Confidence in the Mind Inscription Xin Xin Ming (信心銘)[1] By the Great Master Seng Can (僧璨大师)
(This article was published in Qi - The Journal of Traditional Eastern Health & Fitness - Volume 24, No 2, dated Summer 2014, Pages 8-15)
Translator’s Note: This new translation of the Xin
Xin Ming is drawn from the original Chinese text preserved in the Transmission
of the Lamp, with introductory material extracted from the Chinese language
biography of Seng Can entitled ‘僧璨’.I have retained the original traditional Chinese
text, and added the modern pinyin rendering, and translated line for line.The Xin Xin Ming (信心銘) is
believed by some scholars to have similarities with a different text entitled ‘Xin
Ming’ (心銘), or ‘Mind Inscription’ attributed to Ch’an master
Niu Tou Fa Rong (牛頭法融) [594-657 CE].Chinese sources state that the earliest ascription of the Xin Xin Ming (信心銘) to
the 3rd Ch’an Patriarch, the Great Master Seng Can (僧璨大師) [510-606
CE] appears in the Baizhang Extensive Record (百丈廣錄- Baizhang - Baizhang Guang Lu).Ch’an master Baizhang Huai Hai (百丈懷海) [720-814
CE] was a very famous Tang Dynasty Buddhist practitioner who inherited the
Dharma from Ch’an master Ma Zu Dao Yi (馬祖道一) [709-788
CE], and is famous for his association with the development of Ch’an monastic
discipline.The text entitled ‘Jing De
Chuan Deng Lu’ (景德傳燈錄), or the ‘Bright Virtuous Transmission of the Lamp
Record’, accepts the Baizhang Guang Lu ascription of Seng Can as the author of
the Xin Xin Ming text.The Transmission
of the Lamp can be dated from the Song Dynasty emperor - Jing De - (whose name
appears in the title) who ruled between 1004-1007 CE. Master Seng Can was the 3rd Ch’an
Patriarch.He inherited the Ch’an Dharma
from the 2nd Ch’an Patriarch Hui Ke (慧可)
[487-593 CE], and transmitted it to the 4th Ch’an Patriarch Dao Xin
(道信)
[580-651 CE].The Transmission of the
Lamp states that Ch’an Master Hui Ke transmitted the Dharma to Seng Can with
the following gatha; In cultivated causal ground, the seeds of (Dharma) flowers are planted From cultivated causal ground, the seeds of (Dharma) flowers bloom. Yet in essence no seeds are planted, And no flowers are grown.
Seng Can eventually transmitted the Dharma to the 4th
Ch’an Patriarch Dao Xin with the following gatha; Planting good (karmic) seeds prepares the causal ground, From which (Dharma) flowers can grow. If good karmic seeds are not planted, Then no Dharma flowers will manifest.
These two transmission gatha create a dialectical
situation whereby Hui Ke’s emphasis upon ‘void’, is supplemented by Seng Can’s
emphasis upon ‘form’.Taken together,
the two gatha exhibit the idea that ‘void’ can exist without ‘form’, and vice
versa.The Xin Xin Ming – as an extended
gatha – falls in philosophical content, into the exact middle ground between
these two expressions of Dharma transmission.In this respect, the Xin Xin Ming appears to be an elaboration of the
these two transmission gatha, placing it squarely within the traditional view
that Seng Can composed it as a means to express the true Dharma of the Ch’an
School as he both inherited and understood it to be. During his lifetime there was a great persecution
of Buddhism, and Seng Can had to spend many years living deep in the hills far
away from the authorities.Seng Can
first met Hui Ke when still a layman.When Hui Ke freed his mind, Seng Can was ordained.He trained with Hui Ke for a number of years,
and was known to be friendly and compassionate.When he died, the inscription on his tomb compared him with the
enlightened layman Vimalakirti.The Xin
Xin Ming is believed to be Seng Can’s distillation of Chinese Ch’an doctrine
into a single poetical expression that is easy to remember and transmit.It is a fusion of Buddhist and Daoist
thought, combined to form a coherent synthesis.The historicity of Seng Can receives support from an ancient inscription unearthed in Hangzhou
in 1982.The inscription on brick reads: ‘During the 7th lunar month, of the 12th year of
the reign of the Great Sui Dynasty emperor Kai Huang (592 CE), the great master
Seng Can lived in hiding on the peak of the Wan Gong Mountain.A tower was raised as a way to confidently
remember this event.’
(大隋开皇十二年(592)
七月僧璨大师隐化于舒之皖公山岫，结塔供养。道信为记.)
The Xin Xin Ming is a Ch’an text that does not rely
upon Buddhist teachings as found in the sutras.It says nothing of monastic discipline or stages of meditative
absorption; this is a Ch’an text written from the perspective of the mind that is
already enlightened and does not compromise the truth of its realisation.Like the middle way found throughout the
Buddhist sutras, Seng Can advocates a position of attainment that is centred
and balanced between all extremes, whilst simultaneously including all those
extremes in its expansive harmony.It is
a permanent realisation beyond the limitations (and scope) of time and
space.The Xin Xin Ming advocates the
ordering of the mind processes, solely through the development of the mind
processes, so that all duality is instantaneously transcended in a single
moment.Ch’an enlightenment as advocated
by Seng Can is nothing less than a complete and radical re-alignment of the
functioning of the human mind.It is a development
procedure not dependent upon the practice of meditation (which is never
mentioned), or sutra reading, but is rather a demonstration of a living
tradition of transmitted transformation that spreads from mind to mind, from
one living human to another, down through the generations.In this respect the Xin Xin Ming is a pivotal
Ch’an text that exhibits the pure spirit of Ch’an Buddhism unpolluted by
deluded intellect, misplaced faith, or superstitious thoughts and
practices.Seng Can gives the distinct
impression that enlightenment is merely the product of deciding not to be
deluded.Perhaps this is the simple
message that lies at the heart of all Buddhism, but which has become obscured
through centuries of unnecessary and excessive intellection that has served to
make Buddhism worldlier than transcendental.The proper Buddhist path, according to Seng Can, is that which adheres
to the correct Dao, or Way.In this poem
is found the Chinese accommodation of Indian thought, as the Great Dao of
nature is equated with that of the vast emptiness of Buddhism.Seng Can’s Xin Xin Ming sets the record
straight. New
Translation of the Xin Xin
Ming (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 (Zhì dào wúnán wéi xián jiǎnzé dàn mò zēng ài dòng rán
míngbái háolí yǒu chā tiāndì xuángé) To reach the Dao is not difficult.Only discrimination between hate and love
obscures understanding.The tiniest difference (like the width of a hair) separates the divine sky from the broad
earth. 欲得現前莫存順逆違順相爭是為心病不識玄旨徒勞念靜 (Yù de xiàn
qián mò cún shùnnì wéi shùn xiāng zhēng shì wéi xīnbìng bù shí xuán zhǐ túláo
niàn jìng) For reality to manifest here and now, do not
distinguish between good and bad.To
discriminate in this way is a disease of the mind, which obscures the
realisation of the mysterious knowledge, and renders the practice of quiet study
futile.
圓同太虛無欠無餘良由取捨所以不如莫逐有緣勿住空忍 (Yuán tóng
tài xūwú qiàn wúyú liáng yóu qǔshě suǒyǐ bùrú mò zhú yǒuyuán wù zhù kōng rěn) The rounded void is immense; nothing lacking,
nothing excessive.Too much taking and
leaving, and it will not be known.Do
not chase conditioned reality, nor dwell in the enduring void. 一種平懷泯然自盡止動歸止止更彌動唯滯兩邊寧知一種 (Yīzhǒng píng
huái mǐn rán zìjìn zhǐ dòng guī zhǐ zhǐ gèng mí dòng wéi zhì liǎngbiān níng zhī
yīzhǒng) A unified mind is at peace, with the sense of Self dissolved.Ending movement, to return to stillness; is
nothing but continuous movement.Both
movement and stillness lose their distinction.It is better to realise oneness of thought. 一種不通兩處失功遣有沒有從空背空多言多慮轉不相應 (Yīzhǒng
bùtōng liǎng chù shī gōng qiǎn yǒu méiyǒu cóng kōng bèi kōng duō yán duō lǜ
zhuǎn bù xiāngyìng) If oneness is not realised, both aspects lose their
power. Banishing existence does not transcend it; to chase emptiness does not
secure it.With many words and many
thoughts, it is obscured from sight.Stop words and halt thought and insight will penetrate all things.Return to the root and obtain the
purpose.Attachment to the light loses
the Ch’an tradition.Reflect the light
for even a moment, and the void is illuminated. 前空轉變皆由妄見不用求真唯須息見二見不住慎勿追尋 (Qián kōng
zhuǎnbiàn jiē yóu wàng jiàn bùyòng qiú zhēn wéi xū xi jiàn èrjiàn bù zhù shèn
wù zhuīxún) The void is transformed, as deluded views
cease.Do not seek reality, but cease
generating false views.Do not dwell in
duality, and be careful not to seek. 纔有是非紛然失心二由一有一亦莫守一心不生萬法無咎 (Cái yǒu
shìfēi fēn rán shī xīn èr yóu yī yǒuyī yì mò shǒu yīxīn bù shēng wàn fǎ wú jiù) If ‘yes’ and ‘no’ exist, there is confusion in the
mind.Duality arises from the one – but
do not be obsessed with the one.The
one-mind is unborn, and the ten thousand things are without blame. 無咎無法不生不心能隨境滅境逐能沉境由能境能由境能 (Wú jiù wúfǎ
bù shēng bù xīn néng suí jìng miè jìng zhú néng chén jìng yóu néng jìng néng
yóu jìng néng) Without blame, all is unborn – unborn is non-mind.Actions are lost in worldly conditions;
worldly conditions are obscured by actions.Worldly conditions arise from actions; actions come to fruition through
worldly conditions. 欲知兩段元是一空一空同兩齊含萬象不見精麤寧有偏黨 (Yù zhī liǎng
duàn yuán shì yīkōng yīkōng tóng liǎng qí hán wànxiàng bùjiàn jīng cū níng yǒu
piān dǎng) Understand that duality originates within a unified
empty (state of) oneness that contains the ten thousand things.Do not perceive fine and coarse, as this is a
bias view. 大道體寬無易無難小見狐疑轉急轉遲執之失度必入邪路 (Dàdào tǐ
kuān wú yì wúnán xiǎo jiàn húyí zhuǎn jí zhuǎn chí zhí zhī shī dù bì rù xié lù) The Great Dao is vast and void, nothing easy –
nothing difficult.A narrow mind with
suspicious thoughts, moving too slow or too fast, and attaching itself to the
world, has entered a heretical path.To
release everything is natural and correct; then in essence there is no coming
or going.Let essential nature unite
with the Dao, and be free from all worry.Attachment to clever thought obscures the truth – as if in a daze. 不好勞神何用疏親欲取一乘勿惡六塵六塵不惡還同正覺 (Bù hǎo
láoshén hé yòng shū qīn yù qǔ yī chéng wù è liù chén liù chén bù è hái tóng
zhèng jué) Do not belabour the spirit; the familiar and
unfamiliar has no purpose.To discover
the one vehicle, do not reject the six senses.If the six senses are not rejected, then they equate to complete
enlightenment. 智者無為愚人自縛法無異法妄自愛著將心用心豈非大錯 (Zhìzhě wúwéi
yúrén zìfù fǎ wú yì fǎ wàng zì'àizhe jiāng xīn yòngxīn qǐfēi dà cuò) The wise are non-active, whilst the ignorant tie
themselves up.All Dharmas are distinct,
and yet the deluded self desires them all.The mind seeking the mind as an object, how can this not be a great
error? 迷生寂亂悟無好惡一切二邊良由斟酌夢幻空華何勞把捉 (Mí shēng jì
luàn wù wú hàowù yīqiè èr biān liáng yóu zhēnzhuó mènghuàn kōnghuá hé láo
bǎzhuō) Delusion generates silence and chaos; enlightenment
is not good or bad.Dualistic existence
arises within delusion.Dreams of empty
splendour can not be grasped. 得失是非一時放卻眼若不眠諸夢自除心若不異萬法一如
(Déshī shìfēi
yīshí fàng què yǎn ruò bùmián zhū mèng zì chú xīn ruò bù yì wàn fǎ yī rú) Gain and loss, right and wrong, must be dropped
here and now.If the eyes do not close
in sleep, all dreaming ceases.A mind
that does not discriminate unifies the ten thousand things. 一如體玄兀爾忘緣萬法齊觀歸復自然泯其所以不可方比 (Yī rú tǐ
xuán wù ěr wàng yuán wàn fǎ qí guān guī fù zìrán mǐn qí suǒyǐ bùkě fāng bǐ)
Oneness is a profound mystery that transcends
worldly circumstance, and reconciles the ten thousand things.Each thing returns to its natural essence and
each is extinguished.This is beyond
compare.
When movement comes to an end – there is no more
stirring (in the mind).When movement
ceases, movement is no more.As duality
is not manifest, how can there be a state of oneness?When the ultimate is searched for, it has no
discernable path. 契心平等所作俱息狐疑淨盡正信調直一切不留無可記憶 (Qì xīn
píngděng suǒzuò jù xi húyí jìngjìn zhèngxìn diào zhí yīqiè bù liú wú kě jìyì) Manifest the mind of equality, and all duality
ceases.As all doubt ceases, true
confidence is established.When all is
abandoned, there is nothing to remember. 虛明自照不勞心力非思量處識情難測真如法界無他無自 (Xū míng zìzhào
bù láoxīn lì fēi sīliang chù shi qíng nán cè zhēnrú fǎjiè wú tā wú zì)
The empty brightness shines forth, without any
effort of mind.It can not be measured
through thought, or comprehended by the use of knowledge or emotion.Such is the true state of Dharmadhatu, free
from notions of self and other. 要急相應唯言不二不二皆同無不包容十方智者皆入此宗 (Yào jí
xiāngyìng èr jiē tóng wú bù bāoróng shí fāng zhìzhě jiē rù cǐ zōng wéi yán bù
èr bù)
Strive to behold it, and all that can be said is
that it is ‘not two’.All things are
reconciled in this sate of ‘not two’, and nothing is excluded.The wise people in the ten directions have
all gained entry to this lineage.
This lineage is beyond time, and the ten thousand
things are reconciled into a single thought.It is not found in existence or non-existence, but the eye sees it in
the ten directions.The smallest is
equal to the greatest, and there are no boundaries.
The greatest is the same as the smallest, and no
division can be found.Both ‘is’ and ‘is
not’ are the same, and that which contradicts this is not the true path.
一即一切一切即一但能如是何慮不畢信心不二不二信心
(Yī jí yīqiè
yīqiè jí yī dàn néng rúshì hé lǜ bù bì xìnxīn bù èr bù èr xìnxīn)
The one contains all things and all things are
contained in the one.If understanding
is already like this, then what further can be attained?Trust the mind to be non-dual, understanding
that this non-dual state is the essence of the mind.
言語道斷非去來今
(Yányǔ dào duàn fēi qù lái jīn)
This Dao cuts off all need for speech, and has no
past, present, or future.
[1] For alternative translations see: Luk, Charles, Practical Buddhism – The Application of Ch’an Teaching in Everyday Life, Rider, (1988), Part II The Story of the Third Ch’an Patriarch of Chinaand Gatha ‘Have Faith in the Mind’ (Hsin Hsin Ming) Pages 33-38. Ferguson, Andy, Zen’s Chinese Heritage – The Masters and the Teachings, Wisdom, (2000), Appendix – Faith in Mind, Pages 461- 465.
