Repentance, the Vows, and the Threefold Body

At that time the Great Master, seeing people of Guangzhou, Shaozhou, and every direction gathered together in the mountains to hear the Dharma, ascended his seat and told the assembly: "Come, all you good friends! This matter must arise from within your own being. At every moment, purify your own mind, thought after thought. Cultivate yourself, practice for yourself, see your own Dharma-body, see the buddha within your own mind, deliver yourself, and hold your own precepts — only then can this be attained without relying on anything outside. Since you have all come from far away and gathered together here, we surely share a bond. Now let each of you kneel, and I will first transmit the five-fold incense of the Dharma-body of self-nature, and then confer formless repentance." The assembly knelt. The Master said: "First, the incense of precept: to have, within one's own mind, no wrong and no evil, no envy, no greed or anger, and no thought of plunder or harm — this is called the incense of precept. Second, the incense of samādhi: to behold every kind of good or evil circumstance while one's own mind remains undisturbed — this is called the incense of samādhi. Third, the incense of wisdom: one's own mind unobstructed, constantly contemplating self-nature with the light of wisdom, committing no evil at all; and though one cultivates every kind of good, the mind remains unattached to it, respecting those above and caring for those below, showing compassion to the orphaned and the poor — this is called the incense of wisdom. Fourth, the incense of liberation: one's own mind with nothing at all to grasp onto, thinking neither of good nor of evil, at ease and unobstructed — this is called the incense of liberation. Fifth, the incense of the knowledge and vision of liberation: once one's own mind has nothing at all to grasp onto, whether good or evil, one must not sink into blank emptiness and cling to stillness, but must instead study widely and learn extensively, recognize one's own fundamental mind, penetrate the principles of every buddha, blend one's own light with that of others, be without a notion of self or of other, and go straight to bodhi, the true nature never changing — this is called the incense of the knowledge and vision of liberation. Good friends, each of these kinds of incense is to be burned within yourself — do not go searching for them outside."

"Now I will confer upon you formless repentance, which extinguishes the offenses of the three periods of time and brings the three karmic actions to purity. Good friends, each repeat after me, all together: 'We disciples, from the thought before, the thought now, and the thought to come, in thought after thought will not be stained by foolishness and delusion. Whatever evil karma of foolishness and delusion we have committed in the past, we now entirely repent of it, wishing it extinguished all at once, never to arise again. We disciples, from the thought before, the thought now, and the thought to come, in thought after thought will not be stained by arrogance and deceit. Whatever evil karma of arrogance and deceit we have committed in the past, we now entirely repent of it, wishing it extinguished all at once, never to arise again. We disciples, from the thought before, the thought now, and the thought to come, in thought after thought will not be stained by envy. Whatever evil karma of envy we have committed in the past, we now entirely repent of it, wishing it extinguished all at once, never to arise again.' Good friends, all of this above is formless repentance. What is meant by 'repenting'? What is meant by 'reforming'? To repent is to repent of one's former transgressions — whatever evil karma of foolishness, delusion, arrogance, deceit, and envy there has been, to repent of it entirely, so that it never arises again — this is called repenting. To reform is to reform against future faults — from this moment on, whatever evil karma of foolishness, delusion, arrogance, deceit, and envy there might be, now that one has awakened to it, to cut it off forever and never commit it again — this is called reforming. This is why it is called repentance and reform together. Ordinary people, foolish and deluded, know only how to repent of their former transgressions, without knowing how to reform against their future faults. Because they do not reform, their former transgressions are not extinguished, and further faults arise besides. If the former transgressions are not yet extinguished, and further faults arise on top of them, how could this be called repentance and reform at all? "Good friends, having now repented, I will make the four great vows together with you, good friends — each of you should listen with full attention. 'The sentient beings of my own mind, boundless, I vow to deliver. The afflictions of my own mind, boundless, I vow to cut off. The teachings of my own nature, inexhaustible, I vow to learn. The unsurpassed buddha-path of my own nature, I vow to accomplish.' Good friends, do we not all say, 'the sentient beings, boundless, I vow to deliver'? But saying it in this way, it is, after all, not Huineng who does the delivering. Good friends, the sentient beings within your own mind — the mind of wrong views and delusion, the mind of deceit and falsehood, the unwholesome mind, the envious mind, the mind of malice and harm, minds such as these — all of them are the sentient beings meant here. Each of you must deliver them by your own self-nature; this alone is called true deliverance. What is meant by delivering them by your own self-nature? It means taking the sentient beings of wrong views, affliction, foolishness, and delusion within your own mind, and delivering them by right view. Once right view is present, use the wisdom of prajñā to break through these sentient beings of foolishness, delusion, and falsehood, and deliver each of them, one by one, by yourself: where wrong comes, deliver it by right; where delusion comes, deliver it by awakening; where foolishness comes, deliver it by wisdom; where evil comes, deliver it by good — delivering in this way is what is called true deliverance. As for 'the afflictions, boundless, I vow to cut off,' this means using the wisdom of prajñā in your own self-nature to remove the mind of false and empty thought. As for 'the teachings, inexhaustible, I vow to learn,' you must see your own nature for yourself, and constantly practice the true Dharma — this is called true learning. As for 'the unsurpassed buddha-path, I vow to accomplish,' once you are constantly able to hold your mind low, and act with true rightness, free of both delusion and of awakening itself, prajñā constantly arises; removing both the true and the false alike, you thereby see buddha-nature, and the buddha-path is accomplished the very moment these words are spoken. To constantly hold this practice in mind is the Dharma of the power of vows."

"Good friends, having now made the four great vows, I will further confer upon you, good friends, the formless threefold refuge. Good friends: take refuge in awakening, most honored among those complete in both wisdom and practice; take refuge in rightness, most honored in being free of desire; take refuge in purity, most honored among the assembly. From this day forward, call awakening your teacher, and never again take refuge in demonic or heterodox ways; let the threefold treasure of your own self-nature constantly bear witness to this for yourself. I urge you, good friends, to take refuge in the threefold treasure of your own self-nature. 'Buddha' means awakening; 'Dharma' means rightness; 'Saṅgha' means purity. When your own mind takes refuge in awakening, wrong views and delusion do not arise; you have few desires and know contentment, and are able to leave behind wealth and sensuality — this is called most honored among those complete in both wisdom and practice. When your own mind takes refuge in rightness, thought after thought is free of wrong views; and because it is free of wrong views, there is no notion of self and other, no arrogance, no greedy attachment — this is called most honored in being free of desire. When your own mind takes refuge in purity, self-nature remains unstained by every worldly circumstance of desire and craving — this is called most honored among the assembly. To practice in this way is to take refuge in yourself. Ordinary people do not understand this, and from morning to night they receive the threefold refuge precepts, yet if you ask them, 'if you take refuge in the Buddha, where is that Buddha?' — if they cannot see the Buddha, what have they taken refuge in at all? Their words become empty and false. Good friends, each of you should examine this for yourself, and do not misapply your mind. The sūtra text states plainly, 'take refuge in the Buddha within yourself' — it does not say 'take refuge in some other buddha.' If you do not take refuge in the buddha that is yourself, you have nowhere at all to rely upon. Now that you have awakened for yourselves, each of you must take refuge in the threefold treasure of your own mind: governing your own mind and nature within, and showing respect to others outwardly — this is taking refuge in yourself. "Good friends, having now taken refuge in the threefold treasure of your own self, let each of you set your mind fully, and I will explain to you the single-substance, threefold-body buddha of self-nature, so that you may see the three bodies clearly, and awaken to your own self-nature for yourselves. Repeat entirely after me: 'Within my own physical body, I take refuge in the pure Dharma-body buddha. Within my own physical body, I take refuge in the complete reward-body buddha. Within my own physical body, I take refuge in the hundred-thousand-koṭi transformation-body buddha.' Good friends, the physical body is only a dwelling — one does not speak of taking refuge in it. Those three bodies of buddhahood just named exist within self-nature, and every person already possesses them; it is only because one's own mind is deluded that one does not see this inner nature. Seeking the three bodies of the Tathāgata outside oneself, one fails to see that one's own body already contains all three bodies of buddhahood. Listen now, so that each of you may see, within your own body, that your own self-nature already possesses the three bodies of buddhahood. These three bodies of buddhahood arise from self-nature itself; they are not obtained from outside. What is meant by the pure Dharma-body buddha? The nature of people in this world is fundamentally pure, and the ten thousand things arise from self-nature itself. Thinking of every kind of evil deed gives rise to evil conduct; thinking of every kind of good deed gives rise to good conduct. All such things exist within self-nature, just as the sky is constantly clear and the sun and moon are constantly bright, yet may be covered over by drifting clouds, so that above is bright while below is dark; but the moment a wind arises and scatters the clouds, above and below both become bright, and the ten thousand forms all appear. The nature of people in this world constantly drifts about in just this way, like those clouds in the sky. Good friends, wisdom is like the sun, understanding is like the moon, and wisdom and understanding are constantly bright; but when attached outwardly to circumstances, self-nature is covered over by the drifting clouds of false thought, and cannot become clear and bright. If one meets a good friend and hears the true and correct teaching, one removes this delusion and falseness for oneself, becomes clear and bright within and without, and the ten thousand things all appear within self-nature. One who has seen their own nature is exactly the same. This is called the pure Dharma-body buddha. "Good friends, for your own mind to take refuge in your own self-nature is to take refuge in the true buddha. To take refuge in yourself is to remove, from within self-nature, the unwholesome mind, the envious mind, the mind of flattery and crookedness, the mind of self and other, the mind of falsehood and deceit, the mind that looks down on others, the mind of arrogance toward others, the mind of wrong views, the mind of pride — and every kind of unwholesome conduct at every moment; to constantly see your own faults for yourself, and not speak of others' good or bad qualities — this is taking refuge in yourself. You must constantly hold your mind low, and practice respect toward everyone universally — this is seeing your own nature and penetrating it fully, with no further obstruction at all — this too is taking refuge in yourself."

"What is meant by the complete reward-body? It is like a single lamp able to dispel a thousand years of darkness, a single moment of wisdom able to extinguish ten thousand years of folly. Do not think of what lies ahead of you — what has already passed cannot be recovered; constantly think of what comes after, so that thought after thought remains fully bright, and you see your own fundamental nature for yourself. Good and evil may differ, but fundamental nature admits no duality; this nature without duality is called the real nature. Within this real nature, one is stained by neither good nor evil — this is called the complete reward-body buddha. Should self-nature give rise to a single evil thought, ten thousand kalpas of the causes of goodness are destroyed; should self-nature give rise to a single good thought, evils as numerous as the sands of the Ganges are entirely exhausted. Going straight to unsurpassed bodhi, seeing yourself in thought after thought, never losing your own fundamental thought — this is called the reward-body. "What is meant by the hundred-thousand-koṭi transformation-body? When you do not think of the ten thousand things at all, your nature is fundamentally like empty space; the moment a single thought of consideration arises, this is called transformation. Thinking of an evil deed transforms into hell; thinking of a good deed transforms into the heavens. Malice and harm transform into dragons and serpents; compassion transforms into bodhisattvas; wisdom transforms into the higher realms; folly transforms into the lower ones. Self-nature's transformations are exceedingly many, and the deluded are unable to notice or awaken to them; thought after thought giving rise to evil, they constantly walk the evil paths. Turn back a single thought toward good, and wisdom arises at once — this is called the transformation-body buddha of self-nature. "Good friends, the Dharma-body is fundamentally already complete; seeing your own self-nature for yourself, thought after thought, is itself the reward-body. Thinking further from the reward-body is itself the transformation-body. To awaken by yourself, cultivate by yourself, and realize the merit of your own self-nature — this is true refuge. The skin and flesh are the physical body; the physical body is only a dwelling, and one does not speak of taking refuge in it. Simply awaken to the three bodies of your own self-nature, and you thereby recognize the buddha of your own self-nature. I have a Markless Verse — if you are able to recite and uphold it, it will cause the accumulated, deluded transgressions of many kalpas to be extinguished for you all at once, the very moment these words are spoken. The verse says: "The deluded cultivate blessings but do not cultivate the Way, and say only that cultivating blessings is itself the Way; giving alms and making offerings brings blessings without limit, yet the three evils within the mind were, from the start, already being made. If you intend to cultivate blessings in order to extinguish your offenses, then in ages to come you will gain blessings while the offenses still remain; simply remove, from within your own mind, the very causes of offense — this alone, within each one's own self-nature, is true repentance. Suddenly awaken to the true repentance of the Great Vehicle: cast out what is wrong, practice what is right, and you are thereby without offense at all; a student of the Way who constantly contemplates within their own self-nature is thereby of the very same kind as every buddha. Our patriarchs have transmitted only this sudden Dharma, wishing only that all may see their own nature and become one single body with it; if you wish, in time to come, to seek out the Dharma-body, wash it clean within your own mind, apart from every mark of every thing. Strive to see this for yourself, and do not drift on carelessly — the moment your next thought is suddenly cut off, this entire life is over. If you awaken to the Great Vehicle and attain the seeing of your own nature, join your palms with reverence and seek it with a wholly sincere mind." The Master said, "Good friends, you must all recite and uphold this verse, and practice according to it. The moment you see your own nature at these very words, though you may be a thousand li from me, it will be as though you are constantly at my side. But if, at these very words, you fail to awaken, then even standing face to face, we are still a thousand li apart — what use was it, then, to have troubled yourself to come so far? Take good care of yourselves, and go well." Hearing this teaching, the whole assembly, every one of them awakened, received it with joy, and upheld it in practice.