時祖師居曹溪寶林 神秀大師在荊南玉泉寺 於時兩宗盛化 人皆稱南能北秀 故有南北二宗頓漸之分 而學者莫知宗趣 師謂衆曰 法本一宗 人有南北 法即一種 見有遲疾 何名頓漸 法無頓漸 人有利鈍 故名頓漸 然秀之徒衆 往往譏南宗祖師 不識一字 有何所長 秀曰 他得無師之智 深悟上乘 吾不如也 且吾師五祖 親傳衣法 豈徒然哉 吾恨不能遠去親近 虛受國恩 汝等諸人 毋滯於此 可往曹溪參決
Shí zǔ shī jū cáo xī bǎo lín shén xiù dà shī zài jīng nán yù quán sì yú shí liǎng zōng shèng huà rén jiē chēng nán néng běi xiù gù yǒu nán běi èr zōng dùn jiàn zhī fēn ér xué zhě mò zhī zōng qū shī wèi zhòng yuē fǎ běn yī zōng rén yǒu nán běi fǎ jí yī zhǒng jiàn yǒu chí jí hé míng dùn jiàn fǎ wú dùn jiàn rén yǒu lì dùn gù míng dùn jiàn rán xiù zhī tú zhòng wǎng wǎng jī nán zōng zǔ shī bù shí yī zì yǒu hé suǒ zhǎng xiù yuē tā dé wú shī zhī zhì shēn wù shàng shèng wú bù rú yě qiě wú shī wǔ zǔ qīn chuán yī fǎ qǐ tú rán zāi wú hèn bù néng yuǎn qù qīn jìn xū shòu guó ēn rǔ děng zhū rén wú zhì yú cǐ kě wǎng cáo xī cān jué
Key Message
There is no fast or slow in awakening. Only the faculties of practitioners differ. The Dharma is one, and to see that oneness is sudden awakening.
▸The Chapter on the Sudden and Gradual addresses the great debate that divided Chinese Buddhism of the time: the sudden enlightenment (頓悟, dùn wù) of Huineng's Southern School versus the gradual cultivation (漸修, jiàn xiū) of Shenxiu's (神秀) Northern School.
The Chapter on the Sudden and Gradual addresses the great debate that divided Chinese Buddhism of the time: the sudden enlightenment (頓悟, dùn wù) of Huineng's Southern School versus the gradual cultivation (漸修, jiàn xiū) of Shenxiu's (神秀) Northern School. Huineng declares: 'The Dharma is fundamentally one school. It is people who have south and north. The Dharma is one kind; it is seeing that is fast or slow. What is called sudden or gradual? The Dharma has no sudden or gradual — it is people who have sharp or dull faculties.' Notably, when Shenxiu's disciples mocked Huineng as illiterate, Shenxiu himself praised Huineng: 'He obtained wisdom without a teacher and has deeply awakened to the supreme vehicle. I am not his equal.' He urged his own students to go to Caoxi to receive Huineng's teaching — a remarkable display of magnanimity.