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Chinese Original: https://bookgb.bfnn.org/books/0848.htm
Note: The translator's commentary and notes (by Soh) are provided at the end of the text.
English Translation:
Bloodstream Sermon of Grand Master Bodhidharma
Preface to the Bloodstream Sermon of Grand Master Bodhidharma
Written by Ren Zhe, Vice Prefect of Jianchang Military Prefecture, Court Gentleman for Instruction, Grantee of the Crimson Robe and Fish Pouch.
The Mind of the primordial person possesses the Buddha-nature in full. Broadly observing the Zen teachings of various schools and all scriptural texts, and tracing them to their most appropriate principle, none fail to state that the fundamental True Buddha is within one's own nature. Bodhidharma came from the West to point directly at the human mind, to See Nature and become Buddha; this implies that one's own True Buddha does not go beyond a single [instance of] nature.
People do not trust themselves, so they gallop outward to seek. They assume there is another special Buddha outside of the True Buddha of self-nature. Therefore, all Buddhas and Patriarchs expounded the Dharma essentials to make people awaken to their own fundamental True Buddha, not to rely on external seeking. Furthermore, because the various Dharma words are flooding and inconsistent, they conversely cause students to be confused about their fundamental nature, finding no place to enter realization.
Only this Bloodstream Sermon of Bodhidharma and the Essentials of Transmitting the Mind by Huangbo are the most ultimate discourses. They allow one to immediately verify one's own Buddha-nature, making it easy for people to understand. Compared to seeking teachers, visiting the Way, drilling into old papers, sitting in meditation (zazen), or traveling on foot, wildly wasting effort—[this text] is ten thousand times apart; this is no small assistance.
Preface by the Old Man Who Sees Solitude, Ren Zhe, in the Guiyou year of the Shaoxing era [1153 CE].
Bodhidharma’s Bloodstream Sermon
Edited and carved by Śramaṇa Shi Zongjing of Huayan Temple in Yuzhou.
The Three Realms arise in confusion, yet all return to One Mind. The former Buddhas and later Buddhas transmit Mind with Mind; they do not establish written words.
Question: If they do not establish written words, what do they take as Mind?
Answer: You asking me—that is precisely your Mind. I answering you—that is precisely my Mind. If I had no Mind, how could I answer you? If you had no Mind, how could you question me? Questioning me is precisely your Mind. From beginningless vast kalpas ago, up to all moments of current activity and movement, in all places, everything is your Fundamental Mind, everything is your Fundamental Buddha. "Mind itself is Buddha" is also just like this.
Apart from this Mind, there is ultimately no other Buddha to be obtained. Leaving this Mind to seek Bodhi (Awakening) or Nirvana is without basis. The true reality of self-nature is neither cause nor effect. The Dharma is the meaning of Mind; self-mind is Nirvana. If you say there is a Buddha or Bodhi obtainable outside of Mind, there is no such place. Where are Buddha and Bodhi located? For example, if someone tries to grab empty space with their hand, can they get it? Empty space has only a name; it has no characteristics or shape. It cannot be grasped, it cannot be abandoned; one simply cannot catch hold of emptiness. Apart from this Mind, one will ultimately never see Buddha.
The Buddha is made by one's own Mind; why seek Buddha apart from this Mind? Former Buddhas and later Buddhas only spoke of this Mind. Mind itself is Buddha, Buddha itself is Mind; outside of Mind there is no Buddha, outside of Buddha there is no Mind. If you say there is a Buddha outside of Mind, where is the Buddha? Since there is no Buddha outside of Mind, why generate a Buddha-view? Passing down deception and confusion to one another, unable to deeply understand the Fundamental Mind, being seized by insentient things, one has no freedom.
If you do not believe, deceiving yourself is of no benefit. The Buddha has no errors or faults; sentient beings are upside-down, unaware and unknowing that self-mind is Buddha. If you know self-mind is Buddha, you should not seek Buddha outside of Mind. Buddha does not liberate Buddha; using mind to seek Buddha is not knowing Buddha. However, those who seek Buddha externally all do not know that self-mind is Buddha.
You also must not use Buddha to bow to Buddha; you must not use mind to recite "Buddha". Buddha does not chant sutras; Buddha does not keep precepts; Buddha does not violate precepts; Buddha has no keeping or violating; nor does [Buddha] create good or evil. If you wish to seek Buddha, you must See Nature; Seeing Nature is precisely Buddha. If you do not See Nature, reciting Buddha's name, chanting sutras, holding fasts, and keeping precepts are all of no benefit.
Reciting Buddha's name results in cause and effect; chanting sutras results in intelligence; keeping precepts results in birth in the heavens; practicing charity results in blessed rewards; but seeking Buddha is ultimately not obtained [this way]. If you do not understand clearly for yourself, you must visit a spiritual friend (kalyāṇamitra) to completely understand the root of birth and death. If he does not See Nature, he is not named a spiritual friend. If not like this, even if one can explain the Twelve Divisions of Scripture, one cannot avoid the cycle of birth and death, suffering in the Three Realms without a time of exit.
In the past there was the Bhikshu Good Star (Sunakṣatra); he could recite the Twelve Divisions of Scripture, yet he did not avoid the cycle of rebirth, because he did not See Nature. Since Good Star was like this, people today who lecture on three or five books of sutras and treatises considering it to be the Buddha-dharma are foolish people. If you do not recognize your own Mind, reciting idle texts is entirely useless. If you want to seek Buddha, you must directly See Nature. Nature is Buddha; the Buddha is a person of ease, a person of no-concerns and no-creation.
If you do not See Nature, all day long you remain confused, galloping outward to seek; seeking Buddha is fundamentally unobtainable. Although there is not a single thing to be obtained, if you seek to understand, you must also visit a spiritual friend; you must painstakingly seek to make your mind understand and resolve. The matter of birth and death is great; you must not pass it in vain; deceiving yourself is of no benefit. Even if you have piles of rare delicacies like mountains and family members like the sands of the Ganges, when your eyes open you see them; when your eyes close, do you still see them? Thus we know that conditioned appearances are like dreams and illusions.
If you do not urgently seek a teacher, you pass a lifetime in vain. Even though one innately possesses the Buddha-nature, if one does not rely on a teacher, one will ultimately not understand clearly. Those who awaken without a teacher are rare, one in ten thousand. If, by your own conditions, you meet and obtain the Sage's intent, then you do not need to visit a spiritual friend. This is knowing by birth; it transcends learning. If you have not yet awakened or understood, you must diligently and bitterly study; through the teaching, you will then obtain awakening. But if you already understand clearly (i.e., have awakened), then even without further ‘study’ you can still ‘get it’ (understand the essence of the teachings).
It is not like the lost people who cannot distinguish black from white, proclaiming false words as the Buddha's decree, slandering the Buddha and envying the Dharma. Classes like these speak dharma like rain, but it is all talk of Mara, not Buddha-speak. The teacher is King Mara; the disciples are the subjects of Mara; lost people allow him to command them, unknowingly falling into the ocean of birth and death.
However, people who do not See Nature falsely claim to be Buddhas. These sentient beings are great sinners; they deceive all sentient beings, causing them to enter the realm of Mara. If one does not See Nature, explaining the Twelve Divisions of Scriptural Teaching is all talk of Mara. They are family members of the house of Mara, not disciples of the house of Buddha. Since they do not distinguish black from white, on what basis can they avoid birth and death?
If one Sees Nature, that is Buddha; if one does not See Nature, that is a sentient being. If one departs from the nature of sentient beings and says there is a separate Buddha-nature to be obtained, where is the Buddha now? The nature of sentient beings is precisely the Buddha-nature. Outside of Nature there is no Buddha; Buddha is precisely Nature; apart from this Nature, there is no Buddha to be obtained, and outside of Buddha there is no Nature to be obtained.
Question: If one does not See Nature, but recites Buddha's name, chants sutras, gives charity, holds precepts, is diligent, and widely generates blessings and benefits, can one become a Buddha?
Answer: One cannot.
Further Question: Why can one not?
Answer: Having a slight dharma to obtain is conditioned dharma; it is cause and effect; it is receiving rewards; it is the dharma of samsara; one does not avoid birth and death, so when will one attain the Buddha Way? Becoming Buddha requires Seeing Nature. If one does not See Nature, talk of cause and effect and such things is the dharma of outsiders. If it is a Buddha, he does not practice the dharma of outsiders. Buddha is a person without karma, without cause and effect; if there is a slight dharma to be obtained, it is all slandering the Buddha; on what basis can one attain [Buddha]?
But if there is abiding or attachment to One Mind, One Agent, One Comprehending or One Seeing, the Buddha does not allow it at all. Buddha has no keeping or violating [precepts]; the Mind-nature is fundamentally empty; it is neither defiled nor pure. All dharmas have no practice and no realization, no cause and no effect. Buddha does not keep precepts, Buddha does not practice good, Buddha does not commit evil, Buddha is not diligent, Buddha is not lazy; Buddha is a person of no-creation.
But if there is an abiding and attached mind, looking at Buddha, he does not allow it. Buddha is not Buddha; do not understand it as Buddha. If you do not see this meaning, at all times and in all places, everything is not understanding the Fundamental Mind. If you do not See Nature, and at all times intend to create "thoughts of no-creation," you are a great sinner, a deluded person, falling into blank emptiness; ignorant like a drunk person, not distinguishing good from bad. If you intend to practice the dharma of no-creation, you must first See Nature, and only then rest your mental conditions.
If one does not See Nature but attains the Buddha Way, there is no such place. There are people who deny cause and effect, blazing in creating evil karma, falsely saying the original is empty and creating evil has no fault; such people fall into the hell of Uninterrupted Darkness, with no time of exit forever. If one is a wise person, one should not make such a view.
Question: Since movement and activity at all times are all Fundamental Mind, when the physical body enters impermanence, why do we not see the Fundamental Mind?
Answer: The Fundamental Mind is always appearing before you; you just do not see it yourself.
Question: Since the Mind is present, why do I not see it?
The Master said: Have you ever dreamed?
Answer: I have dreamed.
Question: When you are dreaming, is that your own self or not?
Answer: It is my own self.
Further Question: Are your speech, movement, and activity separate from you or not separate?
Answer: Not separate.
The Master said: Since it is not separate, then this body is your fundamental Dharmakāya; this Dharmakāya is your Fundamental Mind. This Mind, from beginningless vast kalpas ago, is not separate from today; it has never had birth or death. It is not born and not extinguished. It does not increase and does not decrease; it is not defiled and not pure; it is not good and not evil; it does not come and does not go. It also has no right or wrong, no characteristics of male or female, no monk or layperson, no old or young, no sage and no ordinary; also no Buddha, also no sentient being, also no practice or realization, also no cause or effect, also no physical strength, also no characteristic or shape.
It is like empty space; it cannot be grasped, it cannot be abandoned; mountains, rivers, and stone walls cannot hinder it. It appears and disappears, comes and goes, with unhindered supernatural power; it penetrates the mountain of the five aggregates and crosses the river of birth and death. No karma whatsoever can restrain this Dharmakāya.
This Mind is subtle and marvelous, difficult to see; this Mind is not the same as the Mind of Form; this Mind is what everyone desires to see. Those who move their hands and move their feet within this Luminosity are like the sands of the Ganges, yet when asked about it, they can say nothing; they are just like wooden puppets. It is entirely for one's own use, so why do you not recognize it?
The Buddha said that all sentient beings are entirely lost people; because of this they create karma and fall into the river of birth and death; wanting to exit, they sink back in, simply because they do not See Nature. If sentient beings are not lost, why is it that when asked about the matter within, not a single person understands? One moves one's own hands and feet, so why does one not recognize it? Therefore we know the words of the Sages are not mistaken; lost people cannot understand on their own. Therefore we know this is difficult to clarify; only the Buddha alone can understand this Dharma; the rest, humans, gods, and sentient beings, are entirely unclear.
If wisdom is clear, this Mind is named Dharma-nature, and also named Liberation. Life and death do not restrain it; all dharmas cannot restrain it; this is named the Great Self-Existent King Tathāgata. It is also named the Inconceivable; it is also named the Essence of the Sage; it is also named Long Life and No Death; it is also named the Great Immortal. Although the names are different, the Essence is the same one.
The various differentiations made by Sages are all not apart from Self-mind. The Mind's capacity is vast and great; its responsive functioning is inexhaustible: in response to eyes, forms are seen; in response to ears, sounds are heard; in response to the nose, scents are smelled; in response to the tongue, flavors are known; up to movement and activity—all are Self-mind. At all times, simply where the path of language is cut off, that is Self-mind.
Therefore it is said: The Tathāgata's form is inexhaustible, and wisdom is also likewise. Form being inexhaustible is Self-mind; the mind-consciousness is excellent at distinguishing everything; up to activity and functioning, all are wisdom. Mind has no shape or characteristics; wisdom is also inexhaustible. Therefore it is said: The Tathāgata's form is inexhaustible, and wisdom is also likewise.
The physical body of the four great elements is precisely affliction; the physical body has birth and destruction; the Dharmakāya is permanently abiding and has no place of abiding, because the Tathāgata's Dharmakāya is permanently unchanging. The Sutra says: Sentient beings should know, the Buddha-nature is inherently one's own. Kāśyapa just realized fundamental nature; fundamental nature is precisely Mind; Mind is precisely Nature; Nature is precisely this same Mind of all Buddhas. Former Buddhas and later Buddhas only transmitted this Mind; apart from this Mind, there is no Buddha to be obtained.
Upside-down sentient beings do not know self-mind is Buddha; they gallop outward to seek, busy all day long; reciting Buddha, bowing to Buddha—where is the Buddha? You should not make such views; simply know self-mind; outside of Mind there is utterly no other Buddha.
The Sutra says: Whatever has characteristics is all illusory. It also says: Wherever you are, there is a Buddha. Self-mind is Buddha; you should not use Buddha to bow to Buddha. However, if appearances of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas suddenly appear before you, you absolutely must not bow or pay respect. My Mind is empty and quiescent, fundamentally without such characteristics; if you grasp appearances, that is a demon; you fall entirely into deviant paths. If it is an illusion arising from the mind, you need not bow. Those who bow do not know; those who know do not bow; bowing is being seized by demons. Fearing students do not know, I therefore make this distinction.
Upon the fundamental Nature-essence of the Buddhas and Tathāgatas, there are absolutely no such characteristics; you must pay close attention. Even if there are strange states, you absolutely must not collect or seize them; also do not generate fear, do not be suspicious or confused; my Mind is inherently pure, where could there be such characteristics? Even appearances of devas, dragons, yakshas, ghosts, spirits, Indra, Brahma kings, and so forth—you also must not generate respect with your mind, nor should you fear; my Mind is inherently empty and quiescent; all appearances are delusion-views; simply do not grasp appearances. If you give rise to a Buddha-view or a Dharma-view, or appearances of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and generate respect, you fall into the position of sentient beings yourself.
If you wish to understand directly, simply do not grasp any characteristics and you will attain it; there are no other words. Therefore the Sutra says: Whatever has characteristics is all illusory. They all have no fixed reality; illusions have no fixed characteristic. They are impermanent dharmas; simply not grasping appearances matches the Sage's intent. Therefore the Sutra says: Separation from all characteristics is named all Buddhas.
Question: Why can one not bow to Buddhas and Bodhisattvas?
Answer: The Celestial Mara, Pāpiyān, and Asuras manifest supernatural powers; they can all make the appearances of Bodhisattvas. Various transformations are outsiders; they are totally not Buddha. Buddha is self-mind; do not bow by mistake. "Buddha" is a Western word; in this land, we say "Awakened Nature." "Awakened" is Numinous Awareness; responding to capacities and contacting things, raising the eyebrows and blinking the eyes, moving hands and moving feet—all are the nature of your own Numinous Awareness. Nature is precisely Mind, Mind is precisely Buddha, Buddha is precisely the Way, the Way is precisely Zen.
The single character for "Zen" is not fathomed by ordinary people or sages. It is also said: Seeing fundamental nature is Zen. If one does not see fundamental nature, it is not Zen. Even if one can explain a thousand sutras and ten thousand treatises, if one does not see fundamental nature, one is just an ordinary person; it is not the Buddha-dharma. The Ultimate Way is dark and deep; it cannot be understood by speech; how can canonical teachings reach it? Simply see fundamental nature; it is okay even if you do not know a single character. Seeing Nature is precisely Buddha; the Sage-body is inherently pure, without defilement or filth. All verbal explanations are the Sage initiating functioning from the Mind. The Essence of functioning is inherently empty; names and speech still cannot reach it; how can the Twelve Divisions of Scripture attain it?
The Way is fundamentally perfectly accomplished; it does not use practice and realization. The Way is not sound or form; it is subtle, marvelous, and difficult to see. Like a person drinking water knows for himself whether it is cold or warm, it cannot be told to others. Only the Tathāgata can know; the rest, humans, devas, and other classes, are all unaware and unknowing. The wisdom of ordinary people does not reach it, so they have grasping at characteristics. Not understanding that self-mind is fundamentally empty and quiescent, falsely grasping appearances and all dharmas, one immediately falls into becoming an outsider. If one knows all dharmas are born from Mind, one should not have grasping; grasping is not knowing.
If one sees fundamental nature, the Twelve Divisions of Scripture are all idle words. A thousand sutras and ten thousand treatises are just to clarify the Mind; if immediately upon words you tally and understand, of what use is the teaching? The Ultimate Principle cuts off words; teaching is verbal vocabulary; it is truly not the Way. The Way is fundamentally without words; speech is illusion.
If in the night you dream of seeing pavilions, palaces, elephants, horses, and the like, or trees, thickets, pools, and pavilions—appearances like these—you must not give rise to a single thought of delight and attachment; they are all places of reincarnation (womb-entry); you must pay close attention. At the moment of approaching the end, do not grasp appearances, and you will eliminate hindrances. If a doubtful mind glances up, immediately you are seized by demons. The Dharmakāya is inherently pure and without sensation/receiving; just because of delusion, one is unaware and unknowing, and due to this, falsely receives retribution. Therefore there is delight and attachment, and one does not obtain freedom.
Right now, if you realize the fundamental body and mind, you will not be dyed by habits. If one enters the ordinary from the sage, manifesting various mixed types, acting as a sentient being oneself, therefore the Sage is free in reverse and direct circumstances; no karma can restrain him. The Sage has achieved great awe-inspiring virtue for a long time; all species of karma are turned by the Sage; heaven and hell can do nothing to him. The spirit-consciousness of the ordinary person is dim and dark; not like the Sage, who is internally and externally thoroughly clear. If one has doubt, one does not act; if one acts, one wanders in birth and death; later facing regret, there is no place for rescue. Poverty, distress, and suffering are all born from delusional thinking; if one understands this Mind, pass it on to advise and encourage each other; simply act without acting, and you enter the Tathāgata's Knowledge and View.
For a person who has first aroused the intention (bodhicitta), spirit-consciousness is generally essentially unstable. If one frequently sees strange states in dreams, one should simply not doubt; they all arise from one's own mind, they do not come from outside. If in a dream you see brightness appearing, surpassing the sun disk, then residual habits are suddenly exhausted; this is seeing the nature of the Dharma-realm. If this matter occurs, it is the cause of achieving the Way. Only you know it yourself; it cannot be told to others.
Or if in a quiet grove, while walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, the eye sees brightness, whether large or small, do not tell people, and also do not grasp it; this is also the Luminosity of self-nature. Or if in the quiet of night, in the dark, while walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, the eye witnesses brightness differing no whit from daytime, do not be strange about it; it is all self-mind about to clarify and appear. Or if in a dream at night you see stars and moon clearly, this is also the various conditions of self-mind about to cease; also do not tell people. If dreams are confused and murky, like walking in darkness/shade, this is also one's own mind's afflictive hindrances being heavy; this too you know yourself.
If one Sees Nature, one need not read sutras or recite Buddha; wide learning and much knowledge are of no benefit; spirit-consciousness turns dull. Establishing teachings is only to mark the Mind; if one recognizes the Mind, what use is reading teachings? If one enters the sage from the ordinary, one must rest karma and nourish the spirit, passing the days according to one's lot. If there is much anger and hatred, causing Nature to turn against the Way, you cheat yourself with no benefit. The Sage appears and disappears freely within birth and death, hiding and revealing without fixity; no karma can restrain him. The Sage smashes heterodox demons; if all sentient beings simply See Nature, residual habits are suddenly extinguished. Spirit-consciousness is not dim; one must simply understand directly right now. If you want to truly understand the Way, do not grasp any dharmas; rest karma and nourish the spirit, and residual habits will also be exhausted. Naturally clear and white, it does not depend on exerting effort.
Outsiders do not understand the Buddha's intent; they exert effort the most. Violating the Sage's intent, all day long they rush about reciting Buddha and turning sutras; dimming the divine nature, they do not avoid the cycle of rebirth. Buddha is a person of leisure; what need is there to rush about widely seeking fame and profit? Of what use will it be later? But people who do not See Nature read sutras and recite Buddha, learning "diligence" for a long time; practicing the Way six times a day, sitting for long periods without lying down; widely studying and hearing much, considering this to be Buddha-dharma. Sentient beings such as this are all people who slander the Buddha-dharma.
Former Buddhas and later Buddhas only speak of Seeing Nature. All conditioned practices are impermanent. If one does not See Nature, yet falsely says "I have attained Anuttara-bodhi" (Unsurpassed Awakening), this is a great sinner. Among the Ten Great Disciples, Ananda was number one in having heard much; regarding the Buddha he had no recognition, he only learned broad hearing (erudition). The Two Vehicles and outsiders all do not recognize Buddha; knowing numbers and practicing realization, they fall into cause and effect. This is the karmic retribution of sentient beings; they do not avoid birth and death; turning far away from the Buddha's intent, they are sentient beings who slander the Buddha; killing them has no fault.
The Sutra says: Icchantikas do not generate faith; killing them has no fault. If one has faith, this person is a person of the Buddha-position. If one does not See Nature, one should not arbitrarily slander the good [who do]; confusing oneself is of no benefit. Good and evil are distinct; cause and effect are clear. Heaven and hell are right before your eyes; foolish people do not believe, and manifest falling into the hell of darkness; also unaware and unknowing; only because karma is heavy, therefore they do not believe. Like a person without eyes does not believe the Dao has light; even if you tell him he does not believe; only because he is blind, on what basis can he distinguish sunlight? Foolish people are also like this. Now manifesting falling into mixed species of livestock, born in poverty and lowliness; seeking life they cannot get it, seeking death they cannot get it. Although receiving this suffering, if you ask them directly, they say "I am happy now," not different from heaven. Thus we know that all sentient beings take the place of birth as happiness; they are also unaware and unknowing. Evil people like this—only because karmic obstructions are heavy, therefore they cannot generate faith; they have no freedom [from karma].
If one sees Self-mind is Buddha, one need not shave the beard and hair; a white-robed one [layperson] is also Buddha. If one does not See Nature, shaving the beard and hair, one is also an outsider.
Question: White-robed ones have wives and children, and lust is not removed; on what basis can they become Buddha?
Answer: I only speak of Seeing Nature, I do not speak of lust. It is only because you do not See Nature; if you just See Nature, lust is fundamentally empty and quiescent; it cuts off and removes itself naturally, and one also does not delight in or attach to it. Even if there are residual habits, they cannot cause harm. Why is this? Because Nature is fundamentally pure. Although dwelling in the physical body of the five aggregates, its Nature is fundamentally pure and cannot be defiled. The Dharmakāya fundamentally has no sensation; no hunger, no thirst, no cold, no heat, no sickness, no love, no family, no suffering, no joy, no good, no bad, no short, no long, no strong, no weak. Fundamentally there is not a single thing to be obtained. It is only because of grasping that there is this physical body; due to this there are appearances of hunger, thirst, cold, heat, sickness, and so forth.
If you do not grasp, you function with abandon. If within birth and death you obtain freedom, turning all dharmas, you are unobstructed like the supernatural powers of the Sage; there is no place you are not at peace. If the mind has doubt, you definitely will not pass through any states/environments. Not doing [evil] is best; if you do it, you do not avoid the cycle of birth and death. If one Sees Nature, a Chandala (outcaste/butcher) can also become Buddha.
Question: A Chandala creates karma by killing life; how can he become Buddha?
Answer: I only speak of Seeing Nature; I do not speak of creating karma. Even if he creates karma differently, all karma cannot restrain him. From beginningless vast kalpas ago, only because of not Seeing Nature, one falls into hell; therefore one creates karma and cycles in birth and death. From the moment of realizing fundamental nature, one ultimately does not create karma. If one does not See Nature, reciting Buddha does not avoid retribution, let alone killing life. If one Sees Nature, the doubtful mind is suddenly removed; killing life also can do nothing to him.
The Twenty-Seven Patriarchs from the Western Heaven only transmitted the Mind-seal. I have now come to this land to transmit only the Sudden Teaching of the Mahayana: Mind itself is Buddha. I do not speak of keeping precepts, diligence, or asceticism. Even entering water and fire, climbing upon sword-wheels, eating once a day, sitting long without lying down—these are all the conditioned dharmas of outsiders. If you recognize the nature of Numinous Awareness in activity and movement, you are the Mind of all Buddhas. Former Buddhas and later Buddhas only spoke of transmitting Mind; there is no other Dharma whatsoever. If you recognize this Dharma, an ordinary person who does not know a single character is also a Buddha. If you do not recognize the nature of your own Numinous Awareness, even if you smash your body into motes of dust, you will ultimately not find Buddha.
"Buddha" is also named Dharmakāya, also named Fundamental Mind. This Mind has no shape or characteristics, no cause and effect, no tendons or bones; it is like empty space; it cannot be grasped. It is not the same as material obstruction; it is not the same as outsiders. Apart from the Tathāgata alone who can understand this Mind, the rest—sentient beings and lost people—are not clear about it. This Mind is not apart from the physical body of the four great elements; if apart from this Mind, there is no ability to move. This body has no knowing, like grass, trees, tiles, and pebbles. The body is without nature; on what basis does it move?
If self-mind moves, up to language, activity, movement, seeing, hearing, sensing, and knowing—all are the moving mind moving the function. Motion is the mind moving; motion is precisely its function. Outside of moving-function there is no mind; outside of mind there is no motion. Motion is not mind; mind is not motion. Motion fundamentally has no mind; mind fundamentally has no motion. Motion is not apart from mind; mind is not apart from motion. Motion has no mind to separate from; mind has no motion to separate from; motion is mind's function; function is mind's motion. Motion is precisely mind's function; function is precisely mind's motion. Not moving, not functioning; the essence of function is fundamentally empty. Emptiness fundamentally has no motion; motion and function are the same as mind; mind fundamentally has no motion.
Therefore the Sutra says: Moving yet without anything moved; all day going and coming yet never having gone; all day seeing yet never having seen; all day laughing yet never having laughed; all day hearing yet never having heard; all day knowing yet never having known; all day happy yet never having been happy; all day walking yet never having walked; all day abiding yet never having abided.
Therefore the Sutra says: The path of language is cut off; the place of mental activity is extinguished; seeing, hearing, sensing, and knowing are fundamentally perfectly quiescent. Even anger, happiness, pain, and itch—how are they different from a wooden puppet? It is only because searching for pain and itch results in them being unobtainable. Therefore the Sutra says: Evil karma results in bitter retribution; good karma results in good retribution. Not only does anger lead to falling into hell, and happiness lead to birth in heaven. If one knows the nature of anger and happiness is empty, and simply does not grasp, one is released from karma. If one does not See Nature, lecturing on sutras definitely has no basis; speaking is also inexhaustible. I have briefly marked the deviant and the correct like this; it does not reach one or two [percent of the reality].
The Ode says:
Mind, Mind, Mind—difficult to seek; When broad, it pervades the Dharma-realm; When narrow, it does not admit a needle. I fundamentally seek Mind, not Buddha; I fully know the Three Realms are empty, without a thing. If you wish to seek Buddha, simply seek Mind; Only this Mind, this Mind is Buddha. I fundamentally seek Mind, Mind holds itself; Seeking Mind is not obtained; wait for Mind to know. Buddha-nature is not obtained from outside the Mind; When thought arises, that is precisely the time of sin arising.
The Gāthā says:
I originally came to this land, To transmit the Dharma and save lost sentient beings. One flower opens five petals; The bearing of fruit will form naturally.
End of Bloodstream Sermon of Grand Master Bodhidharma.
Translator (Soh)'s Commentary
Introduction
The Bloodstream Sermon (Xuemai Lun) is one of the four principal texts attributed to Bodhidharma, the First Patriarch of Chan (Zen). It represents a radical, iconoclastic turn in Buddhist literature. Unlike the gradualist approaches of the scholastic traditions, this text emphasizes Jiànxìng (Seeing Nature) as the singular, indispensable requirement for Buddhahood. It ruthlessly dismantles reliance on external forms—recitation, precepts, stupa building, and scripture study—if they are divorced from the direct realization of the Mind. The text serves as a "bloodline" or lineage certificate, asserting that the transmission of the Buddha-mind is the only authentic Buddhism.
Structural and Stylistic Choices
The translation maintains the "question and answer" format (Dialogue) which is crucial for the "direct pointing" style. I have used direct, sometimes abrupt English to mirror the forceful Chinese of the Tang/Song vernacular style used in the text. I have incorporated fluid phrasing from Red Pine where accurate (e.g., "seized by," "wooden puppet") while correcting his interpretative looseness regarding doctrinal terms.
Translation Choices - Contextual Explanations
Spirit-Consciousness (Shénshí): This term refers to the transmigrating consciousness in Chinese folk Buddhism and early Chan. It is the functional aspect of the mind that wanders in samsara when deluded.
Person of Non-action (Wúwéi Rén): The Buddha is described as a "person of wúwéi." Here, wúwéi is not just the ontological "unconditioned" but the Daoist-influenced functional style of "non-contrivance" or "effortlessness."
Contextual and Doctrinal Explanations
The Rhetoric of Ultimate Truth vs. The Reality of Karmic Ripening
The Bloodstream Sermon employs the radical rhetoric of the "Sudden Teaching." Statements such as "killing [icchantikas] has no fault" or "A Chandala (butcher) can become a Buddha" are intended to shatter dualistic grasping. However, a grave danger lies in erroneously interpreting these statements literally, or as a license for licentiousness or a denial of cause and effect (nihilism). The Buddha taught in the Neyyatha Sutta, "Monks, these two slander the Tathagata. Which two? He who explains a discourse whose meaning needs to be inferred as one whose meaning has already been fully drawn out. And he who explains a discourse whose meaning has already been fully drawn out as one whose meaning needs to be inferred. These are two who slander the Tathagata."
A note on 'killing icchantikas': Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra is textually layered and intentionally uses shock / reversal rhetoric. Modern scholarship treats the Dharmakṣema “long” text as a conglomeration with strands that don’t perfectly harmonize. For example, while some statements seemingly suggest that icchantikas are hopeless beings that cannot be saved, the same scripture tradition later insists that in truth, icchantikas can be saved and will attain enlightenment in the future.
Furthermore, the same Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra states, "Noble son, do not say that! That youth was a magical emanation (māyā) and Vajrapāṇi, the king of the yakṣas, enacted that deed in order to extirpate and terrify those who denigrate the authentic Dharma, but it is not right to kill either those who denigrate the authentic Dharma or icchantikas. You should not take life which results in the accumulation of negative karma."
Freedom from Karma: The Exclusive Domain of the Fully Awakened
Bodhidharma said in the Treatise on the Awakening of Nature, "Sentient beings create karma; karma does not create sentient beings. Creating karma in this life, receiving retribution in the next life—there is no time of escape. Only the Perfected Person [i.e. Buddha] does not create any karma within this body, therefore he does not receive retribution. The sūtra says: "Creating no karma, one naturally attains the Way."
It is a critical error to assume that a mere initial glimpse of the Nature (Jiànxìng / Kensho) grants immunity from karma. While the Nature itself is unconditioned, the practitioner who has "seen" it is not yet a fully perfected Buddha. They remain subject to the twin obscurations (afflictive and knowledge obscurations) to varying degrees, and the ripening of latent karmic tendencies.
True freedom from karma is not a property of the initial "Path" but of the final "Fruit." It belongs strictly to the fully awakened Tathāgata who has completely exhausted the Two Obscurations (afflictive emotions and cognitive traces). For the vast majority of practitioners—even those with genuine initial insights—karma remains fully operative.
As the Mahayana Sutras and Zen Masters clarify, this complete freedom is exclusive to the Buddha:
Lankavatara Sutra: "Karma does not attach to the Buddhas, because they have transcended all dualities. They are free from individualization and discrimination... they are beyond the triple world and are unattached to the consequences of deeds."
Mahaparinirvana Sutra: "The Tathagata is beyond karma, birth, and death. Though he may appear to enter samsara, he does so out of compassion and is never tainted by its bonds."
Avatamsaka Sutra: "The deeds of the Buddha are free from any bondage of karma... His actions are not born of desire, not subject to consequence, and yet they benefit infinite beings."
Zen Master Huangbo: "The Buddha is without karma. Karma belongs to the deluded mind. Enlightenment knows no karma, no rebirth."
The Inescapability of Ripening (Vipāka)
We must distinguish between creating new binding karma (which stops upon full awakening) and the ripening of old karma. The distinction between a Buddha and an ordinary being is not that the Buddha vanishes from the causal universe, but that the Buddha is free from the Three Poisons (Greed, Anger, Delusion) that drive the creation of new binding karma.
Even Shakyamuni Buddha, in his physical manifestation, experienced severe migraines due to the ripening of past karma, which persisted for the rest of his life following the Sākya clan's massacre. This demonstrates that while the Buddha's mind is liberated, the physical body remains subject to the unerring law of cause and effect. If this is so even for a Buddha, the claims that one is "untouched" while still embodied and not yet a full Buddha absolutely falls into the category of the "Nihilist View."
The Koan of Baizhang’s Wild Fox: "Not Falling" vs. "Not Obscuring"
To understand Bodhidharma's assertion that the Nature is "free from cause and effect" without falling into error, one must look to the famous Chan Koan Case 2 of the Wumenguan (The Gateless Barrier), concerning Baizhang and the Wild Fox.
In this case, an elder monk was asked, "Is an accomplished cultivator subject to cause and effect?" He answered, "They do not fall into cause and effect" (bù luò yīnguǒ). For this answer—implying that enlightenment is an exemption from cosmic law—he was reborn as a wild fox for 500 lifetimes. He was only liberated when Master Baizhang corrected him with a single turning phrase: "They do not obscure cause and effect" (bù mèi yīnguǒ).
"Not Falling" (Bù luò): This implies a denial of causality, a belief that the enlightened being sits outside the operation of karma. Master Dogen (in Shobogenzo: Shinjin-inga) critiques this as a "Great Wrong View" that leads to hellish states.
"Not Obscuring" (Bù mèi): This means the enlightened being is perfectly clear about cause and effect. They are not confused (mèi) by it. They understand that while the Mind-ground is empty, the functioning of phenomena follows precise laws.
Therefore, when the Bloodstream Sermon speaks of being "free," it refers to the the full realization and embodiment of the Ultimate Nature of Mind. It does not give permission for unawakened or partially awakened students to ignore moral discipline. As Master Dogen concludes: "To say 'one does not fall into cause and effect' is to deny cause and effect... 'Not obscuring cause and effect' is clearly deep faith in cause and effect."
“To summarize, the principle of cause and effect is quite clear, and it is totally impersonal: those who fabricate evil will fall into a lower state, whereas those who practice good will rise to a higher state, and without the slightest disparity. If cause and effect had become null and void, Buddhas would never have appeared in the world and our Ancestral Master would not have come from the West. In short, it would be impossible for human beings to encounter a Buddha and hear the Dharma. The fundamental principle of cause and effect was not clear to Confucius or Lao-tzu. It has only been clarified and Transmitted by Buddha after Buddha and by Ancestor after Ancestor. Because the good fortune of those who are seeking to learn in these degenerate days of the Dharma is scant, they do not encounter a genuine Master or hear the authentic Dharma, and so they are not clear about cause and effect. If you deny causality as a result of this error, you will experience excessive misfortune, since you would be as ignorant as an ox or a horse. Even if you have not committed any evil act other than denying cause and effect, the poison of this view will immediately be terrible. Therefore, if you who are exploring the Matter through your training with a Master have put your heart that seeks awakening as the first and foremost matter, and therefore wish to repay the vast benevolence of the Buddhas and the Ancestors, you should swiftly clarify what causality really is.” - Zen Master Dogen Zenji (https://www.thezensite.com/ZenTeachings/Dogen_Teachings/Shobogenzo/088jinshiInga.pdf)
“Without the precepts, Zen is the work of the devil."
— Zen Master Dogen Zenji
Refuting the "One Agent" and the "First Cause" Heresy
"But if there is abiding or attachment to One Mind, One Agent, One Comprehending or One Seeing, the Buddha does not allow it at all."
— Bodhidharma
In this critical passage, Bodhidharma explicitly rejects the attachment to "One Mind" (一心) or "One Agent" (一能 - Yi Neng). This is a precise dismantling of the Substantialist / First Cause (第一因) view—the belief in a singular, permanent "Agent" or "Source" that generates reality.
The Meaning of "Néng" (能): Agent vs. Function
In Buddhist philosophy, the character Néng (能) is the active half of the dualistic pair Néng-Suǒ (能所 - Subject/Object or Agent/Patient).
Néng: The Subject, the Agent, the "Knower," or the "Creator."
Suǒ: The Object, the Sphere, the "Known," or the "Created."
When Bodhidharma warns against attaching to "One Agent," he is attacking the subtle delusion of establishing a "Cosmic Subject" or "Super-Self" (like the Purusha of Sāṃkhya or the Brahman of Vedanta) that stands behind phenomena and "acts" as their ultimate Source or creator. He is saying: do not reify the functioning of Mind into a static Agent.
Modern Relevance: The "First Cause" Error (Xiao Ping Shi)
This distinction is vital for navigating modern doctrinal deviations. For instance, the contemporary teacher Xiao Ping Shi (leader of the "True Enlightenment Practitioners Association" in Taiwan) has been critiqued by teachers (such as Ven. Da Zhao) for falling into this exact "One Agent / First Cause" error.
Xiao posits that the Tathāgatagarbha (or Eighth Consciousness) is a literal, permanent entity that "creates" (能生 - Néng Sheng) the physical body and the universe. He views the True Mind as the Agent (Néng) and the universe as the Product (Suǒ). This is a classic monistic view (邪因外道 - Heterodox Cause), confusing the Buddhist Alaya (a storehouse of dependent seeds) with a Samkhya or Vedantic view of an Ultimate Source or the Pradhāna (Nature) of Sāṃkhya philosophy.
Ven. Da Zhao's Critique & Scriptural Evidence
As Ven. Da Zhao points out in his critique Heterodox Cause: Xiao Ping Shi's "God-Making Movement", this view aligns with the "Twenty Kinds of Outsiders" refuted in the Lankavatara Sutra commentaries. He cites authoritative texts to refute this "One Agent" view:
Abhidharma Kośa (Vol 6): "One cause producing things is impossible" (
一因生法，決定無有).Avatamsaka Sutra (Vol 30): "The nature of all dharmas is empty and quiescent; there is no single dharma that can create" (
無有一法能造作).
Dependent Origination as Non-Arising
Crucially, when Bodhidharma asserts that "Mind.. ...[has] no cause and effect," he is refuting the substantialist view of Inherent Production/Inherent Causation—the idea that something can arise by its own power or essence from a Self, Other, Both, or Causelessness—and not the valid relative principle of Dependent Origination itself. To understand this, we must look to the Eight Examples of Illusion (such as a mirage, a rainbow, or an echo).
True Dependent Origination reveals that phenomena are Non-Arisen (無生):
The Rainbow: A rainbow depends on mist, light, and an observer. Because it is thoroughly dependent on these conditions, no independent "rainbow-entity" is ever truly born. It is a vivid appearance that is simultaneously empty of essence.
The Drum Sound: When a drum is struck, a sound arises. But the sound is not inside the wood, the hide, or the stick. It does not "come" from anywhere. It is a dependent designation—a label applied to a confluence of conditions. Because no "sound-entity" can be found, the sound is "unborn" and "unceasing."
Bodhidharma points to this: Whatever dependently originates is empty of inherent existence. The "functioning" of the Sage is like a mirage or an echo—functioning clearly without an Agent, moving without a Mover, and arising without ever leaving the state of non-arising. Simultaneously, Bodhidharma does not deny The Causal Power of the Unreal, hence in that same text he asserts, "Good and evil are distinct; cause and effect are clear.", and "There are people who deny cause and effect, blazing in creating evil karma, falsely saying the original is empty and creating evil has no fault; such people fall into the hell of Uninterrupted Darkness, with no time of exit forever. If one is a wise person, one should not make such a view."
The Paradox of Motion and Mind — The Total Realization of Anatta
1. The Mutual Negation: Escaping the "Substantialist" Trap
This section contains the text’s most critical dialectic for realizing Anatta (No-Self). When Bodhidharma says "Motion is mind's function," a student might fall into Substantialist Non-dualism—imagining "Mind" as a giant, static background screen or a "Source" that remains untouched while emitting functions like a radio emits waves.
Bodhidharma destroys this view with a rigorous mutual negation:
"Outside of moving-function there is no mind; outside of mind there is no motion. Motion has no mind to separate from; mind has no motion to separate from."
This reveals that "Mind" and "Motion" are not two things (a Hidden Source vs. a Visible Output). They are a single, non-dual occurrence.
You cannot peel away the "Motion" to find a "Mind" hiding behind it.
You cannot set aside "Mind" and find some mechanical "Motion" existing on its own.
2. The "Weather" Analogy: Dynamic Function without a Static Agent
To realize this is to cure the "disease of nouns." Our language tricks us into believing that for every action (verb), there must be a subject (noun) to initiate it. We say "The wind blows," implying "Wind" is an entity that decides to perform the act of "blowing."
But as Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh points out, this is a grammatical fiction:
"If there is no blowing, there is no wind... We don't need a 'rainer,' we just need the rain. Raining and the rain are the same."
Similarly, "Mind" or "Awareness" is not a static container in which things happen. As clarified in contemporary discussions (e.g., via the Awakening to Reality blog), "Mind" is merely a label for dynamic activity, just like "Weather".
No Lightning besides the Flash: You cannot have "lightning" sitting in the cloud waiting to perform a "flash." Lightning is the flashing.
No Agent behind the Flash: The flash happens. It is self-luminous. There is no "flasher" behind it.
In the same way, there is no "Knower" behind the "Knowing," and no "Mover" behind the "Moving."
3. Nagarjuna’s Logic: Refuting Both the Mover and the Movement
Bodhidharma’s assertion that "Motion is not mind" and "Mind has no motion" echoes the rigorous analysis of Nagarjuna (in the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā, Chapter 2). By asserting "Motion is not mind," Bodhidharma prevents the materialist error of reducing awareness to mere physical mechanics (Identity); conversely, by asserting "Outside of motion there is no mind," he destroys the eternalist delusion of a hidden "ghost in the machine" or separate Self (Difference). This rigorous double-negation collapses the entire Agent-Action structure, forcing the realization of Anatta: functioning appears vividly as a dependent designation, yet neither an inherent "Mover" nor an independent "Movement" can ever be established.
To fully realize Anatta, we must see through the metaphysical structure of "Agent" and "Action."
We habitually assume an inherent Mover (Self) initiates a Movement (Activity). Nagarjuna refutes this by exposing the logical absurdities that arise if we take these as real entities:
The Error of the "Moving Mover" (The Doubling Fault): If we claim there is an inherently existing "Mover" who then performs the act of "moving," we commit a logical error. Why? Because to be defined as a "Mover," one must already possess motion. If this "Mover" then performs the action of moving, there would be two motions: one that makes him a "Mover" initially, and a second one that he performs. This is absurd.
Mutual Dependence (No Independent Basis): Since an independent "Mover" cannot be established, perhaps the "Movement" itself is real? Nagarjuna argues that "Movement" is impossible to locate: it is not found in the path already passed, nor in the path not yet passed.
Without a "Mover," there is no "Movement" (who is moving?).
Without "Movement," there is no "Mover" (how are they defined?).
Conclusion (Dependent Designation): Because neither the Mover nor the Movement can stand alone, they are revealed to be Dependent Designations (prajñaptir upādāya). They exist only as conceptual labels applied to a flow of conditions.
Crucial Two Truths Distinction: This is not a nihilistic denial that "walking happens." Walking conventionally occurs. It is a denial that a Reified Self (Svabhāva) initiates the walking. The structure of "Subject performs Verb" collapses into emptiness—dynamically appearing and functioning as all actions and appearances vividly without reifications and without a ghost in the machine.
4. Mind as Self-Luminosity: The Light of Knowing
If both the Agent and the Action are empty of inherent existence, what is happening? Is it just blank darkness?
No. The text says: "Motion is precisely mind's function."
This points to the realization that Mind is the self-luminosity of all appearances.
The Mind is not a spotlight that shines from a subject onto an object.
The appearances and dynamic functions (the moving hand, the sound of the bell, the arising thought) are themselves the brilliant light of knowingness. Crucially, the brilliant light of knowingness has no existence of itself apart from self-knowing appearances.
The "knowing" is not separate from the "known." The redness of a flower is the knowing of the redness, and no other knowing can be found beside that appearance. The sensation of walking is the knowing of walking, and no other knowing can be found beside that appearance. There is not the slightest hairbreadth’s distinction between the scene and the seeing.
5. "Moving Yet Without Anything Moved"
This culminates in the Sutra quote: "All day going and coming yet never having gone."
This is the final seal of Anatta:
Conventionally: There is the vivid appearance of walking, speaking, and eating.
Ultimately: There is no "Walker" who traverses space, no "Speaker" who generates words, no "Thinker" who creates thoughts.
Comparative Notes: High-Fidelity vs. Earlier Translations (e.g., Red Pine)
While Red Pine's translation is widely read for its conversational fluency, this High-Fidelity translation diverges in critical areas to restore the specific Mahāyāna technical terminology and the correct doctrinal classification of "Internal" vs. "External" practice.
Dharmakāya vs. Real Body
Source: Fǎshēn (法身).
Red Pine: "Real body."
This Translation: "Dharmakāya."
Rationale: Dharmakāya is a specific technical term referring to the Buddha's complete knowledge of emptiness. Red Pine’s choice of "Real Body" implies a substantial, inherent substrate (a "Real Self"), which risks sneaking a non-Buddhist Atman-view (Self-view) back into a text explicitly teaching No-Self or No-Mind. Translating it as "Real body" risks substantialism—implying a metaphysical essence, "True Self" or substratum that ultimately exists underlying all phenomena, in contrast to the physical body. Retaining Dharmakāya preserves the link to the Trikāya (Three Bodies) doctrine essential to the text.
Outsiders vs. Fanatics
Source: Wàidào (外道 - Skt. Tīrthika).
Red Pine: "Fanatics."
This Translation: "Outsiders" (or "Followers of Outer Paths").
Rationale: The term Wàidào specifically refers to non-Buddhist practitioners who seek the Truth outside the Mind (e.g., through austerities, worship of deities, or metaphysics). Red Pine’s choice of "Fanatics" implies that their error is one of emotional intensity or zealotry. The text’s actual critique is doctrinal: their error is external seeking, regardless of how calm or "fanatical" they are.
Numinous Awareness vs. Miraculously Aware
Source: Língjué (靈覺).
Red Pine: "Miraculously aware."
This Translation: "Numinous Awareness."
Rationale: Líng (Numinous/Spiritual) refers to the intrinsic, efficacious, and self-illuminating potency of the Mind. "Miraculous" suggests a supernatural event or magic trick. "Numinous Awareness" better captures the Chan view of the Mind’s natural, inherent capacity to know and sense without a dualistic knower.
Dharma of Outsiders vs. Nonsense
Source: Wàidào Fǎ (外道法 - Dharma of Outer Paths).
Red Pine: "All this talk about cause and effect is nonsense."
This Translation: "Talk of cause and effect... is the dharma of outsiders."
Rationale: The text reads yīnguǒ děng yǔ, shì wàidào fǎ. This does not dismiss karma as "nonsense" (a nihilistic error). Rather, it critiques the reliance on conditioned merit-making without "Seeing Nature."
Early Buddhist Parallel: MN 117 distinguishes "Right View with effluents" (leading to merit/rebirth) from "Noble Right View" (leading to liberation).
Mahāyāna Parallel: The Diamond Sūtra contrasts giving while "abiding in marks" (limited merit) with giving without attachment (immeasurable merit).
Bodhidharma asserts that practicing for karmic rewards without realizing the Nature keeps one "outside" the gate of liberation. Red Pine’s "nonsense" is interpretive and risks misleading the reader into thinking the law of karma itself is false; "dharma of outsiders" accurately categorizes it as a provisional approach insufficient for Buddhahood if clung to as the final goal.
Seeing Nature vs. Seeing Your Nature
Source: Jiànxìng (見性).
Red Pine: "See your nature."
This Translation: "See Nature" (or "Seeing Nature").
Rationale: The original Chinese contains no possessive pronoun. While "your nature" is acceptable in conventional parlance, in a rigorous Chan context, inserting "your" creates a subtle doctrinal hazard. It risks reifying the Nature as a personal possession, an individual soul, or a property belonging to a "Self." By stripping away the unwarranted pronoun, "Seeing Nature" (Kenshō) correctly points to the realization of the empty, non-dual nature of reality, which is neither a personal ego nor a "Universal Consciousness," but simply the vivid, ungraspable functioning of Mind that is No-Mind (empty of inherent existence), without an agent, self/Self, center or subject.
Icchantika vs. Incapable of Belief
Source: Yīchántí (一闡提).
Red Pine: "People who are incapable of belief."
This Translation: "Icchantika."
Rationale: Icchantika is a specific Mahāyāna soteriological category referring to beings whose "roots of merit" are severed. Glossing it merely as "people who can't believe" loses the weight of the scriptural reference (specifically to the Nirvana Sutra) regarding the gravity of slandering the Dharma.
Doctrinal Explanation
To understand why Bodhidharma calls the pursuit of karma "the dharma of outsiders" (wàidào fǎ), we must look at how Buddhist tradition distinguishes between practicing for merit (within Samsara) and practicing for liberation (Nirvana).
1. The Foundation: Pali Canon (MN 117)
The Buddha explicitly distinguishes two types of Right View. This provides a clear early Buddhist formulation of the distinction Chan later re-expresses.
Mundane Right View (Sāsava - "With Effluents"): Affirmation of giving, offerings, and the fruits of karma. This is ethically indispensable and leads to merit/heaven, but it is still "siding with merit" and results in further becoming (acquisitions).
Noble Right View (Anāsava - "Noble/Taintless"): The wisdom faculty that penetrates the Four Noble Truths. This is the "transcendent" factor of the path that cuts the root of suffering.
2. The Mahāyāna Parallel: "Abiding in Marks" vs. Ultimate Truth
Mahāyāna often re-expresses this distinction using the idioms of (i) conventional vs. ultimate truth and (ii) "abiding in marks" vs. non-abiding prajñā. Karma is affirmed conventionally, while ultimate insight cuts the reification of agent, action, and result.
| Context | "Outsider" / Mundane Approach | "Seeing Nature" / Ultimate Approach |
| Diamond Sūtra | "Abiding in Marks" Practicing charity while reifying a "self," "person," or "living being." Result: Finite merit (spiritually limited). | "Non-Abiding" Practicing without attachment to forms or reification of the giver/gift/recipient. Result: Immeasurable merit. |
| Lankavatara Sūtra | Conventional Teaching Teachings on karma and moral causality that rely on discriminative mind and words. | Self-Realization of Noble Wisdom The yogin's direct realization (Āryajñāna) that transcends discursiveness and dualistic views. |
| Vimalakirti Sūtra | "Bound Practice" Sitting in meditation while physically or mentally "abiding" in form or tranquility. | "True Sitting" Not manifesting body and mind in the triple world, yet not relinquishing the affairs of beings. |
The Bodhidharma Synthesis:
When Bodhidharma says: "Talk of cause and effect... is the dharma of outsiders," he is aligning with the Diamond Sūtra's critique of "Abiding in Marks."
To practice causality with attachment to a Self/Agent (seeking rewards) is to remain "outside" the Gate of Chan.
To "See Nature" is to realize the emptiness of the Agent. Once the Agent-Agency-Action paradigm is penetrated and seen as empty and unreal, one is free from karmic bondage (the compulsion to be reborn), though the law of causality remains valid on the conventional level.
Red Pine's Error ("Nonsense"):
By translating Wàidào Fǎ as "nonsense," Red Pine implies the conventional teaching is false. It isn't false; it is simply a "lower" rung. As MN 117 clarifies, Mundane Right View is still "Right View"—it just doesn't lead out of Samsara on its own.
