韋刺史問曰 弟子聞和尚說法 實不可思議 今有少疑 願大慈悲 特為解說 師曰 有疑即問 吾當為說 韋公曰 和尚所說 可不是達磨大師宗旨乎 師曰 是 公曰 弟子聞達磨初化梁武帝 帝問云 朕一生造寺度僧 布施設齋 有何功德 達磨言 實無功德 弟子未達此理 願和尚為說 師曰 實無功德 勿疑先聖之言 武帝心邪 不知正法 造寺度僧 布施設齋 名為求福 不可將福便為功德 功德在法身中 不在修福
Wéi cì shǐ wèn yuē dì zǐ wén hé shàng shuō fǎ shí bù kě sī yì jīn yǒu shǎo yí yuàn dà cí bēi tè wèi jiě shuō shī yuē yǒu yí jí wèn wú dāng wèi shuō wéi gōng yuē hé shàng suǒ shuō kě bú shì dá mó dà shī zōng zhǐ hū shī yuē shì gōng yuē dì zǐ wén dá mó chū huà liáng wǔ dì dì wèn yún zhèn yī shēng zào sì dù sēng bù shī shè zhāi yǒu hé gōng dé dá mó yán shí wú gōng dé dì zǐ wèi dá cǐ lǐ yuàn hé shàng wèi shuō shī yuē shí wú gōng dé wù yí xiān shèng zhī yán wǔ dì xīn xié bù zhī zhèng fǎ zào sì dù sēng bù shī shè zhāi míng wèi qiú fú bù kě jiāng fú biàn wèi gōng dé gōng dé zài fǎ shēn zhōng bù zài xiū fú
Key Message
True merit resides within the dharma-body of self-nature. Good deeds performed with the hope of reward are merely blessings, not true merit.
▸The Chapter of Questions and Doubts is structured as a dialogue in which Prefect Wei Qu (韋璩) of Shaozhou presents questions from disciples and lay followers to Huineng.
The Chapter of Questions and Doubts is structured as a dialogue in which Prefect Wei Qu (韋璩) of Shaozhou presents questions from disciples and lay followers to Huineng. The most central question concerns the famous exchange between Bodhidharma (達磨) and Emperor Wu of Liang (梁武帝). Although the Emperor had spent his entire life building temples, ordaining monks, and giving donations, Bodhidharma replied 'No merit whatsoever' (實無功德). Huineng explains that the Emperor's motivation was to accumulate blessings (福, fú), not true merit (功德, gōngdé). These two are fundamentally different. True merit resides within the dharma-body (法身, fǎshēn) of self-nature — it is not accumulated through external acts performed with expectation of reward. True merit is the manifestation of genuine awakening, not the product of calculative giving.