venerable One pointed again, and the conjured mountain vanished. He then expounded the essentials of the Dharma, causing the king to turn toward the True Vehicle. He further told the king:

– In this country there will be a noble one who succeeds me.

At that time, there was in the kingdom a Brahmin youth about twenty years old. His parents had died while he was still a child, and no one knew his family name or given name. He sometimes called himself Necklace, so people called him the Youth Necklace. He wandered through villages, begging for food to sustain himself, much like Bodhisattva Never Disparaging.

Someone asked him:

– Why are you walking so quickly?

He immediately replied:

– Why are you walking so slowly?

Someone asked:

– What is your family name?

He replied:

– The same as yours.

No one knew what he was doing. Later, on one occasion, the king and the Venerable One rode together in a carriage beyond the city and encountered the Youth Necklace standing before the carriage and bowing. The Venerable One asked:

– Do you still remember what happened in the past?

He replied:

– I remember that, in a remote past life, I attended the same Dharma assembly as you. You expounded the Mahaprajna, while I taught the exceedingly profound Sutra. Our meeting again today also accords with causes from the past.

The Venerable One then told the king:

– This youth is none other than Bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta. After this noble one, two more noble ones will appear in the world: one will teach and transform beings in southern India, while the other will have affinities with the land of Cinasthana (China), but after nine years will return to this country.

Because of causes from the past, the Venerable One named him Prajnatara(34) and transmitted to him the treasury of the Dharma eye.

The verse said:

The true nature is hidden in the ground of mind;

It has neither beginning nor end.

Responding to conditions, it transforms beings;

As an expedient, this is called wisdom.

Translation:

The true nature lies hidden in the ground of mind;(35)

It has neither beginning nor end.

Responding to conditions, it transforms beings;

As an expedient, this is called wisdom.

After transmitting the Dharma, the Venerable One took leave of the king:

– The conditions for my teaching and transformation have been fulfilled, and I shall return to quiescent extinction. With regard to the Dharma of the Supreme Vehicle, I hope the king will not neglect his duty as an external protector.

Having spoken, the worthy Patriarch returned to his former seat, sat in the full lotus posture, and entered quiescence. He produced fire and cremated himself. The king gathered the relics and built a stupa in which to enshrine them.

This occurred during the Eastern Jin dynasty, in the thirteenth year of the Taiyuan era under Emperor Xiaowu, the wuzi year (388 CE).

27. Patriarch Prajnatara.

(Prajnõadhara)

He was a native of eastern India.

After attaining the Dharma under Patriarch Punyamitra, the Venerable One traveled about teaching and transforming beings until he reached southern India. The king of that country was named Fragrant Utmost. He revered the Buddha Vehicle, honored the Sangha, made offerings, and aided sentient beings in ways surpassing ordinary custom. The king even presented a priceless jewel.

At that time, the king had three princes, the third and youngest of whom was a bodhisattva adept. Wishing to test what this prince had realized, the Venerable One took out the priceless jewel offered by the king and asked the three princes:

– This jewel is perfectly round and luminous. Is there anything in the world equal to it?

The first prince, Pure-Eyed Tara, and the second, Virtue Tara, both replied:

– Among the seven treasures, this jewel is the most precious, and nothing surpasses it. Apart from a Venerable One possessing the power of the Way, who could be worthy of keeping it?

The third prince, Bodhitara, replied:

– This is a treasure of the world, but it is not the ultimate. Among all treasures, the treasure of the Dharma is supreme. This is worldly light, but it is not the ultimate. Among all forms of light, the light of wisdom is supreme. This is worldly purity—freedom from defilement—but it is not the ultimate. Among all forms of purity, purity of mind is supreme.

This jewel is bright, yet it cannot illuminate and reveal itself. Only by relying on the light of wisdom can its brightness be discerned. Once its brightness has been discerned, one knows that it is a jewel; and once one knows that it is a jewel, one understands its preciousness. Yet although its preciousness is understood, the jewel itself does not understand that it is precious. Likewise, although one discerns it to be a jewel, the jewel does not discern itself to be a jewel. Since the jewel cannot regard itself as a jewel, one must rely upon the jewel of wisdom to discern the worldly jewel. Since the precious jewel cannot regard itself as precious, one must rely upon the preciousness of wisdom to understand the preciousness of the Dharma jewel.

Therefore, when the master possesses that Way, that treasure is immediately revealed. When sentient beings possess the Way, the preciousness of mind is likewise revealed.

The Venerable One praised Bodhitara’s wisdom and eloquence, then asked further:

– Among all things, what is without characteristics?

He replied:

– Among all things, that which does not arise in the mind is without characteristics.

The Venerable One asked again:

– Among all things, what is highest?

He replied:

– Among all things, the mind of self and others is highest.

The Venerable One asked again:

– Among all things, what is greatest?

He replied:

– Among all things, the Dharma-nature is greatest.

The Venerable One knew that this was his Dharma heir, but because the proper time had not yet arrived, the Patriarch remained silent and made no declaration concerning Tara. When King Fragrant Utmost became weary of worldly life and passed away, everyone wailed and wept in despair. Only the third son, Bodhitara, entered samadhi before

the coffin. After seven days, he emerged from samadhi and asked the Patriarch for permission to renounce the household life.

After Bodhitara had received full ordination, the Venerable One said to him:

– The Tathagata entrusted the Treasury of the True Dharma Eye to Mahakasyapa, and through successive transmission it has now come into my hands. I now entrust it to you. Listen to my verse:

From the mind-ground all seeds arise;

Through phenomena, principle in turn arises.

When the fruit is full, bodhi is complete;

When the flower opens, the world unfolds.

Translation:

The mind-ground gives rise to all seeds;

Through phenomena, principle comes to life again.

The fruit is full, and bodhi complete;

The flower blooms, and the world is revealed.

Having completed the transmission of the Dharma, the Venerable One immediately rose from his seat and extended both hands straight out. From each hand he emitted light that formed twenty-seven rays of five-colored radiance. He then soared into the air to a height of seven tala trees and produced fire to cremate himself. Relics fell like rain from the sky; the assembly gathered them and built a stupa in which to enshrine them.

This occurred during the reign of Emperor Xiaowu of the Liu Song dynasty, in the first year of the Daming era, the dingyou year (457 CE).

(The Record of the Orthodox Lineage states: “During the reign of Emperor Xiaowu of the Song.” It further notes: The year was calculated on the basis that Dharma was sixty-seven years old. It should properly be during the reign of Emperor Xiaowu of the Song dynasty, in the first year of the Jianyuan era, the jiawu year—454 CE.)

END OF VOLUME II

Notes:

(21) Collateral branch: A disciple who attained the Dharma and continued the Patriarch’s Dharma lineage, but belonged to a subsidiary line.

(22) This Vasubandhu was the twenty-first Patriarch of the Chan school. He was not Bodhisattva Vasubandhu—the younger brother of Bodhisattva Asanga—of the Vijnaptimatra teachings belonging to the Mahayana Yogacara school. (According to the Fo Guang Dictionary of Buddhism)

– Two periods of five hundred years means one thousand years after the Buddha entered nirvana.

(23) The original reads “because of the self,” with the same meaning as “belonging to the self.” (Translator)

(24) Emperor Wen of the Former Han reigned from 179 to 157 BCE. His nineteenth year was 161 BCE, corresponding to the yimao year. The gengchen year was 160 BCE! It may instead have been 140 CE. (Translator)

(25) After the Buddha entered nirvana.

(26) This wuchen year may have been 188 CE. (Translator)

(27) Mind-eye: The eye of the mind is ever-present everywhere. When it functions, all marks of existence and nonexistence are empty.

(28) The seeds and the mind-ground are inherently present, while causes and conditions assist all dharmas in arising. Although dharmas arise through conditions, mind and dharmas do not obstruct one another. At the very moment a dharma arises, there is an excellent opportunity to recognize “that which is unborn” (the mind-ground, suchness). This is because mind and dharmas are fundamentally nondual.

(29) Innate wisdom: Wisdom that is inherently present but forgotten because of the conditions of worldly life.

(30) Resolution: When one sees the principle of neither arising nor attainment, there is no need to resolve doubts, nor is there any need to assert anything with absolute certainty.

(31) Dhutanga: This means shaking off all defilements. It is a method of ascetic practice comprising thirteen dhutanga practices: 1. Wearing patched garments made from discarded cloth; 2. Wearing only the three robes; 3. Living on alms; 4. Begging for alms in sequential order; 5. Eating once a day; 6. Eating only one portion; 7. Not eating between meals; 8. Dwelling in a forest; 9. Dwelling at the foot of a tree; 10. Dwelling in the open air; 11. Dwelling in a cemetery; 12. Sleeping wherever one happens to be; 13. Sitting without lying down.

(32) Seeing, hearing, perceiving, and knowing without objects (empty) such as form, sound, scent, and so forth means being without abiding and without marks. (Translator)

(33) When speech manifests the understanding and vision that is free from views (the Buddha’s understanding and vision), whatever is said accords with the Way and is called right speech.

The Buddha’s understanding and vision is nondual with body and mind (understanding and vision establish knowing and function). Because the true and the deluded are nondual, if one wishes to recognize the Buddha’s understanding and vision, it must be recognized precisely amid the activities and functioning of this very body and mind—that is, right now.

(34) The teacher expounds prajnaparamita; the disciple teaches the sutras.

(35) Mind-ground: Here it is understood as the eight consciousnesses—the mind, mentation, and consciousness of the Vijnaptimatra school. True nature and the mind-ground, wisdom and consciousness, blend together like milk and water.