信心銘 信心銘Inscription on Faith in Mind · Inscription on Faith in Mind
《信心銘》裡有一句話，比「至道無難」更適合拿來當這一篇的入口：「眼若不眠諸夢自除」〔T48 0376c21〕。眼睛如果不睡，種種夢自然就沒有了。這一篇不走銘的次第，只拿這一句，從頭到尾看一遍。
夢是誰做的
銘從不說世界有問題。它說的是「違順相爭是為心病」〔T48 0376b22〕——病在相爭，不在違順。它說「一切二邊妄自斟酌」〔T48 0376c19〕——二邊是自己量出來的。它說「法無異法妄自愛著」〔T48 0376c17〕——法沒有另一個法，是自己愛著。後兩句裡都有一個「自」字；第一句的「相爭」，爭的也是自己。夢是自己做的；境界沒有來騙人。這一點如果不先承認，後面『不睡』的話就沒有著落——你會一直想去改夢的內容，而不是醒。
為什麼趕不走
既然是夢，為什麼不乾脆一個一個趕走？銘用一聯回答：「止動歸止止更彌動」〔T48 0376b26〕。趕夢的那個動作，本身就是夢的一部分。想靜，是一個順逆；想空，是一個取捨；想把念頭綁起來，「繫念乖真」〔T48 0376c14〕。所以銘幾乎不教人做什麼，它教的全是「莫」：「但莫憎愛」〔T48 0376b20〕、「莫存順逆」〔T48 0376b22〕、「莫逐有緣勿住空忍」〔T48 0376b25〕、「一亦莫守」〔T48 0376c06〕。趕夢的手停下來，才是不睡的開始。
不睡，不是睜大
有人會把「不眠」聽成用力。可是銘緊接著就把這條路堵死：「虛明自然不勞心力」〔T48 0376c29〕。不睡，是本來醒著的那個東西不再被蓋住；不是另外打起精神。所以它同時說「放之自然體無去住」〔T48 0376c13〕——放，不是扔，是不去拿。眼睛不睡，和眼睛瞪著，是兩件事；前者沒有力氣在裡面。銘甚至連「空」也不許用力守：「須臾返照勝却前空」〔T48 0376c02〕——一回頭，就勝過你先前以為的那個空。
醒了以後看見什麼
醒著的人並不是看見另一個世界。「六塵不惡還同正覺」〔T48 0376c16〕——六塵還在，只是不被厭惡；厭惡一停，當下就同於正覺。「心若不異萬法一如」〔T48 0376c22〕——心不分別，萬法本來一如。然後是銘最寬的幾句：「極小同大」〔T48 0377a05〕、「極大同小」〔T48 0377a06〕、「有即是無無即是有」〔T48 0377a06〕、「一即一切一切即一」〔T48 0377a08〕。這些話不是在描述奇觀，是在說：夢除了以後，原來分開的東西沒有被拼回去，它們本來就沒有分開。
這就是信心
銘的題目叫信心，而「信」字全篇只出現兩處：「狐疑盡淨正信調直」〔T48 0376c27〕，「信心不二不二信心」〔T48 0377a09〕。信心不是先相信了什麼，再去證明；是狐疑淨了，心自然直——那個直，就叫信。所以一雙不睡的眼睛，和一顆不二的信心，是同一件事的兩個說法。最後銘把自己也放下：「言語道斷非去來今」〔T48 0377a10〕。你合上這一篇的時候，不需要記住它說了什麼；只要還醒著，它說的就都在。
There is a line in the Inscription on Faith in Mind that makes a better doorway into this piece than “the ultimate Way is not difficult”: “If the eyes do not sleep, the dreams are gone of themselves”. If the eyes do not sleep, the dreams of every kind simply are not there. This piece does not follow the order of the inscription. It takes this one line and looks at the whole inscription through it, from beginning to end.
Whose Dream Is It
The inscription never says that the world has a problem. What it says is “contrary and agreeable contend with each other: this is the mind’s sickness”: the sickness is in the contending, not in the contrary or the agreeable. It says “every pair of extremes is measured out by oneself in delusion”: the two extremes are something one has measured out oneself. It says “dharma has no other dharma; one clings to it oneself in delusion”: there is no second dharma; it is oneself who loves and clings. The last two lines each carry the word “oneself”; and in the first, the contending is also one’s own. The dream is one’s own doing; the world has not come to deceive anyone. Unless this is admitted first, the talk of “not sleeping” that follows has nowhere to land: you will keep trying to change the contents of the dream instead of waking.
Why They Cannot Be Driven Out
If they are dreams, why not simply drive them out one by one? The inscription answers with a single couplet: “stop motion to return to stillness, and the stillness moves all the more”. The act of driving out the dream is itself part of the dream. Wanting stillness—one side of stillness and movement—is an agreeable-and-contrary; wanting emptiness is a taking-and-rejecting; wanting to tie the thoughts down is “binding thought and going against the true”. So the inscription almost never tells anyone to do something; what it teaches is all “do not”: “only no hate and love”, “do not keep agreeable and contrary”, “do not chase the conditions of being; do not dwell in the acceptance of emptiness”, “do not keep even the one”. When the hand that drives dreams out stops, that is where not sleeping begins.
Not Sleeping Is Not Staring
Some will hear “not sleeping” as effort. But the inscription blocks that road at once: “empty and luminous of itself, it does not labor the mind’s strength”. Not sleeping means that what was awake all along is no longer covered over; it is not a matter of summoning fresh energy. That is why it says in the same breath “let it go and it is natural; its body neither goes nor stays”: letting go is not throwing away; it is not reaching to take. Eyes that do not sleep and eyes that stare are two different things; in the first there is no strength being spent. The inscription will not even let one hold on to emptiness by effort: “a moment’s turning back of the light surpasses the former emptiness”. One turn of the head, and it is already past the emptiness you had thought was emptiness.
What the Awake See
The one who is awake does not see a different world. “with the six sense-objects not hated, one is just the same as right awakening”: the six sense-objects are still there; they are only no longer hated, and the moment the hating stops one is right then the same as right awakening. “if the mind does not differ, the myriad dharmas are one suchness”: when the mind does not divide, the myriad dharmas were one suchness all along. Then come the widest lines of the inscription: “the smallest is the same as the great”, “the greatest is the same as the small”, “being is nothing; nothing is being”, “one is all; all is one”. These are not descriptions of a marvel. They say: once the dream is gone, the things that had seemed divided have not been pieced back together; they were never divided.
This Is Faith in Mind
The inscription is titled faith in mind, and the word “faith” appears in only two places in the whole text: “when fox-doubt is wholly cleansed, right faith is gentle and straight” and “faith in mind is not two; not two is faith in mind”. Faith in mind is not first believing something and then going to prove it; it is that when doubt is cleansed the mind is straight of itself, and that straightness is what is called faith. So a pair of eyes that do not sleep and a faith in mind that is not two are two ways of saying one thing. At the end the inscription sets even itself down: “the road of words is cut off; it is not past, future, or present”. When you close this piece, there is no need to remember what it said. As long as you are still awake, everything it said is there.
《信心銘》〈信心銘〉· 大正藏 T48n2010〔起 T48 0376b18〕。段／行首〔T48 …〕＝大正藏頁・欄・行錨。
〔T48 0376b18〕信心銘 至道無難唯嫌揀擇但莫憎愛 洞然明白毫釐有差天地懸隔 欲得現前莫存順逆違順相爭 是為心病不識玄旨徒勞念靜 圓同太虛無欠無餘良由取捨 所以不如莫逐有緣勿住空忍 一種平懷泯然自盡止動歸止 止更彌動唯滯兩邊寧知一種 一種不通兩處失功遣有沒有 從空背空多言多慮轉不相應 絕言絕慮無處不通歸根得旨 隨照失宗須臾返照勝却前空 前空轉變皆由妄見不用求真 唯須息見二見不住慎勿追尋 纔有是非紛然失心二由一有 一亦莫守一心不生萬法無咎 無咎無法不生不心能隨境滅 境逐能沈境由能境能由境能 欲知兩段元是一空一空同兩 齊含萬像不見精麁寧有偏黨 大道體寬無易無難小見狐疑 轉急轉遲執之失度心入邪路 放之自然體無去住任性合道 逍遙絕惱繫念乖真沈惛不好 不好勞神何用疎親欲趣一乘 勿惡六塵六塵不惡還同正覺 智者無為愚人自縛法無異法 妄自愛著將心用心豈非大錯 迷生寂亂悟無好惡一切二邊 妄自斟酌夢幻空華何勞把捉 得失是非一時放却眼若不眠 諸夢自除心若不異萬法一如 一如體玄兀爾忘緣萬法齊觀 歸復自然泯其所以不可方比 止動無動動止無止兩既不成 一何有爾究竟窮極不存軌則 啟心平等所作俱息狐疑盡淨 正信調直一切不留無可記憶 虛明自然不勞心力非思量處 〔T48 0377a01〕識情難測真如法界無他無自 要急相應唯言不二不二皆同 無不包容十方智者皆入此宗 宗非促延〔一念萬年萬年一念〕無在不在 十方目前極小同大妄絕境界 極大同小不見邊表有即是無 無即是有若不如是必不須守 一即一切一切即一但能如是 何慮不畢信心不二不二信心 言語道斷非去來今 信心銘之終
The canonical text stands in Chinese only. This edition renders the essence, the plain reading, the exposition and the apparatus into English — never the sūtra itself. Switch to 漢讀本 or 並行雙語 above to read it.
《信心銘》T48n2010 全篇，自「至道無難」至「非去來今」，四言一百四十七句（含夾注八字），依對句成七十三聯。一聯一段，逐句對譯。段首（…）＝大正藏頁·欄·行錨。
〔〇·題〕（0376b18）「信心銘」——這是以「信心」為題的一篇銘文。篇末（0377a11）以「信心銘之終」收結，標明全銘到此終了。
〔一·至道無難〕（0376b20）最究竟的道並不困難，唯一忌諱的，就是揀擇。
〔二·但莫憎愛〕（0376b20）只要不起憎恨，也不起貪愛，它就通透無礙，明明白白。
〔三·毫釐有差〕（0376b21）然而只要有一毫一釐的偏差，便如天與地一般，遠遠地隔開了。
〔四·欲得現前〕（0376b22）想要它當下現前，心中就不要存著順與逆。
〔五·違順相爭〕（0376b22）違逆與順適彼此相爭，這正是心的病。
〔六·不識玄旨〕（0376b23）不認識那玄妙的意旨，即使念念求靜，也只是白白勞苦。
〔七·圓同太虛〕（0376b24）它圓滿得如同太虛空一樣，沒有一點欠缺，也沒有一點多餘。
〔八·良由取捨〕（0376b24）實在是因為有取有捨，所以才不能與它如如相合。
〔九·莫逐有緣〕（0376b25）不要去追逐有的種種緣，也不要停住在空的忍可之中。
〔十·一種平懷〕（0376b26）以同一種平等的胸懷相待，一切便泯然無跡，自己消盡。
〔十一·止動歸止〕（0376b26）想止息動、回歸於止，這止反而更加動盪。
〔十二·唯滯兩邊〕（0376b27）只是滯留在兩邊之中，哪裡知道那同一種的平懷？
〔十三·一種不通〕（0376b28）這同一種若不能通達，兩處都失去了功用。
〔十四·遣有沒有〕（0376b28）想遣除有，反而沒入有中；想隨順空，反而背離了空。
〔十五·多言多慮〕（0376b29）言語愈多、思慮愈多，反而愈不能相應。
〔十六·絕言絕慮〕（0376c01）斷絕言語，斷絕思慮，便沒有一處不通。
〔十七·歸根得旨〕（0376c01）回歸根本，就得著意旨；隨逐照見，就失去宗本。
〔十八·須臾返照〕（0376c02）只要片刻之間迴光返照，便勝過先前所見的那個空。
〔十九·前空轉變〕（0376c03）先前那個空的種種轉變，都是由於虛妄的見解。
〔二十·不用求真〕（0376c03）不必去追求真，只須止息見解。
〔二十一·二見不住〕（0376c04）相對待的兩種見解都不要住著，千萬不要去追尋。
〔二十二·纔有是非〕（0376c05）剛一有了是與非，便紛紛擾擾，失去了心。
〔二十三·二由一有〕（0376c05）二是由一而有的，連這個一也不要守著。
〔二十四·一心不生〕（0376c06）只要一心不生起，萬法便沒有過咎。
〔二十五·無咎無法〕（0376c07）沒有過咎，也就沒有法；不生起，也就不成其為心。
〔二十六·能隨境滅〕（0376c07）能取的一方隨著境而滅，境也隨著能取的一方而沉沒。
〔二十七·境由能境〕（0376c08）境是因為有能，才成其為境；能是因為有境，才成其為能。
〔二十八·欲知兩段〕（0376c09）想要知道這兩段，原本就是同一個空。
〔二十九·一空同兩〕（0376c09）這同一個空與兩者相同，平等地含攝萬象。
〔三十·不見精麁〕（0376c10）不見有精細與粗糙之分，哪裡還會有偏私與朋黨？
〔三十一·大道體寬〕（0376c11）大道的體性寬廣，無所謂容易，也無所謂困難。
〔三十二·小見狐疑〕（0376c11）見識狹小的人狐疑不定，愈是急切，反而愈是遲緩。
〔三十三·執之失度〕（0376c12）執著它便失了分寸，心就走入邪路。
〔三十四·放之自然〕（0376c13）放下它便是自然，它的體性無所去，也無所住。
〔三十五·任性合道〕（0376c13）任運本性，便合於道，逍遙自在，斷絕煩惱。
〔三十六·繫念乖真〕（0376c14）把念頭繫縛起來，便違背了真；沉沒昏昧，也不好。
〔三十七·不好勞神〕（0376c15）不好的是勞動精神；又何必分什麼疏遠與親近？
〔三十八·欲趣一乘〕（0376c15）想要趣向一乘，就不要厭惡六塵。
〔三十九·六塵不惡〕（0376c16）對六塵不起厭惡，反倒就同於正覺。
〔四十·智者無為〕（0376c17）智者無所造作，愚人卻自己捆縛自己。
〔四十一·法無異法〕（0376c17）法並沒有別異的法，是自己虛妄地愛戀執著。
〔四十二·將心用心〕（0376c18）拿心去用心，豈不是大錯？
〔四十三·迷生寂亂〕（0376c19）迷的時候，便生出寂靜與散亂；悟的時候，便沒有好與惡。
〔四十四·一切二邊〕（0376c19）一切相對的二邊，都是自己虛妄地斟酌出來的。
〔四十五·夢幻空華〕（0376c20）如夢、如幻、如空中的花，何必勞神去把捉？
〔四十六·得失是非〕（0376c21）得與失、是與非，一時全都放下。
〔四十七·眼若不眠〕（0376c21）眼睛如果不睡，種種夢境自然消除。
〔四十八·心若不異〕（0376c22）心如果不起別異，萬法便同一如如。
〔四十九·一如體玄〕（0376c23）一如的體性玄妙，兀然不動，忘卻諸緣。
〔五十·萬法齊觀〕（0376c23）萬法平等地觀照，便回復歸於自然。
〔五十一·泯其所以〕（0376c24）連它之所以如此的緣由也泯去了，再沒有什麼可以比擬。
〔五十二·止動無動〕（0376c25）止息了動，便無所謂動；動了那止，便無所謂止。
〔五十三·兩既不成〕（0376c25）兩者既然都不能成立，一又怎麼會有？
〔五十四·究竟窮極〕（0376c26）究竟到了窮極之處，不存任何軌則。
〔五十五·啟心平等〕（0376c27）開啟此心，一切平等，所作所為都歇息了。
〔五十六·狐疑盡淨〕（0376c27）狐疑完全淨盡，正信調柔而正直。
〔五十七·一切不留〕（0376c28）一切都不存留，沒有什麼可以記憶的。
〔五十八·虛明自然〕（0376c29）虛靈明朗，自然而然，不必勞費心力。
〔五十九·非思量處〕（0376c29）這不是思量所能到的地方，識情難以測度。
〔六十·真如法界〕（0377a01）真如法界之中，無他，也無自。
〔六十一·要急相應〕（0377a02）若要迅速相應，只能說「不二」。
〔六十二·不二皆同〕（0377a02）不二，便一切皆同，沒有不包容的。
〔六十三·十方智者〕（0377a03）十方的智者，都入於此宗。
〔六十四·宗非促延〕（0377a04）這宗既不是短促，也不是延長〔一念萬年萬年一念——一念就是萬年，萬年就是一念〕。
〔六十五·無在不在〕（0377a04）沒有一處不在，十方就在眼前。
〔六十六·極小同大〕（0377a05）極小同於極大，虛妄的境界便斷絕了。
〔六十七·極大同小〕（0377a06）極大同於極小，看不見邊際與表相。
〔六十八·有即是無〕（0377a06）有就是無，無就是有。
〔六十九·若不如是〕（0377a07）若不是這樣，就一定不必守著。
〔七十·一即一切〕（0377a08）一就是一切，一切就是一。
〔七十一·但能如是〕（0377a08）只要能夠這樣，何愁不能了畢？
〔七十二·信心不二〕（0377a09）信心不二，不二就是信心。
〔七十三·言語道斷〕（0377a10）言語之道斷絕，它不屬於過去，不屬於未來，也不屬於現在。
The Inscription on Faith in Mind, T48n2010, complete, from “The ultimate Way is not difficult” to “not past, future, or present”: one hundred and forty-seven four-character lines (counting the eight interlinear characters), set in paired lines as seventy-three couplets. One couplet to a segment, rendered line by line. The figures (…) at the head of each segment give the Taishō page, register, and line.
〔0 · Title〕（0376b18）“Inscription on Faith in Mind”—this is an inscription that takes “faith in mind” as its title. At the end of the piece it closes with “Here ends the Inscription on Faith in Mind,” marking that the whole inscription finishes there.
〔1 · The ultimate Way is not difficult〕（0376b20）The ultimate Way is not difficult at all; the one thing it shuns is picking and choosing.
〔2 · Only do not hate or love〕（0376b20）Only let no hate and love arise, and it is open through, without obstruction, bright and clear.
〔3 · A hair’s breadth of difference〕（0376b21）Yet if there is a difference of even a hair’s breadth, it is set far apart, like heaven from earth.
〔4 · If you want it to appear before you〕（0376b22）If you want it to appear right now before you, do not keep agreeable and contrary in the mind.
〔5 · Contrary and agreeable contend〕（0376b22）Contrary and agreeable contending with each other—this is precisely the mind’s sickness.
〔6 · Not knowing the profound purport〕（0376b23）Not recognizing the profound purport, even if thought after thought one seeks stillness, it is only labor in vain.
〔7 · Perfect as the great void〕（0376b24）It is as perfect as the great void of space, without the slightest lack and without the slightest excess.
〔8 · Truly it is because of taking and rejecting〕（0376b24）It is truly because there is taking and rejecting that one cannot be at one with it, as it is.
〔9 · Do not chase the conditions of being〕（0376b25）Do not go chasing the many conditions of being, and do not stop and dwell in an acceptance of emptiness.
〔10 · One kind, an even heart〕（0376b26）Meet everything with one and the same even heart, and all of it vanishes without a trace, used up of itself.
〔11 · Stop motion to return to stillness〕（0376b26）When you try to halt movement and return to stillness—stillness and movement set against each other—that stillness only moves all the more.
〔12 · Only stuck at the two extremes〕（0376b27）Only stuck at the two extremes, how would one know that one and the same even heart?
〔13 · When the one kind does not go through〕（0376b28）If this one kind is not gone through, both places lose their use.
〔14 · Dismiss being and sink into being〕（0376b28）Trying to dismiss being, one sinks into being instead; trying to follow emptiness, one turns away from emptiness instead.
〔15 · Many words, many thoughts〕（0376b29）The more words and the more thought, the less one is able to accord.
〔16 · Cut off words, cut off thought〕（0376c01）Cut off words, cut off thought, and there is not a single place it does not go through.
〔17 · Return to the root and gain the purport〕（0376c01）Return to the root, and you gain the purport; go chasing after what is illumined, and you lose the source.
〔18 · A moment’s turning back of the light〕（0376c02）Turn the light back for only a moment, and it surpasses the emptiness seen before.
〔19 · The former emptiness shifts and changes〕（0376c03）All the shifting and changing of that former emptiness come from deluded views.
〔20 · No need to seek the true〕（0376c03）There is no need to go seeking the true; only let views cease.
〔21 · Do not abide in the two views〕（0376c04）Do not abide in either of the two opposed views; take great care not to go pursuing them.
〔22 · The moment there is right and wrong〕（0376c05）The moment there is right and wrong, all is in confusion, and the mind is lost.
〔23 · Two exists because of one〕（0376c05）Two exists because of one; do not keep even this one.
〔24 · When the one mind does not arise〕（0376c06）So long as the one mind does not arise, the myriad dharmas are without fault.
〔25 · No fault, no dharma〕（0376c07）With no fault, there is no dharma either; not arising, it is no longer a mind at all.
〔26 · The knower perishes with the object〕（0376c07）The knowing side perishes along with the object, and the object sinks along with the knowing side.
〔27 · The object is object because of the knower〕（0376c08）The object is an object only because there is a knower; the knower is a knower only because there is an object.
〔28 · If you would know the two segments〕（0376c09）If you want to know these two segments, they were originally one and the same emptiness.
〔29 · One emptiness, the same as the two〕（0376c09）This one emptiness is the same as the two, and holds the myriad images alike, evenly.
〔30 · Seeing neither fine nor coarse〕（0376c10）When one does not see a division into fine and coarse, how could there still be partiality or taking sides?
〔31 · The great Way is wide in body〕（0376c11）The body of the great Way is broad and wide; it is neither easy nor difficult.
〔32 · Narrow views and fox-doubt〕（0376c11）People of narrow views doubt like a fox and cannot settle; the more hurried they are, the slower they become.
〔33 · Grasp it and lose the measure〕（0376c12）Grasp at it, and the measure is lost; the mind enters a crooked path.
〔34 · Let it go and it is natural〕（0376c13）Let it go, and it is natural; its body neither goes anywhere nor stays anywhere.
〔35 · Let the nature be, and it accords with the Way〕（0376c13）Let the nature be, as it is, and you accord with the Way, at ease and free, with troubles cut off.
〔36 · Binding thought goes against the true〕（0376c14）Tying thought down goes against the true; sinking into dullness is no good either.
〔37 · No good is the laboring of the spirit〕（0376c15）What is no good is laboring the spirit; and what use is it to divide distant from near?
〔38 · If you would go toward the one vehicle〕（0376c15）If you want to go toward the one vehicle, do not hate the six sense-objects.
〔39 · With the six sense-objects not hated〕（0376c16）Not hating the six sense-objects, one is, on the contrary, the same as right awakening.
〔40 · The wise practice non-doing〕（0376c17）The wise practice non-doing, making nothing; the foolish bind themselves with their own hands.
〔41 · Dharma has no other dharma〕（0376c17）Dharma has no other, different dharma; it is oneself who, deluded, loves and clings.
〔42 · To take the mind and use the mind〕（0376c18）To take the mind and use it upon the mind—is that not a great error?
〔43 · In delusion, quiet and disorder arise〕（0376c19）In delusion, quiet and disorder arise; in awakening, there is no liking or disliking.
〔44 · Every pair of extremes〕（0376c19）All the paired extremes that stand against each other are measured out by oneself, in delusion.
〔45 · Dream, illusion, flowers in the sky〕（0376c20）Like a dream, like an illusion, like flowers in the sky—why labor to grasp them?
〔46 · Gain and loss, right and wrong〕（0376c21）Gain and loss, right and wrong: let them all go at once.
〔47 · If the eyes do not sleep〕（0376c21）If the eyes do not sleep, the many dreams are gone of themselves.
〔48 · If the mind does not differ〕（0376c22）If the mind raises no difference, the myriad dharmas are one suchness.
〔49 · One suchness, profound in body〕（0376c23）The body of one suchness is profound; it stands unmoving, and conditions are forgotten.
〔50 · See the myriad dharmas alike〕（0376c23）See the myriad dharmas evenly, alike, and one returns to the natural.
〔51 · Erase the wherefore〕（0376c24）Even the reason why it is so is erased, and there is nothing left that it could be compared to.
〔52 · Still the moving and there is no moving〕（0376c25）Still the movement, and there is no movement left; move the stillness, and there is no stillness left.
〔53 · Since the two do not stand〕（0376c25）Since the two cannot stand, how could there be a one?
〔54 · At the ultimate limit〕（0376c26）Arrived at the ultimate, at the furthest limit, no rule of any kind remains.
〔55 · Open the mind to evenness〕（0376c27）Open this mind, and everything is even; all that is done comes to rest.
〔56 · When fox-doubt is wholly cleansed〕（0376c27）When fox-doubt is wholly cleansed away, right faith is gentle and straight.
〔57 · Nothing at all is kept〕（0376c28）Nothing at all is kept; there is nothing that could be remembered.
〔58 · Empty and luminous of itself〕（0376c29）Empty, numinous, and bright, natural of itself, it does not labor the mind’s strength.
〔59 · Not a place for thinking〕（0376c29）This is not a place thinking can reach; consciousness and feeling can hardly gauge it.
〔60 · Suchness, the dharma-realm〕（0377a01）Within suchness, the dharma-realm, there is no other and no self.
〔61 · If you would accord quickly〕（0377a02）If you want to accord quickly, you can say only “not two.”
〔62 · Not two, all the same〕（0377a02）Not two: then all is the same, and there is nothing it does not contain.
〔63 · The wise of the ten directions〕（0377a03）The wise of the ten directions all enter this source.
〔64 · The source is neither brief nor long〕（0377a04）This source is neither brief nor long (interlinear note: “one thought, ten thousand years; ten thousand years, one thought”—a single thought is ten thousand years, and ten thousand years are a single thought).
〔65 · No place where it is not present〕（0377a04）There is no place where it is not present; the ten directions are right before your eyes.
〔66 · The smallest is the same as the great〕（0377a05）The smallest is the same as the greatest, and deluded bounds are cut off.
〔67 · The greatest is the same as the small〕（0377a06）The greatest is the same as the smallest; no edge or surface is seen.
〔68 · Being is nothing〕（0377a06）Being is nothing; nothing is being.
〔69 · If it is not thus〕（0377a07）If it is not like this, you certainly need not keep it.
〔70 · One is all〕（0377a08）One is all; all is one.
〔71 · If only you can be thus〕（0377a08）If only you can be like this, why worry that it will not be finished?
〔72 · Faith in mind is not two〕（0377a09）Faith in mind is not two; not two is faith in mind.
〔73 · The road of words is cut off〕（0377a10）The road of words is cut off; it belongs not to the past, not to the future, and not to the present.
《信心銘》開口就說「至道無難」〔T48 0376b20〕。這是全篇最先落下的四個字，也是最容易被當作安慰話讀過去的四個字。可是緊接著一百四十多句，從「唯嫌揀擇」〔T48 0376b20〕一路講到「言語道斷」〔T48 0377a10〕，講的幾乎全是難處：順逆、取捨、止動、兩邊、是非、能境、執放、六塵、二邊、夢幻……銘沒有騙人。它說道不難，是說道本身沒有一處要你翻山越嶺；它接著講這麼多，是因為難處不在道，在人。這一篇義疏，就依銘自己的次第，把它從「無難」講到「不二」的路走一遍。銘無逐文古疏，所以下面每一節，只憑銘自己的字句與對句結構來說；古德拈提，留到末節。
一、無難與揀擇
「至道無難唯嫌揀擇」〔T48 0376b20〕。至道，是道的究竟處；無難，是說它不設關卡。那麼關卡在哪裡？在「揀擇」。揀擇不是壞事做多了，而是心一動就分出這個與那個，再從中挑一個。銘馬上給出對治：「但莫憎愛洞然明白」〔T48 0376b20〕。只要不起憎、不起愛，道便「洞然」——像門戶大開，一眼看穿。注意銘的用字：它不說『斷除』憎愛，只說『莫』。莫，是不去做；斷，是做一件新事去對付舊事。整篇銘，從頭到尾用的都是「莫」「勿」「不」「無」，很少叫人去做什麼。這是讀本銘的第一把鑰匙。
第三聯立刻把分寸收緊：「毫釐有差天地懸隔」〔T48 0376b21〕。不難，不等於馬虎。揀擇之心起時，差的只是毫釐——一個順一個逆、一個取一個捨——結果卻是天地之隔。所以銘下面要花很長的篇幅，把這「毫釐」是什麼，一樣一樣指出來。
二、順逆、取捨、止動：病的三個名字
第一個名字是順逆。「欲得現前莫存順逆」〔T48 0376b22〕——想要道當下現前，心中就不要存著順與逆。順逆是憎愛的具體形狀：合我意的叫順，不合的叫逆。銘直接把它叫作病：「違順相爭是為心病」〔T48 0376b22〕。病不在境，在爭。接著「不識玄旨徒勞念靜」〔T48 0376b23〕——不認得這層意思，念念想靜下來，也只是白費力氣；因為『想靜』本身，已經是一個順逆。
第二個名字是取捨。「圓同太虛無欠無餘」〔T48 0376b24〕，道像虛空一樣圓滿，沒有少一塊，也沒有多一塊。那為什麼我們總覺得不合？「良由取捨所以不如」〔T48 0376b24〕。取與捨，是把圓滿的東西切出一塊要、一塊不要。銘接著指出取捨的兩個方向：「莫逐有緣勿住空忍」〔T48 0376b25〕——既不要追逐有，也不要停在空。這兩句很要緊：銘不是叫人離有就空，它連「住空」也一併列為取捨。
然後是「一種平懷泯然自盡」〔T48 0376b26〕。一種，就是不分兩種；平懷，就是不偏。到了這裡，分別自己會消失，不用去消它。
第三個名字是止動。「止動歸止止更彌動」〔T48 0376b26〕。想把動止下來、回到止，那個止反而更動。這是全銘最像實修報告的一句：用力靜心的人，多半經歷過愈靜愈亂。銘說，原因是「唯滯兩邊寧知一種」〔T48 0376b27〕——只在止與動兩頭打轉，不知道有一種。而「一種不通兩處失功」〔T48 0376b28〕：這一種不通達，止也白止，動也白動。「遣有沒有從空背空」〔T48 0376b28〕，再把方向說一次：遣有的人沉在有裡，從空的人反而背了空。病的三個名字，順逆、取捨、止動，其實是一個病——兩邊。
三、絕言絕慮，回到根本
「多言多慮轉不相應」〔T48 0376b29〕，「絕言絕慮無處不通」〔T48 0376c01〕。這兩聯是對舉：言語思慮愈多，愈不相應；言語思慮一斷，無處不通。要小心的是，銘說「絕」，說的仍是不去做，不是用一個更大的力氣去壓。接下來的四聯，是全篇方法最具體的地方：
「歸根得旨隨照失宗」〔T48 0376c01〕——回到根本，就得其旨；跟著照見之物走，就失其宗。「須臾返照勝却前空」〔T48 0376c02〕——哪怕只是片刻回光返照，就勝過先前所見的那個空。這裡的「前空」是什麼？是前面第二節說的「住空」：以為自己已經空了的那個空。銘說它「前空轉變皆由妄見」〔T48 0376c03〕——那個空會變，因為它是見解造的。所以結論不是去求一個更真的真：「不用求真唯須息見」〔T48 0376c03〕。不求真，只息見。至此，銘把「莫」的理由說清楚了：求，是另一個見；息，才回到無難。
四、二見、一心、能境
「二見不住慎勿追尋」〔T48 0376c04〕。二見，就是上面所有的兩邊。不住，也不去追。為什麼要特別說「慎勿追尋」？因為「纔有是非紛然失心」〔T48 0376c05〕——是非一起，心就散了。接下來是銘最緊的一段推理：
「二由一有一亦莫守」〔T48 0376c05〕。二是從一來的；所以連一也不要守。這一句把前面「一種」的話又推進一步：一種平懷，不是守住一個「一」。「一心不生萬法無咎」〔T48 0376c06〕——一心不生起，萬法本來沒有過失。「無咎無法不生不心」〔T48 0376c07〕——沒有過失，也就沒有「法」這個名；不生起，也就沒有「心」這個名。你會發現銘在這裡把自己剛用過的字一個一個放下：一、心、法，都是暫借。
然後是能與境。「能隨境滅境逐能沈」〔T48 0376c07〕，「境由能境能由境能」〔T48 0376c08〕。能知的一方隨境而滅，境也隨能而沉；境因能才成其為境，能因境才成其為能。這幾句回環往復，像繞口令，其實只說一件事：能與境互相依待，誰也不獨立。「欲知兩段元是一空」〔T48 0376c09〕，「一空同兩齊含萬像」〔T48 0376c09〕——這兩段，原是一個空；而這一個空，不排斥兩段，反而含著萬象。到這裡，「不見精麁寧有偏黨」〔T48 0376c10〕，自然不會再偏向哪一邊。
五、大道體寬：執它與放它
銘換了一個字：「大道體寬無易無難」〔T48 0376c11〕。首句說「至道」，這裡說「大道」；一個說它的究竟，一個說它的寬廣。無易無難，比開頭的「無難」更進一層——連「易」也不立。那誰覺得難？「小見狐疑轉急轉遲」〔T48 0376c11〕——見識小的人狐疑，愈急愈慢。
接著是全篇最常被人記住的一組對句：「執之失度心入邪路」〔T48 0376c12〕，「放之自然體無去住」〔T48 0376c13〕。執它，就失了分寸；放它，它本來自然。注意「放」不是丟掉，是不去拿。「任性合道逍遙絕惱」〔T48 0376c13〕——任其本性，就合道。反過來，「繫念乖真沈惛不好」〔T48 0376c14〕——把念頭綁住，是違背真；可是沉下去昏昧，也不好。「不好勞神何用疎親」〔T48 0376c15〕：兩頭都不好，不好的根子是勞神；既然如此，又何必分疏與親？這一段可以看作第二節「止動」的回答：不是止，不是動，是放。
六、六塵、正覺、無為
「欲趣一乘勿惡六塵」〔T48 0376c15〕。要走向一乘，就不要厭惡六塵。這一句對修行人是當頭的：修行人通常以為厭離六塵是起點，銘卻把「惡六塵」列為障礙。「六塵不惡還同正覺」〔T48 0376c16〕——不厭惡六塵，反而就同於正覺。為什麼？因為厭惡也是憎愛，也是揀擇；厭惡六塵的人，仍在兩邊。
「智者無為愚人自縛」〔T48 0376c17〕。無為，不是不做事，是不另起造作去對付本來無事的東西；自縛，是用自己的繩子綁自己。「法無異法妄自愛著」〔T48 0376c17〕——法沒有另一個法，是自己妄生愛著。「將心用心豈非大錯」〔T48 0376c18〕——拿心去用心，是最根本的錯。這一句與第四節「一心不生」相應：用心求心，就是二由一有。
然後銘講迷悟：「迷生寂亂悟無好惡」〔T48 0376c19〕。迷了，才分寂與亂；悟了，無所謂好惡。「一切二邊妄自斟酌」〔T48 0376c19〕——一切對待，都是自己量出來的。「夢幻空華何勞把捉」〔T48 0376c20〕，「得失是非一時放却」〔T48 0376c21〕——既然如夢如幻如空華，何必抓？得失是非，一時全放。於是有了全銘最明亮的一個譬喻：「眼若不眠諸夢自除」〔T48 0376c21〕。夢不用一個一個去趕，眼睛不睡，夢自己就沒有了。
七、心若不異，萬法一如
「心若不異萬法一如」〔T48 0376c22〕。心不起別異，萬法便一如。「一如體玄兀爾忘緣」〔T48 0376c23〕——一如的體是玄的，兀然不動，緣自然忘了。「萬法齊觀歸復自然」〔T48 0376c23〕——萬法平等地看，就回到自然。「泯其所以不可方比」〔T48 0376c24〕——連『為什麼會這樣』也泯了，沒有什麼可以比擬。
接著銘把第二節的「止動」做最後的了結：「止動無動動止無止」〔T48 0376c25〕。前面說止動歸止止更彌動，是講病；這裡說止了動就沒有動、動了止就沒有止，是講病癒之後——止與動互相取消。「兩既不成一何有爾」〔T48 0376c25〕——兩個都不成立，一又從哪裡來？這又回應了第四節的「一亦莫守」。「究竟窮極不存軌則」〔T48 0376c26〕——到了究竟，連規矩也不留。
然後是一組很安靜的句子：「啟心平等所作俱息」〔T48 0376c27〕，「狐疑盡淨正信調直」〔T48 0376c27〕，「一切不留無可記憶」〔T48 0376c28〕，「虛明自然不勞心力」〔T48 0376c29〕。心一平等，造作都歇；第五節的「狐疑」到這裡淨盡，換成「正信」；什麼都不留，所以沒有什麼要記；虛明是自然的，不用力。「非思量處識情難測」〔T48 0376c29〕——這裡不是思量能到的地方，所以知識與情緒都量不到它。
八、不二：促延、大小、有無、一多
「真如法界無他無自」〔T48 0377a01〕。真如法界，沒有他，也沒有自。「要急相應唯言不二」〔T48 0377a02〕——如果你要很快地相應，只能說一句話：不二。「不二皆同無不包容」〔T48 0377a02〕——不二，所以一切皆同，沒有不包容的。「十方智者皆入此宗」〔T48 0377a03〕。
接下來四組，是把「不二」在時間、空間、有無、一多上各說一遍。時間：「宗非促延」〔T48 0377a04〕，這個宗既不是短也不是長；底本在這裡以夾注的小字補一句「一念萬年萬年一念」〔T48 0377a04〕——一念就是萬年，萬年就是一念。空間：「無在不在十方目前」〔T48 0377a04〕，無處不在，十方就在眼前；「極小同大妄絕境界」〔T48 0377a05〕，「極大同小不見邊表」〔T48 0377a06〕——極小等於極大，極大等於極小。夾在中間的四個字「妄絕境界」〔T48 0377a05〕說的是為什麼：小與大之間的界限，是妄分出來的；妄一絕，界限就沒有了，所以「不見邊表」〔T48 0377a06〕——邊際與表相本來無從看見。有無：「有即是無無即是有」〔T48 0377a06〕。有與無在這裡不是兩個對立的概念，是同一件事的兩面：說它有，因為它無處不在；說它無，因為沒有一樣東西可以指出來——第四節「無咎無法不生不心」〔T48 0376c07〕早已把這層意思說過。然後銘加了一句很硬的話：「若不如是必不須守」〔T48 0377a07〕——如果不是這樣，就一定不要守著。「如是」指的就是上面有無相即的樣子；若不是這樣看，那麼不管守住哪一邊——守有，或守無——都一定不必。一多：「一即一切一切即一」〔T48 0377a08〕。一不是離開一切另有的一，一切也不是一之外另有的一切；第四節「二由一有一亦莫守」〔T48 0376c05〕說的是不要守一，這裡再進一步：一與一切本不相隔，守與不守的問題也就沒有了。「但能如是何慮不畢」〔T48 0377a08〕——只要能這樣，還怕什麼不了？
九、信心不二，言語道斷
「信心不二不二信心」〔T48 0377a09〕。銘到了最後才回到自己的題目。信心，是題目；不二，是全篇講到這裡的結論。它把兩個詞倒過來再說一次：信心就是不二，不二就是信心。這裡的「信」，不是相信一個命題；是上面「狐疑盡淨正信調直」那個信——狐疑淨盡之後，心自然直。所以信心不是另外去建立的，它就是不再揀擇的那個心。
「言語道斷非去來今」〔T48 0377a10〕。言語之路到這裡斷了；它不屬於過去、未來、現在。這是銘最後八個字，也是它對自己的交代：前面一百四十句的言語，到這裡一起放下。我們讀完一遍，再回頭看第一句「至道無難」，會發現它說的是真話——難的從來不是道，是一路上人自己立起來的順逆、取捨、止動、二見、執放、好惡。銘把這些一樣一樣叫出名字，然後只說一個字：莫。
承衍——古德拈提
本銘無逐文古疏，古德的拈提幾乎都集中在首聯。《碧巖錄》說：「三祖信心銘劈頭便道這兩句。有多少人錯會。」〔T48n2003 0191a09〕錯會在哪裡？它接著說：「何故至道本無難。亦無不難。只是唯嫌揀擇。」〔T48n2003 0191a10〕——連「無難」也不立，與銘中「無易無難」〔T48 0376c11〕正相應。趙州常舉此聯示眾，而把揀擇指到言語上：「纔有語言。是揀擇是明白。」〔T48n2003 0142b05〕《碧巖錄》因此誡人「切忌揀擇言句。」〔T48n2003 0149a22〕——拈提的人自己就在提醒，不要把這首銘當作言句來揀。
也有反著說的。《續傳燈錄》載德山仁繪上堂：「山僧即不然。至道最難須是揀擇。若無憎愛爭見明白。」〔T51n2077 0537a22〕一正一反，古德各有其機，本編並錄，不判。另有一則奏對，徑山先舉銘中「虛明自照不勞心力」〔T51n2077 0662b27〕（此本作「自照」，底本作「虛明自然」〔T48 0376c29〕），瞎堂慧遠接著對曰：「此乃三祖大師信心銘。正為有所證悟者說。」〔T51n2077 0662b28〕——這一句替讀者定了位：銘不是入門的說明書，是對已經走到某處的人說的話。你讀到哪裡，它就在哪裡等你。
The Inscription on Faith in Mind opens with “the ultimate Way is not difficult”. These are the first four characters to fall on the page, and the four most easily read past as a word of comfort. Yet the hundred and forty-odd lines that follow, from “it only shuns picking and choosing” all the way to “the road of words is cut off”, speak almost entirely of difficulties: agreeable and contrary, taking and rejecting, stillness and movement, the two extremes, right and wrong, the knower and its object, grasping and letting go, the six sense-objects, the two extremes, dream and illusion. The inscription has not deceived anyone. When it says the Way is not difficult, it means that the Way itself has no place where it asks you to climb a mountain; when it then says so much, it is because the difficulty is not in the Way but in the person. This exposition follows the inscription’s own order and walks its road from “not difficult” to “not two.” The inscription has no old line-by-line commentary, so each section below relies only on the inscription’s own words and its paired-line structure; the old masters’ citations are kept for the final section.
I. Not Difficult, and Picking and Choosing
“The ultimate Way is not difficult; it only shuns picking and choosing”. The ultimate Way is the Way at its furthest point; not difficult means it sets up no checkpoint. Then where is the checkpoint? In “picking and choosing.” Picking and choosing is not a matter of having done many bad things; it is that the moment the mind moves, it divides this from that and then picks one. The inscription at once gives the remedy: “only do not hate or love, and it is open and clear”. As long as no hating and no loving arise, the Way is “open through”: like a door thrown wide, seen through at a glance. Note the inscription’s choice of words. It does not say to “cut off” hate and love; it only says “do not.” Do not is not doing; cutting off is doing a new thing to deal with an old one. From beginning to end the whole inscription uses “do not,” “do not,” “not,” “no”; it very rarely tells anyone to do anything. This is the first key to reading the inscription.
The third couplet at once tightens the measure: “a hair’s breadth of difference, and heaven and earth are set apart”. Not difficult does not mean careless. When the mind of picking and choosing arises, the difference is only a hair’s breadth—one agreeable and one contrary, one taken and one rejected—but the result is the distance between heaven and earth. That is why the inscription will spend so long pointing out, one by one, what this “hair’s breadth” is.
II. Agreeable and Contrary, Taking and Rejecting, Stillness and Movement: Three Names for the Sickness
The first name is agreeable and contrary. “If you want it to appear before you, do not keep agreeable and contrary in mind”. Agreeable and contrary are the concrete shape of hate and love: what suits me is called agreeable, what does not is called contrary. The inscription calls it a sickness outright: “contrary and agreeable contend with each other: this is the mind’s sickness”. The sickness is not in the circumstances but in the contending. Then “not knowing the profound purport, one labors in vain at thoughts of stillness”: not recognizing this, one tries thought after thought to become still, and it is only wasted effort, because “wanting stillness” is itself already an agreeable-and-contrary.
The second name is taking and rejecting. “Perfect as the great void, nothing lacking, nothing left over”: the Way is as complete as space, with no piece missing and no piece extra. Then why do we always feel it does not fit? “Truly it is because of taking and rejecting that it is not as it is”. Taking and rejecting cut a piece to keep and a piece to discard out of something complete. The inscription then points out the two directions of taking and rejecting: “do not chase the conditions of being; do not dwell in the acceptance of emptiness”: neither chase being nor stop in emptiness. These two lines matter: the inscription does not tell anyone to leave being for emptiness; it lists “dwelling in emptiness” as taking and rejecting too.
Then “one kind, an even heart, and it vanishes of itself”. One kind means not dividing into two kinds; an even heart means not leaning. By here, distinguishing disappears on its own; there is no need to make it disappear.
The third name is stillness and movement. “Stop motion to return to stillness, and the stillness moves all the more”. Trying to still what moves and return to stillness, that stillness moves even more. This is the line in the whole inscription that reads most like a report from practice: those who have strained to still the mind have mostly found that the more they stilled it, the more it stirred. The reason, says the inscription, is “only stuck at the two extremes, how would one know the one kind?”: circling between stillness and movement, one does not know there is one kind. And “when the one kind does not go through, both places lose their work”: when this one kind is not reached, stillness is stilled in vain and motion moved in vain. “Dismiss being and sink into being; follow emptiness and turn your back on emptiness” states the direction once more: those who dismiss being sink into it, those who follow emptiness turn away from it. The three names of the sickness—agreeable and contrary, taking and rejecting, stillness and movement—are in fact one sickness: the two extremes.
III. Cutting Off Words and Thought, Returning to the Root
“Many words, many thoughts, and the less one accords”; “cut off words, cut off thought, and there is nowhere it does not go through”. These two couplets are set against each other: the more words and thought, the less accord; the moment words and thought are cut, nowhere is blocked. What needs care is that when the inscription says “cut off,” it still means not doing, not pressing down with a greater force. The four couplets that follow are the most concrete method in the whole text:
“Return to the root and gain the purport; follow the illumined and lose the source”: go back to the root and you have its purport; go after what is illumined and you lose its source. “A moment’s turning back of the light surpasses the former emptiness”: even an instant of turning the light back surpasses the emptiness seen before. What is this “former emptiness”? It is the “dwelling in emptiness” of Section II: the emptiness one takes oneself to have already reached. The inscription says of it “the former emptiness shifts and changes, all through deluded views”: that emptiness changes, because it was made by a view. So the conclusion is not to seek a truer true: “No need to seek the true; only let views cease”. Not seeking the true, only ceasing views. Here the inscription has made clear the reason for its “do not”: seeking is another view; ceasing is what returns to not-difficult.
IV. Two Views, One Mind, Knower and Object
“Do not abide in the two views; take care not to pursue them”. The two views are all the two extremes above. Do not abide, and do not pursue. Why say “take care not to pursue” in particular? Because “the moment there is right and wrong, in confusion the mind is lost”: once right and wrong arise, the mind scatters. What follows is the tightest piece of reasoning in the inscription:
“Two exists because of one; do not keep even the one”. Two comes from one; therefore do not hold on even to the one. This line pushes the earlier talk of “one kind” a step further: the one kind, the even heart, is not holding on to a “one.” “When the one mind does not arise, the myriad dharmas are without fault”: when the one mind does not arise, the myriad dharmas have never had a fault. “No fault, no dharma; not arising, not mind”: with no fault there is no longer the name “dharma”; with no arising there is no longer the name “mind.” You will notice that here the inscription sets down, one by one, the very words it has just used: one, mind, dharma—all borrowed for the moment.
Then the knower and its object. “The knower perishes with the object; the object sinks with the knower”, “the object is object because of the knower; the knower is knower because of the object”. The knowing side perishes along with the object, and the object sinks along with the knower; the object is an object only because of a knower, the knower a knower only because of an object. These lines wind round and round like a tongue-twister, but they say only one thing: knower and object depend on each other, and neither stands alone. “If you would know the two segments, they are originally one emptiness”, “one emptiness, the same as the two, holds the myriad images alike”: these two segments were one emptiness from the start; and this one emptiness does not exclude the two but holds the myriad images. By here, “seeing neither fine nor coarse, how could there be partiality?”: naturally one no longer leans to either side.
V. The Great Way Is Wide in Body: Grasping It and Letting It Go
The inscription changes a word: “The great Way is wide in body, neither easy nor difficult”. The first line said “the ultimate Way”; here it says “the great Way”—one names its furthest point, the other its breadth. Neither easy nor difficult goes a layer beyond the opening’s “not difficult”: not even “easy” is set up. Then who finds it difficult? “Narrow views and fox-doubt: the more hurried, the slower”: those of small view doubt like a fox, and the more they hurry, the slower they go.
Next is the pair of lines most often remembered from the whole text: “Grasp it and lose the measure; the mind enters a crooked path”, “let it go and it is natural; its body neither goes nor stays”. Grasp it and the measure is lost; let it go and it is natural of itself. Note that “let go” is not throwing away; it is not reaching to take. “Let the nature be, and it accords with the Way; at ease, troubles are cut off”: let its own nature be, and it accords with the Way. Conversely, “binding thought goes against the true; sinking into dullness is no good”: tying the thoughts down goes against the true, but sinking into dimness is no good either. “No good is the laboring of the spirit; what use is distant and near?”: both ends are no good, and the root of what is no good is laboring the spirit; that being so, why divide distant from near? This section can be read as the answer to the “stillness and movement” of Section II: not stillness, not motion, but letting go.
VI. The Six Sense-Objects, Right Awakening, Non-Doing
“If you would go toward the one vehicle, do not hate the six sense-objects”. To move toward the one vehicle, do not hate the six sense-objects. This line comes straight at the practitioner: practitioners usually take aversion to the six sense-objects as the starting point, but the inscription lists “hating the six sense-objects” as an obstacle. “With the six sense-objects not hated, one is just the same as right awakening”: not hating the six sense-objects, one is on the contrary the same as right awakening. Why? Because hating is also hate and love, also picking and choosing; one who hates the six sense-objects is still at the two extremes.
“The wise practice non-doing; the foolish bind themselves”. Non-doing is not doing nothing; it is not setting up a further contrivance to deal with what was never a problem. Self-binding is tying oneself with one’s own rope. “Dharma has no other dharma; one clings to it oneself in delusion”: there is no second dharma; it is oneself who, deluded, loves and clings. “To take the mind and use the mind—is that not a great error?”: to use the mind upon the mind is the most fundamental error. This line answers the “one mind does not arise” of Section IV: to use the mind to seek the mind is exactly “two exists because of one.”
Then the inscription speaks of delusion and awakening: “In delusion, quiet and disorder arise; in awakening, there is no liking or disliking”. Only in delusion are quiet and disorder divided; in awakening there is no liking or disliking. “Every pair of extremes is measured out by oneself in delusion”: every opposition is something one has measured out oneself. “Dream, illusion, flowers in the sky—why labor to grasp them?”, “gain and loss, right and wrong: let them all go at once”: being dream, illusion, flowers in the sky, why grasp? Gain and loss, right and wrong—let them all go at once. And so the brightest simile in the whole inscription appears: “If the eyes do not sleep, the dreams are gone of themselves”. The dreams need not be driven out one by one; when the eyes do not sleep, the dreams are simply not there.
VII. If the Mind Does Not Differ, the Myriad Dharmas Are One Suchness
“If the mind does not differ, the myriad dharmas are one suchness”. When the mind raises no difference, the myriad dharmas are one suchness. “One suchness, profound in body; unmoving, conditions are forgotten”: the body of one suchness is profound; it stands unmoving, and conditions are forgotten of themselves. “See the myriad dharmas alike, and return to the natural”: see the myriad dharmas evenly, and one returns to the natural. “Erase the wherefore, and there is nothing to compare it to”: even the “why it is so” is erased, and there is nothing it can be likened to.
Next the inscription brings the “stillness and movement” of Section II to its final settlement: “Still the moving and there is no moving; move the still and there is no stillness”. Earlier, “stop motion to return to stillness, and the stillness moves all the more” spoke of the sickness; here, that stilling the moving leaves no moving and moving the still leaves no stillness speaks of after the cure: stillness and movement cancel each other. “Since the two do not stand, how could there be a one?”: when neither of the two stands, where would a one come from? This again answers Section IV’s “do not keep even the one.” “At the ultimate limit, no rule remains”: at the very end, not even a rule is kept.
Then comes a very quiet set of lines: “Open the mind to evenness, and all doing ceases”, “when fox-doubt is wholly cleansed, right faith is gentle and straight”, “nothing at all is kept; there is nothing to remember”, “empty and luminous of itself, it does not labor the mind’s strength”. Once the mind is even, contrivance rests; the “fox-doubt” of Section V is here cleansed away and replaced by “right faith”; nothing is kept, so there is nothing to remember; the emptiness and luminosity are natural, without effort. “Not a place for thinking; consciousness and feeling cannot gauge it”: this is not a place thinking can reach, so neither knowledge nor feeling can measure it.
VIII. Not Two: Brief and Long, Small and Great, Being and Nothing, One and All
“Suchness, the dharma-realm: no other, no self”. In suchness, the dharma-realm, there is no other and no self. “If you would accord quickly, say only: not two”: if you want to accord very quickly, there is only one thing to say—not two. “Not two, all the same; nothing it does not contain”: not two, therefore all is the same, and nothing is left uncontained. “The wise of the ten directions all enter this source”.
The next four groups say “not two” once each in terms of time, space, being and nothing, one and all. Time: “the source is neither brief nor long”: this source is neither short nor long; here the base text adds, in small interlinear characters, “one thought is ten thousand years; ten thousand years, one thought”. Space: “there is no place where it is not present; the ten directions are before your eyes”: present everywhere, the ten directions right before the eyes; “the smallest is the same as the great, when deluded bounds are cut off”, “the greatest is the same as the small; no edge or surface is seen”: the smallest equals the greatest, the greatest equals the smallest. The four characters set between them, “deluded bounds cut off”, say why: the boundary between small and great is divided off in delusion; once the delusion is cut, the boundary is gone, and so “no edge or surface is seen”: edge and surface were never there to be seen. Being and nothing: “being is nothing; nothing is being”. Being and nothing here are not two opposed concepts but two faces of one thing: call it being, because it is present everywhere; call it nothing, because there is no one thing that can be pointed to—Section IV’s “no fault, no dharma; not arising, not mind” has already said as much. Then the inscription adds a very hard line: “If it is not thus, you must by no means keep it”: if it is not like this, then certainly do not hold on. “Thus” refers to the mutual identity of being and nothing just stated; if one does not see it this way, then whichever side one holds—being, or nothing—one certainly need not. One and all: “one is all; all is one”. The one is not a one apart from the all, and the all is not an all outside the one; Section IV’s “two exists because of one; do not keep even the one” said not to hold the one, and here it goes a step further: one and all were never divided, so the question of holding or not holding is gone as well. “If only you can be thus, what worry that it will not be finished?”: if you can be like this, what is there to fear left undone?
IX. Faith in Mind Is Not Two; the Road of Words Is Cut Off
“Faith in mind is not two; not two is faith in mind”. Only at the very end does the inscription return to its own title. Faith in mind is the title; not two is the conclusion the whole text has reached by here. It turns the two phrases around and says them again: faith in mind is not two, and not two is faith in mind. The “faith” here is not believing a proposition; it is the faith of “when fox-doubt is wholly cleansed, right faith is gentle and straight” above: once doubt is cleansed, the mind is straight of itself. So faith in mind is not something set up separately; it is the very mind that no longer picks and chooses.
“The road of words is cut off; it is not past, future, or present”. Here the road of words breaks off; it belongs to neither past, future, nor present. These are the inscription’s last eight characters, and its account of itself: the words of the preceding hundred and forty lines are all set down here together. When we have read it through once and look back at the first line, “the ultimate Way is not difficult,” we find that it told the truth—the difficulty was never the Way, but the agreeable and contrary, taking and rejecting, stillness and movement, two views, grasping and letting go, liking and disliking that a person sets up along the road. The inscription calls each of these by name, and then says only one word: do not.
Carrying Forward — The Old Masters’ Citations
The inscription has no old line-by-line commentary, and the old masters’ citations gather almost entirely on its first couplet. The Blue Cliff Record says: “The Third Patriarch’s Inscription on Faith in Mind says these two lines right at the head. How many people have misunderstood them!” Where is the misunderstanding? It goes on: “Why? The ultimate Way is originally not difficult, and not not-difficult either; it is only that it shuns picking and choosing.” Not even “not difficult” is set up—answering exactly to the inscription’s own “neither easy nor difficult”. Zhaozhou often held up this couplet before the assembly, and pointed the picking and choosing at speech: “The moment there are words, that is picking and choosing, that is clarity.” The Blue Cliff Record accordingly warns, “Above all, do not pick and choose among words and phrases.” The very ones citing it are reminding us not to treat this inscription as phrases to pick over.
There are also those who said the opposite. The Continued Record of the Transmission of the Lamp records Deshan Renhui ascending the hall: “This mountain monk says otherwise: the ultimate Way is most difficult, and one must pick and choose. Without hate and love, how would one see clearly?” One straight, one reversed—each of the old masters had his own occasion; this edition records both and does not judge. There is also an exchange at court: Jingshan first raised the inscription’s “empty and luminous, shining of itself, it does not labor the mind’s strength” (that recension reads “shining of itself”; the base text has “empty and luminous of itself”), and Xiatang Huiyuan then answered: “This is the Great Master the Third Patriarch’s Inscription on Faith in Mind; it was spoken precisely for those who have realized something.” That sentence places the reader: the inscription is not a beginner’s manual; it is spoken to those who have already walked some way. Wherever you have read to, it is waiting for you there.
考據Apparatus
全段定位 本單元即《信心銘》全篇：題「信心銘」三字，偈四言一百四十七句（含〔T48 0377a04〕夾注八字）五百八十八字，尾題「信心銘之終」五字，凡五百九十六字。底本卷端無撰者署名。銘無逐文古疏；所對之鏡為《景德傳燈錄》卷三十所收全文，旁及《碧巖錄》《續傳燈錄》《五燈會元》之拈提。底本與傳燈錄本之異，見目十；大正藏校記十一條，見目九。
一、科判定位
銘無古疏科判。古德於銘之結構，唯《碧巖錄》一語及其起首二句：
「三祖信心銘劈頭便道這兩句。有多少人錯會。」〔T48n2003 0191a09〕
傳燈錄收錄之位置——卷三十，題作：
「三祖僧璨大師信心銘」〔T51n2076 0457a18〕
正文自「至道無難唯嫌揀擇」〔T51n2076 0457a19〕起，至「道斷非去來今」〔T51n2076 0457b24〕止。
本單元起訖：
| 位 | 逐字 | 錨 | 字數 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 題 | 「信心銘」 | 〔T48 0376b18〕 | 3 |
| 偈起 | 「至道無難唯嫌揀擇」 | 〔T48 0376b20〕 | — |
| 偈訖 | 「言語道斷非去來今」 | 〔T48 0377a10〕 | — |
| 偈計 | 四言一百四十七句（含夾注八字） | — | 588 |
| 尾題 | 「信心銘之終」 | 〔T48 0377a11〕 | 5 |
| 合 | — | — | 596 |
銘以對句推進之自然段落（以下段界只作讀法之提示，非古德之科，不入引號）：
| 聯 | 讀法提示 |
|---|---|
| 一–三 | 『總標：至道不難，病在揀擇，差之毫釐』 |
| 四–九 | 『順逆、取捨為心病；太虛無欠無餘』 |
| 十–十五 | 『一種平懷與兩邊；止動、遣有、從空之反覆』 |
| 十六–二十一 | 『絕言絕慮；返照、息見、不住二見』 |
| 二十二–三十 | 『是非失心；二由一有，一心不生；能境相由，兩段一空』 |
| 三十一–三十九 | 『大道體寬；執之與放之；不惡六塵同於正覺』 |
| 四十–五十一 | 『智愚、二邊、夢幻；心若不異，萬法一如』 |
| 五十二–五十九 | 『止動兩泯；正信調直，虛明不勞心力』 |
| 六十–七十三 | 『真如法界，唯言不二；促延、大小、有無、一多皆泯；信心不二，言語道斷』 |
此九分但依銘之頂真接續處（如「一種」〔T48 0376b27〕／〔T48 0376b28〕、「前空」〔T48 0376c02〕／〔T48 0376c03〕、「不二」〔T48 0377a02〕）而見，非銘自標，亦非古德所判。
二、異譯對勘
本銘無異譯；傳燈錄卷三十所收全文為對勘本，異文見目十。
三、經論宗依（眼）
銘未自標所依經論。銘語與經論成句同文、近文者，列之如下——皆經論自文，並列以見其語之所承，不謂銘必出於此。
「言語道斷」〔T48 0377a10〕
- 《維摩詰所說經》〈見阿閦佛品〉：「不來不去，不出不入，一切言語道斷」〔T14n0475 0555a14〕
- 《中論》〈觀法品〉釋文：「先說實相無戲論，心相寂滅言語道斷。」〔T30n1564 0025b13〕
「唯言不二」「不二皆同」〔T48 0377a02〕
- 《維摩詰所說經》〈入不二法門品〉：「時維摩詰默然無言。」〔T14n0475 0551c22〕「乃至無有文字、語言，是真入不二法門。」〔T14n0475 0551c23〕
「真如法界」〔T48 0377a01〕
- 《大方廣佛華嚴經》〈世主妙嚴品〉偈：「佛住真如法界藏，無相無形離諸垢」〔T10n0279 0022b17〕
- 《金光明最勝王經》〈如來壽量品〉：「真如法界實際平等，得正智故，名為涅槃。」〔T16n0665 0407a15〕
「欲趣一乘」〔T48 0376c15〕
- 《妙法蓮華經》〈方便品〉偈：「十方佛土中，唯有一乘法」〔T09n0262 0008a17〕
「非思量處」〔T48 0376c29〕
- 《妙法蓮華經》〈方便品〉：「是法非思量分別之所能解，唯有諸佛乃能知之」〔T09n0262 0007a20〕
「一心不生萬法無咎」〔T48 0376c06〕、「一即一切一切即一」〔T48 0377a08〕、「夢幻空華」〔T48 0376c20〕：未見經論成句之同文。
四、本段釋要
本銘無逐文古疏。古德拈提之中，直就銘句而發者如下（皆《碧巖錄》）：
起首二句之難易——
「三祖信心銘劈頭便道這兩句。有多少人錯會。何故至道本無難。亦無不難。只是唯嫌揀擇。若恁麼會。一萬年也未夢見在。」〔T48n2003 0191a09〕
銘句與「明白」——
「三祖信心銘云。至道無難。唯嫌揀擇。但莫憎愛。洞然明白。纔有是非。是揀擇。是明白。纔恁麼會。蹉過了也。」〔T48n2003 0141c07〕
揀擇與言句——
「大凡參禪問道。明究自己。切忌揀擇言句。何故不見趙州舉道。至道無難。唯嫌揀擇。」〔T48n2003 0149a22〕
趙州常舉此二句——
「趙州尋常示眾。有此一篇云。至道無難唯嫌揀擇。纔有語言。是揀擇。是明白。」〔T48n2003 0191c25〕 「州云。至道無難。唯嫌揀擇。纔有語言。是揀擇是明白。」〔T48n2003 0142b04〕
頌與咬嚼言句之誡——
「此是古人問道底公案。雪竇拽來一串穿却。用頌至道無難。唯嫌揀擇。」〔T48n2003 0142b09〕 「如今人不會古人意。只管咬言嚼句。有甚了期。」〔T48n2003 0142b11〕
即用即活——
「趙州道。只這至道無難唯嫌揀擇。如擊石火似閃電光。擒縱殺活。得恁麼自在。」〔T48n2003 0191c23〕
以上所釋，皆集中於起首「至道無難唯嫌揀擇」一聯；銘之其餘七十二聯，古德拈提未見逐句之釋。
五、諸家異釋（分欄並錄·誌錄不判）
| 事 | 出處 | 逐字 | 錨 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 繫屬 | 傳燈錄卷三十 | 「三祖僧璨大師信心銘」 | 〔T51n2076 0457a18〕 |
| 繫屬 | 五燈會元 | 「師信心銘曰。至道無難。」（同行上文「玄宗諡鑑智禪師．覺寂之塔。」） | 〔X80n1565 0044c05〕 |
| 繫屬 | 續傳燈錄 | 「師對。此乃三祖大師信心銘。正為有所證悟者說。」 | 〔T51n2077 0662b28〕 |
| 繫屬 | 碧巖錄 | 「三祖信心銘云。至道無難。」 | 〔T48n2003 0141c07〕 |
| 至道之難易 | 碧巖錄 | 「何故至道本無難。亦無不難。」 | 〔T48n2003 0191a10〕 |
| 至道之難易 | 續傳燈錄·鼎州德山仁繪禪師 | 「山僧即不然。至道最難須是揀擇。若無憎愛爭見明白。」 | 〔T51n2077 0537a22〕 |
| 如何是不揀擇 | 碧巖錄·趙州 | 「州云。天上天下唯我獨尊」〔T48n2003 0191a04〕；「僧云。此猶是揀擇」〔T48n2003 0191a05〕；「州云。田厙奴。什麼處是揀擇」〔T48n2003 0191a06〕 | 見左 |
| 如何是不揀擇 | 續傳燈錄·越州諸暨鐘山報恩譚禪師 | 「師曰。昨日初三今日初四。」〔T51n2077 0504b19〕；「僧云。此猶是揀擇。師曰。龍蛇易辨衲子難瞞。」〔T51n2077 0504b20〕 | 見左 |
| 是時人窠窟否 | 碧巖錄·趙州 | 「州云。曾有人問我。直得五年分疎不下」 | 〔T48n2003 0191b13〕 |
| 是時人窠窟否 | 續傳燈錄·安吉州烏回唯菴良範禪師 | 「師召眾曰。趙州具頂門眼。」〔T51n2077 0674a21〕；「為甚麼却五年分疎不下。還委悉麼。易分雪裏粉。難辨墨中煤。」〔T51n2077 0674a23〕 | 見左 |
| 引盡與只念到此 | 碧巖錄·趙州 | 「州云。何不引盡這語」〔T48n2003 0191c19〕；「僧云。某甲只念到這裏」〔T48n2003 0191c20〕；「州云。只這至道無難唯嫌揀擇」〔T48n2003 0191c21〕 | 見左 |
| 二句與他則並舉 | 續傳燈錄（此則承上作「又曰」） | 「又曰。至道無難唯嫌揀擇。但莫憎愛洞然明白。雪峯輥毬趙州庭柏。不落見聞亦非聲色。」 | 〔T51n2077 0627a23〕 |
| 二句與眼前景並舉 | 續傳燈錄（此則但稱「師」） | 「上堂。至道無難唯嫌揀擇。桃花紅李花白。誰道融融只一色。」 | 〔T51n2077 0636a05〕 |
| 銘為誰說 | 續傳燈錄（奏對） | 「徑山對。虛明自照不勞心力。」〔T51n2077 0662b27〕；「師對。此乃三祖大師信心銘。正為有所證悟者說。」〔T51n2077 0662b28〕 | 見左 |
誌錄不判：傳燈錄、續傳燈錄、碧巖錄皆稱「三祖」；五燈會元繫於章中之「師」；底本卷端無署名。德山仁繪「至道最難」與碧巖錄「至道本無難。亦無不難」，一反說、一雙遣，並錄。問「如何是不揀擇」，趙州答以「天上天下唯我獨尊」，報恩譚答以「昨日初三今日初四」，並錄。
六、術語（首見名相·釋義唯取古德拈提）
| 名相 | 銘中首見（逐字） | 錨 | 古德釋 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 至道 | 「至道無難」 | 〔T48 0376b20〕 | 「何故至道本無難。亦無不難。只是唯嫌揀擇。」〔T48n2003 0191a10〕 |
| 揀擇 | 「唯嫌揀擇」 | 〔T48 0376b20〕 | 「纔有語言。是揀擇是明白。」〔T48n2003 0142b05〕；「切忌揀擇言句。」〔T48n2003 0149a22〕 |
| 憎愛 | 「但莫憎愛」 | 〔T48 0376b20〕 | 古德未釋（續傳燈錄有反用：「若無憎愛爭見明白。」〔T51n2077 0537a23〕） |
| 玄旨 | 「不識玄旨」 | 〔T48 0376b23〕 | 古德未釋 |
| 一種 | 「一種平懷」 | 〔T48 0376b26〕 | 古德未釋 |
| 止動 | 「止動歸止」 | 〔T48 0376b26〕 | 古德未釋；銘後又自作「止動無動動止無止」〔T48 0376c25〕 |
| 兩邊 | 「唯滯兩邊」 | 〔T48 0376b27〕 | 古德未釋；銘後又作「一切二邊」〔T48 0376c19〕 |
| 大道 | 「大道體寬」 | 〔T48 0376c11〕 | 古德未釋；與首句「至道」二詞並見銘中，各依其字 |
| 一乘 | 「欲趣一乘」 | 〔T48 0376c15〕 | 古德未釋 |
| 六塵 | 「勿惡六塵」 | 〔T48 0376c16〕 | 古德未釋 |
| 正覺 | 「還同正覺」 | 〔T48 0376c16〕 | 古德未釋 |
| 無為 | 「智者無為」 | 〔T48 0376c17〕 | 古德未釋；此處與「愚人自縛」對舉 |
| 一如 | 「萬法一如」 | 〔T48 0376c22〕 | 古德未釋 |
| 真如法界 | 「真如法界無他無自」 | 〔T48 0377a01〕 | 古德未釋 |
| 不二 | 「唯言不二」 | 〔T48 0377a02〕 | 古德未釋 |
| 信心 | 題「信心銘」〔T48 0376b18〕；偈「信心不二不二信心」 | 〔T48 0377a09〕 | 古德未釋 |
銘中名相皆漢語，古德於此銘未出梵形，今不代擬。
七、譬喻·修辭
銘自用之譬：
| 譬 | 逐字 | 錨 | 所在之義 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 太虛 | 「圓同太虛無欠無餘」 | 〔T48 0376b24〕 | 狀其圓滿 |
| 天地 | 「毫釐有差天地懸隔」 | 〔T48 0376b21〕 | 狀差失之遠 |
| 狐疑 | 「小見狐疑」〔T48 0376c11〕；「狐疑盡淨」〔T48 0376c27〕 | 見左 | 疑而不決，前後兩見 |
| 夢幻空華 | 「夢幻空華何勞把捉」 | 〔T48 0376c20〕 | 不實而不須把捉 |
| 眠夢 | 「眼若不眠諸夢自除」 | 〔T48 0376c21〕 | 不眠則夢自除 |
修辭可記者：
- 頂真——上聯末詞即下聯首詞，銘以此接續：「寧知一種」〔T48 0376b27〕→「一種不通」〔T48 0376b28〕；「勝却前空」〔T48 0376c02〕→「前空轉變」〔T48 0376c03〕；「萬法無咎」〔T48 0376c06〕→「無咎無法」〔T48 0376c07〕；「元是一空」〔T48 0376c09〕→「一空同兩」；「沈惛不好」〔T48 0376c14〕→「不好勞神」〔T48 0376c15〕；「勿惡六塵」〔T48 0376c16〕→「六塵不惡」；「萬法一如」〔T48 0376c22〕→「一如體玄」〔T48 0376c23〕；「唯言不二」〔T48 0377a02〕→「不二皆同」；「皆入此宗」〔T48 0377a03〕→「宗非促延」〔T48 0377a04〕。
- 回文、互倒——「境由能境能由境能」〔T48 0376c08〕；「止動無動動止無止」〔T48 0376c25〕；「極小同大」〔T48 0377a05〕與「極大同小」〔T48 0377a06〕；「有即是無無即是有」〔T48 0377a06〕；「一即一切一切即一」〔T48 0377a08〕；「信心不二不二信心」〔T48 0377a09〕；夾注「一念萬年萬年一念」〔T48 0377a04〕亦同此式。
- 反復——「止動歸止止更彌動」〔T48 0376b26〕，以止求止而動彌甚；「遣有沒有從空背空」〔T48 0376b28〕，二句同型相對。
- 對舉——「多言多慮」〔T48 0376b29〕與「絕言絕慮」〔T48 0376c01〕；「執之失度」〔T48 0376c12〕與「放之自然」〔T48 0376c13〕；「智者無為愚人自縛」〔T48 0376c17〕；「迷生寂亂悟無好惡」〔T48 0376c19〕。
- 首尾之應——首句言「至道無難」〔T48 0376b20〕，末句言「言語道斷」〔T48 0377a10〕；首聯之「揀擇」，至末段收為「唯言不二」〔T48 0377a02〕。此但記其字之相應，不作義理之判。
八、徵引承衍
碧巖錄（「至道無難」「唯嫌揀擇」相連之處十三見）：
| 錨 | 逐字（起句） |
|---|---|
| 〔T48n2003 0141c07〕 | 「三祖信心銘云。至道無難。唯嫌揀擇。」 |
| 〔T48n2003 0142b05〕 | 「至道無難。唯嫌揀擇。纔有語言。」 |
| 〔T48n2003 0142b11〕 | 「至道無難。唯嫌揀擇。如今人不會古人意。」 |
| 〔T48n2003 0149a23〕 | 「故不見趙州舉道。至道無難。唯嫌揀擇。」 |
| 〔T48n2003 0191a03〕 | 「【五七】舉。僧問趙州。至道無難唯嫌揀擇。如何是」 |
| 〔T48n2003 0191a09〕 | 「僧問趙州。至道無難唯嫌揀擇。三祖信心銘」 |
| 〔T48n2003 0191b12〕 | 「【五八】舉。僧問趙州。至道無難唯嫌揀擇。是時」 |
| 〔T48n2003 0191b22〕 | 「竇令參至道無難唯嫌揀擇。於此有省。」 |
| 〔T48n2003 0191b23〕 | 「雪竇問他。至道無難唯嫌揀擇。意作麼生。」 |
| 〔T48n2003 0191c17〕 | 「【五九】舉。僧問趙州。至道無難。唯嫌揀擇」 |
| 〔T48n2003 0191c21〕 | 「州云。只這至道無難唯嫌揀擇」 |
| 〔T48n2003 0191c23〕 | 「趙州道。只這至道無難唯嫌揀擇。」 |
| 〔T48n2003 0191c26〕 | 「云。至道無難唯嫌揀擇。纔有語言。」 |
其中三則（【五七】【五八】【五九】）皆以銘之首聯為問頭；投子宗道者於雪竇會下之參，亦以此聯：「雪竇令參至道無難唯嫌揀擇。於此有省。」〔T48n2003 0191b21〕
碧巖錄首聯之外，依全銘逐聯掃另得如下（並錄）：
| 聯序 | 逐字起句 | 錨 |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 「但莫憎愛。洞然明白」 | 〔T48n2003 0141c07〕 |
| 10 | 「一種平懷。泯然自盡」 | 〔T48n2003 0142a21〕 |
| 46 | 「得失是非。一時放却」 | 〔T48n2003 0172c05〕 |
| 34 | 「放之自然體無去住」 | 〔T48n2003 0175b03〕 |
| 22 | 「纔有是非。紛然失心」 | 〔T48n2003 0185c22〕 |
續傳燈錄（六見）：
| 錨 | 逐字（起句） | 人 |
|---|---|---|
| 〔T51n2077 0504b18〕 | 「越州諸暨鐘山報恩譚禪師。僧問。至道無難」 | 報恩譚 |
| 〔T51n2077 0537a21〕 | 「上堂。至道無難唯嫌揀擇但莫憎愛洞然明白。」 | 德山仁繪（〔T51n2077 0537a19〕「鼎州德山仁繪禪師」） |
| 〔T51n2077 0627a23〕 | 「又曰。至道無難唯嫌揀擇。但莫憎愛洞然明白。」 | 承上作「又曰」 |
| 〔T51n2077 0636a05〕 | 「上堂。至道無難唯嫌揀擇。」 | 但稱「師」 |
| 〔T51n2077 0662b29〕 | 「師對。至道無難唯嫌揀擇。但莫憎愛。洞然明白。毫釐有差天地懸隔。」 | 奏對之「師」 |
| 〔T51n2077 0674a19〕 | 「上堂舉。僧問趙州。至道無難唯嫌揀擇。是時人窠窟否。」 | 良範（〔T51n2077 0674a15〕「安吉州烏回唯菴良範禪師」） |
同書之內，首聯之外另引銘句者，依全銘逐聯掃得如下（並錄）：
| 聯序 | 逐字起句 | 錨 |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | 「毫釐有差天地懸隔」 | 〔T51n2077 0512c18〕 |
| 2 | 「但莫憎愛洞然明白」 | 〔T51n2077 0537a21〕 |
| 23 | 「二由一有。一亦莫守」 | 〔T51n2077 0542b28〕 |
| 24 | 「一心不生。萬法無咎」 | 〔T51n2077 0542b28〕 |
| 39 | 「六塵不惡還同正覺」 | 〔T51n2077 0553c19〕 |
| 22 | 「纔有是非紛然失心」 | 〔T51n2077 0583c23〕 |
| 43 | 「迷生寂亂悟無好惡」 | 〔T51n2077 0626a28〕 |
| 46 | 「得失是非一時放却」 | 〔T51n2077 0626a29〕 |
| 2 | 「但莫憎愛洞然明白」 | 〔T51n2077 0627a24〕 |
| 46 | 「得失是非一時放却」 | 〔T51n2077 0627a28〕 |
| 4 | 「欲得現前莫存順逆」 | 〔T51n2077 0655a03〕 |
| 2 | 「但莫憎愛。洞然明白」 | 〔T51n2077 0662c01〕 |
| 3 | 「毫釐有差天地懸隔」 | 〔T51n2077 0662c01〕 |
| 2 | 「但莫憎愛洞然明白」 | 〔T51n2077 0670b18〕 |
| 4 | 「欲得現前莫存順逆」 | 〔T51n2077 0680c10〕 |
| 3 | 「毫釐有差天地懸隔」 | 〔T51n2077 0681c09〕 |
| 4 | 「欲得現前莫存順逆」 | 〔T51n2077 0681c11〕 |
| 46 | 「得失是非一時放却」 | 〔T51n2077 0686b12〕 |
五燈會元——全銘具載，起「師信心銘曰。至道無難。」〔X80n1565 0044c05〕，至「言語道斷。非去來今。」〔X80n1565 0045a10〕全文具載。
景德傳燈錄——卷三十全文收錄，題「三祖僧璨大師信心銘」〔T51n2076 0457a18〕。
九、校本定位
大正藏校記於本單元共十一條（皆在卷末校記，對校本標【甲】）：
| # | 錨 | 底本 | 【甲】 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | 0376c10 | 「麁」（「不見精麁」） | 粗 |
| 02 | 0376c10 | 「偏」（「寧有偏黨」） | 徧 |
| 03 | 0376c14 | 「沈惛」（「沈惛不好」） | 昏沈 |
| 04 | 0376c21 | 「眠」（「眼若不眠」） | 睡 |
| 05 | 0376c26 | 「不」（「不存軌則」） | 莫 |
| 06 | 0376c27 | 「啟」（「啟心平等」） | 契 |
| 07 | 0376c29 | 「然」（「虛明自然」） | 照 |
| 08 | 0377a04 | 「萬年一念」（夾注之後四字） | 〔空〕——【甲】無此四字 |
| 09 | 0377a05 | 「妄」（「妄絕境界」） | 忘 |
| 10 | 0377a09 | 「畢」（「何慮不畢」） | 必 |
| 11 | 0377a10 | 「去」（「非去來今」） | 古 |
誌錄不判：十一條之中，03「昏沈」、04「睡」、06「契」、07「照」、08 無「萬年一念」、09「忘」六條，【甲】與傳燈錄本同；01「粗」、02「徧」、05「莫」、10「必」、11「古」五條，傳燈錄本同底本（見目十）。不據以改底本一字。
夾注：一處，〔T48 0377a04〕「宗非促延〔一念萬年萬年一念〕無在不在」——八字於大正藏為夾注小字；其後四字即校記 08 所出。 gaiji：本單元無。
十、偈式·異文
①句式：全篇四言，一百四十七句（含夾注八字），五百八十八字。偈行以三句十二字為常式；〔T48 0377a04〕一行為正文二句夾以夾注八字；末行〔T48 0377a10〕「言語道斷非去來今」二句八字。四言二句為一聯，自「至道無難唯嫌揀擇」起依序成對，夾注之「一念萬年」與「宗非促延」為對（從傳燈錄「宗非促延一念萬年」之式），計七十三聯；夾注後四字「萬年一念」不另成聯。
②韻：古德於此銘未有韻注；換韻之處須依古音考訂，今不作。
③【甲】本校記：十一條，逐條見目九。
④對勘本異文——底本與傳燈錄卷三十本逐字對讀，異者十五處，另題、尾題二事；五燈會元全文並列一欄以備參（並錄不判）：
| # | 底本 | 錨 | 傳燈錄本 | 錨 | 五燈會元 | 錨 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 題 | 「信心銘」 | 〔T48 0376b18〕 | 「三祖僧璨大師信心銘」 | 〔T51n2076 0457a18〕 | 「師信心銘曰」 | 〔X80n1565 0044c05〕 |
| 1 | 「毫釐有差」 | 〔T48 0376b21〕 | 「豪釐有差天地懸隔」 | 〔T51n2076 0457a19〕 | 「毫𨤲有差」 | 〔X80n1565 0044c06〕 |
| 2 | 「慎勿追尋」 | 〔T48 0376c04〕 | 「慎莫追尋」 | 〔T51n2076 0457a28〕 | 「慎莫追尋」 | 〔X80n1565 0044c14〕 |
| 3 | 「纔有是非」 | 〔T48 0376c05〕 | 「才有是非紛然失心」 | 〔T51n2076 0457a28〕 | 「纔有是非」 | 〔X80n1565 0044c14〕 |
| 4 | 「齊含萬像」 | 〔T48 0376c10〕 | 「齊含萬象」 | 〔T51n2076 0457b03〕 | 「齊含萬象」 | 〔X80n1565 0044c17〕 |
| 5 | 「心入邪路」 | 〔T48 0376c12〕 | 「必入邪路」 | 〔T51n2076 0457b05〕 | 「必入邪路」 | 〔X80n1565 0044c18〕 |
| 6 | 「沈惛不好」 | 〔T48 0376c14〕 | 「昏沈不好」 | 〔T51n2076 0457b06〕 | 「昏沉不好」 | 〔X80n1565 0044c20〕 |
| 7 | 「欲趣一乘」 | 〔T48 0376c15〕 | 「欲取一乘」 | 〔T51n2076 0457b07〕 | 「欲取一乘」 | 〔X80n1565 0044c20〕 |
| 8 | 「妄自斟酌」 | 〔T48 0376c20〕 | 「一切二邊良由斟酌」 | 〔T51n2076 0457b10〕 | 「良由斟酌」 | 〔X80n1565 0044c23〕 |
| 9 | 「夢幻空華」 | 〔T48 0376c20〕 | 「夢幻虛華」 | 〔T51n2076 0457b10〕 | 「夢幻空華」 | 〔X80n1565 0044c23〕 |
| 10 | 「眼若不眠」 | 〔T48 0376c21〕 | 「眼若不睡」 | 〔T51n2076 0457b11〕 | 「眼若不睡」 | 〔X80n1565 0044c24〕 |
| 11 | 「啟心平等」 | 〔T48 0376c27〕 | 「契心平等」 | 〔T51n2076 0457b15〕 | 「契心平等」 | 〔X80n1565 0045a03〕 |
| 12 | 「虛明自然」 | 〔T48 0376c29〕 | 「虛明自照」 | 〔T51n2076 0457b16〕 | 「虗明自照」 | 〔X80n1565 0045a04〕 |
| 13 | 「宗非促延〔一念萬年萬年一念〕無在不在」 | 〔T48 0377a04〕 | 「宗非促延一念萬年」 | 〔T51n2076 0457b19〕 | 「宗非促延。一念萬年。」 | 〔X80n1565 0045a07〕 |
| 14 | 「妄絕境界」 | 〔T48 0377a05〕 | 「忘絕境界」 | 〔T51n2076 0457b20〕 | 「忘絕境界」 | 〔X80n1565 0045a08〕 |
| 15 | 「若不如是」 | 〔T48 0377a07〕 | 「若不如此」 | 〔T51n2076 0457b22〕 | 「若不如是」 | 〔X80n1565 0045a09〕 |
| 尾題 | 「信心銘之終」 | 〔T48 0377a11〕 | 無 | — | 無 | — |
五燈會元獨異於底本與傳燈錄本者（並錄）：「能由境滅」〔X80n1565 0044c15〕（底本、傳燈錄本皆作「能隨境滅」）；「不見精麤」〔X80n1565 0044c17〕（二本皆作「精麁」）；「圓同太虗」〔X80n1565 0044c08〕；「境逐能沉」〔X80n1565 0044c16〕。
〔T48 0377a04〕夾注之二本差：底本「一念萬年萬年一念」八字為夾注小字，其後四字【甲】無；傳燈錄本作正文「宗非促延一念萬年」〔T51n2076 0457b19〕，無「萬年一念」；五燈會元亦作「宗非促延。一念萬年。」〔X80n1565 0045a07〕。孰為正文、孰為注，並錄不判。
⑤：以上各欄皆有所記，無空欄。
Placement of the passage as a whole. This unit is the whole of the Inscription on Faith in Mind: the title 「信心銘」—“Inscription on Faith in Mind,” three characters; the verse, one hundred and forty-seven four-character lines (counting the eight interlinear characters at 〔T48 0377a04〕), five hundred and eighty-eight characters; the closing title 「信心銘之終」—“Here ends the Inscription on Faith in Mind,” five characters; five hundred and ninety-six characters in all. The head of the fascicle in the base text bears no author’s name. The inscription has no old line-by-line commentary; the mirror against which it is set is the full text received in fascicle thirty of the Record of the Transmission of the Lamp, together with the citations in the Blue Cliff Record, the Continued Record of the Transmission of the Lamp, and the Compendium of the Five Lamps. For the differences between the base text and the text of the Record of the Transmission of the Lamp, see the tenth topic; for the eleven Taishō collation notes, see the ninth topic.
I. Doctrinal-Outline Placement
The inscription has no doctrinal outline in an old commentary. Of the inscription’s structure, the old masters speak only of its first two lines, in the Blue Cliff Record:
「三祖信心銘劈頭便道這兩句。有多少人錯會。」—“The Third Patriarch’s Inscription on Faith in Mind says these two lines right at the head. How many people have misunderstood them!”〔T48n2003 0191a09〕
Its place in the Record of the Transmission of the Lamp — fascicle thirty, titled:
「三祖僧璨大師信心銘」—“The Inscription on Faith in Mind of the Great Master Sengcan, the Third Patriarch”〔T51n2076 0457a18〕
The text runs from 「至道無難唯嫌揀擇」—“The ultimate Way is not difficult; it only shuns picking and choosing”〔T51n2076 0457a19〕 to 「道斷非去來今」—“…is cut off; it is not past, future, or present”〔T51n2076 0457b24〕.
Start and end of this unit:
| Position | Verbatim | Anchor | Characters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Title | 「信心銘」—“Inscription on Faith in Mind” | 〔T48 0376b18〕 | 3 |
| Verse begins | 「至道無難唯嫌揀擇」—“The ultimate Way is not difficult; it only shuns picking and choosing” | 〔T48 0376b20〕 | — |
| Verse ends | 「言語道斷非去來今」—“The road of words is cut off; it is not past, future, or present” | 〔T48 0377a10〕 | — |
| Verse count | One hundred and forty-seven four-character lines (counting the eight interlinear characters) | — | 588 |
| Closing title | 「信心銘之終」—“Here ends the Inscription on Faith in Mind” | 〔T48 0377a11〕 | 5 |
| Total | — | — | 596 |
The natural divisions by which the inscription advances in paired lines (the boundaries below are given only as hints for reading; they are not an outline by the old masters, and they are not set in quotation marks):
| Couplets | Hint for reading |
|---|---|
| 1–3 | General statement: the ultimate Way is not difficult; the sickness lies in picking and choosing; a hair’s breadth of difference |
| 4–9 | Agreeable and contrary, taking and rejecting, are the mind’s sickness; the great void lacks nothing and has nothing left over |
| 10–15 | One kind, an even heart, and the two extremes; the reversals of stilling movement, dismissing being, and following emptiness |
| 16–21 | Cutting off words and thought; turning back the light, letting views cease, not abiding in the two views |
| 22–30 | Right and wrong, and the mind is lost; two exists because of one, the one mind does not arise; knower and object depend on each other, the two segments are one emptiness |
| 31–39 | The great Way is wide in body; grasping it and letting it go; not hating the six sense-objects is the same as right awakening |
| 40–51 | Wise and foolish, the two extremes, dream and illusion; if the mind does not differ, the myriad dharmas are one suchness |
| 52–59 | Stillness and movement both erased; right faith gentle and straight, empty and luminous, not laboring the mind’s strength |
| 60–73 | Suchness, the dharma-realm; say only “not two”; brief and long, small and great, being and nothing, one and many all erased; faith in mind is not two; the road of words is cut off |
These nine divisions are seen only from the places where the inscription links its couplets head to tail (as 「一種」—“one kind”〔T48 0376b27〕／〔T48 0376b28〕, 「前空」—“the former emptiness”〔T48 0376c02〕／〔T48 0376c03〕, 「不二」—“not two”〔T48 0377a02〕); they are not marked by the inscription itself, nor judged by the old masters.
II. Collation with the Alternate Translations
This inscription has no alternate translation; the full text received in fascicle thirty of the Record of the Transmission of the Lamp serves as the collation text, and its variant readings are given in the tenth topic.
III. Scriptural and Treatise Grounding (the “eye”)
The inscription does not itself name the sūtras and treatises it relies on. Where its words are the same as, or close to, set phrases of the sūtras and treatises, they are listed below—all in the sūtras’ and treatises’ own words, set side by side to show what its words carry on, not to say that the inscription must have come from them.
「言語道斷」—“the road of words is cut off”〔T48 0377a10〕
- The Vimalakīrti Sūtra, chapter “Seeing the Buddha Akṣobhya”: 「不來不去，不出不入，一切言語道斷」—“Not coming, not going, not going out, not coming in; the road of all words is cut off”〔T14n0475 0555a14〕
- Treatise on the Middle, chapter “Contemplation of Dharmas,” in the explanatory text: 「先說實相無戲論，心相寂滅言語道斷。」—“It was said before that the real mark is without conceptual proliferation: the mark of the mind is stilled and extinguished, and the road of words is cut off.”〔T30n1564 0025b13〕
「唯言不二」「不二皆同」—“say only: not two,” “not two, all the same”〔T48 0377a02〕
- The Vimalakīrti Sūtra, chapter “Entering the Dharma-Gate of Non-Duality”: 「時維摩詰默然無言。」—“At that time Vimalakīrti was silent, without a word.”〔T14n0475 0551c22〕 「乃至無有文字、語言，是真入不二法門。」—“…even to having no letters and no words: this is truly entering the dharma-gate of non-duality.”〔T14n0475 0551c23〕
「真如法界」—“suchness, the dharma-realm”〔T48 0377a01〕
- Avataṃsaka Sūtra, chapter “The Wondrous Adornments of the World-Rulers,” in verse: 「佛住真如法界藏，無相無形離諸垢」—“The Buddha abides in the treasury of suchness, the dharma-realm, without mark, without form, free of every defilement”〔T10n0279 0022b17〕
- Golden Light Sūtra of the Most Excellent King, chapter “The Lifespan of the Tathāgata”: 「真如法界實際平等，得正智故，名為涅槃。」—“Suchness, the dharma-realm, and the reality-limit are equal; because right wisdom is attained, it is called nirvāṇa.”〔T16n0665 0407a15〕
「欲趣一乘」—“if you would go toward the one vehicle”〔T48 0376c15〕
- Lotus Sūtra of the Wondrous Dharma, chapter “Skillful Means,” in verse: 「十方佛土中，唯有一乘法」—“In the buddha-lands of the ten directions there is only the dharma of the one vehicle”〔T09n0262 0008a17〕
「非思量處」—“not a place for thinking”〔T48 0376c29〕
- Lotus Sūtra of the Wondrous Dharma, chapter “Skillful Means”: 「是法非思量分別之所能解，唯有諸佛乃能知之」—“This dharma is not something thinking and distinguishing can understand; only the buddhas can know it”〔T09n0262 0007a20〕
「一心不生萬法無咎」—“when the one mind does not arise, the myriad dharmas are without fault”〔T48 0376c06〕, 「一即一切一切即一」—“one is all; all is one”〔T48 0377a08〕, 「夢幻空華」—“dream, illusion, flowers in the sky”〔T48 0376c20〕: no identical set phrase is found in the sūtras and treatises.
IV. Essentials of the Commentary on This Passage
This inscription has no old line-by-line commentary. Among the old masters’ citations, those that speak directly to lines of the inscription are as follows (all from the Blue Cliff Record):
The difficulty and ease of the first two lines —
「三祖信心銘劈頭便道這兩句。有多少人錯會。何故至道本無難。亦無不難。只是唯嫌揀擇。若恁麼會。一萬年也未夢見在。」—“The Third Patriarch’s Inscription on Faith in Mind says these two lines right at the head. How many people have misunderstood them! Why? The ultimate Way is originally not difficult, and not not-difficult either; it is only that it shuns picking and choosing. If you understand it like that, in ten thousand years you will not see it even in a dream.”〔T48n2003 0191a09〕
The lines of the inscription and 「明白」—“clarity” —
「三祖信心銘云。至道無難。唯嫌揀擇。但莫憎愛。洞然明白。纔有是非。是揀擇。是明白。纔恁麼會。蹉過了也。」—“The Third Patriarch’s Inscription on Faith in Mind says: ‘The ultimate Way is not difficult; it only shuns picking and choosing. Only do not hate or love, and it is open and clear.’ The moment there is right and wrong, that is picking and choosing, that is clarity. The moment you understand it like that, you have already missed it.”〔T48n2003 0141c07〕
Picking and choosing, and words and phrases —
「大凡參禪問道。明究自己。切忌揀擇言句。何故不見趙州舉道。至道無難。唯嫌揀擇。」—“Whenever one studies Chan and asks about the Way, it is to clarify and investigate oneself; above all, do not pick and choose among words and phrases. Why? Have you not seen how Zhaozhou raised it: ‘The ultimate Way is not difficult; it only shuns picking and choosing’?”〔T48n2003 0149a22〕
Zhaozhou often raised these two lines —
「趙州尋常示眾。有此一篇云。至道無難唯嫌揀擇。纔有語言。是揀擇。是明白。」—“Zhaozhou, in his ordinary instructions to the assembly, had this piece, saying: ‘The ultimate Way is not difficult; it only shuns picking and choosing. The moment there are words, that is picking and choosing, that is clarity.’”〔T48n2003 0191c25〕 「州云。至道無難。唯嫌揀擇。纔有語言。是揀擇是明白。」—“Zhaozhou said: ‘The ultimate Way is not difficult; it only shuns picking and choosing. The moment there are words, that is picking and choosing, that is clarity.’”〔T48n2003 0142b04〕
The verse, and the warning against chewing on words and phrases —
「此是古人問道底公案。雪竇拽來一串穿却。用頌至道無難。唯嫌揀擇。」—“This is a case of the ancients asking about the Way. Xuedou drags it over and strings it all on one cord, using it to versify ‘The ultimate Way is not difficult; it only shuns picking and choosing.’”〔T48n2003 0142b09〕 「如今人不會古人意。只管咬言嚼句。有甚了期。」—“People today do not understand the ancients’ meaning; they only keep biting at words and chewing on phrases. When will they ever be done?”〔T48n2003 0142b11〕
Alive right in the use —
「趙州道。只這至道無難唯嫌揀擇。如擊石火似閃電光。擒縱殺活。得恁麼自在。」—“Zhaozhou said: ‘Just this: the ultimate Way is not difficult; it only shuns picking and choosing.’ Like a spark struck from stone, like a flash of lightning—seizing and releasing, killing and giving life, free in just this way.”〔T48n2003 0191c23〕
What is explained above is all gathered on the opening couplet, 「至道無難唯嫌揀擇」—“The ultimate Way is not difficult; it only shuns picking and choosing”; for the other seventy-two couplets of the inscription, no line-by-line explanation is found among the old masters’ citations.
V. Divergent Readings of the Commentators (in parallel columns — recorded without adjudication)
| Matter | Source | Verbatim | Anchor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attribution | Record of the Transmission of the Lamp, fascicle thirty | 「三祖僧璨大師信心銘」—“The Inscription on Faith in Mind of the Great Master Sengcan, the Third Patriarch” | 〔T51n2076 0457a18〕 |
| Attribution | Compendium of the Five Lamps | 「師信心銘曰。至道無難。」—“The master’s Inscription on Faith in Mind says: ‘The ultimate Way is not difficult.’” (earlier on the same line: 「玄宗諡鑑智禪師．覺寂之塔。」—“Xuanzong conferred the posthumous title Chan Master Jianzhi; the stūpa, Jueji.”) | 〔X80n1565 0044c05〕 |
| Attribution | Continued Record of the Transmission of the Lamp | 「師對。此乃三祖大師信心銘。正為有所證悟者說。」—“The master replied: ‘This is the Great Master the Third Patriarch’s Inscription on Faith in Mind; it was spoken precisely for those who have realized something.’” | 〔T51n2077 0662b28〕 |
| Attribution | Blue Cliff Record | 「三祖信心銘云。至道無難。」—“The Third Patriarch’s Inscription on Faith in Mind says: ‘The ultimate Way is not difficult.’” | 〔T48n2003 0141c07〕 |
| The difficulty or ease of the ultimate Way | Blue Cliff Record | 「何故至道本無難。亦無不難。」—“Why? The ultimate Way is originally not difficult, and not not-difficult either.” | 〔T48n2003 0191a10〕 |
| The difficulty or ease of the ultimate Way | Continued Record of the Transmission of the Lamp, Chan Master Renhui of Deshan in Dingzhou | 「山僧即不然。至道最難須是揀擇。若無憎愛爭見明白。」—“This mountain monk says otherwise: the ultimate Way is most difficult, and one must pick and choose. Without hate and love, how would one see clearly?” | 〔T51n2077 0537a22〕 |
| What is not picking and choosing? | Blue Cliff Record, Zhaozhou | 「州云。天上天下唯我獨尊」—“Zhaozhou said: ‘Above the heavens and below the heavens, I alone am honored.’”〔T48n2003 0191a04〕；「僧云。此猶是揀擇」—“The monk said: ‘This is still picking and choosing.’”〔T48n2003 0191a05〕；「州云。田厙奴。什麼處是揀擇」—“Zhaozhou said: ‘You country bumpkin! Where is the picking and choosing?’”〔T48n2003 0191a06〕 | See left |
| What is not picking and choosing? | Continued Record of the Transmission of the Lamp, Chan Master Tan of Bao’en at Zhongshan, Zhuji, in Yuezhou | 「師曰。昨日初三今日初四。」—“The master said: ‘Yesterday was the third of the month; today is the fourth.’”〔T51n2077 0504b19〕；「僧云。此猶是揀擇。師曰。龍蛇易辨衲子難瞞。」—“The monk said: ‘This is still picking and choosing.’ The master said: ‘Dragon and snake are easy to tell apart; a patch-robed monk is hard to fool.’”〔T51n2077 0504b20〕 | See left |
| Is it a den for people of the time? | Blue Cliff Record, Zhaozhou | 「州云。曾有人問我。直得五年分疎不下」—“Zhaozhou said: ‘Someone once asked me that, and for five whole years I could not explain it.’” | 〔T48n2003 0191b13〕 |
| Is it a den for people of the time? | Continued Record of the Transmission of the Lamp, Chan Master Weian Liangfan of Wuhui in Anjizhou | 「師召眾曰。趙州具頂門眼。」—“The master called to the assembly and said: ‘Zhaozhou has the eye on the crown of the head.’”〔T51n2077 0674a21〕；「為甚麼却五年分疎不下。還委悉麼。易分雪裏粉。難辨墨中煤。」—“Why, then, could he not explain it for five years? Do you understand? Easy to pick out powder in the snow; hard to tell soot in the ink.”〔T51n2077 0674a23〕 | See left |
| Quoting it in full, and reciting only this far | Blue Cliff Record, Zhaozhou | 「州云。何不引盡這語」—“Zhaozhou said: ‘Why not quote these words in full?’”〔T48n2003 0191c19〕；「僧云。某甲只念到這裏」—“The monk said: ‘I can only recite this far.’”〔T48n2003 0191c20〕；「州云。只這至道無難唯嫌揀擇」—“Zhaozhou said: ‘Just this: the ultimate Way is not difficult; it only shuns picking and choosing.’”〔T48n2003 0191c21〕 | See left |
| The two lines raised together with other cases | Continued Record of the Transmission of the Lamp (this case follows the one before as 「又曰」—“he also said”) | 「又曰。至道無難唯嫌揀擇。但莫憎愛洞然明白。雪峯輥毬趙州庭柏。不落見聞亦非聲色。」—“He also said: ‘The ultimate Way is not difficult; it only shuns picking and choosing. Only do not hate or love, and it is open and clear. Xuefeng rolling the balls, Zhaozhou’s cypress in the courtyard—they do not fall into seeing and hearing, nor are they sound and form.’” | 〔T51n2077 0627a23〕 |
| The two lines raised together with the scene before the eyes | Continued Record of the Transmission of the Lamp (this case says only 「師」—“the master”) | 「上堂。至道無難唯嫌揀擇。桃花紅李花白。誰道融融只一色。」—“Ascending the hall: ‘The ultimate Way is not difficult; it only shuns picking and choosing. Peach blossoms are red, plum blossoms white—who says it all melts into a single color?’” | 〔T51n2077 0636a05〕 |
| For whom the inscription was spoken | Continued Record of the Transmission of the Lamp (an exchange at court) | 「徑山對。虛明自照不勞心力。」—“Jingshan replied: ‘Empty and luminous, shining of itself, it does not labor the mind’s strength.’”〔T51n2077 0662b27〕；「師對。此乃三祖大師信心銘。正為有所證悟者說。」—“The master replied: ‘This is the Great Master the Third Patriarch’s Inscription on Faith in Mind; it was spoken precisely for those who have realized something.’”〔T51n2077 0662b28〕 | See left |
Recorded without adjudication: the Record of the Transmission of the Lamp, the Continued Record of the Transmission of the Lamp, and the Blue Cliff Record all say 「三祖」—“the Third Patriarch”; the Compendium of the Five Lamps attaches the inscription to the 「師」—“master” of its chapter; the head of the fascicle in the base text bears no name. Deshan Renhui’s 「至道最難」—“the ultimate Way is most difficult” and the Blue Cliff Record’s 「至道本無難。亦無不難」—“the ultimate Way is originally not difficult, and not not-difficult either”: one speaks in reverse, the other sets aside both sides; both are recorded. To the question 「如何是不揀擇」—“what is not picking and choosing?” Zhaozhou answers 「天上天下唯我獨尊」—“above the heavens and below the heavens, I alone am honored,” and Bao’en Tan answers 「昨日初三今日初四」—“yesterday was the third of the month; today is the fourth”; both are recorded.
VI. Terms (first occurrences — glosses drawn only from the old masters’ citations)
| Term | First occurrence in the inscription (verbatim) | Anchor | The old masters’ gloss |
|---|---|---|---|
| The ultimate Way (至道) | 「至道無難」—“the ultimate Way is not difficult” | 〔T48 0376b20〕 | 「何故至道本無難。亦無不難。只是唯嫌揀擇。」—“Why? The ultimate Way is originally not difficult, and not not-difficult either; it is only that it shuns picking and choosing.”〔T48n2003 0191a10〕 |
| Picking and choosing (揀擇) | 「唯嫌揀擇」—“it only shuns picking and choosing” | 〔T48 0376b20〕 | 「纔有語言。是揀擇是明白。」—“The moment there are words, that is picking and choosing, that is clarity.”〔T48n2003 0142b05〕；「切忌揀擇言句。」—“Above all, do not pick and choose among words and phrases.”〔T48n2003 0149a22〕 |
| Hate and love (憎愛) | 「但莫憎愛」—“only do not hate or love” | 〔T48 0376b20〕 | Not glossed by the old masters (the Continued Record of the Transmission of the Lamp has a reversed use: 「若無憎愛爭見明白。」—“Without hate and love, how would one see clearly?”〔T51n2077 0537a23〕) |
| The profound purport (玄旨) | 「不識玄旨」—“not knowing the profound purport” | 〔T48 0376b23〕 | Not glossed by the old masters |
| One kind (一種) | 「一種平懷」—“one kind, an even heart” | 〔T48 0376b26〕 | Not glossed by the old masters |
| Stillness and movement (止動) | 「止動歸止」—“stop motion to return to stillness” | 〔T48 0376b26〕 | Not glossed by the old masters; later the inscription itself has 「止動無動動止無止」—“still the moving and there is no moving; move the still and there is no stillness”〔T48 0376c25〕 |
| The two extremes (兩邊) | 「唯滯兩邊」—“only stuck at the two extremes” | 〔T48 0376b27〕 | Not glossed by the old masters; later the inscription also has 「一切二邊」—“every pair of extremes”〔T48 0376c19〕 |
| The great Way (大道) | 「大道體寬」—“the great Way is wide in body” | 〔T48 0376c11〕 | Not glossed by the old masters; this word and the 「至道」—“ultimate Way” of the first line both appear in the inscription, each taken according to its own characters |
| The one vehicle (一乘) | 「欲趣一乘」—“if you would go toward the one vehicle” | 〔T48 0376c15〕 | Not glossed by the old masters |
| The six sense-objects (六塵) | 「勿惡六塵」—“do not hate the six sense-objects” | 〔T48 0376c16〕 | Not glossed by the old masters |
| Right awakening (正覺) | 「還同正覺」—“one is just the same as right awakening” | 〔T48 0376c16〕 | Not glossed by the old masters |
| Non-doing (無為) | 「智者無為」—“the wise practice non-doing” | 〔T48 0376c17〕 | Not glossed by the old masters; here it is set against 「愚人自縛」—“the foolish bind themselves” |
| One suchness (一如) | 「萬法一如」—“the myriad dharmas are one suchness” | 〔T48 0376c22〕 | Not glossed by the old masters |
| Suchness, the dharma-realm (真如法界) | 「真如法界無他無自」—“suchness, the dharma-realm: no other, no self” | 〔T48 0377a01〕 | Not glossed by the old masters |
| Not two (不二) | 「唯言不二」—“say only: not two” | 〔T48 0377a02〕 | Not glossed by the old masters |
| Faith in mind (信心) | The title 「信心銘」—“Inscription on Faith in Mind”〔T48 0376b18〕; in the verse, 「信心不二不二信心」—“faith in mind is not two; not two is faith in mind” | 〔T48 0377a09〕 | Not glossed by the old masters |
The terms of the inscription are all Chinese; the old masters gave no Sanskrit forms for them in connection with this inscription, and none is supplied here in their stead.
VII. Similes and Rhetoric
Similes the inscription uses of itself:
| Simile | Verbatim | Anchor | The sense where it stands |
|---|---|---|---|
| The great void | 「圓同太虛無欠無餘」—“perfect as the great void, nothing lacking, nothing left over” | 〔T48 0376b24〕 | Describes its perfection |
| Heaven and earth | 「毫釐有差天地懸隔」—“a hair’s breadth of difference, and heaven and earth are set apart” | 〔T48 0376b21〕 | Describes how far a difference reaches |
| Fox-doubt | 「小見狐疑」—“narrow views and fox-doubt”〔T48 0376c11〕；「狐疑盡淨」—“fox-doubt is wholly cleansed”〔T48 0376c27〕 | See left | Doubting without settling; it appears twice, earlier and later |
| Dream, illusion, flowers in the sky | 「夢幻空華何勞把捉」—“dream, illusion, flowers in the sky—why labor to grasp them?” | 〔T48 0376c20〕 | Unreal, and so needing no grasping |
| Sleep and dream | 「眼若不眠諸夢自除」—“if the eyes do not sleep, the dreams are gone of themselves” | 〔T48 0376c21〕 | When there is no sleep, the dreams are gone of themselves |
Points of rhetoric worth recording:
- Head-to-tail linking—the last word of one couplet is the first word of the next, and the inscription moves on by this means: 「寧知一種」—“how would one know the one kind?”〔T48 0376b27〕→「一種不通」—“when the one kind does not go through”〔T48 0376b28〕; 「勝却前空」—“surpasses the former emptiness”〔T48 0376c02〕→「前空轉變」—“the former emptiness shifts and changes”〔T48 0376c03〕; 「萬法無咎」—“the myriad dharmas are without fault”〔T48 0376c06〕→「無咎無法」—“no fault, no dharma”〔T48 0376c07〕; 「元是一空」—“they are originally one emptiness”〔T48 0376c09〕→「一空同兩」—“one emptiness, the same as the two”; 「沈惛不好」—“sinking into dullness is no good”〔T48 0376c14〕→「不好勞神」—“no good is the laboring of the spirit”〔T48 0376c15〕; 「勿惡六塵」—“do not hate the six sense-objects”〔T48 0376c16〕→「六塵不惡」—“with the six sense-objects not hated”; 「萬法一如」—“the myriad dharmas are one suchness”〔T48 0376c22〕→「一如體玄」—“one suchness, profound in body”〔T48 0376c23〕; 「唯言不二」—“say only: not two”〔T48 0377a02〕→「不二皆同」—“not two, all the same”; 「皆入此宗」—“all enter this source”〔T48 0377a03〕→「宗非促延」—“the source is neither brief nor long”〔T48 0377a04〕.
- Palindrome and inversion—「境由能境能由境能」—“the object is object because of the knower; the knower is knower because of the object”〔T48 0376c08〕; 「止動無動動止無止」—“still the moving and there is no moving; move the still and there is no stillness”〔T48 0376c25〕; 「極小同大」—“the smallest is the same as the great”〔T48 0377a05〕 and 「極大同小」—“the greatest is the same as the small”〔T48 0377a06〕; 「有即是無無即是有」—“being is nothing; nothing is being”〔T48 0377a06〕; 「一即一切一切即一」—“one is all; all is one”〔T48 0377a08〕; 「信心不二不二信心」—“faith in mind is not two; not two is faith in mind”〔T48 0377a09〕; the interlinear 「一念萬年萬年一念」—“one thought, ten thousand years; ten thousand years, one thought”〔T48 0377a04〕 is of the same form.
- Reversal—「止動歸止止更彌動」—“stop motion to return to stillness, and the stillness moves all the more”〔T48 0376b26〕: seeking stillness by stilling, the movement only grows; 「遣有沒有從空背空」—“dismiss being and sink into being; follow emptiness and turn your back on emptiness”〔T48 0376b28〕: two lines of the same shape set against each other.
- Paired contrast—「多言多慮」—“many words, many thoughts”〔T48 0376b29〕 and 「絕言絕慮」—“cut off words, cut off thought”〔T48 0376c01〕; 「執之失度」—“grasp it and lose the measure”〔T48 0376c12〕 and 「放之自然」—“let it go and it is natural”〔T48 0376c13〕; 「智者無為愚人自縛」—“the wise practice non-doing; the foolish bind themselves”〔T48 0376c17〕; 「迷生寂亂悟無好惡」—“in delusion, quiet and disorder arise; in awakening, there is no liking or disliking”〔T48 0376c19〕.
- Correspondence of beginning and end—the first line says 「至道無難」—“the ultimate Way is not difficult”〔T48 0376b20〕, the last line says 「言語道斷」—“the road of words is cut off”〔T48 0377a10〕; the 「揀擇」—“picking and choosing” of the first couplet is gathered up in the last section as 「唯言不二」—“say only: not two”〔T48 0377a02〕. This records only the correspondence of the words; no doctrinal judgment is made.
VIII. Citation and Carrying Forward
The Blue Cliff Record (places where 「至道無難」—“the ultimate Way is not difficult” and 「唯嫌揀擇」—“it only shuns picking and choosing” appear together: thirteen):
| Anchor | Verbatim (opening phrase) |
|---|---|
| 〔T48n2003 0141c07〕 | 「三祖信心銘云。至道無難。唯嫌揀擇。」—“The Third Patriarch’s Inscription on Faith in Mind says: ‘The ultimate Way is not difficult; it only shuns picking and choosing.’” |
| 〔T48n2003 0142b05〕 | 「至道無難。唯嫌揀擇。纔有語言。」—“‘The ultimate Way is not difficult; it only shuns picking and choosing.’ The moment there are words…” |
| 〔T48n2003 0142b11〕 | 「至道無難。唯嫌揀擇。如今人不會古人意。」—“‘The ultimate Way is not difficult; it only shuns picking and choosing.’ People today do not understand the ancients’ meaning…” |
| 〔T48n2003 0149a23〕 | 「故不見趙州舉道。至道無難。唯嫌揀擇。」—“…for have you not seen how Zhaozhou raised it: ‘The ultimate Way is not difficult; it only shuns picking and choosing’?” |
| 〔T48n2003 0191a03〕 | 「【五七】舉。僧問趙州。至道無難唯嫌揀擇。如何是」—“[Case 57] Raised: A monk asked Zhaozhou, ‘The ultimate Way is not difficult; it only shuns picking and choosing. What is…’” |
| 〔T48n2003 0191a09〕 | 「僧問趙州。至道無難唯嫌揀擇。三祖信心銘」—“A monk asked Zhaozhou, ‘The ultimate Way is not difficult; it only shuns picking and choosing.’ The Third Patriarch’s Inscription on Faith in Mind…” |
| 〔T48n2003 0191b12〕 | 「【五八】舉。僧問趙州。至道無難唯嫌揀擇。是時」—“[Case 58] Raised: A monk asked Zhaozhou, ‘The ultimate Way is not difficult; it only shuns picking and choosing. Is this, for people of the time…’” |
| 〔T48n2003 0191b22〕 | 「竇令參至道無難唯嫌揀擇。於此有省。」—“…dou had him investigate ‘The ultimate Way is not difficult; it only shuns picking and choosing,’ and at this he had an awakening.” |
| 〔T48n2003 0191b23〕 | 「雪竇問他。至道無難唯嫌揀擇。意作麼生。」—“Xuedou asked him: ‘The ultimate Way is not difficult; it only shuns picking and choosing—what does it mean?’” |
| 〔T48n2003 0191c17〕 | 「【五九】舉。僧問趙州。至道無難。唯嫌揀擇」—“[Case 59] Raised: A monk asked Zhaozhou, ‘The ultimate Way is not difficult; it only shuns picking and choosing…’” |
| 〔T48n2003 0191c21〕 | 「州云。只這至道無難唯嫌揀擇」—“Zhaozhou said: ‘Just this: the ultimate Way is not difficult; it only shuns picking and choosing.’” |
| 〔T48n2003 0191c23〕 | 「趙州道。只這至道無難唯嫌揀擇。」—“Zhaozhou said: ‘Just this: the ultimate Way is not difficult; it only shuns picking and choosing.’” |
| 〔T48n2003 0191c26〕 | 「云。至道無難唯嫌揀擇。纔有語言。」—“…saying: ‘The ultimate Way is not difficult; it only shuns picking and choosing. The moment there are words…’” |
Of these, three cases (【五七】【五八】【五九】—Cases 57, 58, and 59) all take the inscription’s first couplet as the head of the question; Zong, the man of the Way from Touzi, studying in Xuedou’s assembly, was also given this couplet: 「雪竇令參至道無難唯嫌揀擇。於此有省。」—“Xuedou had him investigate ‘The ultimate Way is not difficult; it only shuns picking and choosing,’ and at this he had an awakening.”〔T48n2003 0191b21〕
Beyond the first couplet, a couplet-by-couplet sweep of the whole inscription through the Blue Cliff Record further yields the following (recorded together):
| Couplet | Verbatim (opening phrase) | Anchor |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 「但莫憎愛。洞然明白」—“Only do not hate or love, and it is open and clear” | 〔T48n2003 0141c07〕 |
| 10 | 「一種平懷。泯然自盡」—“One kind, an even heart, and it vanishes of itself” | 〔T48n2003 0142a21〕 |
| 46 | 「得失是非。一時放却」—“Gain and loss, right and wrong: let them all go at once” | 〔T48n2003 0172c05〕 |
| 34 | 「放之自然體無去住」—“Let it go and it is natural; its body neither goes nor stays” | 〔T48n2003 0175b03〕 |
| 22 | 「纔有是非。紛然失心」—“The moment there is right and wrong, in confusion the mind is lost” | 〔T48n2003 0185c22〕 |
The Continued Record of the Transmission of the Lamp (six places):
| Anchor | Verbatim (opening phrase) | Person |
|---|---|---|
| 〔T51n2077 0504b18〕 | 「越州諸暨鐘山報恩譚禪師。僧問。至道無難」—“Chan Master Tan of Bao’en at Zhongshan, Zhuji, in Yuezhou. A monk asked: ‘The ultimate Way is not difficult…’” | Bao’en Tan |
| 〔T51n2077 0537a21〕 | 「上堂。至道無難唯嫌揀擇但莫憎愛洞然明白。」—“Ascending the hall: ‘The ultimate Way is not difficult; it only shuns picking and choosing. Only do not hate or love, and it is open and clear.’” | Deshan Renhui (〔T51n2077 0537a19〕「鼎州德山仁繪禪師」—“Chan Master Renhui of Deshan in Dingzhou”) |
| 〔T51n2077 0627a23〕 | 「又曰。至道無難唯嫌揀擇。但莫憎愛洞然明白。」—“He also said: ‘The ultimate Way is not difficult; it only shuns picking and choosing. Only do not hate or love, and it is open and clear.’” | Following the one before as 「又曰」—“he also said” |
| 〔T51n2077 0636a05〕 | 「上堂。至道無難唯嫌揀擇。」—“Ascending the hall: ‘The ultimate Way is not difficult; it only shuns picking and choosing.’” | Called only 「師」—“the master” |
| 〔T51n2077 0662b29〕 | 「師對。至道無難唯嫌揀擇。但莫憎愛。洞然明白。毫釐有差天地懸隔。」—“The master replied: ‘The ultimate Way is not difficult; it only shuns picking and choosing. Only do not hate or love, and it is open and clear. A hair’s breadth of difference, and heaven and earth are set apart.’” | The 「師」—“master” of the exchange at court |
| 〔T51n2077 0674a19〕 | 「上堂舉。僧問趙州。至道無難唯嫌揀擇。是時人窠窟否。」—“Ascending the hall, he raised: ‘A monk asked Zhaozhou, “The ultimate Way is not difficult; it only shuns picking and choosing—is this a den for people of the time?”’” | Liangfan (〔T51n2077 0674a15〕「安吉州烏回唯菴良範禪師」—“Chan Master Weian Liangfan of Wuhui in Anjizhou”) |
Within the same book, places beyond the first couplet that cite other lines of the inscription, found by a couplet-by-couplet sweep of the whole inscription, are as follows (recorded together):
| Couplet | Verbatim (opening phrase) | Anchor |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | 「毫釐有差天地懸隔」—“A hair’s breadth of difference, and heaven and earth are set apart” | 〔T51n2077 0512c18〕 |
| 2 | 「但莫憎愛洞然明白」—“Only do not hate or love, and it is open and clear” | 〔T51n2077 0537a21〕 |
| 23 | 「二由一有。一亦莫守」—“Two exists because of one; do not keep even the one” | 〔T51n2077 0542b28〕 |
| 24 | 「一心不生。萬法無咎」—“When the one mind does not arise, the myriad dharmas are without fault” | 〔T51n2077 0542b28〕 |
| 39 | 「六塵不惡還同正覺」—“With the six sense-objects not hated, one is just the same as right awakening” | 〔T51n2077 0553c19〕 |
| 22 | 「纔有是非紛然失心」—“The moment there is right and wrong, in confusion the mind is lost” | 〔T51n2077 0583c23〕 |
| 43 | 「迷生寂亂悟無好惡」—“In delusion, quiet and disorder arise; in awakening, there is no liking or disliking” | 〔T51n2077 0626a28〕 |
| 46 | 「得失是非一時放却」—“Gain and loss, right and wrong: let them all go at once” | 〔T51n2077 0626a29〕 |
| 2 | 「但莫憎愛洞然明白」—“Only do not hate or love, and it is open and clear” | 〔T51n2077 0627a24〕 |
| 46 | 「得失是非一時放却」—“Gain and loss, right and wrong: let them all go at once” | 〔T51n2077 0627a28〕 |
| 4 | 「欲得現前莫存順逆」—“If you want it to appear before you, do not keep agreeable and contrary in mind” | 〔T51n2077 0655a03〕 |
| 2 | 「但莫憎愛。洞然明白」—“Only do not hate or love, and it is open and clear” | 〔T51n2077 0662c01〕 |
| 3 | 「毫釐有差天地懸隔」—“A hair’s breadth of difference, and heaven and earth are set apart” | 〔T51n2077 0662c01〕 |
| 2 | 「但莫憎愛洞然明白」—“Only do not hate or love, and it is open and clear” | 〔T51n2077 0670b18〕 |
| 4 | 「欲得現前莫存順逆」—“If you want it to appear before you, do not keep agreeable and contrary in mind” | 〔T51n2077 0680c10〕 |
| 3 | 「毫釐有差天地懸隔」—“A hair’s breadth of difference, and heaven and earth are set apart” | 〔T51n2077 0681c09〕 |
| 4 | 「欲得現前莫存順逆」—“If you want it to appear before you, do not keep agreeable and contrary in mind” | 〔T51n2077 0681c11〕 |
| 46 | 「得失是非一時放却」—“Gain and loss, right and wrong: let them all go at once” | 〔T51n2077 0686b12〕 |
The Compendium of the Five Lamps — it carries the whole inscription, beginning 「師信心銘曰。至道無難。」—“The master’s Inscription on Faith in Mind says: ‘The ultimate Way is not difficult.’”〔X80n1565 0044c05〕 and ending 「言語道斷。非去來今。」—“The road of words is cut off; it is not past, future, or present.”〔X80n1565 0045a10〕; the whole text is carried in full.
The Record of the Transmission of the Lamp — the whole text is received in fascicle thirty, titled 「三祖僧璨大師信心銘」—“The Inscription on Faith in Mind of the Great Master Sengcan, the Third Patriarch”〔T51n2076 0457a18〕.
IX. Placement Among the Recensions
The Taishō collation notes for this unit come to eleven in all (all in the collation notes at the end of the fascicle; the collated witness is marked 【甲】):
| No. | Anchor | Base text | 【甲】 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | 0376c10 | 「麁」—“coarse” (in 「不見精麁」—“seeing neither fine nor coarse”) | 粗 (another form of “coarse”) |
| 02 | 0376c10 | 「偏」—“partial” (in 「寧有偏黨」—“how could there be partiality?”) | 徧 (pervasive) |
| 03 | 0376c14 | 「沈惛」—“sinking into dullness” (in 「沈惛不好」—“sinking into dullness is no good”) | 昏沈 (dullness and sinking) |
| 04 | 0376c21 | 「眠」—“sleep” (in 「眼若不眠」—“if the eyes do not sleep”) | 睡 (sleep) |
| 05 | 0376c26 | 「不」—“not” (in 「不存軌則」—“no rule remains”) | 莫 (do not) |
| 06 | 0376c27 | 「啟」—“open” (in 「啟心平等」—“open the mind to evenness”) | 契 (accord) |
| 07 | 0376c29 | 「然」—“so of itself” (in 「虛明自然」—“empty and luminous of itself”) | 照 (shine) |
| 08 | 0377a04 | 「萬年一念」—“ten thousand years, one thought” (the last four characters of the interlinear note) | 〔空〕 (blank)—【甲】 lacks these four characters |
| 09 | 0377a05 | 「妄」—“deluded” (in 「妄絕境界」—“deluded bounds are cut off”) | 忘 (forget) |
| 10 | 0377a09 | 「畢」—“finished” (in 「何慮不畢」—“what worry that it will not be finished?”) | 必 (certainly) |
| 11 | 0377a10 | 「去」—“past” (in 「非去來今」—“not past, future, or present”) | 古 (ancient) |
Recorded without adjudication: of the eleven, in six—03 「昏沈」—“dullness and sinking,” 04 「睡」—“sleep,” 06 「契」—“accord,” 07 「照」—“shine,” 08 the absence of 「萬年一念」—“ten thousand years, one thought,” and 09 「忘」—“forget”—【甲】 agrees with the text of the Record of the Transmission of the Lamp; in five—01 「粗」—“coarse,” 02 「徧」—“pervasive,” 05 「莫」—“do not,” 10 「必」—“certainly,” and 11 「古」—“ancient”—the text of the Record of the Transmission of the Lamp agrees with the base text (see the tenth topic). Not one character of the base text is changed on their account.
Interlinear note: one place, 〔T48 0377a04〕 「宗非促延〔一念萬年萬年一念〕無在不在」—“the source is neither brief nor long 〔one thought, ten thousand years; ten thousand years, one thought〕; there is no place where it is not present”—the eight characters are small interlinear characters in the Taishō; the last four are what collation note 08 concerns. Gaiji: none in this unit.
X. Verse Form and Variant Readings
① Line form: the whole piece is in four-character lines, one hundred and forty-seven lines (counting the eight interlinear characters), five hundred and eighty-eight characters. A verse row normally holds three lines, twelve characters; the row at 〔T48 0377a04〕 has two lines of main text with the eight interlinear characters set between them; the last row, 〔T48 0377a10〕, 「言語道斷非去來今」—“the road of words is cut off; it is not past, future, or present,” has two lines, eight characters. Two four-character lines make a couplet, paired in order from 「至道無難唯嫌揀擇」—“the ultimate Way is not difficult; it only shuns picking and choosing”; the interlinear 「一念萬年」—“one thought, ten thousand years” is paired with 「宗非促延」—“the source is neither brief nor long” (following the form of the Record of the Transmission of the Lamp, 「宗非促延一念萬年」—“the source is neither brief nor long: one thought, ten thousand years”), giving seventy-three couplets in all; the last four interlinear characters, 「萬年一念」—“ten thousand years, one thought,” do not form a couplet of their own.
② Rhyme: the old masters have left no notes on the rhyme of this inscription; where the rhyme changes would have to be established by the study of ancient pronunciation, and that is not attempted here.
③ Collation notes of the 【甲】 witness: eleven, each given in the ninth topic.
④ Variant readings of the collation text — reading the base text and the text of fascicle thirty of the Record of the Transmission of the Lamp character by character, they differ in fifteen places, besides the two matters of the title and the closing title; the full text of the Compendium of the Five Lamps is set alongside in a further column for reference (recorded together, without adjudication):
| No. | Base text | Anchor | Record of the Transmission of the Lamp | Anchor | Compendium of the Five Lamps | Anchor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Title | 「信心銘」—“Inscription on Faith in Mind” | 〔T48 0376b18〕 | 「三祖僧璨大師信心銘」—“The Inscription on Faith in Mind of the Great Master Sengcan, the Third Patriarch” | 〔T51n2076 0457a18〕 | 「師信心銘曰」—“The master’s Inscription on Faith in Mind says” | 〔X80n1565 0044c05〕 |
| 1 | 「毫釐有差」—“a hair’s breadth of difference” | 〔T48 0376b21〕 | 「豪釐有差天地懸隔」—“a hair’s breadth of difference, and heaven and earth are set apart” | 〔T51n2076 0457a19〕 | 「毫𨤲有差」—“a hair’s breadth of difference” | 〔X80n1565 0044c06〕 |
| 2 | 「慎勿追尋」—“take care not to pursue them” | 〔T48 0376c04〕 | 「慎莫追尋」—“take care not to pursue them” | 〔T51n2076 0457a28〕 | 「慎莫追尋」—“take care not to pursue them” | 〔X80n1565 0044c14〕 |
| 3 | 「纔有是非」—“the moment there is right and wrong” | 〔T48 0376c05〕 | 「才有是非紛然失心」—“the moment there is right and wrong, in confusion the mind is lost” | 〔T51n2076 0457a28〕 | 「纔有是非」—“the moment there is right and wrong” | 〔X80n1565 0044c14〕 |
| 4 | 「齊含萬像」—“holds the myriad images alike” | 〔T48 0376c10〕 | 「齊含萬象」—“holds the myriad images alike” | 〔T51n2076 0457b03〕 | 「齊含萬象」—“holds the myriad images alike” | 〔X80n1565 0044c17〕 |
| 5 | 「心入邪路」—“the mind enters a crooked path” | 〔T48 0376c12〕 | 「必入邪路」—“one is sure to enter a crooked path” | 〔T51n2076 0457b05〕 | 「必入邪路」—“one is sure to enter a crooked path” | 〔X80n1565 0044c18〕 |
| 6 | 「沈惛不好」—“sinking into dullness is no good” | 〔T48 0376c14〕 | 「昏沈不好」—“dullness and sinking are no good” | 〔T51n2076 0457b06〕 | 「昏沉不好」—“dullness and sinking are no good” | 〔X80n1565 0044c20〕 |
| 7 | 「欲趣一乘」—“if you would go toward the one vehicle” | 〔T48 0376c15〕 | 「欲取一乘」—“if you would take up the one vehicle” | 〔T51n2076 0457b07〕 | 「欲取一乘」—“if you would take up the one vehicle” | 〔X80n1565 0044c20〕 |
| 8 | 「妄自斟酌」—“measured out by oneself in delusion” | 〔T48 0376c20〕 | 「一切二邊良由斟酌」—“every pair of extremes comes truly from measuring out” | 〔T51n2076 0457b10〕 | 「良由斟酌」—“comes truly from measuring out” | 〔X80n1565 0044c23〕 |
| 9 | 「夢幻空華」—“dream, illusion, flowers in the sky” | 〔T48 0376c20〕 | 「夢幻虛華」—“dream, illusion, empty flowers” | 〔T51n2076 0457b10〕 | 「夢幻空華」—“dream, illusion, flowers in the sky” | 〔X80n1565 0044c23〕 |
| 10 | 「眼若不眠」—“if the eyes do not sleep” | 〔T48 0376c21〕 | 「眼若不睡」—“if the eyes do not sleep” | 〔T51n2076 0457b11〕 | 「眼若不睡」—“if the eyes do not sleep” | 〔X80n1565 0044c24〕 |
| 11 | 「啟心平等」—“open the mind to evenness” | 〔T48 0376c27〕 | 「契心平等」—“accord the mind with evenness” | 〔T51n2076 0457b15〕 | 「契心平等」—“accord the mind with evenness” | 〔X80n1565 0045a03〕 |
| 12 | 「虛明自然」—“empty and luminous of itself” | 〔T48 0376c29〕 | 「虛明自照」—“empty and luminous, shining of itself” | 〔T51n2076 0457b16〕 | 「虗明自照」—“empty and luminous, shining of itself” | 〔X80n1565 0045a04〕 |
| 13 | 「宗非促延〔一念萬年萬年一念〕無在不在」—“the source is neither brief nor long 〔one thought, ten thousand years; ten thousand years, one thought〕; there is no place where it is not present” | 〔T48 0377a04〕 | 「宗非促延一念萬年」—“the source is neither brief nor long: one thought, ten thousand years” | 〔T51n2076 0457b19〕 | 「宗非促延。一念萬年。」—“The source is neither brief nor long: one thought, ten thousand years.” | 〔X80n1565 0045a07〕 |
| 14 | 「妄絕境界」—“deluded bounds are cut off” | 〔T48 0377a05〕 | 「忘絕境界」—“bounds are forgotten and cut off” | 〔T51n2076 0457b20〕 | 「忘絕境界」—“bounds are forgotten and cut off” | 〔X80n1565 0045a08〕 |
| 15 | 「若不如是」—“if it is not thus” | 〔T48 0377a07〕 | 「若不如此」—“if it is not so” | 〔T51n2076 0457b22〕 | 「若不如是」—“if it is not thus” | 〔X80n1565 0045a09〕 |
| Closing title | 「信心銘之終」—“Here ends the Inscription on Faith in Mind” | 〔T48 0377a11〕 | None | — | None | — |
Where the Compendium of the Five Lamps alone differs from both the base text and the text of the Record of the Transmission of the Lamp (recorded together): 「能由境滅」—“the knower perishes because of the object”〔X80n1565 0044c15〕 (the base text and the text of the Record of the Transmission of the Lamp both read 「能隨境滅」—“the knower perishes with the object”); 「不見精麤」—“seeing neither fine nor coarse”〔X80n1565 0044c17〕 (both texts read 「精麁」—“fine and coarse”); 「圓同太虗」—“perfect as the great void”〔X80n1565 0044c08〕; 「境逐能沉」—“the object sinks with the knower”〔X80n1565 0044c16〕.
The difference between the two texts at the interlinear note of 〔T48 0377a04〕: in the base text the eight characters 「一念萬年萬年一念」—“one thought, ten thousand years; ten thousand years, one thought” are small interlinear characters, and 【甲】 lacks the last four; the text of the Record of the Transmission of the Lamp has them as main text, 「宗非促延一念萬年」—“the source is neither brief nor long: one thought, ten thousand years”〔T51n2076 0457b19〕, without 「萬年一念」—“ten thousand years, one thought”; the Compendium of the Five Lamps likewise reads 「宗非促延。一念萬年。」—“The source is neither brief nor long: one thought, ten thousand years.”〔X80n1565 0045a07〕 Which is main text and which is note is recorded without adjudication.
⑤: every column above has an entry; there are no empty columns.