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Post by Neo on Nov 8, 2020 23:49:29 GMT -5
Shenxiu writes his stanza:
When Shenxiu had finished making up his verse, he tried several times to go to the front of the hall [to offer his verse in person]. But his mind was in a daze and his body covered with sweat, and he was unable to submit [his verse]. Over the space of four days he tried thirteen times to submit his verse but couldn't. He thought, `It would be better to write it in the hallway. After His Reverence sees it, if he says it is good, I will come forward and bow to him, saying that it was mine. If he says it is unacceptable, I will have wasted several years at this monastery. I will have received the obeisance of others, but what Way will I have cultivated?' "On that night, in the third watch (about 1:00 A.M.) so that no one else knew, [Shenxiu] took a lamp and wrote his verse on the wall of the south corridor, submitting [to the patriarch] the viewpoint of his mind. The verse read: "After Shenxiu finished writing his verse, he returned to his room, without anyone knowing. Shenxiu thought, `Tomorrow, if the Fifth Patriarch sees my verse and is pleased, it will mean I have a karmic connection with the Dharma. If he says it's unacceptable, it will mean I am deluded by the layered barriers of past karma and am not fit to attain the Dharma. The sagely intention is difficult to fathom!' He remained in his room, thinking, but unable to rest either sitting or lying down. ~ The Platform Sutra Source:www.homeworkmarket.com/files/rj4-pdf |
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Post by Neo on Nov 8, 2020 23:50:47 GMT -5
Huineng writes his verse: The boy took me there and I asked him to read it to me, as I am illiterate. A petty officer of the Jiang Zhou District named Zhang Ri Yong, who happened to be there, read it out to me. When he had finished reading I told him that I also had composed a stanza and asked him to write it for me. "Extraordinary indeed," he exclaimed, "that you also can compose a stanza!" "Don't despise a beginner," said I, "if you are a seeker of supreme enlightenment. You should know that the lowest class may have the sharpest wit, while the highest may be in want of intelligence. If you slight others, you commit a very great sin." "Dictate your stanza," said he. "I will take it down for you. But do not forget to deliver me, should you succeed in getting the Dharma!" My stanza read:-- When he had written this, all disciples and others who were present were greatly surprised. Filled with admiration, they said to one another, "How wonderful! No doubt we should not judge people by appearance. How can it be that for so long we have made a Bodhisattva incarnate work for us?" ~ Heineng Sutra (also called The Platform Sutra) Source: www.purifymind.com/HeinengSutra.htm |
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