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隻履西歸　遇見宋雲

於是達摩祖師就假裝入滅，人們將他裝在棺材埋到墳裏，以為沒有事了。可是就在同時，北魏有一個使臣叫宋雲，在秦嶺附近，也就是中國終南山那一帶，碰見達摩 祖師，一隻手拎著一隻鞋，對宋雲說：「你的國家有事，國王今天死了，國內現在很亂，趕快回去呀！」

宋雲想：「我的國家沒有什麼事啊？」然後就問達摩祖師說：「那麼大師您到什麼地方去？」

他說：「我回印度去。」

「大師，您的法傳給誰了？」

達摩祖師說：「在中國四十年以後，可是也。」可，就是說慧可大師；我的法在中國四十年以後，有位慧可大師，就是我的傳法人。

As He Returns West Carrying One Shoe,
He Encounters Song Yun

Patriarch Bodhidharma then pretended to enter Nirvana. People buried his coffin and thought the matter was finished. However, right at that time, a diplomatic representative from Northern Wei called Song Yun met Patriarch Bodhidharma in the vicinity of the Qin Range on the road to Zhongnan Mountain. When they met, Patriarch Bodhidharma was carrying one shoe in his hand. He said to Song Yun, "The king of your country died today. Your country is in turmoil. Return quickly! There is work to be done."

空棺隻鞋　祖師何在

這些人說：「達摩祖師？喲！你真見鬼了，他早就死了嘛！墳就在某個地方呢！你怎麼會碰見他？」大家都不相信宋雲講的話。「他已經死了，你怎麼會遇著他？我 們去把他的墳打開看看。」到了那兒，說：「他死了很久，你又看見他，莫非他沒有死？」於是就打開達摩祖師的墳，打開一看，棺材裏什麼也沒有，空空如也，只 剩一隻鞋。因為達摩祖師拿走了一隻，所以棺材裏只剩一隻鞋。

那麼究竟達摩祖師到什麼地方去了？以後就沒有人知道，說不定現在到美國來，也不一定。不過沒人認識他，他可以改頭換面，隨便千變萬化的。他到中國時，就說 是一百五十歲，走了還是一百五十歲；到什麼地方去？沒有人知道。說是去考察歷史，歷史上也沒有這些個問題，沒有地方可以考據。這是達摩祖師一生到中國的大 概經過。

Only One Shoe in an Empty Coffin:
Where Is the Patriarch?

Those who heard his tale retorted, "Patriarch Bodhidharma? You must have seen a ghost! Patriarch Bodhidharma is already dead. He was buried in such and such a place. How could you have met him?" No one believed Song Yun's story. "He is already dead, how could you have met him? Let's go together and dig up his grave." When they arrived at the grave, they said, "He had already been dead a long time when you say you saw him. Is it possible that he did not die after all?" 

grave and opened the coffin. It was empty. There was nothing inside but one shoe. Since Patriarch Bodhidharma had taken one shoe with him, only one shoe remained in the coffin.

Well, where did Patriarch Bodhidharma go? No one knows. Perhaps he came to America. It's not for sure. But no one would recognize him, because he can change his appearance at will. He goes through thousands of transformations and myriad changes according to his convenience. When he reached China he said he was one hundred and fifty years old, and when he left he said he was still one hundred and fifty years old. Where did he go? No one knows. You may suggest that we look it up in the historical records, but no historical references can be found. This has been a general discussion of Patriarch Bodhidharma's life in China.

六祖浣衣　方辯述奇

在《六祖壇經》上有一段文提到，有一天六祖大師在山林裏，洗五祖傳給他的衣缽時，來了一個和尚，向六祖大師叩頭頂禮說：「我名叫方辯，是四川西蜀的人，前 幾天在南天竺──就是南印度，看見達摩祖師了。他教我回到唐朝這個地方來。他說：『我由大迦葉那兒一代一代傳下來的正法眼藏，和祖衣──就是二十五條衣僧 伽梨──現在在中國傳到第六代，在韶關曹溪那個地方，你趕快到那裏去瞻仰禮拜第六代祖師！』」

各位想一想，初祖達摩在中國已經死了，但是這個方辯和尚在六祖這個時代，又在印度看見達摩祖師，你們說這件事情是不是很奇怪？其實這不足為奇，因為達摩祖師到什麼地方去了？到現在一般人也不知道！

As the Sixth Patriarch Washes His Sash,
Fang Bian Relates a Strange Tale

In the Sixth Patriarch's Platform Sutra is a passage that mentions how one day when the Sixth Patriarch was in the mountain forest washing the sash which he received from the Fifth Patriarch, a monk came and bowed to him. After paying his respects, the monk said, "My name is Fang Bian. I am a native of Sichuan. A few days ago, I saw Patriarch Bodhidharma in South India. He told me to come back here to the Land of Tang [China]. The Patriarch said, 'From Great Kashyapa onward to me and down through the generations, the Proper

王氏孝子　守孝六年

講到這兒，我想起一件事實，這不是公案，這是實實在在的一件事，講給各位聽一聽。

我在中國的東北──那時候叫滿洲里，最初我發心修道，是有種種因緣的。當時我最崇拜的人，就是東北一個叫王孝子的。這個王孝子，二十八歲開始守孝，東北那 個地方很冷，他就用木頭板釘那麼一個小茅棚住著，很冷的。先住了三年，三年過後，他又繼續在那兒守孝三年，這樣前後

共守了六年。在最後第六年，他就不講話了；任何人去，都不和人談話，天天在小茅棚裏參禪打坐、誦《金剛經》。

Filial Son Wang Practiced Filiality
Beside the Grave for Six Years

Speaking of that, I recall another true incident I would like to relate to you. This is no story, it's a true tale.

When I was in Manchuria there were several causes and conditions which inspired me to cultivate the Way. The person whom I admired the most in Manchuria was Filial Son Wong. He started his filial period of mourning when he was twenty-eight. It gets very cold in Manchuria. He used wooden boards and nails to build a small hut, but it didn't keep out the bitter cold.