The Platform Sutra: The Zen Teaching of Hui-neng

«1. Master Hui-neng took his seat in the lecture hall of Tafan Temple to expound the teaching of Mahaprajnaparamita and to transmit the Formless Precepts. Seated below him on that occasion were more than ten thousand monks, nuns, and laypeople, along with Magistrate Wei Ch’u of Shaochou and more than thirty officials and thirty scholars. Together they asked the Master to explain the teaching of Mahaprajnaparamita.» — apertura de la sección 1: el sutra fija la escena de la que toma su nombre, el maestro sentado en la sala de conferencias del templo Tafan para exponer la Mahaprajnaparamita y transmitir los Preceptos Sin Forma, ante más de diez mil monjes, monjas y laicos y ante el magistrado Wei Ch'u de Shaochou.

«The magistrate then instructed the Master’s disciple Fa-hai to make a record to pass down to future generations so that students of the Way who carry on its guiding principle and who transmit it to others might have this testament as their authority.» — el texto declara dentro de sí mismo por qué existe y quién lo escribe: el magistrado manda a Fa-hai levantar acta para las generaciones futuras, de modo que quienes transmitan el principio rector tengan este testimonio por autoridad.

«2. When he spoke this Platform Sutra, Master Hui-neng said, “Good friends, purify your minds by reciting the teaching of Mahaprajnaparamita.” Then the Master stopped speaking, while he purified his own mind.» — la sección 2 abre el sermón con un silencio: Hui-neng pide a los oyentes purificar la mente recitando la enseñanza y luego calla para purificar la suya.

«My kind-hearted father was originally from Fanyang. But he was dismissed from office and banished to Lingnan and lived in Hsinchou as a commoner. My father died when I was quite young. And my widwed and destitute mother moved to Nanhai, where I experienced hardship and poverty and sold firewood in the marketplace.» — Hui-neng cuenta su origen en primera persona, padre destituido y desterrado a Lingnan, orfandad temprana y venta de leña en el mercado de Nanhai; la capa de texto imprime *widwed* por *widowed*, sic.

«I walked toward the door and met a customer reciting the Diamond Sutra out loud. As soon as I heard the words, my mind felt clear and awake» — Hui-neng data su primer despertar en un encuentro callejero, al oír a un cliente recitar el Sutra del Diamante; el tramo se corta en el límite de la plana 6.

«The Master scoffed, ‘But you’re from Lingnan and a jungle rat as well. How can you possibly be a buddha?’» — el Quinto Patriarca Hung-jen recibe al aspirante con una burla por su origen sureño, que el texto conserva sin suavizar.

«I answered, ‘Your disciple is from Lingnan, a commoner of Hsinchou. The reason I came all this way to pay my respects is I want to be a buddha. I don’t want anything else.’» — Hui-neng declara ante Hung-jen el único objeto de su viaje, hacerse buda, y descarta cualquier otro.

«I replied, ‘People come from the north or south, not their buddha nature. The lives of this jungle rat and the Master’s aren’t the same, but how can our buddha nature differ?’» — la réplica que el sutra pone en el centro de su doctrina de la igualdad: el norte y el sur son de las personas, no de la naturaleza búdica.

«A novice then led me to the milling room, where I pedaled a millstone for more than eight months.» — tras la entrevista el aspirante queda ocho meses pedaleando la muela del molino, sin instrucción.

«The Master was about to say something more to me. But when he saw his attendants standing there, he didn’t say anything else and sent me to join the sangha workforce.» — el sutra consigna que Hung-jen calla ante los asistentes en vez de seguir hablando, y manda al recién llegado a la cuadrilla de trabajo.

«After they had assembled, he said, ‘I’ve told you that the greatest concern for a human being is life and death. But you disciples spend your days making offerings, just looking for ways to reap merit and not for a way out of the bitter Sea of Sansara.» — Hung-jen abre el certamen del gatha reprochando a sus discípulos que gasten los días en ofrendas buscando mérito y no salida del mar amargo del samsara; el troceo imprime *Sansara*.

«If you’re blind to your own nature, how can you find the doorway to merit?» — la pregunta con que Hung-jen liga el mérito a ver la propia naturaleza.

«Those of you who are wise, make use of the prajna wisdom of your own nature.» — la instrucción de Hung-jen a los sabios de la asamblea, servirse de la sabiduría prajna de la propia naturaleza.

«When I read your gathas, if any of you understands what is truly important, I will give you my robe and my Dharma and appoint you the Sixth Patriarch.» — la regla del certamen: quien entienda lo que de veras importa recibirá el manto y el Dharma y será nombrado Sexto Patriarca.

«Having received these instructions, his disciples headed back to their rooms and said to one another, ‘There’s no need for us to clear our minds and trouble ourselves about writing a gatha to show the abbot.» — los discípulos renuncian al certamen de antemano, razonando que el preceptor Shen-hsiu lo tiene ganado.

«He said, ‘On Huangmei County’s East Fengmao Mountain in Chichou Prefecture, when I was paying my respects to the Fifth Patriarch, Master Hung-jen.» — Hui-neng sitúa al Quinto Patriarca Hung-jen en el monte Fengmao Oriental del condado de Huangmei, prefectura de Chichou.

«And while I was there, I heard him tell the monks and laypeople that just by memorizing the Diamond Sutra they would see their natures and immediately become buddhas.» — la promesa que el cliente atribuye a Hung-jen, que memorizar el Sutra del Diamante basta para ver la propia naturaleza y ser buda de inmediato.

«Because people left offerings at the foot of the wall, the abbot wanted to cover it with scenes from the Lankavatara Sutra and paintings of the five patriarchs transmitting the robe and the Dharma as a record to be passed down to future generations.» — la pared del corredor iba a llevar escenas del Lankavatara Sutra y retratos de los cinco patriarcas transmitiendo el manto y el Dharma, como registro para las generaciones futuras.

«The painter Lu Chen had inspected the wall and was going to begin work the following day.» — el pintor Lu Chen ya había inspeccionado el muro y empezaba al día siguiente: el sutra fecha así el episodio del gatha.

«The venerable Shen-hsiu thought, ‘No one is going to submit a mind-poem, because I’m their precept instructor.» — Shen-hsiu razona su ventaja y su trampa, nadie presentará poema porque él es el instructor de preceptos de todos.

«It would be right for me to show the Patriarch a poem that reveals my understanding, as long as what I wanted was the Dharma.» — la condición con que Shen-hsiu se autoriza a presentar el poema, que lo que quiera sea el Dharma.

«But it would be wrong, as long as what I wanted was the patriarchship.» — y la condición inversa, que lo vuelve falta, querer el patriarcado.

«I would be no better than a fool who thinks he can usurp the position of a sage.» — Shen-hsiu se compara con el necio que pretende usurpar el puesto de un sabio.

«The Master’s mind is impossible to fathom.» — el juicio de Shen-hsiu sobre su maestro, que su mente es insondable, con el que corta la deliberación.

«At dawn, the Fifth Patriarch sent for the court artist, Lu Chen, to come to the south corridor to paint scenes from the Lankavatara.» — al alba Hung-jen manda llamar al pintor de corte Lu Chen para el corredor sur.

«‘You’ve gone to so much trouble and come so far, we will pay you thirty thousand cash, but we won’t need any images now.» — Hung-jen paga el viaje del pintor y cancela las imágenes.

«The Diamond Sutra says, “All images are illusions.” It would be better if we kept this gatha for deluded people to recite.» — la razón de la cancelación es una cita del Sutra del Diamante puesta en boca del Quinto Patriarca, y con ella el sutra sustituye las pinturas por un poema.

«‘Unless you all recite and understand this gatha,’ he said, ‘you won’t see your nature.» — la condición que Hung-jen impone a la asamblea, recitar y entender el gatha para ver la propia naturaleza.

«If they rely on it for their practice, they won’t fall into the three unfortunate states of existence, and it will be a great help to anyone who cultivates the Dharma.» — y la promesa menor para quien solo se apoye en él, no caer en los tres estados desdichados de existencia.

«Later, the Fifth Patriarch called Shen-hsiu to his room and asked, ‘Did you write the gatha? If you did, you’re ready to receive my Dharma.’» — Hung-jen interroga a Shen-hsiu en privado y liga la autoría del gatha a estar listo para recibir el Dharma.

«Shen-hsiu said, ‘I’m guilty. It’s true. I was the one who wrote it. But I don’t dare ask for the patriarchship, only for the Master’s consideration as to whether your disciple has acquired enough wisdom to understand what is truly important or not.’» — Shen-hsiu confiesa y renuncia a pedir el patriarcado, y pide solo el juicio del maestro sobre su sabiduría.

«So the venerable Shen-hsiu held up a lantern and wrote his gatha on the middle of the south corridor wall at midnight, and no one saw him. His gatha went: ‘The body is a bodhi tree the mind is like a standing mirror always try to keep it clean don’t let it gather dust.’» — el gatha de Shen-hsiu, escrito a medianoche con una linterna en el muro del corredor sur: el cuerpo como árbol de bodhi y la mente como espejo de pie que hay que limpiar.

«Because I was illiterate, I asked someone to read it. Once I heard it, I understood what was truly important, and I also composed a gatha. I asked someone who could write to write it on the west corridor wall so that I could reveal my mind. Unless you know your own mind, studying the Dharma is useless. But once you know your mind and see your nature, you understand what is truly important. My gatha went: ‘Bodhi doesn’t have any trees this mirror doesn’t have a stand our buddha nature is forever pure where do you get this dust?’» — el sutra declara iletrado a su propio maestro y hace que dicte su gatha a otra mano; la réplica niega el árbol y el pie del espejo y remite la pureza a la naturaleza búdica.

«Then I composed another one: ‘The mind is the bodhi tree the body is the mirror’s stand the mirror itself is so clean dust has no place to land.’» — el segundo gatha de Hui-neng invierte los términos del primero de Shen-hsiu, la mente por árbol y el cuerpo por pie, y cierra por la limpieza del espejo mismo.

«The Fifth Patriarch said, ‘This gatha of yours shows your understanding has only reached the threshold and has not yet entered inside.» — el veredicto de Hung-jen sobre el gatha de Shen-hsiu, entendimiento que llegó al umbral y no entró.

«But someone with such an understanding who seeks perfect enlightenment will never realize it.» — y el límite que le pone, que con ese entendimiento la iluminación perfecta no se realiza.

«If you want to enter the door, you have to see your nature.» — la condición para entrar por la puerta según Hung-jen, ver la propia naturaleza.

«He knew I understood what was truly important, but he didn’t want others to know.» — el sutra explica el disimulo del Quinto Patriarca ante los gathas de Hui-neng, que reconoció el entendimiento y no quiso que los demás lo supieran.

«8. A novice walked past the milling room chanting this gatha. As soon as I heard it, I knew it was by someone who hadn’t seen his nature or understood what was truly important.» — el sutra hace que Hui-neng juzgue el gatha de Shen-hsiu de oídas, sin verlo escrito, mientras trabaja en el molino.

«One of the senior monks, Shen-hsiu, wrote this “Formless Gatha” along the south corridor. And the Patriarch told all of his disciples to recite it and whoever understands this gatha» — el novicio llama al poema de Shen-hsiu Gatha sin Forma y reporta la orden del Patriarca de recitarlo; el tramo se corta antes del cambio de plana.

«But the Dharma is transmitted from mind to mind and must be realized by people themselves.» — la distinción que el sutra pone entre los dos legados: el manto se hereda y el Dharma se transmite de mente a mente y tiene que realizarlo cada quien.

«The robe is an embodiment of trust that has been handed down from one generation to the next.» — el manto queda definido como encarnación de la confianza, transmitida de una generación a la siguiente.

«Then the Fifth Patriarch said, ‘Hui-neng, since ancient times the lives of those to whom this teaching has been transmitted have hung by a thread.» — Hung-jen justifica la orden de huir por la historia del linaje, cuyas vidas han pendido de un hilo.

«If you stay here, someone will harm you. You must leave at once.» — y la fórmula con que la cierra.

«the Patriarch instructed me, ‘Go now. And do your best to take the Dharma south. But don’t spread this teaching for three years.» — la instrucción de despedida en el vado de los Nueve Ríos, llevar el Dharma al sur y no difundirlo durante tres años.

«And be skillful when you guide those who are deluded.» — y el modo de enseñar que le encarga, habilidad con los engañados.

«He caught up with me at the ridge, and I offered him the Patriarch’s robe, but he wouldn’t take it.» — en el paso de Tayu el perseguidor rehúsa el manto que Hui-neng le ofrece.

«He said, ‘I’ve come all this way for the Dharma. I don’t want the robe.’» — la razón que da el monje Hui-shun, que vino por el Dharma y no por el manto.

«He was ready to hear, and as soon as I spoke, his mind opened up.» — el sutra cifra el despertar del perseguidor en un solo acto de habla.

«It isn’t something I discovered by myself. But if you wish to hear this teaching of the ancients, you must listen with pure minds.» — Hui-neng niega haber descubierto la enseñanza y la presenta como enseñanza de los antiguos, condicionada a escuchar con mente pura.

«Hui-neng then yelled out, “Good friends! You already possess the prajna wisdom of enlightenment! But because your minds are deluded, you can’t understand by yourselves.» — la proclama central del sermón, que los oyentes ya poseen la sabiduría prajna y solo la delusión les impide entenderla por sí mismos.

«Good friends, buddha nature isn’t different for the ignorant and the wise.» — y la igualdad que de ahí se sigue, la naturaleza búdica no difiere entre ignorante y sabio.

«Good friends, this Dharma teaching of mine is based on meditation and wisdom.» — Hui-neng nombra la base de su propia enseñanza, meditación y sabiduría.

«But don’t make the mistake of thinking that meditation and wisdom are separate.» — y advierte contra el error de separarlas.

«Meditation and wisdom are of one essence and not two.» — la fórmula de la unidad, meditación y sabiduría de una sola esencia y no dos.

«Good friends, what this means is that meditation and wisdom are the same.» — la tesis de la sección 13 en su forma más corta, meditación y sabiduría son lo mismo.

«They have two names but not two bodies.» — y la fórmula con que el sutra la sostiene, dos nombres y no dos cuerpos.

«If the mouth speaks of goodness, but the mind doesn’t think of goodness, meditation and wisdom aren’t the same.» — el criterio con que el sutra decide la diferencia, el desacuerdo entre boca y mente.

«But if goodness pervades both the mouth and the mind, if what is external and internal are alike, then meditation and wisdom are the same.» — y el caso inverso, lo externo y lo interno iguales.

«The cultivation of self-awareness does not involve argument.» — el sutra excluye la discusión del cultivo de la autoconciencia.

«People who argue about which comes first and which comes second only confuse themselves.» — y descalifica la disputa por el orden de prelación entre meditación y sabiduría.

«Unless you put an end to right and wrong, you will give rise to self-existent dharmas, and you will never be free of the Four States.» — la consecuencia de no acabar con el bien y el mal, dharmas autoexistentes y los Cuatro Estados.

«One Practice Samadhi means at all times, whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, always practicing with a straightforward mind.» — la definición del Samadhi de Una Práctica, mente directa en toda postura y a toda hora.

«The Vimalakirti Sutra says, ‘A straightforward mind is the place of enlightenment,’ and ‘a straightforward mind is the pure land.’» — el sutra apoya la mente directa en dos frases del Vimalakirti Sutra, lugar de iluminación y tierra pura.

«Deluded people who cling to the external attributes of a dharma get hold of One Practice Samadhi and just say that sitting motionless, eliminating delusions, and not thinking thoughts are One Practice Samadhi.» — el sutra nombra el malentendido que combate, tomar el Samadhi de Una Práctica por sentarse inmóvil sin pensamientos.

«But if that were true, a dharma like that would be the same as lifelessness and would constitute an obstruction of the Way instead.» — y lo iguala con lo inerte y con una obstrucción del Camino.

«If you speak about One Practice Samadhi with your mouth, but you don’t practice with a straightforward mind, you’re no disciple of the Buddha.» — la condición que el sutra pone al discipulado, practicar con mente directa y no solo hablar de ello.

«Good friends, I know there are people who tell others to devote themselves to sitting and contemplating their minds or purity and not to move or to think.» — Hui-neng nombra a los maestros que mandan sentarse a contemplar la mente o la pureza sin moverse ni pensar; el desacuerdo queda consignado como del propio sermón.

«17. Good friends, since ancient times, this Dharma teaching of ours, both its direct and indirect versions, has proclaimed ‘no thought’ as its doctrine, ‘no form’ as its body, and ‘no attachment’ as its foundation.» — la sección 17 enuncia la triple base de la enseñanza, sin pensamiento por doctrina, sin forma por cuerpo y sin apego por fundamento.

«What do we mean by a form that is ‘no form’? To be free of form in the presence of forms. And ‘no thought’? Not to think about thoughts. And ‘no attachment,’ which is everyone’s basic nature? Thought after thought, not to become attached.» — las tres definiciones, libre de forma en presencia de formas, no pensar sobre los pensamientos y no apegarse pensamiento tras pensamiento.

«Once a thought is interrupted, the dharma body becomes separated from the material body.» — el sutra liga la interrupción del pensamiento a la separación del cuerpo dhármico y el material.

«When you go from one thought to another, don’t become attached to any dharma.» — la instrucción de no apegarse a ningún dharma al pasar de un pensamiento a otro.

«Once one thought becomes attached, every thought becomes attached, which is what we call ‘bondage.’» — la definición de esclavitud, un solo pensamiento apegado que contagia a todos.

«But when you go from one thought to another without becoming attached to any dharma, there’s no bondage.» — y su reverso, el paso sin apego que no ata.

«Good friends, ‘no form’ means externally to be free of all forms.» — la definición de sin forma, estar externamente libre de todas las formas.

«Thus, the reason we proclaim ‘no thought’ as our doctrine is because deluded people think in terms of objects, and on the basis of these thoughts they give rise to erroneous views.» — la razón que el sutra da para proclamar el sin pensamiento, que los engañados piensan en términos de objetos y de ahí sacan visiones erróneas.

«Nevertheless, when this school proclaims ‘no thought’ as its doctrine, those people who transcend objects and who don’t give rise to thoughts, even though they have no thoughts, they do not then proclaim ‘no thought.’» — y la reserva que se pone a sí mismo: quienes trascienden los objetos no proclaman por eso el sin pensamiento.

«‘No’ negates dualities and afflictions. And ‘thought’ is thought about the original nature of reality. Reality is the body of thought, and thought is the function of reality.» — el sutra desarma su propia consigna analizando sus dos términos, qué niega el no y sobre qué es el pensamiento.

«18. Good friends, in this school of the Dharma, when we practice Zen, we don’t contemplate the mind, and we don’t contemplate purity, and we don’t talk about being dispassionate.» — la sección 18 deslinda la práctica de la escuela por tres negativas, ni contemplar la mente, ni la pureza, ni hablar de desapasionamiento; el tramo se corta antes del cambio de plana.

«If someone says to contemplate the mind, the mind is basically a delusion.» — la primera de las tres negativas razonada, la mente es de suyo delusión.

«And because a delusion is the same as an illusion, there is nothing to contemplate.» — y de ahí que no haya nada que contemplar.

«If someone says to contemplate purity, your nature is already pure.» — la segunda, la naturaleza ya es pura.

«And if someone cultivates dispassion, as long as they don’t pay attention to the faults of others, their nature is dispassionate.» — la tercera, el desapasionamiento se tiene por no atender a las faltas ajenas.

«But deluded people act dispassionate then open their mouths and talk about right and wrong and turn their backs on the Way.» — y la objeción que el sutra pone a los que fingen desapasionamiento, hablar de bien y de mal dando la espalda al Camino.

«Your nature itself is pure and focused.» — la fórmula breve de la doctrina, la propia naturaleza es pura y concentrada de suyo.

«The Vimalakirti Sutra says, ‘Suddenly all at once, we return to our original mind.’» — el sutra apoya el retorno súbito a la mente original en el Vimalakirti Sutra.

«while I confer on you the Formless Precepts, you must all experience this for yourselves.» — la fórmula con que Hui-neng confiere los Preceptos Sin Forma, que cada quien tiene que experimentarlos.

«19. In that case, what do we mean in this school by ‘to practice Zen’? In this school, by ‘to practice,’ we mean not to be obstructed by anything and externally not to give rise to thoughts about objective states. And by ‘Zen,’ we mean to see our nature without being confused.» — la sección 19 define Zen desde dentro del propio texto: practicar es no obstruirse ni levantar pensamientos sobre estados objetivos, y Zen es ver la propia naturaleza sin confusión.

«And what do we mean by ‘Zen meditation’? Externally to be free of form is ‘Zen.’ And internally not to be confused is ‘meditation.’ Externally, if you are attached to form, internally, your mind will be confused. But if you are free of form externally, internally your nature will not be confused.» — el sutra parte el compuesto en dos mitades, Zen por fuera y meditación por dentro, y las hace depender una de otra.

«And the Bodhisattva Precept Sutra says, ‘Our original nature is pure.’ Good friends, see the fundamental purity of your own nature. Cultivate and put to work for yourselves the dharma body of your own nature. Practice for yourselves the practices of a buddha. Begin and complete for yourselves the path to buddhahood.» — el sutra cierra la sección remitiendo al Bodhisattva Precept Sutra y devolviendo al oyente todas las operaciones, que cultive y complete por sí mismo.

«‘I take refuge in the pure dharma-body buddha in my own material body. I take refuge in the myriadfold transformation-body buddha in my own material body. I take refuge in the future and perfect realization-body buddha in my own material body.’ Now recite this three times.» — la fórmula de refugio que Hui-neng hace recitar, dirigida a los tres cuerpos del buda dentro del propio cuerpo material y no a un buda externo.

«Our nature is pure like the clear sky above, and our wisdom is like the sun and the moon, our wisdom is always shining.» — la imagen con que el sutra dice la doctrina de los tres cuerpos, la naturaleza como cielo claro y la sabiduría como sol y luna siempre encendidos.

«But because people are deluded, they don’t see them.» — y el estado de hecho que le opone, que la delusión impide verlos.

«Thus, we know all dharmas are present in our nature. But our nature itself remains pure.» — la tesis de la sección, todos los dharmas están en la propia naturaleza y la naturaleza sigue pura.

«Then, because we meet a good friend who explains the true teaching, our delusions are blown away and everything inside and outside becomes perfectly clear, and the ten thousand dharmas in this nature of ours all appear.» — el papel que el sutra asigna al buen amigo, que explica la enseñanza verdadera y disipa las delusiones.

«If we think evil thoughts, we turn into the denizens of hell.» — la mecánica moral del texto, el pensamiento malo convierte al que lo piensa en habitante del infierno.

«If we think good thoughts, we turn into the deities of heaven.» — y el bueno, en deidad del cielo.

«Wisdom transports us to the higher realms, and ignorance sends us into the lower depths.» — la sabiduría y la ignorancia fijadas como transportes a reinos altos y a profundidades bajas.

«One lamp can dispel a thousand years of darkness, and one thought of wisdom can end ten thousand years of ignorance.» — la imagen de la lámpara, un solo pensamiento de sabiduría contra diez mil años de ignorancia.

«When your next thought is always good, this is what we call the realization body.» — la definición del cuerpo de realización por el pensamiento siguiente.

«One bad thought results in the destruction of a thousand years of good ones.» — la simetría inversa, un solo pensamiento malo deshace mil años de buenos.

«But one good thought results in the annihilation of a thousand years of bad ones.» — y su contraparte, un pensamiento bueno aniquila mil años de malos.

«Your material body is but an inn and not a fit place of refuge.» — el cuerpo material queda fijado como posada y no como refugio.

«The Master said, “Good friends, ‘May past, present, and future thoughts may thought after thought not be corrupted by delusion may my bad practices of the past all be gone and may they be gone from my nature, such is my repentance.» — la fórmula de arrepentimiento sin forma que el maestro hace recitar, sobre los pensamientos pasados, presentes y futuros.

«Good friends, having taken refuge in the three-bodied buddha, let us now make Four Boundless Vows.» — el tránsito de la sección, del refugio en el buda de tres cuerpos a los Cuatro Votos Sin Límite.

«Good friends, as for ‘I vow to save all beings, no matter how numberless, ’ it isn’t Hui-neng who does the saving.» — la enmienda que Hui-neng hace al primer voto: no es él quien salva a los innumerables seres.

«Good friends, every being you can think of saves themselves with their own nature in their own bodies.» — cada ser se salva con su propia naturaleza en su propio cuerpo.

«The wrong views and afflictions, the ignorance and delusions in their own material bodies already possess the nature of original enlightenment.» — el sutra sitúa la iluminación original dentro de las visiones erróneas y las aflicciones mismas.

«original enlightenment that saves them with right views. Once they realize the prajna wisdom of right views, they dispel their ignorance and delusion, and each being saves themselves.» — y describe la operación, la sabiduría prajna de las visiones correctas disipa la ignorancia y cada quien se salva.

«It is through self-realization that buddhahood is attained.» — la fórmula que cierra el argumento, la budeidad se alcanza por autorrealización.

«Repentance means to be aware of past misdeeds and not to commit them again for the rest of your life.» — la definición de arrepentimiento del sutra, saber las faltas pasadas y no repetirlas el resto de la vida.

«Unless bad practices are forever removed from your mind, reciting this before buddhas won’t help you.» — y su condición, que recitar ante los budas no sirve mientras las malas prácticas sigan en la mente.

«In this Dharma teaching of mine, repentance means to stop once and for all.» — Hui-neng separa su arrepentimiento del arrepentimiento repetido, aquí se detiene de una vez por todas.

«Never again take refuge in the mistaken teachings of other paths.» — la prohibición que acompaña a los Preceptos Sin Forma, no volver a refugiarse en las enseñanzas de otras vías.

«Take refuge in the enlightenment of your own minds.» — la reformulación del refugio, tomarlo en la iluminación de la propia mente.

«Those whose delusions do not arise, who have few desires and who know contentment, who are free from wealth and sex, they are called the ‘best of two-legged creatures.’» — la glosa que el sutra hace del primer tesoro, el mejor de los bípedos definido por pocos deseos y contento.

«When your thoughts are free from delusion, you are therefore free from attachment.» — el segundo, libertad de delusión que trae libertad de apego.

«And freedom from attachment is called the ‘best of what transcends desire.’» — y el nombre que le corresponde, lo mejor que trasciende el deseo.

«No matter how many afflictions and delusions are present in your nature, because your nature remains uncorrupted, this is called the ‘best of congregations. ’» — el tercero, la congregación mejor definida por la incorruptibilidad de la naturaleza pese a las aflicciones.

«If they don’t see the Buddha, they aren’t taking refuge in anything.» — la condición negativa del refugio, quien no ve al Buda no se refugia en nada.

«The sutras only say to take refuge in the buddha of yourselves.» — y la lectura que el sutra hace de los sutras, que solo mandan refugiarse en el buda de uno mismo.

«If you chant it with your mouth but don’t practice it, it’s like an illusion or a mirage.» — la advertencia sobre la Maha Prajnaparamita, cantarla sin practicarla la vuelve ilusión o espejismo.

«But the dharma body of those who practice it is the same as a buddha’s.» — y su contraparte, el cuerpo dhármico de quien la practica es el de un buda.

«Deluded people chant this with their mouths, the wise practice it with their minds.» — la partición del sutra entre los que cantan con la boca y los que practican con la mente.

«The capacity of the mind is great, but if you don’t use it, it’s small.» — la condición de uso, la capacidad es grande y se achica si no se emplea.

«A person whose mind is full of ignorance says ‘I’m practicing prajna.’ But prajna has no form.» — la objeción a quien se declara practicante de prajna, que prajna no tiene forma.

«If you merely talk about emptiness with your mouth, but you don’t practice this practice, you’re no disciple of mine.» — y la exclusión que Hui-neng pronuncia contra el que solo habla de la vacuidad.

«The capacity of the mind is so great, it’s like space. But if you practice Empty-mind Zen, you will fall into a featureless void.» — la definición de maha por la capacidad de la mente, grande como el espacio, con el límite dentro de la misma frase: el Zen de mente vacía cae en un vacío sin rasgos.

«As the noblest, the highest, and the ultimate, so should you praise this teaching of the Supreme Vehicle.» — la fórmula de alabanza del Vehículo Supremo, lo más noble, lo más alto y lo último.

«But it is neither present, nor past, nor future.» — la reserva que el sutra pone a esa altura, la enseñanza no es presente ni pasada ni futura.

«The buddhas of the past, the present, and the future all come from it and thereby transform the Three Poisons into morality, meditation, and wisdom.» — la operación que el sutra atribuye a los budas de los tres tiempos, transformar los Tres Venenos en moralidad, meditación y sabiduría.

«Good friends, this Dharma teaching of mine produces eighty-four thousand kinds of wisdom from one kind of prajna.» — la cifra que el sutra da a su propio rendimiento, ochenta y cuatro mil clases de sabiduría desde una sola prajna.

«If they didn’t have any passions, prajna would be ever-present and inseparable from their nature.» — y la condición contraria, sin pasiones prajna sería siempre presente e inseparable de la naturaleza.

«Good friends, if you wish to enter the dharma realm of the deep mind, the samadhi of prajna, you only need to practice the practice of Prajnaparamita.» — la instrucción para entrar en el samadhi de prajna, practicar la práctica de Prajnaparamita.

«By merely memorizing the Diamond Prajnaparamita Sutra, you will be able to see your nature and enter the prajna samadhi.» — y el atajo que el sutra ofrece, memorizar el Sutra del Diamante para ver la propia naturaleza.

«When those of a lesser capacity hear this teaching, they fail to develop any faith in it.» — el sutra consigna el fracaso de su propia enseñanza en los de capacidad menor, que no llegan a tener fe.

«But if the same rain falls on the ocean, it isn’t affected.» — la imagen de la lluvia sobre el océano, que no se ve afectado.

«When people of small capacity hear this direct teaching, they’re like the plants in the ground that have shallow roots.» — y la de las plantas de raíz somera, arrastradas por la misma lluvia.

«When those who follow the Mahayana hear about the Diamond Sutra, their minds expand with understanding.» — el efecto contrario en los del Mahayana, la mente se expande al oír el Sutra del Diamante.

«Thus, our original nature already possesses the wisdom of prajna.» — la tesis que el sutra repite, la naturaleza original ya posee la sabiduría de prajna.

«And when we use this wisdom to view things, we don’t depend on words. It’s like the rain, which doesn’t originally come from the heavens but from the dragon king, who draws this water from the rivers and seas then uses it to nourish every being and plant, both the sentient and non-sentient.» — la sabiduría no depende de las palabras, y la lluvia no viene del cielo sino del rey dragón que la saca de ríos y mares.

«But they all possess the wisdom of prajna, the same as people who are truly wise.» — el sutra iguala a los de pequeña capacidad con los de veras sabios en cuanto a la posesión de prajna.

«It isn’t the wisdom of prajna that’s great or small. It’s because all these beings have deluded themselves into looking for a buddha through external practices and haven’t yet realized their own nature that they remain people of small capacity.» — el sutra niega que prajna sea grande o pequeña y carga la diferencia en buscar al buda por prácticas externas.

«But the moment they understand, ordinary beings are buddhas.» — la fórmula súbita de la escuela, el ser ordinario es buda en el momento en que entiende.

«The mind that cultivates such a practice is basically no different from the Prajnaparamita Sutra.» — la mente que cultiva esa práctica queda igualada con el propio Prajnaparamita Sutra.

«All the sutras and texts, all twelve divisions of the Hinayana and Mahayana canons, were arranged by people.» — el sutra dice de dónde vienen los sutras, los arreglaron personas.

«And it was because of the nature of wisdom that they could do so.» — y por qué pudieron, por la naturaleza de la sabiduría.

«Hence, the ten thousand teachings have been created because of people, and the sutras all exist because somebody spoke them.» — la consecuencia, las diez mil enseñanzas existen porque alguien las habló.

«The foolish are shallow, and the wise are deep. So the foolish ask the wise, and the wise teach the Dharma to the foolish until the foolish understand and their minds open up.» — el reparto que el sutra hace entre necios y sabios, y el trabajo que le asigna al segundo.

«When you know your mind and see your nature, you complete the path to buddhahood.» — la fórmula que cierra la sección, conocer la mente y ver la naturaleza completa el camino a la budeidad.

«Good friends, when I was with Master Hung-jen, as soon as I heard his words, I experienced a great realization, and I saw the original nature of reality directly.» — Hui-neng data su propia realización en la audiencia con Hung-jen, al oír sus palabras.

«All good teachings can only come about due to truly good friends.» — la condición que el sutra pone a toda buena enseñanza, venir de amigos de veras buenos.

«The buddhas of the Three Periods and the twelve divisions of the Canon are fully present in this nature of yours.» — y la interiorización de todo el canon, los budas de los tres períodos y las doce divisiones están enteros en la propia naturaleza.

«But if you realize this by yourselves, you don’t need to look for a good friend somewhere else.» — el sutra retira al buen amigo en cuanto hay realización propia.

«But as long as your mind is full of confusion, delusion, and mistaken views, even the instruction of an external good friend won’t be able to save you.» — y le pone su límite inverso, con la mente confundida ni el buen amigo externo salva.

«But if you don’t think any thoughts at all, the moment you make your thoughts stop, you’re imprisoned by dharmas.» — la advertencia contra la interpretación quietista, parar todos los pensamientos encarcela en los dharmas.

«But it must be passed on.» — el mandato de transmisión, dicho en tres palabras.

«However, no matter where you are, if someone holds a different view and lacks resolve, don’t be foolish enough to teach them.» — y su restricción, no enseñar a quien sostiene otra visión y carece de resolución.

«Not only will you harm those who have come before you, ultimately it won’t do them any good.» — la razón que da, que enseñar a los insensatos daña a los predecesores y no les sirve a ellos.

«After the Master had finished his discourse on the Dharma, Magistrate Wei and his fellow officials, the clerics and laypeople, all praised this without cease as something they had never heard before.» — la reacción de la asamblea al final del sermón, recogida por el propio texto.

«The Magistrate bowed respectfully and said, “Master, your discourse on the Dharma is beyond conception.» — el magistrado Wei abre el bloque de preguntas calificando el discurso de inconcebible.

«The Master said, “If you have a question, ask. There’s no need to say more.”» — y la respuesta seca del maestro, que pregunte y no haga falta más.

«Indeed, there was no merit. Your Eminence should not doubt Bodhidharma’s response. Emperor Wu followed a mistaken path and did not recognize the true Dharma.» — el sutra niega el mérito del emperador Wu y respalda la respuesta de Bodhidharma; la negativa es del texto, no del aparato.

«The Magistrate asked, “But why was there no merit?”» — la pregunta del magistrado que abre la distinción entre bendiciones y mérito.

«But merit is created by the mind.» — la respuesta del maestro sobre el mérito, que lo crea la mente.

«But if thought after thought you cultivate an impartial and straightforward mind, your merit is far from slight.» — y la condición que le pone, mente imparcial y directa pensamiento tras pensamiento.

«It wasn’t the Patriarch who was at fault.”» — el sutra exculpa a Bodhidharma del malentendido con el emperador Wu.

«There are two kinds of people but not two kinds of Dharma.» — la fórmula que resuelve el caso del Paraíso Occidental, dos clases de personas y no dos de Dharma.

«It was only for the sake of those with shallow roots that he said it was distant.» — la razón por la que el Buda lo llamó distante, por los de raíces someras.

«This is why the Buddha said, ‘As their minds are purified, their buddhalands are purified.’» — el sutra apoya su tesis en una frase del Buda, la purificación de la mente purifica las tierras búdicas.

«Your Eminence, if people here in the East simply purify their minds, they will be free of sin. But if people in the West have impure minds and go too far, the deluded among them might wish to be reborn here in the East.» — la simetría que le sirve para negar la geografía del renacimiento, purificar la mente en el Este y desear el Este desde el Oeste.

«As long as the land of your mind isn’t impure, the Western Paradise isn’t far off.» — la traducción espacial de la doctrina, si la tierra de la mente no es impura el Paraíso no queda lejos.

«But if your mind gives rise to impure thoughts, chanting the Buddha’s name won’t get you reborn there.» — y la negativa que la acompaña, cantar el nombre del Buda no lleva allá con pensamientos impuros.

«You’ll travel a hundred thousand miles before you eliminate the Ten Evil Deeds, and another eight thousand before you put an end to the Eight Wrong Ways. But if you just practice with a straightforward mind, you’ll be there in a fingersnap.» — la aritmética de las distancias que el sutra opone a la práctica directa, cien mil millas contra un chasquido de dedos.

«Once you realize the direct teaching of no-birth, seeing the Western Paradise only takes an instant.» — la enseñanza directa del no nacer vuelve instantánea la visión del Paraíso Occidental.

«And if you don’t realize the direct teaching of the Mahayana, chanting the Buddha’s name to be reborn there will only take you on a long road that never arrives.» — y su reverso, cantar el nombre sin realizarla es camino largo que no llega.

«The Master said, “I will show all of you the Western Paradise, and you won’t leave here until you are free of doubt.”» — la promesa performativa del maestro, mostrar el Paraíso Occidental ahí mismo hasta que nadie dude.

«Everyone’s physical body is a city.» — la alegoría del cuerpo como ciudad con que Hui-neng cumple la promesa de mostrar el Paraíso.

«Your eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and skin are the city’s gates.» — los cinco sentidos quedan repartidos como puertas de esa ciudad.

«When your nature is there, so is the king.» — la naturaleza propia queda puesta en el lugar del rey.

«When your nature is absent, your body and mind cease to exist.» — y la consecuencia de su ausencia.

«The Buddha is a creation of your nature.» — la fórmula que el sutra saca de la alegoría, el Buda es creación de la propia naturaleza.

«It doesn’t require living in a monastery.» — la conclusión práctica, la práctica no pide vivir en un monasterio.

«The Master said, “Good friends, I have composed a ‘Song of Formlessness’ for both clerics and laypeople.» — el maestro anuncia la Canción de la Informidad, compuesta para clérigos y laicos por igual.

«There must be ten thousand ways to explain it but all are based on one rule» — apertura de la Canción de la Informidad, diez mil maneras de explicar apoyadas en una regla.

«falsehood arrives because of afflictions when truth appears afflictions depart» — el par de la canción sobre falsedad y verdad, y la marcha de las aflicciones.

«Enlightenment is already pure the thought of it is a delusion» — la paradoja que la canción pone sobre la iluminación, ya pura y pensarla es delusión.

«once truth removes the Three Obstructions if you follow the Way in this world let nothing block your path» — la instrucción de no dejar que nada bloquee el camino en este mundo.

«paying attention to your own mistakes will keep you in step with the Way» — y la disciplina que propone, atender a los propios errores.

«The Way dwells in this bodily likeness don’t leave the Way to look for the Way you won’t find the Way that way» — la canción prohíbe salir de la Vía para buscar la Vía.

«People who truly follow the Way don’t consider the faults of the world» — la marca del que sigue de veras la Vía, no considerar las faltas del mundo.

«I don’t condemn the faults of others my own wrongs are what I’m after» — y la versión en primera persona del mismo verso.

«If you would then teach foolish people you’ll need to use skillful means if you can rid them of doubts their enlightenment is certain» — la condición para enseñar a los necios, medios hábiles que les quiten las dudas.

«the Dharma is in the world in the world beyond the world don’t run away from the world to find a place beyond the world» — el verso que niega la huida del mundo, el Dharma está en el mundo.

«False views make up the world true views are the world beyond when true and false are both dismissed your buddha nature will be manifest» — y el que hace manifiesta la naturaleza búdica al descartar juntas las visiones falsas y las verdaderas.

«this is simply the straightforward teaching also known as the Mahayana» — la canción nombra su propia enseñanza, enseñanza directa también llamada Mahayana.

«delusion lasts countless kalpas awareness takes but an instant.’”» — el contraste con que cierra, kalpas de delusión contra un instante de conciencia.

«Good friends, if you all recite this verse and practice in accordance with it, even if we’re a thousand miles apart, you’ll always be by my side.» — la promesa que sigue a la canción, mil millas de distancia anuladas por la recitación y la práctica.

«And if you don’t practice in accordance with it, even if we’re face-to-face, you’ll be a thousand miles away» — y su reverso, cara a cara y a mil millas si no se practica.

«Unless a person has received the Platform Sutra, they have no authority.» — la cláusula de autoridad que el texto se arroga a sí mismo, sin haber recibido el Platform Sutra no hay autoridad.

«And they need to state the place, the date, and the names of those who passed it on.» — y el protocolo que exige, lugar, fecha y nombres de quienes lo transmitieron.

«Without the authority of the Platform Sutra, they aren’t disciples of the Southern School.» — la consecuencia de no tenerlo, no ser discípulo de la Escuela del Sur.

«If they haven’t yet received this authority, even if they teach the direct teaching, they still won’t understand its fundamentals and can’t avoid arguments.» — y el efecto sobre la enseñanza misma, enseñar lo directo sin entender sus fundamentos y no evitar discusiones.

«However, those who have received this teaching are simply urged to practice it.» — la excepción que el texto concede a los que sí lo recibieron, que practiquen.

«Arguing about it involves thoughts of victory or defeat and is contradictory to the Way of the Buddha.» — y el juicio sobre la disputa, que va contra la Vía del Buda.

«People all refer to “Hui-neng of the South” and “Shen-hsiu of the North,” but they don’t know the real reason for this.» — el sutra consigna la nomenclatura geográfica corriente, Hui-neng del Sur y Shen-hsiu del Norte, y dice que se ignora su razón.

«It was because Master Shen-hsiu served as abbot and practiced at Yuchuan Temple in Tangyang County of Nanching Prefecture, and Master Hui-neng lived on Tsaohsi Mountain, thirty-five li south of Shaochou.» — la razón que da es de domicilio, el templo Yuchuan de Tangyang y el monte Tsaohsi al sur de Shaochou.

«There’s only one school of Dharma, but people are from the north or the south.» — y la conclusión que saca, una sola escuela del Dharma y personas del norte o del sur.

«The Dharma isn’t direct or indirect, it’s people who are sharp or dull.» — la fórmula que traslada la distinción de lo directo y lo indirecto del Dharma a las personas.

«If that’s where you’re from, you must be a spy.”» — el maestro llama espía al discípulo enviado desde el Norte, y el sutra conserva la acusación.

«Before I spoke, I was. But now that I’ve spoken, I’m not.”» — la respuesta de Chih-ch'eng, que lo era antes de hablar.

«I’ve heard that when your Zen master teaches people, he only gives instruction in morality, meditation, and wisdom.» — el reporte que el enviado hace de la enseñanza de Shen-hsiu, solo moralidad, meditación y sabiduría.

«Concerning morality, meditation, and wisdom, Master Shen-hsiu says not committing evil is morality, doing good is wisdom, and purifying one’s thoughts is meditation.» — y las tres definiciones que atribuye a Shen-hsiu.

«This explanation is wonderful, but my view is different.» — la enmienda de Hui-neng, con el elogio dentro: la explicación es admirable y su punto de vista es otro.

«When the land of your mind is free of error, this is the morality of your own nature.» — la primera de las tres definiciones propias, moralidad por tierra de la mente libre de error.

«When the land of your mind is free of confusion, this is the meditation of your own nature.» — la segunda, meditación por tierra de la mente libre de confusión.

«When the land of your mind is free of ignorance, this is the wisdom of your own nature.» — la tercera, sabiduría por tierra de la mente libre de ignorancia.

«The morality, meditation, and wisdom of your master are intended for small-minded people. My morality, meditation, and wisdom are intended for people of bigger minds.» — el reparto explícito de destinatarios que Hui-neng hace entre las dos enseñanzas.

«Prajna shines in every thought and is forever free of attributes.» — la fórmula sobre prajna, que brilla en cada pensamiento y está siempre libre de atributos.

«The Sixth Patriarch said, “It’s the same with ‘affliction is enlightenment. ’”» — la equivalencia que el maestro pone entre aflicción e iluminación.

«The Master said, “Fa-ta, the Dharma penetrates the depths, but not your mind.» — la réplica de Hui-neng a Fa-ta, que recitó tres mil veces el Loto: el Dharma penetra las profundidades y no su mente.

«with a confused mind, but I uphold the sutra because I practice true mindfulness.» — la defensa de Fa-ta, que sostiene el sutra porque practica la verdadera atención.

«But if you read the Lotus to me once, I’ll understand as soon as I hear it.”» — y la propuesta de Hui-neng, iletrado, de entenderlo con una sola lectura en voz alta.

«The Sixth Patriarch said, “The Lotus Sutra isn’t that complicated. Its seven folios contain nothing but lessons in metaphor.» — el juicio del maestro sobre el Sutra del Loto, siete folios de lecciones en metáfora.

«But the sutra makes it clear that there is no other vehicle than the One Buddha Vehicle.» — y la doctrina que le adjudica, que no hay más vehículo que el Vehículo del Buda Único.

«The Master said, “Fa-ta, pay attention to the One Buddha Vehicle. Don’t go looking for the Two Buddha Vehicle and lose your own nature.» — la advertencia a Fa-ta contra buscar un segundo vehículo.

«The reason the Tathagata expanded his explanation to include the Three Vehicles was simply because people are slow to understand.» — la razón que el sutra da para los Tres Vehículos, la lentitud de la gente.

«The sutra says, ‘All buddhas and bhagavans only appear in the world as a result of the greatest of all causes.’» — la cita del Loto sobre la causa mayor por la que aparecen los budas.

«When a person’s mind has no thoughts and is fundamentally empty and still and free of false views, this is the greatest of all causes—which occurs when you aren’t confused about the inside or the outside, when you are free of dualities.» — y la lectura que Hui-neng le da, mente sin pensamientos, vacía y quieta, libre de dualidades.

«If you’re confused about the outside, you’re attached to forms.» — la confusión de fuera fijada en el apego a las formas.

«If you’re confused about the inside, you’re attached to emptiness.» — y la de dentro, en el apego a la vacuidad.

«To be free of form amid forms and to be free of emptiness amid emptiness, this is when you aren’t confused about the inside or the outside.» — la fórmula que resuelve las dos, libre de forma entre las formas y libre de vacuidad entre las vacuidades.

«When people’s minds are mistaken, they foolishly engage in evil and develop the understanding of an ordinary being. And when people’s minds are true, they give rise to the light of wisdom and develop the understanding of a buddha.» — el sutra hace depender del estado de la mente el desarrollo del ser ordinario o el del buda.

«When you see your own nature, you will appear in the world.» — el aparecer en el mundo queda reinterpretado como ver la propia naturaleza.

«When your mind is true, it reads the Lotus.» — la inversión que el sutra hace de la lectura, la mente verdadera lee el Loto.

«When your mind is false, the Lotus does the reading.» — y la falsa es leída por él.

«When you develop the understanding of a buddha, you read the Lotus.» — el criterio de lectura queda puesto en el entendimiento de buda.

«The Master said, “When you strive to practice in accordance with the Dharma, this is when you read the sutra.”» — la respuesta final a Fa-ta, que leer el sutra es esforzarse por practicar conforme al Dharma.

«The Master said, “To practice as a buddha is to be a buddha.”» — la fórmula más corta de la sección, practicar como buda es ser buda.

«Master Hui-neng said, “Look at your own mind, and don’t cling to the external attributes of dharmas.» — la instrucción a Chih-ch'ang, mirar la propia mente y no aferrarse a los atributos externos de los dharmas.

«And being versed in all teachings and skilled in all practices, avoiding nothing except the attributes of dharmas, and remaining free of attainments make up the Supreme Vehicle.» — la definición del Vehículo Supremo por lo que no evita y por la ausencia de logros.

«The meaning of the Supreme Vehicle consists in the supreme practice. It isn’t something to discuss.» — y la reserva que la acompaña, que no es cosa de discutir.

«The Master got up and hit Shen-hui three times. Then he asked Shen-hui, “When I hit you, did it hurt or not?” Shen-hui answered, “It hurt and it didn’t hurt.”» — el sutra consigna que el maestro golpea tres veces a Shen-hui y le pregunta si dolió.

«Shen-hui answered, “If it didn’t hurt, I would be the same as a lifeless stick or a rock.» — la razón que Shen-hui da para el primer miembro de su respuesta.

«And if it hurt, I would be the same as an ordinary person still subject to anger.”» — y la del segundo.

«The Sixth Patriarch said, “Well, I see and I don’t see.”» — la respuesta del Sexto Patriarca, en la misma forma doble que la del discípulo.

«The Master said, “As for ‘I see,’ what I always see are my own faults.» — la mitad afirmativa, lo que siempre ve son sus propias faltas.

«And as for ‘I don’t see,’ what I don’t see are the faults of others, either on earth or in heaven.» — y la negativa, que no ve las faltas ajenas ni en la tierra ni en el cielo.

«The Master said, “Shen-hui, this ‘do you see or not’ just now was dualistic, but ‘it hurt and it didn’t hurt’ was sansaric. You don’t see your own nature, and yet you dare to come here» — el maestro clasifica las dos respuestas, dualista la pregunta y sansárica la contestación.

«And how can what you understand take the place of mine?» — la objeción de método que le hace, que el entendimiento de otro no ocupa el lugar del propio.

«Only when you understand and see your own mind will you put the Dharma into practice.» — la condición que le pone para poner el Dharma en práctica.

«The Master later summoned his disciples Fa-hai, Chih-ch’eng, Fa-ta, Chih-ch’ang, Chih-t’ung, Chih-ch’e, Chih-tao, Fa-chen, Fa-ju, and Shen-hui and said, “You ten disciples come closer. You’re not like the others. After I pass into Nirvana, each of you will lead a congregation, so I will teach you how to explain the Dharma without losing sight of its basic principle.» — la escena de los diez discípulos, nombrados uno por uno, y el encargo de explicar el Dharma sin perder su principio rector.

«Begin with the teaching of the Three Classifications and make use of the Thirty-six Pairs. But in whatever you state or imply, avoid dualities.» — el método que les da, las Tres Clasificaciones y los Treinta y seis Pares, evitando las dualidades.

«And whenever someone asks you about a dharma, always speak in terms of pairs and hold up its opposite.» — y la regla de habla que impone, responder siempre por pares levantando el opuesto.

«The teaching of the Three Classifications includes the skandhas, the dhatus, and the ayatanas.» — la enumeración de las Tres Clasificaciones.

«When our nature is false, it gives rise to eighteen kinds of falsehood. When our nature is true, it gives rise to eighteen kinds of truth. Who uses them for evil is an ordinary being. Who uses them for good is a buddha. And where does such usage come from? From our nature.» — la doctrina de los dieciocho, con la pregunta por el origen del uso y su respuesta.

«Because our nature includes ten thousand dharmas, we also call it the Storehouse Consciousness.» — la naturaleza queda nombrada Conciencia Almacén por incluir los diez mil dharmas.

«Dark isn’t itself dark. It’s due to light that it’s dark. And light isn’t itself light. It’s due to dark that it’s light.» — el par de oscuridad y luz enunciado como dependencia recíproca.

«If you become attached to emptiness, you will only increase your ignorance.» — la advertencia contra el apego a la vacuidad, que aumenta la ignorancia.

«And you slander the Dharma if you simply tell people not to use words.» — y la que protege el lenguaje, que prohibir las palabras es calumniar el Dharma.

«Whenever you explain any dharma, don’t depart from its nature and attributes.» — la regla de exposición, no apartarse de la naturaleza ni de los atributos del dharma que se explica.

«Since each depends on the other for its existence or non-existence, both dharmas are eventually eliminated, and there is nowhere left to turn.» — y el efecto de la dependencia mutua, los dos dharmas terminan eliminados sin lugar adonde volverse.

«Henceforth, when you ten disciples transmit the Dharma, hand down the teaching of the Platform Sutra without losing sight of its basic principle.» — el encargo final a los diez, transmitir la enseñanza del propio Platform Sutra sin perder su principio rector.

«Unless someone has been given the Platform Sutra, they do not have my teaching.» — y la cláusula que iguala el texto con la enseñanza, sin el Platform Sutra no se tiene la doctrina del maestro.

«For to encounter the Platform Sutra is the same as being taught by me personally.» — el texto se declara equivalente a la enseñanza personal del maestro.

«Those who obtain it are sure to see their nature.» — y promete a quien lo obtenga la visión de su propia naturaleza.

«The Master said, “Everyone come closer. In the eighth month, I expect to leave this world.» — el maestro anuncia su partida para el octavo mes.

«When Fa-hai and the other monks heard this, they wept and cried.» — la reacción de Fa-hai y los demás monjes, llanto.

«Only Shen-hui was unmoved and shed no tears.» — y la excepción de Shen-hui, que no se conmueve.

«The Sixth Patriarch said, “Shen-hui is a young monk, but he understands that the good and the bad are the same, and he isn’t moved by praise or blame.» — el elogio que el maestro le hace por ello, entender que lo bueno y lo malo son lo mismo y no moverse por elogio ni reproche.

«Our nature isn’t subject to birth and death or coming and going.» — la fórmula que cierra el elogio, la naturaleza no está sujeta a nacimiento ni muerte ni ir ni venir.

«The Master passed into Nirvana on the third day of the eighth month in the second year of the Hsientung Era.» — la sección 48 fecha el nirvana en el segundo año de la era Hsientung, que no concuerda con el 713 de la ficha de catalogación ni con el resto del relato; la divergencia se consigna tal cual la imprime la traducción.

«The monks all bowed and asked the Master to leave them with this gatha, which they received with reverence.» — el sutra registra que los monjes piden un gatha de despedida y lo reciben con reverencia.

«If you can perceive its attributes the ultimate truth doesn’t move» — el verso sobre la verdad última, que no se mueve si se perciben sus atributos.

«don’t stand at the entrance of the Mahayana clinging to views about birth and death.» — la prohibición de quedarse en la entrada del Mahayana aferrado a visiones de nacimiento y muerte.

«If those before you are ready tell them the Buddha’s teaching and if they aren’t truly ready bow and tell them to be good there’s nothing to argue about in this teaching» — el verso que reparte la enseñanza según la disposición del que escucha y niega que haya nada que discutir.

«those who argue lose sight of the Way» — y el juicio sobre los que discuten.

«If you don’t believe me, let me recite the ‘Transmission of the Robe and Teaching Songs’ of the previous five patriarchs» — el maestro anuncia los Cantos de Transmisión del Manto y la Enseñanza de los cinco patriarcas anteriores.

«The Song of the First Patriarch, Master Bodhidharma The reason I came to the land of T’ang was to teach and save deluded beings» — el Canto del Primer Patriarca, con el motivo que el texto atribuye a Bodhidharma para venir a la tierra de T'ang.

«In the beginning because there was ground a flower was planted and bloomed» — el verso del suelo y la flor, con que abre la serie de los cantos.

«Flower seeds need to have ground from the ground is how flowers grow but if a seed lacks the nature to grow even in the ground it won’t grow.» — la condición de la semilla, que sin naturaleza para crecer no crece ni en la tierra.

«Flower seeds have the nature to grow they grow when they’re planted in the ground but if karmic causes don’t come together nothing at all will grow.» — y la de las causas kármicas, que sin reunirse no crece nada.

«the monks no longer dared engage in disputes but practiced in accordance with the Dharma.» — el efecto que el sutra atribuye a los cantos, que los monjes dejaron las disputas y practicaron conforme al Dharma.

«The Master said, “The Dharma has already been given. You don’t need to ask for it.» — la respuesta del maestro a quien pide el Dharma, que ya está dado.

«But more than twenty years after my passing, false teachings will create confusion and misrepresent the principle of our school.» — la profecía de confusión veinte años después de su muerte.

«Someone will then come forward without concern for their own life, and they will distinguish the true Buddhist teachings from the false, and they will raise high the principle of our school and my true Dharma.» — y la de quien vendrá a separar lo verdadero de lo falso sin cuidar su propia vida.

«A sentient being plants a seed an insentient flower blooms without sentient beings or seeds the mind would be a barren ground.» — el canto que hace depender la tierra de la mente de los seres sensibles y de las semillas.

«The ground of the mind contains living seeds when the Dharma rains flowers grow once you find a flower’s living seeds the fruit of enlightenment follows.”» — la promesa del canto, lluvia de Dharma sobre semillas vivas y fruto de iluminación.

«A false flower grows from the ground of the mind five petals unfold from its stem together committing ignorant deeds blown apart by karmic winds.» — la flor falsa de cinco pétalos, deshecha por los vientos kármicos.

«A true flower grows from the ground of the mind five petals unfold from its stem together cultivating prajna wisdom the enlightenment of buddhas to come.» — y la flor verdadera de cinco pétalos, que cultiva prajna.

«50. Master Hui-neng said, “Listen to two verses I’ve composed about the meaning of Bodhidharma’s song. If the deluded among you practice in accordance with them, you are sure to see your nature.» — Hui-neng anuncia sus dos versos sobre el sentido del canto de Bodhidharma.

«All of you sit down. It’s time for me to leave you.» — la orden con que abre la sección final, sentarse todos porque es hora de partir.

«The Sixth Patriarch said, “It was first passed down by the Seven Buddhas.» — la cadena de transmisión que el sutra se adjudica, desde los Siete Budas.

«The Master said, “From now on, when you transmit this to others, you’ll need a testament. And don’t lose sight of its basic principle.”» — el testamento que el maestro exige para toda transmisión futura.

«Fa-hai spoke again, “As the Master is departing, what Dharma is he leaving behind so that future generations will be able to see a buddha?”» — la pregunta de Fa-hai sobre qué Dharma deja para que las generaciones futuras vean un buda.

«The Sixth Patriarch said, “Listen, if the deluded people of future generations can simply understand what a sentient being is, they’ll be able to see a buddha.» — y la respuesta, que basta entender qué es un ser sensible.

«If they don’t understand what a sentient being is, they can look for a buddha for ten thousand kalpas and still not find one.» — con su reverso, diez mil kalpas buscando un buda sin hallarlo.

«Buddhas are due to sentient beings. Apart from a sentient being, there is no buddha-mind.» — la fórmula con que el sutra hace depender a los budas de los seres sensibles.

«As long as a person is deluded, they won’t see a buddha—only someone who is awake will.”» — la partición del sutra entre el que duerme y el que está despierto.

«The pure nature of suchness is the real buddha» — el verso que iguala la naturaleza pura de la talidad con el buda real.

«people who see falsely have a mara in their house» — y el par de la casa, el mara para quien ve falsamente.

«people who see truly have a buddha as their guest.» — y el buda por huésped para quien ve de veras.

«From the transformation body your pure nature rises» — el verso que hace salir la naturaleza pura del cuerpo de transformación.

«If the direct teaching makes sense to you this life you will understand before you is a buddha» — la promesa de la enseñanza directa, un buda delante en esta misma vida.

«If you can find something real inside yourself this something real is the cause of buddhahood» — y la condición interior que la sostiene.

«all those who go in search for one are fools.» — el juicio del verso sobre quien busca al buda fuera.

«This direct teaching came here from the West but liberating others is up to you to practice» — el origen occidental de la enseñanza directa queda dicho junto con el trabajo que deja al oyente.

«Sit together in meditation, but remain free of movement and stillness, birth and death, coming and going, right and wrong, present and past.» — la última instrucción de sentarse, con la lista de pares de los que hay que quedar libre.

«And if I were here, and you disobeyed my teaching, even my presence would be of no help.» — la advertencia final del maestro, que ni su presencia ayuda si se desobedece la enseñanza.

«The day the Master passed into Nirvana, the monastery was filled with a wonderful fragrance that lasted for several days.» — la fragancia que el texto pone en el monasterio el día del nirvana.

«The earth shook, and there were landslides, trees bloomed white, the sun and moon dimmed, and the clouds lost their color.» — y el catálogo de prodigios, temblor, deslaves, árboles en flor blanca, sol y luna atenuados.

«After he was interred inside a dragon urn, a bright light shone forth and illuminated the sky overhead for three days before it faded.» — la luz que sale de la urna del dragón y alumbra tres días.

«And Magistrate Wei Ch’u of Shaochou erected a memorial stele where offerings are still made today.» — el magistrado Wei Ch'u cierra el relato erigiendo la estela donde se hacen ofrendas hasta hoy.

«If this teaching is passed on, it must be to someone of superior wisdom who deeply believes the teaching of the Buddha.» — la condición del destinatario que fija la sección 56, sabiduría superior y fe honda.

«But only those transmit this teaching who vow to practice and who don’t retreat from difficulty and who are able to bear hardship and who are rich in blessings and virtue.» — y las cuatro condiciones de la sección 57, voto de practicar, no retroceder, soportar la dureza y ser rico en bendiciones.

«If their capacity should be inadequate or their ability insufficient, though they might seek this teaching, they cannot possibly penetrate it, and it would be a mistake to give them the Platform Sutra.» — la negativa expresa que las acompaña, que sería un error dar el Platform Sutra al que no da la talla.

«57. This monk is a native of Shaochou’s Chuchiang County. After the Buddha entered Nirvana / his teaching spread to Eastern lands / transmitted to all as detachment / detachment from the ego-mind / this is the true bodhisattva doctrine / a real example of its practice / only taught to those with wisdom / who then explain it to liberate fools.» — la sección 57 cierra el sutra con un poema sobre la difusión de la enseñanza tras el nirvana del Buda y la reserva de que solo se enseña a los sabios; la barra oblicua separa los versos en el impreso.

«The Platform Sutra of the Direct Teaching of the Southern School of the Supreme Mahayana in one volume.» — el colofón que cierra el volumen del sutra, con el título largo que la copia de Tunhuang imprime.

«The nature of defilement is the cause of purity there is no pure body in the absence of defilement just keep your nature free of the Five Desires the moment you see your nature it is real.» — los cuatro versos del gatha final sobre la contaminación como causa de la pureza, los Cinco Deseos y la realidad de la naturaleza vista.

«The text that contains his teaching was first compiled sometime between 700 and 720 by his disciple Fa-hai, and it was titled the Platform Sutra because the sermon that forms its heart was delivered from a raised platform before an audience numbering in the thousands.» — Red Pine, en la introducción firmada, data la compilación entre 700 y 720 por Fa-hai y explica el título por la plataforma elevada desde la que se pronunció el sermón.

«Ever since it was put together, it has been the most studied, the most quoted, the most influential of all the texts that teach that branch of Mahayana Buddhism known as Zen.» — Red Pine sitúa el texto como el más estudiado, citado e influyente de la rama del Mahayana llamada Zen.

«But no one gave much thought to the history of its transmission until about eighty years ago.» — Red Pine fecha en unos ochenta años atrás el comienzo del interés por la historia de la transmisión del texto.

«Philip Yampolsky, preferring the more conservative assessment, concluded: “We can safely say that the Tunhuang version of the Platform Sutra was made between 830 and 860, and represented a copy of an earlier version, some of whose material dates to around 780.» — Red Pine cita el fallo de Philip Yampolsky sobre la fecha, que prefiere la estimación más conservadora, entre 830 y 860 para la copia y hacia 780 para parte del material.

«The number indicated its order among the thousands of documents brought back from the Silk Road oasis of Tunhuang by Aurel Stein.» — Red Pine explica que el número del manuscrito S5475 marca su orden entre los documentos que Aurel Stein trajo del oasis de Tunhuang.

«And the “S” was for Stein. The copy Stein brought back to England contained hundreds of errors, but Keiki managed to produce an edited version, which he also divided into fifty-seven sections to make it easier to study and discuss.» — Red Pine consigna los cientos de errores de la copia de Stein y la división en cincuenta y siete secciones que Yabuki Keiki introdujo para facilitar el estudio.

«The resulting edition was included in Volume 48 of the Taisho edition of the Buddhist Canon published in Japan in 1928.» — Red Pine data la edición resultante en el volumen 48 del Canon budista Taisho publicado en Japón en 1928.

«Although Suzuki retained Keiki’s earlier division of the text into fifty-seven sections, his edition incorporated numerous corrections based mostly on the Tsungpao edition in the Ming-dynasty Buddhist Canon.» — Red Pine describe la edición de Daisetz Suzuki, que conservó la división de Keiki y enmendó sobre todo con la edición Tsungpao del Canon Ming.

«As far as I know, these are the only two English translations of the copy edited by Keiki and Suzuki.» — Red Pine acota su propia afirmación sobre las traducciones inglesas de la copia de Keiki y Suzuki con un hasta donde sé.

«This edition, which was compiled by the Chinese monk Ch’i-sung in the year 1056, was a much larger edition and much closer in content and arrangement to the Tsungpao edition in current use.» — Red Pine data la edición del monje Ch'i-sung en 1056 y la acerca en contenido y disposición a la Tsungpao de uso corriente.

«It should be noted, however, that other scenarios are also possible.» — Red Pine deja abierta la reconstrucción de la historia textual.

«But regardless of which scenario we choose, what we still don’t know is if there ever was an “original” text.» — Red Pine declara el límite de todo el argumento textual, que no se sabe si hubo alguna vez un texto original.

«Thus, we can assume that by the second half of the eighth century, there were at least several versions of this text being passed around and that the edition that ended up in Tunhuang was only one of them.» — Red Pine supone varias versiones circulando en la segunda mitad del siglo VIII y hace de la de Tunhuang solo una de ellas.

«It wasn’t until 1986, when Zhou Shaoliang, then vice director of the Buddhist Association of China, was going through the archives of the Tunhuang County Museum, that Ren Ziyi’s copy reappeared.» — Red Pine fecha en 1986 la reaparición de la copia de Ren Ziyi en el museo del condado de Tunhuang, hallada por Zhou Shaoliang.

«The reason why this second Tunhuang copy of the sutra has become so important is because it is not only a copy of the same edition and roughly from the same period (c. 780), thus confirming the first copy’s authenticity and probable date, but it is far superior.» — Red Pine justifica la importancia de la segunda copia de Tunhuang por su fecha y su calidad.

«Although we have no evidence of what the original text might have looked like, or if there ever was an ur-text, based on my own study of the sutra, I would suggest the following scenario as the most likely sequence for its development.» — Red Pine presenta su reconstrucción del desarrollo del texto como el escenario más probable y no como hecho.

«Sections 1-37 of the sutra were most likely compiled during Huineng’s lifetime, or shortly after his death in 713.» — Red Pine sitúa las secciones 1 a 37 en vida de Hui-neng o poco después de su muerte en 713.

«No doubt, these additions were based on records made by the individuals concerned, or by their disciples, who appended them to the text as it existed at the time.» — Red Pine atribuye las adiciones a registros de los propios discípulos o de los suyos.

«As a result of this series of discoveries, we are now in a much better position to consider the development of this sutra.» — Red Pine cifra en la serie de hallazgos la mejora de la posición para estudiar el desarrollo del sutra.

«Although the text edited by Tsung-pao is just about the only edition people have read for the past seven hundred years, in my opinion it represents the culmination of the process of embellishment that Hui-chung was complaining about five hundred years earlier.» — Red Pine juzga la edición de Tsung-pao como culminación del proceso de embellecimiento del que se quejaba Hui-chung quinientos años antes.

«Although this edition, too, includes its own embellishments, those parts that have been added or altered are easy to discern and not hard to separate from the sutra’s essential teaching.» — Red Pine acota su propia elección diciendo que la edición de Tunhuang también trae embellecimientos.

«And thus we have the series of editions noted above culminating with that of Tsung-pao.» — Red Pine cierra la serie de ediciones en la de Tsung-pao.

«Still, readers should be able to judge this matter for themselves.» — Red Pine devuelve el juicio al lector.

«This idea was first suggested by the Chinese scholar Hu Shih in the 1930s, not long after the discovery of the first Tunhuang copy of this sutra.» — Red Pine atribuye a Hu Shih, en los años treinta, la primera duda sobre la autenticidad del sutra.

«Because these documents contained passages identical to those in the Platform Sutra, Hu put forward the argument, supported by a number of other convergent materials, that the sutra contained the teaching of Shen-hui and not Hui-neng.» — Red Pine expone el argumento de Hu Shih, que los pasajes idénticos en los documentos de Shen-hui harían del sutra la enseñanza del discípulo y no la del maestro.

«But it was, in fact, typical of Hu Shih.» — Red Pine explica la osadía del argumento por el carácter iconoclasta de su autor.

«However, most Buddhist scholars in China and Taiwan have rejected them as unlikely, if not impossible—certainly impossible to prove.» — Red Pine consigna que la mayoría de los estudiosos budistas de China y Taiwán rechazan esos argumentos, con la reserva de que tampoco son demostrables.

«Scholars such as Guo Peng, Ts’ai Nien-sheng, and Yang Zengwen, to name only those whose books have ended up in my library, have examined the same evidence and have concluded that it was the» — Red Pine nombra a los estudiosos que examinaron la misma evidencia, Guo Peng, Ts'ai Nien-sheng y Yang Zengwen, con la acotación de que son los que tiene en su biblioteca; el tramo se corta en el límite de la plana.

«student who was quoting the teacher and not the other way around.» — la conclusión que Red Pine les atribuye, que fue el estudiante quien citaba al maestro; la frase arranca en la plana 40 porque el nombre de los estudiosos queda en la anterior.

«What such discussions inevitably come down to is this: A certain statement, phrase, or citation is suspect because the text, stele, or inscription in which it occurs is corrupt or unreliable.» — Red Pine reduce las discusiones filológicas a un esquema de dos pasos, sospechar de un pasaje por la corrupción del soporte.

«And this other statement is not suspect because the text in which it occurs is less corrupt and more reliable.» — y su mitad complementaria.

«She shrugged and said people tell different stories.» — Red Pine cuenta lo que le respondió Margaret Mead al preguntarle por los relatos discrepantes de sus informantes.

«Objective truth doesn’t even exist in the so-called physical sciences, much less in the social sciences.» — la posición que Red Pine declara sobre la verdad objetiva, firmada por él y no puesta en boca del sutra.

«All we can talk about are stories: your story, my story, the most likely story, the best story.» — y lo que le queda como material, historias con distinta probabilidad y calidad.

«Diane Arbus once said of her own art, “A photograph is a secret about a secret.» — Red Pine cita a Diane Arbus sobre su propio arte para decir de qué habla el sutra.

«All we know for sure is we have a book that claims to contain the words of Hui-neng and we have two copies of an edition that was compiled during the same century he lived in.» — Red Pine reduce lo que se sabe con seguridad a dos hechos, un libro que dice contener las palabras de Hui-neng y dos copias del mismo siglo en que vivió.

«We know that if this book does not contain the words of Hui-neng, it at least contains the words of someone who was his equal as a teacher of Zen.» — y la salida que propone, que si no son de Hui-neng son de alguien igual a él como maestro de Zen.

«This has been attested by millions of practitioners who have used this book as their spiritual guide for more than a thousand years.» — el criterio con que lo sostiene, el uso de millones de practicantes durante más de mil años.

«This is the teaching of Hui-neng: See your nature and become a buddha.» — Red Pine reduce la enseñanza de Hui-neng a una sola frase al cerrar la introducción.

«We cannot gain what we already have.» — y la despliega en dos negaciones, la primera sobre lo que ya se tiene.

«We cannot lose what we don’t have.» — la segunda sobre lo que no se tiene.

«All we have is our buddha nature.» — y el único haber que deja en pie.

«To claim that this sutra teaches anything more than this would be to add feet to a snake.» — el límite que Red Pine pone a toda lectura que añada doctrina al sutra, con el símil chino de ponerle pies a una serpiente.

«Ever since I first read this sutra over thirty years ago, I have hoped to produce a translation.» — Red Pine data en más de treinta años su intención de traducir el texto.

«But my periodic plans to do so have inevitably been sidetracked by other work, and also by a sense of not being ready.» — y declara la razón del aplazamiento, otros trabajos y la sensación de no estar listo.

«Red Pine New Year’s Day, Year of the Dog Port Townsend, Washington» — la firma que cierra la introducción y la fecha y el lugar desde donde se escribe: es la única voz firmada del volumen.

«And I thought I was the luckiest person in the world to encounter such a teacher as Hui-neng. So after collecting the pages on my floor and putting the book back together, I gathered up the editions of the Lanka on my desk and put them back on the shelf, and I started working on the Platform Sutra. That was nearly a year ago. And now it’s time to say good-bye again. You could walk a million miles and not meet a better friend.» — Red Pine cierra su introducción con una escena personal, el ejemplar deshecho en las manos y la despedida del libro; el paso de la anécdota a la sentencia es suyo.

«The advent of the Prajnaparamita teaching in the second century B.C. signaled the beginning of Mahayana Buddhism, with its emphasis on the attainment of enlightenment rather than nirvana and its greater inclusion of laity in the pursuit of such a goal.» — Red Pine, comentando el título del sutra, data el Prajnaparamita en el siglo II a. C. y lo hace comienzo del Mahayana por su acento en la iluminación antes que en el nirvana.

«Thus, the editor is not only likening this text to its Indian counterparts, he is also claiming for it a similar stature in the Chinese pantheon of sacred texts.» — Red Pine lee el título como una operación del editor, que equipara el texto con sus contrapartes indias.

«The terms “direct” and “indirect” were used by Tao-sheng (355-434) as early as the fourth century, when he argued that realization is both instantaneous and complete.» — Red Pine adelanta el uso de directo e indirecto a Tao-sheng en el siglo IV.

«But the description of a teaching as “direct” did not occur until Hui-neng used this term to distinguish his understanding of Zen from that of others, such as Shen-hsiu.» — y sitúa en Hui-neng el uso de directo como marca de escuela frente a Shen-hsiu.

«Thus, the Northern-Southern distinction was also one that involved insider versus outsider.» — Red Pine describe la división Norte-Sur como una división de doctrina y de política, de dentro y de fuera.

«Supreme Mahayana. This was an appellation intended to distinguish this teaching as not only superior to the teaching of early Buddhist sects that focused their practice on the Abhidharma, or Study of Dharmas, but also superior to the teaching of other Mahayana sects, such as the Pure Land sect.» — Red Pine explica el Mahayana Supremo del título como apelativo de superioridad frente al Abhidharma y frente a la Tierra Pura.

«The same term was also used by the Fifth Patriarch, Hung-jen, to describe his own teaching.» — y consigna que el Quinto Patriarca Hung-jen usaba el mismo término para su propia enseñanza.

«Platform. As early as the fifth century, Buddhists in China built raised platforms of wood or bricks or simply earth for use in the transmission of monastic or lay precepts to large numbers of people.» — Red Pine data en el siglo V las plataformas construidas en China para transmitir preceptos a multitudes.

«In this case, Hui-neng confers on his audience the Formless Precepts of the Southern School of Zen.» — y nombra lo que Hui-neng confiere en esta, los Preceptos Sin Forma de la Escuela del Sur del Zen.

«And the term chieh-t’an: “precept platform” was often used interchangeably with the term tao-ch’ang: “mandala.”» — Red Pine iguala plataforma de preceptos con mandala por el uso intercambiable de los dos términos chinos.

«This is also an indication of the extent to which Hui-neng’s followers went to elevate their master’s teachings above the teachings of all other Chinese Buddhists.» — Red Pine atribuye a los seguidores de Hui-neng el trabajo de elevar la enseñanza de su maestro sobre las demás.

«It has had many names since then, but it was not called Tafan (Great Purity) until 760-780, when a high official gave it this name.» — Red Pine data el nombre Tafan entre 760 y 780.

«Hence, this edition of the sutra could not have been compiled before that date.» — y saca de esa fecha un terminus post quem para la compilación de la edición.

«Fa-hai. Almost nothing is known about this monk, other than that he was from Chuchiang, where Tsaohsi Mountain was located and where Hui-neng taught for more than forty years.» — Red Pine mide lo que se sabe de Fa-hai, casi nada salvo su origen en Chuchiang.

«However, during the T’ang dynasty, Buddhist monks sometimes resorted to transmitting the lay precepts to audiences numbering in the thousands in order to raise funds for monastery construction.» — Red Pine explica las multitudes de la escena por una práctica de la dinastía T'ang, transmitir los preceptos laicos para reunir fondos.

«According to the Ch’ing-dynasty edition of the Kuangtung Provincial Gazetteer, Wei Ch’u became prefect of Shaochou in 713, the same year Hui-neng died (12:16b).» — Red Pine data el nombramiento de Wei Ch'u como prefecto de Shaochou en 713, el año de la muerte de Hui-neng, con la referencia del Gazetteer provincial.

«Since the sermons that make up this sutra were delivered years, if not a decade or more, before Wei became magistrate, his position here has apparently been elevated to reflect his final official rank, which was a common practice among Chinese hagiographers.» — y de ahí concluye que el rango del magistrado fue elevado por los hagiógrafos, práctica que declara común.

«In short, the Prajnaparamita teaches us that what is real is the absence of the fiction of self-existence.» — Red Pine resume la Prajnaparamita en una sola frase, que lo real es la ausencia de la ficción de la autoexistencia.

«Formless Precepts. This represents Hui-neng’s attempt to encourage his audience to transcend the normal interpretation of precepts as restrictions on behavior. In Section 17, Hui-neng says that “‘no form’ means externally to be free of all forms.” The traditional Buddhist understanding of precepts is a set of rules that prevents bad deeds and encourages good deeds. Thus, from the very beginning, this sutra establishes Hui-neng’s teaching as beyond the confines of mere formality.» — Red Pine lee los Preceptos Sin Forma como intento de Hui-neng de trascender la lectura de los preceptos como restricciones de conducta.

«Textual note: The title of the Tsungpao edition, as noted above, is The Dharma Jewel Platform Sutra of the Great Master and Sixth Patriarch . The longer title, as it appears in both Tunhuang copies, is also listed among the sutras brought back to Japan in 847 by Ennin.» — la nota textual con que Red Pine cierra el comentario al encabezado: el título largo de las dos copias de Tunhuang figura entre los sutras que Ennin llevó a Japón en 847.

«Buddhist sutras usually begin with one of the Buddha’s disciples asking a question. Here, an audience that includes clerics and laity and headed by the highest regional official requests a lecture on the basic principles of Mahayana Buddhism, a teaching known as Prajnaparamita, or the Perfection of Wisdom. As taught by Huineng, this is the practice of formlessness» — Red Pine sitúa la apertura del sutra contra la fórmula habitual, aquí no pregunta un discípulo sino una asamblea encabezada por el oficial regional más alto.

«This is the rarest of all occasions. Of all the world’s treasures, nothing is more valuable than the truth. But not all those who understand the truth are able to teach it. And not all those who seek instruction in the truth are able to encounter it, much less understand it.» — Red Pine glosa la escena por lo raro del encuentro entre quien puede enseñar la verdad y quien puede entenderla.

«Master Hui-neng took his seat. The name Hui-neng means “Wise and Able.” According to the preface to this sutra attributed to Fa-hai, this name was given to Hui-neng by two monks who suddenly appeared at his home the night of his birth.» — Red Pine glosa el nombre del maestro y consigna su origen legendario según el prefacio atribuido a Fa-hai, sin hacerlo suyo.

«The date of this talk, or series of talks, is unknown. Hui-neng did not move to the Shaochou area until the spring of 677, shortly after becoming a monk. And it probably would have required a residence of more than ten years to draw such a large audience. I would guess this occurred within a decade either way of 700.» — Red Pine declara desconocida la fecha del sermón y ofrece su conjetura acotada, una década antes o después del 700.

«Not only are we told the occasion for the teaching that follows, we are also assured that what follows is an authentic account compiled by one of Hui-neng’s senior disciples.» — Red Pine lee el encargo del magistrado a Fa-hai como garantía de autenticidad que el propio texto se da.

«Thus, the word Tao, or Way, was used to translate the Sanskrit word Dharma, and this usage remained in effect, despite the subsequent realization that there were significant differences between Buddhism and Taoism.» — Red Pine consigna que Tao tradujo Dharma y que el uso se conservó pese a advertirse las diferencias entre budismo y taoísmo.

«Still, this or any other text can only point the way. And Hui-neng’s teaching was clearly intended to free us of external authorities.» — Red Pine acota el alcance de todo texto, incluido este, y recuerda que Hui-neng quería librar al oyente de autoridades externas.

«I’m not completely satisfied with my translation here of pingch’eng as “authority,” but the alternatives are even less satisfactory.» — Red Pine declara su propia insatisfacción con verter pingch'eng por authority, y no la resuelve.

«The teaching around which this sutra turns is the teaching expressed in such Prajnaparamita texts as the Diamond and Heart Sutras.» — Red Pine identifica el nudo doctrinal del sutra con el Prajnaparamita del Diamante y del Corazón.

«It might seem curious that a lecture on one of the most profound teachings of Buddhism should begin with an autobiographical sketch.» — Red Pine se plantea la objeción de por qué una exposición doctrinal abre con un esbozo autobiográfico.

«But it is usual in Buddhist sutras to have an account of the significant events in the career of a bodhisattva prior to their buddhahood.» — y la responde por la costumbre de los sutras de narrar la carrera del bodisatva antes de su budeidad.

«Finally, it is one of the hallmarks of Zen that its teaching not be separated from our everyday lives.» — Red Pine cifra en la inseparabilidad de la vida diaria una de las marcas del Zen.

«Also worth noting is that Hui-neng’s biography contrasts sharply with that of Shakyamuni Buddha, whose mother died soon after he was born and who grew up in palatial surroundings.» — Red Pine contrasta la biografía de Hui-neng con la de Shakyamuni, huérfano de madre y criado en palacio.

«Moreover, in Chinese society, the woodcutter and the firewood seller were often viewed as intermediaries between the mundane and the sacred worlds.» — Red Pine sitúa al leñador y al vendedor de leña como intermediarios entre lo mundano y lo sagrado en la sociedad china.

«Good friends. This was not originally a Chinese phrase but a Chinese translation of the Sanskrit kalyana-mitra, which literally means “companions of virtue.”» — Red Pine deriva la fórmula good friends del sánscrito kalyana-mitra, compañeros de virtud.

«As with any spiritual path, relying exclusively on one’s own dedication and energy is seldom sufficient—thus the need for spiritual friends, friends who keep us going when our spirits flag and who point out the way back when we have gone astray.» — y explica su necesidad, que la dedicación propia rara vez basta en ninguna vía espiritual.

«It’s unclear which text was chanted on this occasion.» — Red Pine declara que no se sabe qué texto se cantó en la ocasión.

«My guess is that what was chanted was not the entire Heart Sutra or Diamond Sutra but the gatha that ends one or the other.» — y separa su conjetura del dato.

«Thus, Hui-neng begins this teaching in silence, as if to recall the tradition that began when the Buddha held up a flower, and Kashyapa smiled, and the teaching of Zen began its transmission from mind to mind.» — Red Pine lee el silencio inicial del maestro como recuerdo de la flor que el Buda levantó y la sonrisa de Kashyapa, origen de la transmisión de mente a mente.

«Usually this epithet is reserved for mothers, and the Tsungpao edition reverts to the more normal yen-fu: “strict father.”» — Red Pine señala que el epíteto cariñoso suele reservarse a las madres y que la edición Tsungpao lo devuelve a padre severo.

«The reasons for such punishment are unknown, but since these same years marked the beginning of the T’ang dynasty, his crime may have been nothing more than too close an association with the rulers of the previous Sui dynasty.» — Red Pine declara desconocidas las razones del destierro del padre y ofrece una hipótesis marcada como tal.

«Since Hsinchou was 1,500 kilometers from the eastern capital of Loyang and even farther from the western capital of Ch’ang-an, his father’s offense must have been serious, though not so serious as to incur the death penalty.» — Red Pine mide la distancia de Hsinchou a las dos capitales para calibrar la gravedad del delito, grave y no capital.

«More significantly for Buddhists, this is also where 15,000 stone tablets containing many of the earliest extant copies of the sutras in the Chinese Buddhist Canon were carved between the eighth and thirteenth centuries.» — Red Pine consigna las quince mil tablas de piedra con copias tempranas del Canon budista chino, talladas entre los siglos VIII y XIII en la región de Fanyang.

«The Tsutangchi and the Chuantenglu (5) say his father died when he was three.» — Red Pine contrasta la edad que el sutra da a la muerte del padre con la que dan el Tsutangchi y el Chuantenglu.

«In the next section, when the Fifth Patriarch and Hui-neng first meet, the patriarch calls Hui-neng a “jungle rat.”» — Red Pine anticipa el insulto del Quinto Patriarca, jungle rat, que él mismo tradujo así.

«This was also the family name of the imperial family, and it was common for members of ethnic minorities seeking to elevate their status vis-à-vis their Chinese overlords to take this as their family name.» — Red Pine explica el apellido Lu por la práctica de las minorías étnicas de tomar el de la familia imperial.

«But for the son of an official, even a banished one, to grow up illiterate was, as it would be today, rare.» — Red Pine mide lo raro del analfabetismo en el hijo de un funcionario, aun desterrado.

«Still, it is an attribute Hui-neng himself insists upon throughout this sutra.» — y consigna que Hui-neng insiste en ese atributo a lo largo del sutra.

«And it is possible that literacy was not considered important by his mother, especially if she could not read or write.» — Red Pine ofrece una explicación posible por la madre, marcada como posibilidad.

«Hui-neng does not let this karmic opportunity slip by and “leaves home” for the sake of the Dharma.» — Red Pine lee la salida de casa de Hui-neng como oportunidad kármica aprovechada.

«In the Diamond Sutra (15), the Buddha says, “Subhuti, this Dharma teaching cannot be heard by beings of lesser aspiration: not by those who mistakenly perceive a self, nor by those who mistakenly perceive a being, a life, or a soul.» — Red Pine cita el Sutra del Diamante sobre quiénes no pueden oír esta enseñanza.

«Also worth noting is the power of words—but spoken words, rather than words on the page.» — Red Pine subraya que el poder está en la palabra dicha y no en la escrita.

«In the preface to his own commentary on this sutra, Hui-neng says, “Formlessness is its ancestry, non-attachment is its substance, inexplicable existence is its function.» — Red Pine cita el prefacio que el propio Hui-neng puso a su comentario del Sutra del Diamante, con la tríada de ascendencia, sustancia y función.

«Bodhidharma came from the West to transmit the message of this sutra so that people could realize the truth and see their natures.» — y la misión que ese prefacio atribuye a Bodhidharma.

«The translation most commonly used in China was made by Kumarajiva around 400.» — Red Pine data hacia el 400 la traducción del Sutra del Diamante de Kumarajiva, la más usada en China.

«The establishment of a male line of succession (I know of no similar line for females) is not unique to Chinese Buddhism, or to Zen.» — Red Pine acota la línea masculina de sucesión y declara no conocer una equivalente para mujeres.

«In China, the establishment of a Zen lineage beginning with Bodhidharma does not appear to have been fixed until the time of the Fourth and Fifth Patriarchs.» — Red Pine sitúa la fijación del linaje zen desde Bodhidharma en tiempos del Cuarto y el Quinto Patriarca.

«This is probably because there were no Zen monasteries until they were established by these two spiritual heirs of Bodhidha» — Red Pine explica esa fijación tardía por la ausencia de monasterios zen hasta los dos herederos de Bodhidharma; el tramo se corta en el límite de la plana.

«Because Hung-jen’s monastery was east of Shuangfengshan, his teaching subsequently became known as East Mountain Zen.» — Red Pine explica el nombre Zen del Monte Oriental por la posición del monasterio de Hung-jen.

«However, anyone who makes the effort to visit the sites of these early Zen temples will encounter sufficient evidence attesting to large monastic populations.» — Red Pine contrapone a quienes tienen las cifras de monjes por hipérbole la evidencia que se ve en los sitios.

«In 2004, when I visited Yuchuan Temple, near Shen-hsiu’s former hermitage, the abbot showed me a Sui-dynasty rice cauldron that held enough rice for over five hundred monks.» — y da su propia observación de campo, el caldero de arroz de la dinastía Sui en el templo Yuchuan.

«directly to Huangmei but first stopped in the Shaokuan area of northern Kuangtung (where he would later return and use as his base) and practiced meditation and studied texts (orally, we can assume) for what must have been at least several years before continuing on to pay his respects to Hung-jen.» — Red Pine reconstruye una parada previa de Hui-neng en Shaokuan, con varios años de práctica y estudio oral antes de llegar con Hung-jen.

«He may be illiterate and impoverished, but he knows enough to ask for the crown jewels.» — Red Pine resume la escena de la entrevista en una frase sobre lo que el aspirante pide.

«The idea is that he has already completed his training in a previous life and needs but one final push, one final straw to break the back of his karmic camel.» — Red Pine explica la rapidez de la realización de Hui-neng por un entrenamiento previo, y lo presenta como idea del texto y no como hecho.

«Nor do we see Hui-neng in the meditation hall. Not that meditation isn’t important, but instruction at a Zen monastery often reflects» — Red Pine consigna una ausencia, que no se ve a Hui-neng en la sala de meditación, con la reserva de que la meditación sí importa.

«According to his biography in the Chuantenglu (5), Hui-neng arrived at Huangmei in 671, which would make him thirty-four according to Chinese reckoning, which makes us all one year old at birth.» — Red Pine data la llegada a Huangmei en 671 según la biografía del Chuantenglu y explica el cómputo chino de la edad.

«I want to be a buddha. Both Tunhuang texts add the word fa: “dharma” after fo: “buddha.” Clearly, this is a mistake, as it is absent from Hung-jen’s rejoinder as well as from later editions, and I have deleted it.» — Red Pine declara una enmienda propia sobre el texto de base, la supresión de un fa que las dos copias de Tunhuang añaden, con la razón dentro.

«Jungle rat. The Chinese ke-liao literally means “dog-hunter,” that is, someone who hunts with dogs. The expression was somewhat more forceful than “hick” or “hillbilly” and indicated membership in one of the hill tribes in South China.» — Red Pine explica su propia traducción del insulto y lo sitúa como marca de pertenencia a las tribus de las colinas del sur de China.

«Buddha nature. The notion that all beings possess the inherent ability to become buddhas was introduced to the Chinese as early as the third century by such texts as the Nirvana Sutra, and by Hui-neng’s day it was common knowledge among Buddhists.» — Red Pine data en el siglo III la entrada en China de la doctrina de la naturaleza búdica universal por textos como el Sutra del Nirvana.

«I pedaled a millstone. The monastery grew its own rice and milled it to remove the husks. Some of the milled rice was also ground into flour for use in making steamed bread. Although the monastery’s milling room was recently knocked down and rebuilt, the original millstone is still there. In addition to pedaling a stone wheel, Huineng wore a stone around his waist to increase the force of the milling. The waist stone is also still there.» — Red Pine describe el molino y añade su propia observación de campo, que la muela y la piedra de cintura siguen ahí.

«However, at the end of this section the following exchange appears in the Tsungpao edition but is absent in both Tunhuang copies:» — Red Pine señala el pasaje que la recensión Tsungpao añade al final de la sección y que falta en las dos copias de Tunhuang, y lo traduce.

«The Patriarch said, ‘This jungle rat is sharp! Don’t say anything more! Go to the stables.’» — la réplica del Quinto Patriarca en ese pasaje añadido, traducida por Red Pine.

«After more than eight months, the Patriarch suddenly saw me one day and said, ‘I thought your views were worthwhile. But I was worried that someone might become jealous and harm you, so I didn’t say anything more. Did you understand?’» — y la explicación que el Patriarca da ahí de su silencio, el miedo a que la envidia dañara al recién llegado.

«This marks the first request by a Zen master for a graduation gatha, for the expression of a student’s understanding in the form of a poem.» — Red Pine fecha en esta escena la primera petición zen de un gatha de graduación.

«Although such mind-revealing gathas may have arrived in China along with Bodhidharma, poetry was already the quintessential form of expression in China.» — y acota el origen del género, la poesía ya era la forma de expresión por excelencia en China.

«Thus, Buddhists liken our endless round of life and death to a sea of suffering, the only escape from which is the far shore of nirvana.» — Red Pine glosa el mar del sufrimiento y la otra orilla del nirvana.

«Har Dayal says, “All that is noble, beautiful, auspicious, glorious and desirable in the world is the result of punya. . . . Even the cyclic evolution and dissolution of the Universe are due to Merit.» — Red Pine cita a Har Dayal sobre el mérito, punya, hasta hacerlo causa de la evolución cíclica del universo.

«The expression “prajna wisdom” seems redundant, but it lets people know that what is being referred to is not the wisdom of the mundane world but the wisdom that exists before we conjure the mundane world into existence.» — Red Pine justifica la redundancia aparente de prajna wisdom por lo que distingue, la sabiduría anterior al mundo mundano.

«Although this poetic form appeared in China much earlier, it wasn’t until the seventh century that it became sufficiently popular with Zen masters that they began requiring “graduation gathas” from their disciples as authentication of their understanding.» — Red Pine data en el siglo VII la exigencia de gathas de graduación como autenticación del entendimiento.

«It is unclear when this custom began whereby a Buddhist master gave his robe (and often his bowl as well) to one of his disciples as a symbol of authority to teach in the master’s place.» — Red Pine declara desconocido el origen de la costumbre del manto como símbolo de autoridad.

«More important than the robe itself, however, was the authority to transmit the master’s true teaching, which is what is meant here by the word “Dharma.”» — y pone la autoridad de transmitir la enseñanza por encima del manto.

«I realize this has been dramatized, but what are these people doing in a Zen monastery?» — Red Pine interrumpe la glosa con una pregunta sobre lo que hacen esos monjes en un monasterio zen.

«But just because Hung-jen can lead people to water doesn’t mean he can make them drink.» — y la responde con un refrán, que llevar a la gente al agua no es hacerla beber.

«After a number of years, his fame reached Empress Wu Ts’e-t’ien, who invited him to court.» — Red Pine data la fama de Shen-hsiu en la invitación de la emperatriz Wu Ts'e-t'ien a la corte.

«but it is presently not known if Shen-hsiu’s remains were removed from the underground burial chamber.» — Red Pine declara que no se sabe si los restos de Shen-hsiu fueron retirados de la cámara funeraria.

«But used by a Buddhist, it also refers to the story in the Lotus Sutra (3), where the Buddha likens our existence to living in a burning house and his teachings to enticements designed to» — Red Pine remite la expresión a la parábola de la casa en llamas del Sutra del Loto; el tramo se corta en el límite de la plana 58.

«This custom was of paramount importance in Zen, as opposed to Pure Land Buddhism, because the teaching was wordless and could not be transmitted to someone simply because they were learned or zealous in their practice.» — Red Pine explica por qué la designación de heredero pesa más en el Zen que en la Tierra Pura, porque la enseñanza es sin palabras.

«The reason pilgrims left offerings before this wall was that they were not allowed inside the compound in which the abbot lived, but they still wanted to pay their respects and also earn merit.» — Red Pine explica las ofrendas al pie del muro por la prohibición de entrar al recinto del abad.

«This was the text used by Bodhidharma and the early Zen patriarchs for instructing their disciples.» — Red Pine adjudica el Lankavatara Sutra a Bodhidharma y a los primeros patriarcas zen como texto de instrucción.

«The only complete English translation was published by D. T. Suzuki in 1934.» — Red Pine data en 1934 la única traducción inglesa completa del Lankavatara, la de D. T. Suzuki.

«Hence, this series of paintings was meant to end with him receiving the Dharma from Tao-hsin, the Fourth Patriarch.» — Red Pine cierra la serie de pinturas proyectada en la recepción del Dharma de manos del Cuarto Patriarca.

«In India there were many accomplished people whose minds were not arrogant or deceitful, so masters only transmitted the understanding of the mind.» — Red Pine traduce la explicación que el Chuantenglu pone en boca de Hung-jen sobre por qué en India bastaba transmitir el entendimiento.

«In China, there are so many fools looking for fame and fortune, it’s hard to tell those who are right from those who are wrong.» — y la razón que ahí se da para China.

«So we transmit the robe as a sign of our school’s authority.» — con la conclusión, el manto como signo de la autoridad de la escuela.

«Poetry has always been the preeminent form of expression among the Chinese, and yet Zen is the only religious sect in China that has demanded poetry from its students and expected it from its masters, as students use it to express their understanding and masters use it to teach four-line sermons.» — Red Pine sitúa al Zen como la única secta religiosa china que exigió poesía a sus estudiantes y la esperó de sus maestros.

«Essentially, to “receive the Dharma” is equivalent to receiving one’s PhD and thus the acknowledgment that one is fit to teach others.» — Red Pine traduce recibir el Dharma a la institución moderna que le parece equivalente.

«These lines are absent in the Tunhuang Cave copy, but they are meant to enforce the idea that Shen-hsiu is still not ready to receive the patriarchship.» — Red Pine señala que los versos de la deliberación de Shen-hsiu faltan en la copia de la cueva de Tunhuang y lee su función.

«Here, however, it becomes a metaphor for our body, in whose shade we cultivate the teachings of the Buddha.» — Red Pine lee el árbol de bodhi del gatha como metáfora del cuerpo.

«Apparently, he is contrasting this with Lao-tzu’s hsuan-ching: “dark mirror.”» — Red Pine contrapone el espejo brillante de Shen-hsiu al espejo oscuro de Lao-tzu.

«Chuang-tzu once wrote, “The realized person uses their mind like a mirror, neither anticipating nor welcoming anything, responding to everything and retaining nothing.» — Red Pine cita a Chuang-tzu sobre la mente usada como espejo que no retiene nada.

«According to the terminology of the Yogacara school, from which Zen masters borrowed a number of conceptual tools and terms, the enlightenment of a buddha is called “complete and perfect mirror wisdom.”» — Red Pine remite el vocabulario del espejo a la escuela Yogacara, de la que dice que los maestros zen tomaron herramientas conceptuales.

«However, this conception, where sensation is seen as something to get rid of and as something separate from our unblemished mind, is a conception of Hinayana, not Mahayana, Buddhism.» — Red Pine adjudica al Hinayana la concepción de la sensación como algo de lo que deshacerse, y la separa del Mahayana.

«Skillful means is the final accomplishment of a bodhisattva.» — Red Pine coloca los medios hábiles como logro final del bodisatva.

«Wisdom depends on compassion, just as compassion depends on wisdom.» — y hace depender la sabiduría de la compasión y a la inversa.

«The monk answered in a verse paraphrased from the Dhammapada: “Commit no wrongs / perform good deeds / and let your thoughts be pure / thus do all buddhas teach.”» — Red Pine traduce la respuesta que un monje da parafraseando el Dhammapada.

«However, the teaching expressed by Shen-hsiu’s poem is not the teaching that sets us free, but the teaching that itself becomes a burden and ensures our further rebirth in the Sea of Suffering.» — y juzga que la enseñanza del poema de Shen-hsiu no libera sino que se vuelve carga.

«All images are illusions. This line is from Chapter Five of the Diamond Sutra,» — Red Pine localiza en el capítulo cinco del Sutra del Diamante la frase que el Quinto Patriarca cita.

«The reason these are called “unfortunate states of existence” is because there is no access to the Dharma in such a state.» — Red Pine explica el nombre de los estados desdichados por la falta de acceso al Dharma.

«Both Tunhuang copies omit wu: “understand,” which appears in later editions.» — Red Pine consigna la omisión de wu en las dos copias de Tunhuang frente a las ediciones posteriores.

«Hungjen’s inclusion of the word “understand” is a polite way of saying that the true usefulness of this gatha depends on the understanding of the person who recites it.» — y lee la inclusión de entender como cortesía de Hung-jen sobre el límite del gatha.

«Some teachers only teach one teaching. Whenever anyone asked Chu-chih a question, all he ever did was hold up one finger.» — Red Pine contrapone el método de Chu-chih, un dedo levantado por toda respuesta, al repertorio más ancho de Hung-jen.

«Thus, he understands that for some of us, treading water is about all we can expect.» — Red Pine mide lo que cabe esperar de algunos practicantes.

«And the only way to reach the other shore is to walk on water.» — y lo que exige llegar a la otra orilla.

«Given Hung-jen’s subsequent statement in this section that Shen-hsiu’s understanding was still imperfect, some editors have wondered if this line is not an interpolation and have suggested deleting it.» — Red Pine consigna que algunos editores han propuesto suprimir el verso por interpolación.

«However, there is no reason not to read this as Hung-jen’s judgment that Shen-hsiu had reached the threshold, but only the threshold.» — y da su razón para conservarlo, leerlo como juicio de Hung-jen sobre el umbral.

«Buddhas see the emptiness of their nature, and deluded beings see the walls of their delusions.» — Red Pine opone lo que ven los budas y lo que ven los seres engañados.

«First Hui-neng hears the Diamond Sutra, and now he hears Shen-hsiu’s “Formless Gatha.”» — Red Pine ordena las dos enseñanzas que Hui-neng recibe de oídas, el Sutra del Diamante y el Gatha sin Forma de Shen-hsiu.

«Hung-jen used this term earlier in referring to the passage on formlessness in Chapter Five of the Diamond Sutra when he dismissed the painter Lu Chen.» — Red Pine rastrea el título Gatha sin Forma hasta el uso de Hung-jen al despedir al pintor Lu Chen.

«The expression wu-hsiang: “formlessness” was also a favorite of Hui-k’o, the Second Patriarch.» — y lo hace expresión predilecta de Hui-k'o, el Segundo Patriarca.

«But Shen-hsiu’s understanding of formlessness, at least as expressed in the gatha attributed to him here, is not the formlessness expressed by the Buddha in the Diamond Sutra but the formlessness of Subhuti, who still sees emptiness as nothingness.» — Red Pine adjudica al gatha de Shen-hsiu la informidad de Subhuti, que ve la vacuidad como nada, y no la del Buda; la reserva sobre la atribución del gatha va dentro.

«Actually, this novice has overstated Hung-jen’s claims regarding this gatha.» — Red Pine señala que el novicio exagera lo que Hung-jen dijo del gatha.

«Apparently the editor of the Tsungpao edition noticed this discrepancy and corrected it by having the novice quote Hungjen’s earlier praise of this gatha.» — y consigna que el editor de la Tsungpao arregló la discrepancia haciendo citar al novicio el elogio previo.

«But the irony here is that someone actually uses this gatha to achieve liberation, though as a view to be transcended.» — Red Pine señala la ironía de que alguien alcance la liberación con ese gatha, como visión que se trasciende.

«However, a buddha is not always present.» — Red Pine acota su propia glosa sobre la presencia del buda.

«The only truth worth knowing is the truth of our own mind.» — Red Pine reduce a una frase la única verdad que le parece digna de conocerse.

«But there is our mind, and then there is the mind we have been trained to believe is our mind.» — y parte la mente en dos, la propia y la que nos entrenaron a creer propia.

«According to the Chinese conception of things, the east side is for the host, and the west side is for the guest.» — Red Pine explica la elección del corredor por el simbolismo espacial chino, el este para el anfitrión y el oeste para el huésped.

«Shen-hsiu wrote his gatha on the south side simply because this was the side on which the murals were to be painted and also the side where the entrance to the Patriarch’s Hall was located.» — y da una razón práctica para el corredor sur de Shen-hsiu.

«But the sort of understanding they cultivate and reveal is not the understanding of a logical argument based on the conceptual swamp of human culture.» — Red Pine deslinda el entendimiento que el Zen cultiva del argumento lógico, al que llama pantano conceptual de la cultura humana.

«When someone asked Huang-po what this line meant, he said, “Your nature is seeing.» — Red Pine cita la respuesta de Huang-po sobre el verso.

«However, the Huihsin, Chisung, and Tsungpao editions have only the first one, and they amend its third line to pen-lai wu yi-wu: “actually there isn’t a thing.”» — Red Pine consigna que las ediciones Huihsin, Chisung y Tsungpao traen un solo gatha y enmiendan su tercer verso.

«Commentators have wondered which version was Huineng’s original poem.» — y deja sin resolver cuál de las versiones fue el poema original.

«Only in private does he tell Shen-hsiu that he didn’t “get it.”» — Red Pine señala que Hung-jen reserva para el ámbito privado el juicio sobre Shen-hsiu.

«This event is sanctified, if not empowered, by the teaching of the Diamond Sutra, which tells us that if we want to realize enlightenment, we must devote our lives to liberating all beings without being attached to such concepts as “being,” “liberation,” or “self ”:» — Red Pine ancla la transmisión nocturna en la enseñanza del Sutra del Diamante sobre liberar a todos los seres sin apego a los conceptos de ser, liberación y yo.

«But even if we do practice this teaching, people do not necessarily sing out in gladness but are just as likely to call us mad, if not dangerous.» — y pone el límite social de esa práctica.

«In this case, Hui-neng is advised not just to take care, but to run for his life.» — Red Pine mide el consejo de Hung-jen, no cuidarse sino huir.

«But once someone knows their own mind and sees their own nature, that person is called a master, a teacher of humans and devas, a buddha.» — Red Pine traduce del Tsungpao la fórmula de lo que se vuelve quien conoce su mente.

«A number of commentators have noted that this is an odd interpolation, as Hui-neng’s ecstatic praise has nothing to do with the Diamond Sutra, but rather with the Lankavatara.» — Red Pine consigna que varios comentaristas tienen por interpolación el pasaje, porque el elogio de Hui-neng no toca al Diamante sino al Lankavatara.

«If we all have the buddha nature, then we are already basically buddhas.» — Red Pine saca la consecuencia de la naturaleza búdica universal.

«While insights come and go, some deeper than others, enlightenment isn’t partial or transient.» — y separa los atisbos de la iluminación por su permanencia.

«This became a hallmark of what developed into the Southern School of Zen and is contrasted with the “indirect” teaching of successive stages attributed to the Northern School.» — Red Pine hace de la enseñanza directa la marca de lo que se volvió Escuela del Sur, frente a la indirecta de etapas sucesivas de la Escuela del Norte.

«However, reports of its continued transmission appear long after Hui-neng’s death.» — Red Pine consigna que los reportes de transmisión del manto siguen apareciendo mucho después de la muerte de Hui-neng.

«Later, in Section 49, Hui-neng, indeed, tells his disciples that the transmission of the robe will end with him.» — y localiza en la sección 49 el anuncio de que la transmisión del manto termina con Hui-neng.

«Given the personal transformation that occurs upon realizing our true nature, it isn’t surprising that Zen biographies are full of such brief meetings and sudden separations.» — Red Pine explica los encuentros breves de las biografías zen por la transformación que sigue a ver la propia naturaleza.

«In transmitting the Dharma, timing is essential.» — Red Pine cifra en el momento oportuno la condición de toda transmisión.

«To try to teach before we’re ready to teach or before others are ready to listen is to harm everyone involved.» — y dice el daño de adelantarse.

«One of the great scenes in Zen hagiography is that of Bodhidharma crossing the Yangtze on a hollow reed, heading north after his meeting with Emperor Wu in Nanching.» — Red Pine describe la escena hagiográfica de Bodhidharma cruzando el Yangtsé sobre una caña hueca.

«And while Bodhidharma found few who were ready to see their own nature, Hui-neng opened the minds of hundreds, if not thousands, during his lifetime.» — y contrasta el alcance de Bodhidharma con el de Hui-neng.

«The Fifth Patriarch said, ‘It’s only right that I ferry you across. How could you possibly ferry me across?’» — del pasaje Tsungpao que Red Pine traduce, la réplica del Quinto Patriarca sobre quién cruza a quién.

«According to The Records of Shen-hui, “Hung-jen said, ‘I’ll see you off.’» — Red Pine cita The Records of Shen-hui para la escena de la despedida.

«Hard times. It isn’t clear what conditions Hung-jen might be referring to.» — Red Pine declara que no se sabe a qué condiciones alude Hung-jen con los tiempos difíciles.

«Suzuki avoids the problem by amending the Tunhuang Cave edition to agree with the Tsung-pao edition and by punctuating the line accordingly: “Do not teach for three years.» — Red Pine consigna la enmienda de Suzuki, que alinea la copia de la cueva con la Tsungpao y repuntúa el verso.

«Our minds are enclosed by veritable cities of delusion constructed over many lifetimes.» — Red Pine retoma la alegoría de la ciudad para describir la mente cercada por delusiones de muchas vidas.

«Once we open our minds to the Dharma, the light of our buddha nature shines through, and even the thickest walls become transparent.» — y el efecto de abrirla al Dharma.

«Suzuki amends the Tunhuang Cave edition here to read: “If they can open their minds, their understanding will be no different than mine.”» — Red Pine consigna otra enmienda de Suzuki sobre la copia de la cueva de Tunhuang.

«Rare is the person who will go to the lengths Hui-shun did to get hold of the Dharma.» — Red Pine mide lo raro de la determinación de Hui-shun.

«If what we truly want is the Dharma, where else will we find it, if not within ourselves?» — y remite la búsqueda del Dharma al interior con una pregunta.

«A dharma outside of ourselves is not worth chasing after.» — con la sentencia que la sigue.

«But usually we want something besides the Dharma: a robe, a title, disciples, patrons, learning, a halo, magic powers, even immortality.» — Red Pine enumera lo que se suele buscar en lugar del Dharma, del manto a la inmortalidad.

«As Lao-tzu said, “Those who seek learning gain every day / those who seek the Way lose every day.”» — Red Pine cita a Lao-tzu sobre la diferencia entre buscar saber y buscar la Vía.

«The Chisung and Tsungpao editions turn this question into a statement: ‘at that very moment, that is your original face.’» — Red Pine consigna que las ediciones Chisung y Tsungpao convierten la pregunta en afirmación.

«I said, ‘What I have taught you is not a secret. If you reflect on it, you’ll find the secret is within you.’» — del pasaje Tsungpao traducido por Red Pine, la respuesta de Hui-neng a Hui-ming sobre el secreto.

«I said, ‘The profound truths of the buddhas don’t depend on words.’» — y la fórmula sobre las verdades profundas de los budas.

«I stepped forward and said, ‘It isn’t the wind that’s moving, and it isn’t the flag that’s moving. It’s your minds that are moving.’» — del mismo material, la escena de la bandera y el viento en boca de Hui-neng.

«But the buddha nature is neither permanent nor impermanent.» — la negativa que el texto pone sobre la naturaleza búdica, ni permanente ni impermanente.

«I answered, ‘The abbot has been lecturing on the Nirvana Sutra, which explains that the buddha nature is the teaching of buddhas beyond duality.» — y la respuesta que remite la enseñanza más allá de la dualidad al Sutra del Nirvana.

«When they asked me about this, I told them they should have some vegetables along with their meat.» — la anécdota de la carne y las verduras con los cazadores, traducida por Red Pine del material que la Tunhuang no trae.

«I realized I couldn’t hide out forever and the time had come for me to spread the Dharma.» — y el momento en que el texto hace salir a Hui-neng del escondite.

«He bowed and said, ‘My explanation of the sutra is like rubble, while your discourse on the meaning is like pure gold.’» — del material Tsungpao que Red Pine traduce, la retractación del monje Yin-tsung ante Hui-neng.

«Hui-neng taught for over forty years, but he only taught one teaching, which was the same teaching Bodhidharma brought to China: We are all buddhas, we just don’t know it.» — Red Pine resume cuarenta años de enseñanza en una sola tesis y la hace la misma que trajo Bodhidharma.

«It isn’t until our lives are so fraught with contradiction and suffering, and we can barely hold them together, that we finally begin to ask questions and look for answers.» — y explica cuándo empieza alguien a preguntar.

«Although I have not done so, readers might want to further divide Part Two into another four parts:» — Red Pine ofrece al lector una subdivisión de la Parte Dos y declara que él no la aplicó.

«It should be noted, however, that the Buddhist concept of karma is different from the Western concept of fate.» — Red Pine deslinda el karma budista del destino occidental.

«Buddha nature isn’t different for the ignorant and the wise. It’s just that people are deluded or awake.» — y repite la fórmula del sutra sobre la naturaleza búdica del ignorante y del sabio.

«Every teaching of Buddhism concerns the mind. And every teaching of the mind is based on meditation and wisdom.» — Red Pine reduce toda enseñanza budista a la mente y toda enseñanza de la mente a meditación y sabiduría.

«Many people think of meditation as sitting down and not moving and of wisdom as thinking up great ideas and making insightful pronouncements.» — Red Pine nombra el malentendido corriente sobre los dos términos.

«But for Hui-neng, meditation is not about our physical body, and wisdom is not about our mental ability.» — y le opone la lectura de Hui-neng, ni cuerpo físico ni habilidad mental.

«Hui-neng also addresses these remarks to an ongoing debate over the status and relationship of meditation and wisdom that was taking place in Buddhist circles in China.» — Red Pine sitúa las palabras de Hui-neng dentro de un debate en marcha en los círculos budistas chinos.

«Rather than engage in such disputes as to which comes first and how each should be understood and practiced, Hui-neng leads practitioners back to their own minds and away from conceptual frameworks that only confuse people.» — y describe la salida que Hui-neng toma, devolver al practicante a su propia mente.

«But to perform any of these meditations requires the constant support and involvement of wisdom, otherwise we wouldn’t be engaged in such practices in the first place.» — Red Pine hace depender toda meditación de la sabiduría que la sostiene.

«Thus, any differentiation between the two can only be relative. There is no real difference.» — y de ahí concluye el carácter relativo de la distinción.

«Hence, in this case I have followed the Tunhuang Cave edition.» — Red Pine declara, para este pasaje, qué edición sigue.

«Dualism involves dividing any given universe of discourse into subject and object, right and wrong, here and there, now and then, p and q.» — Red Pine define el dualismo por la partición del universo de discurso en pares.

«Hui-neng, however, uses duality to direct his students away from extremes back to themselves.» — y consigna que Hui-neng usa la dualidad para devolver al estudiante de los extremos a sí mismo.

«However, it is the analysis of dharmas and beings, the search for their self-existent qualities, and the realization that neither dharmas nor beings possess a self or self-existence that results in liberation.» — Red Pine acota la crítica al análisis, porque es el análisis de dharmas y seres lo que da la liberación.

«Four States. These usually refer to the four states of self-existence, self, being, life, and soul, which are listed throughout the Diamond Sutra as the principal means we use to define the self-existence of any entity, be it a dharma or a person.» — Red Pine glosa los Cuatro Estados como los cuatro modos de autoexistencia que el Sutra del Diamante enumera.

«Regardless of which of these Hui-neng had in mind, his concern here is that arguments of a philosophical nature are purely speculative and likely to increase attachment to notions of a self.» — y declara, con la reserva de no saber cuál tenía Hui-neng en mente, la razón de su rechazo a los argumentos filosóficos.

«Any practice that involves creating a division between subject and object is not only doomed to failure, it is bound to lead practitioners so far astray they will have to wait for another lifetime and for another encounter with a truly good friend before they can approach their own place of enlightenment again.» — Red Pine declara el destino de toda práctica que divida sujeto y objeto.

«But for Huineng, it is the practice to be engaged in at all times in all places: namely, the state of a straightforward mind, which is no state at all.» — Red Pine define el Samadhi de Una Práctica de Hui-neng como estado que no es estado.

«a straightforward mind is a bodhisattva’s pure land, because when bodhisattvas become buddhas, beings free of deceit will be reborn in their realms.» — Red Pine cita el Vimalakirti sobre la mente directa como tierra pura del bodisatva.

«But here, Hui-neng is referring to those who put sitting and contemplating purity ahead of the wisdom they claim arises from such contemplation.» — Red Pine acota a quiénes apunta la crítica de Hui-neng, a los que ponen el sentarse por delante de la sabiduría que dicen sacar de ahí.

«One Practice Samadhi refers to the practice whereby neither meditation nor wisdom precedes the other.» — y define el Samadhi de Una Práctica por la ausencia de precedencia.

«Hui-neng does not teach people to assume a meditation posture, then to focus their attention on their breath or some other object of contemplation, then to enter into a trance state of oneness with that object, and having done so, then to give rise to wisdom.» — Red Pine enumera lo que Hui-neng NO enseña, la secuencia de postura, respiración, trance y sabiduría.

«Clearly, Hui-neng must have felt his understanding of Zen was in the minority.» — Red Pine lee en el texto que Hui-neng se sabía en minoría.

«Hui-neng does not teach one kind of Zen for beginners and another kind for advanced students.» — y que no reparte un Zen para principiantes y otro para avanzados.

«Meditation without wisdom is Dead Tree Zen. Wisdom without meditation is Pie in the Sky Zen.» — Red Pine bautiza los dos extremos que resultan de separar meditación y sabiduría.

«Hui-neng is not unaware that people have different capabilities, but he is concerned that practitioners might use such differences to justify different kinds of liberation, different kinds of enlightenment.» — Red Pine acota que Hui-neng sí sabe de capacidades distintas y dice qué le preocupa de ellas.

«It is we who make distinctions. We doodle until we doodle up a self and a universe to go with it.» — Red Pine adjudica a los seres humanos la fabricación de las distinciones.

«Hence, time is not the issue, but attitude is. Translations aside, these terms became the battle cry of Shen-hui and later followers of Hui-neng who felt that Zen was being misrepresented, if not distorted, by monks who were teaching their disciples to cultivate an understanding that proceeded indirectly and by stages.» — Red Pine convierte el par directo e indirecto en grito de guerra de Shen-hui y de los seguidores posteriores de Hui-neng.

«Judging from his initial comment in the next section, Hui-neng himself does not appear to have been so concerned.» — y consigna que el propio Hui-neng no parece haber estado tan preocupado.

«When Hui-neng uses the word “mind,” he uses it with two senses. Sometimes, it refers to the mind of discrimination, the eight kinds of consciousness.» — Red Pine distingue los dos sentidos con que Hui-neng usa la palabra mente.

«Interpretations aside, the point of this is the word “no.”» — Red Pine reduce las tres consignas a una sola palabra.

«To interrupt our thoughts is to make them into something that they are not and thus to create a false mind of our true mind.» — y explica el daño de interrumpir los pensamientos.

«Yin-shun says, “No form as the body, no attachment as the foundation, and no thought as the doctrine, this is the method of practice handed down by the Platform Sutra.”» — Red Pine cita a Yin-shun sobre el método que el Platform Sutra transmite.

«In their attacks on indirect cultivation, disciples such as Shen-hui obviously ignored this statement, which not only acknowledges the need to adapt Zen to the different capacities of people but also warns against engaging in arguments concerning doctrine.» — Red Pine consigna que Shen-hui y otros discípulos pasaron por alto la frase de Hui-neng que reconoce las distintas capacidades y desaconseja discutir doctrina.

«Vimalakirti says, “From the root of non-attachment we bring forth all dharmas.”» — Red Pine cita a Vimalakirti sobre la raíz del no apego.

«This is a paraphrase of one of the more famous lines in the Diamond Sutra, where the Buddha tells Subhuti, “By means of forms that are no forms the Tathagata can, indeed, be seen.”» — Red Pine identifica la paráfrasis del Sutra del Diamante sobre las formas que no son formas.

«Some commentators have suggested this line is an interpolation. It is, in fact, absent in the Tsungpao edition.» — Red Pine consigna la propuesta de interpolación de algunos comentaristas y el dato que la sostiene, la ausencia en la Tsungpao.

«Attachment. Hui-neng apparently picked up the word chu: “attachment” from Chapter Four of Kumarajiva’s translation of the Diamond Sutra.» — Red Pine rastrea el término apego hasta el capítulo cuatro de la traducción del Diamante de Kumarajiva.

«It was reportedly upon hearing the line in the Diamond Sutra, ying-wu-suo-chu er-sheng-ch’i-hsin: “you should give rise to a thought without being attached to anything,” that Hui-neng experienced the realization that completed his training.» — y consigna, marcándolo como reporte, la frase del Diamante con la que Hui-neng completó su formación.

«It isn’t your eyes, ears, nose, or tongue that can think.» — Red Pine desmenuza el sin pensamiento negando que piensen los órganos.

«If there was no reality, eyes and ears and sounds and sights would vanish in a flash.» — y hace depender los sentidos y sus objetos de la realidad.

«Whether or not this was justified or simply amounted to creating a convenient opponent is a moot point.» — Red Pine deja sin arbitrar si el blanco de Hui-neng era real o un adversario fabricado.

«In any case, Hui-neng’s point in using them is not to criticize people because of their different styles of teaching but because of the effectiveness of their methods.» — y desplaza el motivo de la crítica del estilo a la eficacia de los métodos.

«But Mandarin is the Manchu pronunciation forced upon the Chinese by the founders of the Ch’ing dynasty in the seventeenth century, whereas the pronunciation retained in Japan and in that part of China where Zen began comes much closer to the original pronunciation, which was something like dzian.» — Red Pine explica por qué prefiere la pronunciación japonesa Zen a la mandarina Chan, por cercanía al sonido original.

«The terms “contemplating the mind,” “contemplating purity,” and “imperturbability” were, in fact, used by Zen masters affiliated» — Red Pine adjudica los tres términos que Hui-neng rechaza a maestros zen de la filiación del Norte; el tramo se corta en el límite de la plana.

«Still, the problem with this practice is that it separates thoughts from the mind, when, in fact, thoughts are the mind.» — Red Pine nombra el defecto de la práctica que contempla la mente, separar los pensamientos de la mente.

«And although our deluded mind is not separate from our real mind, the deluded mind is where we begin our practice.» — y consigna dónde empieza la práctica de todos modos, en la mente engañada.

«Instead of providing us with a set of rules, “practicing” means no rules: no internal obstructions, no external projections.» — Red Pine glosa practicar por ausencia de reglas, sin obstrucciones internas ni proyecciones externas.

«And instead of providing us with a new idol to worship, “Zen” brings us face-to-face with ourselves.» — y Zen por el encuentro consigo mismo en vez de un ídolo nuevo.

«Meditation is the mindfulness of an unfettered mind, the mindfulness that enables us to penetrate and transform all areas of our life, not just our time on the meditation cushion, the mindfulness that enables us to practice the practices of a buddha.» — Red Pine define la meditación como atención de una mente sin trabas, dentro y fuera del cojín.

«The Chinese for this phrase calls to mind the Chinese translations of Kumarajiva and Hsuan-tsang of the Heart Sutra: “Bodhisattvas take refuge in Prajnaparamita, and their minds are without obstruction.”» — Red Pine remite la fórmula de la sección al Sutra del Corazón en las versiones de Kumarajiva y Hsuan-tsang.

«These worlds are not so much made up of objects as they are constituted by our projections.» — Red Pine define los mundos por las proyecciones que los constituyen.

«In what little we know of Shen-hsiu’s teaching of meditation, he tells his disciples that this is where they should begin their practice.» — Red Pine mide lo poco que se sabe de la enseñanza de meditación de Shen-hsiu y dice qué contiene.

«For this, the Chisung and Tsungpao editions have, “If you are free of form on the outside, your mind won’t be confused.”» — Red Pine consigna la variante de las ediciones Chisung y Tsungpao.

«The Tsungpao edition simplifies the last paragraph: “Good friends, in every thought see the purity of your own nature.» — y la simplificación que la Tsungpao hace del último párrafo.

«When the Master saw people of all classes from Kuangchou and Shaochou gathered together there on the mountain (ed. apparently Tsaohsi Mountain and thus a different assembly and a different occasion) to listen to the Dharma, he ascended the seat and addressed the assembly, ‘Come, all you good friends.» — del material que solo trae la Tsungpao, traducido por Red Pine: la escena en el monte con gente de Kuangchou y Shaochou, con su acotación editorial entre paréntesis.

«First is the incense of morality. When your minds are free of wrong, free of evil, free of envy and jealousy, free of greed and anger, free of robbery and malice, this is called the incense of morality.» — la definición del incienso de la moralidad en ese mismo material.

«Fourth is the incense of liberation. When your mind does not cling to anything, and you do not think about good or evil but are free and unobstructed, this is called the incense of liberation.» — la del incienso de la liberación.

«Fifth is the incense of the knowledge of liberation. Once your mind does not cling to anything good or evil, you must not submerge yourselves in emptiness or cling to stillness but must study and learn from many sources.» — y la del incienso del conocimiento de la liberación, con el límite de no sumergirse en la vacuidad.

«However, instead of the traditional formulation, which directs us to put our trust in the historical figure of Shakyamuni, in the sutras in the Buddhist Canon, and in the teachers and fellow practitioners of the Buddhist community, Hui-neng tells us to look no further than ourselves.» — Red Pine contrasta la fórmula tradicional del triple refugio con la de Hui-neng, que no manda mirar más allá de uno mismo.

«Thus, Hui-neng urges us to take refuge in this triple-bodied nature of ours and in the ten thousand realities that arise from it and that lead us back to our nature because they are our nature.» — Red Pine formula el refugio de Hui-neng en la naturaleza de tres cuerpos y en los diez mil dharmas que de ella salen.

«In as simple a manner as possible, Hui-neng reveals his insight into the most profound mystery, the mystery of our ever-changing-always-present thoughts.» — Red Pine nombra el misterio que le parece central en Hui-neng, el de los pensamientos siempre cambiantes y siempre presentes.

«This is what we take refuge in, not in a statue on an altar or the memory of someone who died centuries ago or some mythic ideal, but in the thought-bodies present in our own material body.» — y dice en qué consiste el refugio de este sutra, frente a la estatua, la memoria y el ideal mítico.

«The ocean and its waves turn out to be one and the same body of water.» — Red Pine cierra la imagen del océano y las olas en una identidad.

«Although good and bad thoughts differ, their natures aren’t separate.» — Red Pine separa la diferencia de los pensamientos de la de sus naturalezas.

«This term was apparently coined by Ashvaghosha, the author of Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana, where he contrasts it with initial enlightenment.» — Red Pine atribuye la acuñación de iluminación original a Ashvaghosha en el Despertar de la Fe.

«Numberless. Although Hui-neng uses the term wu-pien: “ limitless” in the first three of the bodhisattva vows, the traditional wording, both in Chinese and Sanskrit, has “limitless,” “endless,” and “measureless,” for which I have substituted my own synonyms.» — Red Pine declara una sustitución propia en la traducción de los votos, sinónimos suyos en lugar de la fórmula tradicional.

«This phrase is missing in the Tunhuang Cave copy but is present in the Tunhuang Museum copy.» — Red Pine consigna una frase presente en la copia del museo de Tunhuang y ausente en la de la cueva.

«Right views. This term is placed at the beginning of the Buddha’s Eightfold Noble Path and refers to the ability to see things as they really are.» — Red Pine glosa las visiones correctas por su lugar en el Óctuple Sendero.

«For Hui-neng, and the Zen sect generally, this is the first and the last step on the path.» — y consigna qué hacen con ellas Hui-neng y la secta zen, primer y último paso.

«Buddhas are simply those beings who see things as they really are.» — Red Pine define a los budas por lo que ven.

«Unless we free ourselves of the past, we can never free ourselves of the future.» — Red Pine encadena las tres liberaciones del arrepentimiento sin forma, del pasado al futuro.

«Hence, as he does elsewhere, Hui-neng avoids traditional formulations of what we should repent and focuses on the heart of the Buddha’s teaching, which is also the heart of repentance: delusion and ignorance.» — Red Pine consigna que Hui-neng esquiva las fórmulas tradicionales de arrepentimiento y va a la delusión y la ignorancia.

«And because people who follow a spiritual path are still prone to compete with others for spiritual attainments, he adds envy.» — y explica la añadidura de la envidia por la competencia entre quienes siguen una vía espiritual.

«The bodhisattva path of Mahayana Buddhism differs from the shravaka path of Hinayana Buddhism in that shravakas seek nirvana, while bodhisattvas seek enlightenment.» — Red Pine deslinda la vía del bodisatva de la del shravaka por su meta.

«But by attaining enlightenment, bodhisattvas are able to liberate themselves and others as well.» — y describe lo que la iluminación permite al bodisatva.

«And looking for them outside ourselves is a waste of time.» — Red Pine cierra la glosa de los Tres Tesoros con el juicio sobre buscarlos fuera.

«But as he does elsewhere, Hui-neng bends this to his own purpose and hears “take refuge in the buddha of yourselves.”» — Red Pine consigna el procedimiento de Hui-neng con las fórmulas heredadas, doblarlas a su propio fin.

«Depending on how one understands the Sanskrit word yana, the Mahayana is the Great Path or the Great Vehicle.» — Red Pine deja abierta la traducción de yana, Gran Camino o Gran Vehículo.

«Thus, Hui-neng likens this nature of ours to space, because it embraces all things.» — y explica el símil del espacio por lo que abarca.

«Your original nature is the Buddha. Apart from this nature there is no other buddha.» — del material traducido, la fórmula sobre la naturaleza original como el Buda.

«The emptiness of our nature contains the ten thousand realities we give names to.» — Red Pine define la vacuidad de la naturaleza por lo que contiene.

«In the Heart Sutra, Avalokiteshvara looks upon the reality of the mind and says that the Five Skandhas, into which early Buddhists divided the mind, are emptiness, and emptiness is the Five Skandhas.» — Red Pine cita el Sutra del Corazón sobre los Cinco Skandhas y la vacuidad.

«Thus, it is great. But its greatness can only be realized in the exercise of our minds.» — y condiciona la realización de esa grandeza al ejercicio de la mente.

«The term wan-fa was used by Chinese Buddhists as an equivalent to wan-wu: “ten thousand things” in order to emphasize that their understanding of reality was not of a physical world but one made of mind.» — Red Pine explica el uso de wan-fa por los budistas chinos como marca de una realidad hecha de mente.

«Thus, the word fa: “dharma” not only includes what we think of as “things” but also concepts and teachings, anything we think of as real.» — y ensancha el alcance de dharma a conceptos y enseñanzas.

«It is the central concept of Mahayana Buddhism, but it is also its most misunderstood concept.» — Red Pine declara la vacuidad concepto central del Mahayana y el más malentendido.

«What “emptiness” does is to negate this negation. Emptiness means “empty of self-existence,” which is how Avalokiteshvara defines it in the Heart Sutra.» — Red Pine define la vacuidad como negación de una negación, vacía de autoexistencia, siguiendo al Avalokiteshvara del Sutra del Corazón.

«He was not interested in conceptual games.» — y retira a Hui-neng de los juegos conceptuales.

«But unless we practice prajna, affliction is affliction, and enlightenment is enlightenment, and the two are worlds apart.» — Red Pine pone la condición bajo la cual aflicción e iluminación siguen siendo mundos aparte.

«The word Prajnaparamita goes back more than two thousand years to the first Mahayana Buddhists, who combined prajna with paramita to distinguish their formless form of prajna from all other forms of prajna.» — Red Pine data en más de dos mil años el compuesto Prajnaparamita y explica para qué se acuñó.

«Thus, Prajnaparamita is also viewed as a goddess from whose womb of emptiness all enlightened beings come forth.» — Red Pine consigna la lectura de Prajnaparamita como diosa de cuyo vientre de vacuidad salen los seres iluminados.

«They speak about emptiness thought after thought, but they don’t recognize true emptiness.» — de la edición Tsungpao, el reproche a los que hablan de la vacuidad sin reconocer la verdadera.

«The Tsungpao edition prefaces this with: “fools are buddhas.”» — Red Pine consigna el prefacio que la Tsungpao añade a la frase.

«According to the “Sutra Explaining the Non-Activity of All Dharmas” (Sarva-dharma-apravritti-nirdesha-sutra ), “The true nature of desire is the nature of the Dharma. The true nature of the Dharma is the nature of desire. . . . Desire and enlightenment are one and not two.”» — Red Pine cita el Sutra que explica la no actividad de todos los dharmas para la identidad de deseo e iluminación.

«And yet for each of these countless passions, there is a cure.» — Red Pine acota el catálogo de pasiones con la existencia de una cura para cada una.

«But when we separate our thoughts and ourselves from our thoughts by trying to grasp them or reject them, we separate ourselves from reality and create the fiction of transient existence, both for our thoughts and ourselves.» — y describe la operación que crea la ficción de la existencia transitoria.

«the Buddha explains that when we vow to liberate all beings, and we do so without attachment to ourselves, to beings, or to liberation, we create a body of merit equivalent to the body of realization (sanbogha-kaya) of every buddha.» — Red Pine glosa el mérito del Sutra del Diamante, cuerpo de mérito equivalente al cuerpo de realización de todo buda.

«“All the merit from worshipping as many buddhas as there are grains of sand in the Ganges, from offering enough jewels to fill the billion worlds of the universe, and from renouncing as many bodies as there are specks of dust does not equal the merit from upholding this sutra.”» — Red Pine cita el comentario de Hui-neng al Sutra del Diamante sobre el mérito de sostener ese sutra.

«But those who cultivate this teaching discover that every drop of water reflects the entire sky, every thought is a door to enlightenment and leads back to our original nature.» — Red Pine describe lo que la práctica descubre, cada gota reflejando el cielo entero.

«It is not present in either Tunhuang edition, but it seems called for.» — Red Pine declara una lectura propia que ninguna de las dos ediciones de Tunhuang trae, y la razón de conservarla.

«the merit that accrues to a person from memorizing or reciting this sutra exceeds his own merit “by an amount that cannot be measured, calculated, illustrated, characterized, or even imagined.”» — Red Pine glosa la desmesura del mérito de memorizar el sutra con la fórmula del propio Diamante.

«Hui-neng likens this direct teaching to a great rain because people whose roots of wisdom are shallow are easily confused or their understanding overwhelmed.» — Red Pine explica el símil de la gran lluvia por la confusión de los de raíces de sabiduría someras.

«Some people might prefer a more consistent handling of metaphors, but Hui-neng just tosses in whatever comes to mind.» — Red Pine señala la inconsistencia de las metáforas de Hui-neng y la deja como está.

«Once you see a glimmer of light, you know there’s a sun on the other side of those clouds.» — y cierra la glosa con una imagen propia sobre el destello y el sol.

«Although most people nowadays view reality as matter, and some see it as energy, Buddhists see it as mind, but mind that isn’t separate from matter or energy.» — Red Pine sitúa la lectura budista de lo real frente a la materialista y la energética, mente que no se separa de materia ni energía.

«There is no substitute for a teacher who speaks to us in our own language and in our own time and to our own problems.» — Red Pine declara insustituible al maestro que habla en la lengua y el tiempo del oyente.

«Thus, to study the texts and words of others apart from an understanding of our own minds is to waste our time in external practices.» — y el efecto de estudiar textos ajenos sin entender la propia mente.

«The sutras constituted the first and largest of the twelve divisions they used and included the prose sermons of the Buddha and his immediate disciples.» — Red Pine describe la primera y mayor de las doce divisiones del canon.

«This term, which means “Lesser Path” or “Lesser Vehicle,” was coined by early followers of the Mahayana to distinguish their emphasis on enlightenment and the liberation of others from those engaged in an ironically self-centered quest for nirvana.» — Red Pine explica el origen del término Hinayana, acuñado por los primeros seguidores del Mahayana.

«Although no sect or individual referred to themselves as Hinayana, the term was apt, as many followers of the Buddha maintained, and still maintain, a narrower, less compassionate view of his message.» — y lo acota, que ninguna secta ni persona se llamó a sí misma así.

«However, the Tunhuang Cave copy has: “the ten thousand teachings are all within your own self.”» — Red Pine consigna la variante de la copia de la cueva de Tunhuang.

«Nature of reality. Bhutatathata in Sanskrit or chen-ju in Chinese is usually translated as “suchness” or “what is real.”» — Red Pine glosa bhutatathata y su versión china chen-ju.

«As he does there, Hui-neng misquotes the first word of the first quote to suit this context.» — Red Pine consigna que Hui-neng cita mal la primera palabra de la cita para ajustarla al contexto.

«The editors of the Tsungpao and Chisung editions revert to the original, but by doing so, lose the force of the quote.» — y lo que pierden los editores de la Tsungpao y la Chisung al restituir el original.

«Hui-neng’s point in making such a distinction is that you can’t transcend what isn’t there.» — Red Pine formula el argumento de Hui-neng contra trascender lo que no está.

«Our truest friend is the wisdom of prajna because it reveals to us the true nature of reality, not reality mediated by the hodge-podge of delusions we have created over countless lifetimes, but the reality of our own nature.» — Red Pine nombra al amigo más verdadero, la sabiduría de prajna, por lo que revela.

«The occasion that prompted this sermon was the transmission of the Formless Precepts and instruction in the teaching of Prajnaparamita to an audience numbering in the thousands.» — Red Pine describe la ocasión del sermón, transmisión de los Preceptos Sin Forma ante miles.

«Hui-neng has not watered down his message, until now.» — y consigna el punto en que, a su juicio, Hui-neng rebaja el mensaje.

«Pai Chu-yi (772-846) was one of China’s greatest poets and a devout student of Buddhism.» — Red Pine data a Pai Chu-yi entre 772 y 846 y lo hace estudiante devoto del budismo.

«The only area in which Hui-neng’s poem differs from that of the Dhammapada is his insistence that we not only stop committing wrongs but we also repent past misdeeds.» — Red Pine mide la diferencia del poema de Hui-neng con el Dhammapada, la insistencia en arrepentirse de lo pasado.

«Ways of speaking and acting are hard to change, but ways of thinking and feeling are much harder.» — Red Pine ordena por dificultad los hábitos de habla y acción frente a los de pensamiento y sentimiento.

«But the teaching itself is every buddha’s true body.» — Red Pine iguala la enseñanza misma con el cuerpo verdadero de todo buda.

«Thus, those who encounter this teaching will find themselves in the presence of Hui-neng and the lineage of buddhas that he represents.» — y de ahí saca la consecuencia sobre quien la encuentra, quedar en presencia de Hui-neng y de su linaje.

«Your teacher transmits this direct teaching / hoping you students will share the same body.» — del verso que Red Pine traduce en la sección, el deseo del maestro de que los estudiantes compartan el mismo cuerpo.

«If in the future you seek your true self / purify your mind of what creates poison.» — y la instrucción sobre el veneno para quien busque su yo verdadero.

«Blessings are helpful, but merit is essential to liberation.» — Red Pine ordena bendiciones y mérito por su función.

«Merit is the fruit of internal cultivation, but cultivation that is ultimately free of the distinction between internal and external.» — y define el mérito como fruto de cultivo interno, libre al final de la distinción entre lo interno y lo externo.

«Since he was presumably the first person to bring Zen to China, he is also called the First Patriarch, but the First Patriarch from the Western Region, not of the Western Region.» — Red Pine precisa el título de Bodhidharma, Primer Patriarca desde la Región Occidental y no de ella.

«However, this traditional account is at odds with the subsequent respect shown by Emperor Wu to Bodhidharma.» — Red Pine señala la tensión entre el relato tradicional del encuentro con el emperador Wu y el respeto posterior del emperador.

«When Bodhidharma died, the emperor ordered two steles erected at his grave below the West Peak of Bear Ear Mountain, which was not within his borders but in the kingdom of Wei far to the north.» — y aporta el dato de las dos estelas mandadas erigir fuera de sus fronteras.

«but additions that were likely made during Hui-neng’s lifetime or soon after his death.» — Red Pine data las adiciones en vida de Hui-neng o poco después de su muerte.

«In his Diamond Sutra commentary, Hui-neng says, “The dharma body has no form or appearance.» — Red Pine cita el comentario de Hui-neng al Sutra del Diamante sobre el cuerpo dhármico sin forma.

«Those who see the dharma body are able to practice charity without focusing on appearances; they are able to respect all beings; and they are able to cultivate the Prajnaparamita.» — y lo que pueden quienes lo ven.

«Many people, however, become attached to the practice they choose and forget its purpose.» — Red Pine nombra el riesgo del practicante, apegarse a la práctica y olvidar su fin.

«But all Buddhist practices have nothing to do with anything more or less than the mind.» — y devuelve toda práctica budista a la mente.

«In the Amita Sutra, the Buddha tells Shariputra, “West of here, past hundreds of thousands and millions of buddhalands, there is a world called Paradise. In that land there is a buddha named Amita.” But in the Visualization of Paradise Sutra, the Buddha tells Queen Vaidehi, “Do you not know» — Red Pine contrapone la geografía del Sutra de Amita con la del Sutra de la Visualización del Paraíso.

«Although this is the reading of the Tunhuang Museum copy, as well as the Huihsin, Chisung, and Tsungpao editions, the Tunhuang Cave copy says that for those with shallow roots the Western Paradise is near, and for those with greater wisdom it is far.» — Red Pine consigna que la copia de la cueva de Tunhuang invierte la lectura de las demás sobre la cercanía del Paraíso Occidental.

«Guo Peng defends this as making the distance seem less awesome for the less endowed.» — y atribuye a Guo Peng la defensa de esa variante.

«But Hui-neng’s point is that the Pure Land is within us all but that such a perception requires greater wisdom.» — Red Pine fija lo que Hui-neng sostiene, la Tierra Pura dentro de todos y su percepción condicionada a mayor sabiduría.

«Thus, the Buddha said, ‘Wherever they are, they are always happy.’» — Red Pine cita al Buda sobre la felicidad de los iluminados en cualquier lugar.

«Those who study the Way. The word tao: “the way” was used by advocates of every form of spiritual practice in China. Not only Taoists but Confucians and Buddhists also referred to their practice by the term Tao. Here, though, it probably refers to Taoists or to Buddhist practitioners with Taoist leanings.» — Red Pine consigna que el término Tao lo usaban en China taoístas, confucianos y budistas por igual, y acota a quiénes apunta aquí.

«Those who contemplate the mind. This is aimed at followers of the Tientai School, for whom “stopping thoughts” and “contemplating the mind” formed the basis of their practice. During the seventh century, the popularity of the Tientai sect rivaled that of Zen. This phrase is missing in the Tunhuang Cave copy.» — Red Pine adjudica esta crítica a la escuela Tientai y consigna que la frase falta en la copia de la cueva de Tunhuang.

«This usage, however, goes back to the early days of Buddhism and betrays the Hinayana aversion toward the body and its functions. Mahayana Buddhism is less interested in making sensation, or anything else, into an enemy. Although both Tunhuang copies have the Six Thieves, later editions have “Six Kinds of Consciousness.”» — Red Pine adjudica a la aversión hinayana por el cuerpo la expresión Seis Ladrones y registra la variante de las ediciones posteriores.

«The reason Hui-neng stresses the transmission of this teaching is that it only exists to be transmitted. That’s what a teaching is. Otherwise it wouldn’t be a teaching. If it isn’t transmitted, it disappears. It’s like when we use one candle to light another candle. Our candle goes out, but not the light. Likewise, this teaching is transmitted from one mind to another.» — Red Pine explica el énfasis en la transmisión con la imagen de la vela que enciende otra vela.

«To see our own nature is to see the nature of reality. There is no greater insight, no greater realization. Hence, we need all the help we can get. Such help might come in the form of a sutra, but it might also come in the form of instruction by a spiritual advisor.» — Red Pine mide la visión de la propia naturaleza y deja abierta la forma de la ayuda, sutra o consejero espiritual.

«And even if we do receive instruction from someone else, it won’t have the desired effect unless it strikes a chord within us, unless it agrees with what we already know but have somehow forgotten. All the teachings of all the buddhas are present within us because all buddhas and all teachings arise from this very nature that we all share.» — y la condición que le pone, que dé en una cuerda propia; el tramo se cortó aquí porque la guarda anticosido rechazó el párrafo entero por su largo, releído en el crudo sin nota ni encabezado en medio.

«Hui-neng doesn’t want his audience to think that Zen is based on a different view of the Dharma than Pure Land Buddhism, which was and still is the most popular form of Buddhism among laypeople in China.» — Red Pine explica el movimiento de Hui-neng hacia la Tierra Pura, la forma más popular del budismo laico chino.

«There are not two truths, only different ways of approaching the truth.» — y la fórmula con que lo justifica.

«But even in the Pure Land sutras, the Pure Land is never presented as anything more than a provisional reality, a reality where it is easier to understand the Dharma than in the impure realm in which we find ourselves and in which we often feel overwhelmed.» — Red Pine acota la posición de la Tierra Pura incluso en sus propios sutras, realidad provisional.

«My own feeling is that Sections 2-32 (or at least Sections 12-32) constitute Hui-neng’s teaching on one specific occasion and that the other sections, beginning with Section 33, were added later and based on his remarks on other occasions.» — Red Pine declara como sentimiento propio su hipótesis de que las secciones 2 a 32 son un solo sermón y el resto adiciones posteriores.

«However, among the many meanings attributed to muni, none is “purity.”» — Red Pine consigna que ninguna de las acepciones de muni es pureza, contra lo que el texto supone.

«This mountain is countless leagues high and is the center of every world and is a metaphor for the self.» — Red Pine glosa el Monte Sumeru como metáfora del yo.

«These include delusion, desire, and anger, which are the driving forces of the Wheel of Rebirth and its Six States of Existence.» — y enumera los Tres Venenos como motores de la Rueda del Renacimiento.

«As the Buddha says in the Vimalakirti Sutra (1): “As you purify your mind, your buddhaland is purified.”» — Red Pine cita el Vimalakirti sobre la purificación de la mente y la de la tierra búdica.

«If we wish to help others, we need to help ourselves first.» — y saca la consecuencia práctica.

«When we finally understand it, it appears direct because it has been right in front of us.» — Red Pine hace depender lo directo y lo indirecto del entendimiento del que escucha, con sus dos mitades.

«Concerning the Way, Confucius had this to say, “The Way is what you can never leave.» — Red Pine cita a Confucio sobre la Vía que no se puede dejar.

«These words were spoken thirteen hundred years ago, but they are still fresh today.» — Red Pine data en mil trescientos años las palabras que comenta y las declara vigentes.

«Exactly when this section and those that follow were added will likely never be known.» — Red Pine declara que nunca se sabrá cuándo se añadieron esta sección y las siguientes.

«Certainly it was sometime before the edition that found its way to Tunhuang was made, which was probably around 780 and no later than 801.» — y acota el rango, antes de la edición que llegó a Tunhuang, hacia 780 y no después de 801.

«But lost in the debate over whether or not this was part of the original text is the remark here that Hui-neng transmitted this sutra as his yi-yueh: “testament,” which would place its composition during his lifetime.» — Red Pine señala el término testamento que el propio texto usa y lo que implicaría para su fecha.

«Despite the exclusivity claimed here for this text, to paraphrase Hui-neng, there are not two kinds of Dharma.» — Red Pine objeta la exclusividad que el texto se arroga con una paráfrasis del propio Hui-neng.

«But no single teaching is inherently better than other teachings, just as no medicine is a panacea.» — y la desarrolla con el símil de la medicina que no es panacea.

«But sooner or later, we all need a dose of this direct teaching, whether it’s administered by Hui-neng or someone else, simply because it deals with the root of all diseases, our refusal to face ourselves.» — Red Pine cierra con lo que le parece la raíz de todas las enfermedades, negarse a mirarse a uno mismo.

«And the reason the teaching of Shen-hsiu was called “indirect” was because the people he taught were slow.» — Red Pine reporta la explicación que el texto da del calificativo indirecto para Shen-hsiu.

«if this was the case, then there was nothing inherently direct or indirect about the teaching of these two men and the schools that claimed them for their founders.» — y la consecuencia que de ahí saca, que nada hay de intrínsecamente directo ni indirecto en las dos enseñanzas.

«The implication is that Hui-neng was simply luckier than Shen-hsiu in having quicker students.» — con la implicación sobre la suerte de Hui-neng en sus estudiantes.

«However, according to the temple’s own records, Shen-hsiu did not live there.» — Red Pine contrapone a la afirmación del texto los propios registros del templo Yuchuan sobre Shen-hsiu.

«I think it was more likely that Shen-hsiu’s name was linked with the North because he was a northerner from Kaifeng and because he spent his final years (700-706) lecturing to audiences in the capitals of Loyang and Ch’ang-an.» — Red Pine ofrece su propia explicación del vínculo de Shen-hsiu con el Norte, su origen en Kaifeng y sus últimos años en las capitales.

«I only mention this because I think it adds weight to the traditional attribution of editorship of this sutra to Fa-hai, rather than to Shen-hui and his disciples, who were from the North and who would have never mistaken the location of Yuchuan Temple as in North China.» — y usa ese error de localización como argumento a favor de la atribución tradicional de la edición a Fa-hai antes que a Shen-hui.

«This series, which runs through Section 44, begins with Chih-ch’eng because it allows the editor to contrast the teaching of Hui-neng with that of Shen-hsiu.» — Red Pine explica el orden de la serie de discípulos por lo que permite contrastar.

«If one of the two isn’t up to the task, no teaching or learning can take place.» — Red Pine pone la condición doble de toda enseñanza, que ambos estén a la altura.

«The only difference is that the Chuantenglu says that after this encounter, Chih-ch’eng left to report back to Shen-hsiu but vowed to return.» — Red Pine consigna la variante del Chuantenglu sobre el retorno prometido de Chih-ch'eng.

«This sort of inconsistency suggests that whoever added this section, and perhaps the remaining sections of this series, was not from this part of China.» — y deduce de una inconsistencia que quien añadió la sección no era de esa región de China.

«The mind that is afflicted and the mind that is enlightened are the same mind, our original mind, the mind we can’t leave, and the mind that can’t leave us.» — Red Pine iguala la mente afligida y la iluminada en la mente original.

«The only thing that changes is our awareness of the true nature of our affliction, which is no different from the true nature of enlightenment.» — y precisa qué es lo único que cambia.

«Although Shen-hsiu’s followers often criticized the patriarch of the Southern School for being illiterate and for not having any great abilities, Shen-hsiu told them, ‘He has attained the wisdom that has no teacher, and he has a deep understanding of the Supreme Vehicle.» — Red Pine cita lo que el propio Shen-hsiu dijo de Hui-neng a sus seguidores, sabiduría sin maestro.

«I regret not being able to make the long trip to see him and feel embarrassed at receiving the court’s favor.» — y el pesar que ahí expresa.

«It sounds like Hui-neng is being boastful, but he is just being his usual straightforward self.» — Red Pine desactiva la lectura jactanciosa de Hui-neng con su carácter directo.

«But it is really the basis for all of Hui-neng’s teachings.» — y hace de la unidad de moralidad, meditación y sabiduría la base de toda su enseñanza.

«Stopping the mind and meditating on stillness are a disease, not Zen!» — del material traducido, el juicio sobre parar la mente y meditar en la quietud.

«If you want to use a sutra in your practice, it isn’t like picking up an ordinary book.» — Red Pine advierte lo que exige usar un sutra en la práctica.

«Thus, Hui-neng clears the rubble from Fa-ta’s path and ours as well: Our mind is the One Buddha Vehicle.» — Red Pine formula la salida que Hui-neng da a Fa-ta, la mente como Vehículo del Buda Único.

«Chih-yi, the founder of the Tientai sect, considered the Lotus to be the final and most perfect teaching of the Buddha.» — Red Pine consigna qué lugar daba Chih-yi, fundador de la Tientai, al Sutra del Loto.

«Like the Nirvana Sutra, it focuses its teaching on the buddha nature possessed by all beings, but it does so in a much more exuberant, all-encompassing manner.» — y lo compara con el Sutra del Nirvana por el modo y no por el tema.

«The Master said, ‘Even if you recited it ten thousand times and finally discovered the meaning of the sutra, only if you didn’t consider this a great accomplishment would you walk the same path as me.» — del pasaje traducido, la condición que Hui-neng pone a las diez mil recitaciones.

«The greatest of all causes is the appearance of our own minds.» — Red Pine reduce la causa mayor a la aparición de la propia mente.

«Ten Good Deeds. These are defined as the non-committal of the Ten Evil Deeds.» — Red Pine glosa las Diez Buenas Acciones por negación de las Diez Malas.

«When the audience heard this. To this, the Tsungpao edition adds: “They saw their natures completely.” Dharma Realm. This is a Buddhist term (dharma-dhatu) for the world of dharmas, or constituents of the mind, as opposed to the world of objects. Thus, it is often used as a synonym for “reality.”» — Red Pine registra la adición de la Tsungpao a la reacción del público y glosa el Reino del Dharma como mundo de constituyentes de la mente.

«broken up and its various parts placed at the ends of Chapters Two, Three, and Six in the Tsungpao edition and after Sections 33 and 36 in this edition.» — la nota textual de Red Pine sobre el reparto de esta sección entre capítulos distintos en la Tsungpao; el tramo arranca a media frase porque el comienzo queda en la plana anterior.

«This entire series is rendered as a non-rhyming five-line poem in the Tsungpao edition, which then adds these two lines: “Not increasing or decreasing, basically indestructible / whether coming or going always in samadhi.” The Tsungpao edition also adds a rhyming response by Chih-ch’eng, of which Hui-neng approves: “The skandhas form an illusory body / and how can an illusion last / now that I’ve returned to true suchness / let dharmas remain impure.”» — Red Pine consigna la forma del pasaje en la Tsungpao y traduce los dos versos y la respuesta de Chih-ch'eng que esa edición añade.

«Forever free of attributes. After this, the Tsungpao edition adds: “free and independent with everything at our command.”» — otra adición de la Tsungpao que Red Pine registra y traduce.

«One Buddha Vehicle. This refers to the inclusion of all the Buddha’s teachings in one vehicle. In the Lotus Sutra, this is represented by the metaphor of the cart drawn by a white ox.» — Red Pine glosa el Vehículo del Buda Único con la metáfora del carro del buey blanco del Sutra del Loto.

«All buddhas and bhagavans only appear in the world as a result of the greatest of all causes. (This quote is the true teaching.) This line is quoted from the Lotus Sutra (2).» — Red Pine señala que el paréntesis del sutra aparece en todas las ediciones y lo lee como una nota marginal de una copia temprana conservada por los copistas; los paréntesis van dentro del verbatim.

«But it was this that caused the Bhagavan to rise up from samadhi (ed. at Bodh Gaya) and to use every kind of exhortation to make others stop and not seek outside themselves but realize that they are no different from buddhas.» — del pasaje Tsungpao que Red Pine traduce, con su acotación editorial entre paréntesis sobre Bodh Gaya.

«To develop the understanding of a buddha is to transcend the world (ed. In this case, ch’u-shih does not mean “to appear in the world”).» — y la nota entre paréntesis con que Red Pine acota el sentido de ch'u-shih dentro del propio verbatim.

«If you only work hard and think you are doing something, you’re no different from an ox in love with its tail.» — el símil del buey enamorado de su cola, en el material traducido.

«If you recite it with your mouth but don’t practice it with your mind, you are recited by the sutra.» — y la inversión final, ser recitado por el sutra.

«Four Vehicles. The teaching of the Four Vehicles in the Lotus Sutra (3) became a basic part of the Tientai teaching, which saw the teaching of the Small, Middle, and Great Vehicles as provisional teachings that prepare practitioners for the Ekayana, or One Vehicle.» — Red Pine sitúa la doctrina de los Cuatro Vehículos en la Tientai como enseñanzas provisionales para el Ekayana.

«Supreme Vehicle. In the Lotus Sutra, this is called the One Vehicle or the Buddha Vehicle. As Hui-neng notes at the end of this section, it doesn’t refer to anything or mean anything.» — Red Pine consigna que el propio Hui-neng dice al final de la sección que el Vehículo Supremo no remite a nada.

«Small Vehicle. Shravakas, or followers of the Hinayana path, observe what a buddha does and listen to what a buddha says, and they read and recite the words left behind by a buddha. But they fail to observe or listen to their own minds, much less depend on their own words.» — Red Pine glosa el Vehículo Pequeño y dice en qué fallan los shravakas.

«Middle Vehicle. Pratyeka-buddhas, or followers of the Madhyayana path, analyze the mind into its constituent dharmas and consider their nature and relationships. But they fail to see the forest for the trees, much less see the mountain.» — el Vehículo Medio, con el refrán del bosque y los árboles.

«Great Vehicle. Bodhisattvas, or followers of the Mahayana path, put the teachings of buddhas into practice. But they tend to follow the footsteps of others and fail to establish their own path. Hence, they do not necessarily acknowledge, much less see, their own nature.» — y el Vehículo Grande, con lo que a los bodisatvas les falta.

«Avoiding nothing except the attributes of dharmas. The expression fa-hsiang: “attributes of dharmas” is a Chinese translation of the Sanskrit dharma-lakshana and refers to the analysis of mind in discrete entities. This was the major focus of the Fahsiang/Dharma-lakshana School, founded by Hsuan-tsang and his Korean disciple, Wonchuk, which advocated the contemplation of dharmas, both as to their nature and their attributes.» — Red Pine rastrea fa-hsiang hasta la escuela Fahsiang fundada por Hsuan-tsang y su discípulo coreano Wonchuk.

«Don’t ask me. Where’s that pot of tea when you need it? In the Tsungpao edition, Hui-neng continues, “‘At all times, your own nature is reality itself.’» — Red Pine mete una broma propia en la glosa y traduce lo que la Tsungpao añade.

«It’s ironic that this first recorded Zen exchange, and the only one in this sutra, involves a thirteen-year-old boy.» — Red Pine señala la ironía del primer intercambio zen registrado, con un muchacho de trece años.

«But the basic theme has now been established, which is that of Hui-neng’s role as a transmitter of Zen, not only to an audience numbering in the thousands, but to an audience of one.» — Red Pine fija el tema del bloque, Hui-neng transmitiendo a una audiencia de uno.

«The date of his birth remains a moot point.» — Red Pine deja sin resolver la fecha de nacimiento de Shen-hui.

«After Huineng’s death in 713, Shen-hui moved to Nanyang and stayed there for a number of years, then moved to the capital of Loyang to promote Hui-neng as the true heir of the Fifth Patriarch.» — Red Pine traza el itinerario de Shen-hui tras la muerte de Hui-neng, hasta Loyang para promoverlo como heredero verdadero.

«He was subsequently banished but later rehabilitated, and he ended his days in the highest imperial esteem.» — con su destierro y su rehabilitación.

«It was Shen-hui who came up with the idea of a Northern School of Zen, whose patriarch was Shen-hsiu and whose teaching promoted indirect understanding by stages, and a Southern School of Zen, whose patriarch was Hui-neng and whose teaching advocated direct understanding.» — Red Pine adjudica a Shen-hui la invención misma del par Escuela del Norte y Escuela del Sur.

«Shen-hui said, ‘Because what belongs to me is non-attachment, what I see is the owner.’» — del material traducido, la respuesta de Shen-hui sobre el no apego.

«The Master said, ‘What is this novice doing trading barbs with me?’”» — y la réplica del maestro.

«The Master said, ‘I told you it has no name or identity. But you’ve used the names “origin”» — el maestro objeta a Shen-hui haberle puesto nombre a lo que dijo no tenerlo.

«Many commentators have been mystified by the inclusion of this and the following section and have suggested that they don’t belong in a Zen text.» — Red Pine consigna que muchos comentaristas ven ajenas al Zen las secciones de las Tres Clasificaciones.

«But during Hui-neng’s day, Zen had not yet cut itself off from the use of what were still considered the standard approaches to the analysis of the mind.» — y da su razón para conservarlas, que en tiempos de Hui-neng el Zen no se había separado de esos análisis.

«It’s important to keep in mind that each was designed to deal with a different kind of psychological impasse.» — Red Pine fija el criterio de lectura de los esquemas, cada uno para un atolladero psicológico distinto.

«The scheme of the Five Skandhas was intended for people whose view of reality and whose questions concerning their place in it stressed the mind as opposed to matter, as four of the five categories concern what we think of as our internal world.» — el esquema de los Cinco Skandhas y su destinatario.

«The Twelve Ayatanas were for those whose existential dilemma involved the external world, with which ten of its twelve categories are concerned.» — los Doce Ayatanas y el suyo.

«And the Eighteen Dhatus were for those concerned about both, as ten of its categories concern the external world and eight concern the internal world.» — y los Dieciocho Dhatus, con el reparto de categorías.

«All three were derived from an earlier Indian scheme that divided our awareness into an inside and an outside (nama-rupa).» — Red Pine hace derivar los tres de un esquema indio anterior, nama-rupa.

«When the next thought doesn’t appear, that is the mind. When the last thought doesn’t disappear, that is the Buddha.» — del material traducido, la definición de mente y Buda por el pensamiento que no aparece y el que no desaparece.

«But when he entered Hui-neng’s chamber, his sword failed to leave a mark on Hui-neng, much less draw blood.» — del mismo material, la espada que no deja marca en Hui-neng.

«Respond to your senses without giving rise to thoughts about responding.» — la instrucción de responder a los sentidos sin pensamientos sobre responder.

«By calling it “dharma nature,” Hui-neng emphasizes its function as the source of all dharmas.» — Red Pine explica por qué Hui-neng la llama naturaleza dhármica.

«But he presents his alternative system in pairs so that those who use them will avoid stressing any one word (and the concept that goes with it) without also acknowledging its relationship with its opposite.» — Red Pine explica la forma en pares del sistema de Hui-neng como guarda contra el énfasis en una sola palabra.

«Also noteworthy is Hui-neng’s critique of those who think the Dharma, especially the teaching of Zen, has nothing to do with words.» — Red Pine señala la crítica de Hui-neng a quienes creen que el Zen no tiene que ver con las palabras.

«And they rely on words because our suffering is so intimately connected with words.» — y liga la dependencia de las palabras al sufrimiento.

«Of course, this makes twenty pairs, but apparently the editor wasn’t counting.» — Red Pine cuenta los pares y consigna que no cuadran con la cifra que el texto declara.

«Neither I nor any other buddha or bodhisattva utters a single word.» — Red Pine cita el Lankavatara, donde el Buda niega pronunciar una sola palabra.

«Mahamati, fearless bodhisattvas depend on meaning and not on words.» — y la instrucción a Mahamati sobre depender del significado y no de las palabras.

«If we read this section literally, it suggests that the compilation of this text, or at least an earlier version of it, might have even taken place during Hui-neng’s lifetime and that he then authenticated it and handed it back to those who had contributed» — Red Pine ofrece una lectura literal de la sección que pondría la compilación en vida de Hui-neng.

«Also worth noting in this section is that the transmission of Huineng’s teaching is connected to a text and not simply to the wordless, mind-to-mind instruction that Zen would later become famous for.» — y consigna que aquí la transmisión va atada a un texto y no a la instrucción sin palabras por la que el Zen se haría famoso.

«As stated elsewhere, Hui-neng’s basic principle is to know your mind and to see your nature.» — Red Pine repite el principio rector que atribuye a Hui-neng.

«—the Diamond Sutra—did not appear until 868.» — Red Pine data en 868 la aparición del primer libro impreso, el Sutra del Diamante, para explicar cómo circulaba este texto.

«But it was a process that allowed those who were passing it on to examine and authenticate the understanding of those to whom they gave it.» — y lo que ese modo de copia permitía a quien transmitía.

«Nowadays, there are no such restrictions on the transmission of this text.» — Red Pine consigna que hoy no hay restricción alguna sobre la transmisión del texto.

«Anyone can have Hui-neng for their teacher.» — con la consecuencia.

«It is not uncommon for people in close touch with the karmic forces that keep them alive to have a premonition of when those forces will dissipate and their lives end.» — Red Pine explica la premonición de la muerte por el contacto con las fuerzas kármicas, y lo dice como cosa no rara.

«As for where he is going, in the Diamond Sutra (29), the Buddha tells Subhuti, “Those who are called tathagatas do not go anywhere, nor do they come from anywhere.» — Red Pine cita el Sutra del Diamante sobre los tathagatas que no van ni vienen.

«Nirvana was the term used by Buddhists for that state where karma and the passion that gives rise to it come to an end.» — Red Pine define nirvana por el fin del karma y de la pasión.

«The use of this term here was probably part of the effort by Hui-neng’s disciples, or the editor of this text, to elevate their teacher to the status of a buddha.» — y lee el uso del término aquí como parte del esfuerzo por elevar al maestro a la condición de buda.

«This is why meditation is always paired with wisdom, and why wisdom is always coupled with compassion.» — Red Pine encadena meditación con sabiduría y sabiduría con compasión.

«Tsungpao edition, where it follows a short section involving the editor, Fa-hai, which is absent in both Tunhuang copies. Readers can find a translation of this missing text in the Appendix.» — la nota textual de Red Pine que remite al apéndice la sección sobre Fa-hai ausente en las dos copias de Tunhuang; el tramo arranca a media frase porque el comienzo queda en la plana anterior.

«Textual note: This section appears in Chapter Seven of the Tsungpao edition, where it follows the preceding section, but only after two intervening sections not present in either Tunhuang edition. The first involves Chih-t’ung, and the second is another incident involving Chih-ch’ang. Also, following Section 43, there is a long series of additional sections in the Tsungpao edition absent in both Tunhuang editions involving the disciples Chih-tao, Hsing-ssu, Huai-jang, Hsuan-chiao, Chih-huang, Fang-pien, and an unnamed monk. I have included a translation of these missing materials in the Appendix.» — la nota textual con que Red Pine enumera las secciones de discípulos que solo trae la Tsungpao y anuncia su traducción en el apéndice.

«These three sets of six make eighteen. After this line, the Tsungpao edition adds: “They all derive their use from our nature.” Textual note: This section appears at the beginning of Chapter Ten in the Tsungpao edition.» — Red Pine registra la frase que la Tsungpao añade tras los dieciocho y sitúa la sección al principio de su capítulo diez.

«If you have to argue to convince others of the truth of this teaching, they aren’t ready to learn, and you aren’t ready to teach.» — Red Pine convierte la necesidad de discutir en diagnóstico sobre los dos lados.

«When the Fifth Patriarch prepared to choose a successor, he commissioned a mural of himself and his predecessors transmitting the Dharma.» — Red Pine liga los cantos de los patriarcas al mural que el Quinto Patriarca encargó al elegir sucesor.

«It should be noted that these verses also form a major focus of the Paolinchuan, which was compiled in 801, if not before, by the monk Chih-chu at Paolin Temple south of Shaokuan, where Huineng lived for many years and where his body is still kept today.» — Red Pine data el Paolinchuan en 801 o antes y lo atribuye al monje Chih-chu del templo Paolin, donde el cuerpo de Hui-neng se conserva.

«But more than twenty years. This clearly refers to Shen-hui, who leveled a series of critiques against the followers of Shen-hsiu twenty years after Hui-neng’s death.» — Red Pine identifica a Shen-hui con la profecía de los veinte años y data sus críticas a los seguidores de Shen-hsiu.

«However, since Shen-hui was banished in 743, perhaps the reference to the danger of such advocacy is also being referred to here.» — y ofrece, marcada como conjetura, una lectura del peligro anunciado a partir del destierro de 743.

«The Song of the Fifth Patriarch. Not only do flowers need a place to grow, and not only must their seeds possess the ability to grow, and not only must conditions support their growth, someone has to plant them. It’s up to us to practice.» — Red Pine cierra la serie de los cantos con lo que falta en la metáfora de la semilla, alguien que la plante.

«All editions of this text have minor variations in the list of Indian patriarchs.» — Red Pine consigna que todas las ediciones varían en la lista de patriarcas indios.

«Exactly where the concept of an Indian lineage of Zen masters came from and when it first appeared in China are a matter of conjecture.» — y declara conjetural el origen de la propia idea de un linaje indio de maestros zen.

«It may seem a bit odd, this emphasis on the list of people who transmitted the direct teaching whereby we see our nature and become buddhas.» — Red Pine se hace cargo de lo extraño que resulta el énfasis en la lista de transmisores.

«The identity of the man listed as number thirty-two is unknown.» — Red Pine declara desconocida la identidad del trigésimo segundo de la lista.

«The buddha dwells in a being’s mind,” which is not supported by any other edition.» — Red Pine consigna una variante que ninguna otra edición sostiene.

«Bodhidharma put it this way: “Beyond this mind you’ll never find another buddha» — Red Pine cita a Bodhidharma sobre el buda que no se halla más allá de esta mente.

«Seeing the Real Buddha. The Chinese word chien: “seeing” does not appear in the Tunhuang Cave edition, but it is in the Tunhuang Museum edition, and it is also part of Hui-neng’s explanation of the title» — Red Pine consigna que el chien del título falta en la edición de la cueva y está en la del museo.

«And the meditation hall is the center around which every Zen monastery and nunnery rise and fall.» — Red Pine hace del salón de meditación el centro de todo monasterio y convento zen.

«The third watch extended from eleven P.M. to one A.M.» — Red Pine fija el horario de la tercera vigilia.

«Although the original stele disappeared, it has been replaced by copies.» — Red Pine consigna que la estela original desapareció y fue reemplazada por copias.

«Their use of glazed pottery urns dates back to before the T’ang, and these same urns can still be seen in China today.» — y data el uso de urnas de cerámica vidriada antes de los T'ang.

«However, I have been unable to find any information about either Tao-chi or Wu-chen.» — Red Pine declara no haber encontrado información sobre Tao-chi ni Wu-chen.

«The use of this term here suggests that this section was added by someone who was not from Lingnan.» — y deduce del uso de un término que la sección la añadió alguien de fuera de Lingnan.

«The language here suggests that this section was written at least several decades after the main body of the text, when it might have seemed worth noting that people still upheld its teaching.» — Red Pine data la sección varias décadas después del cuerpo principal por el giro del lenguaje.

«It is worth noting that the language and style in this final section reflect a hackneyed attempt at literary refinement by someone not quite up to the task.» — Red Pine juzga el estilo de la sección final como intento manido de refinamiento literario.

«Bodhidharma did not transmit this teaching to Hui-k’o until he was certain Hui-k’o was ready to receive it.» — Red Pine recuerda que Bodhidharma esperó a que Hui-k'o estuviera listo antes de transmitirle.

«Although his dates are unknown, he was among the disciples present when Hui-neng died in 713, and he probably lived another decade or so.» — Red Pine declara desconocidas las fechas de Fa-hai y lo sitúa entre los presentes a la muerte de Hui-neng en 713.

«This final section is the work of the earliest known editor, Fa-hai, who refers to himself in the first line.» — Red Pine adjudica la sección final a Fa-hai, el editor más antiguo conocido, que se nombra a sí mismo en su primera línea.

«Textual note: This section appears in Chapter Ten of the Tsungpao edition, where the first part follows Section 48, but the second part, which includes only the first poem, follows Section 47.» — la nota textual con que Red Pine reparte esta sección entre dos lugares del capítulo diez de la Tsungpao.

«Mara. This word comes from the Sanskrit root mri: “death.” However, it does not refer to an Overlord of the Underworld, but rather to a demon who seeks to dissuade spiritual practitioners from their path. Hence, the King of Maras is not unlike the Christian concept of the Devil.» — Red Pine glosa mara por su raíz sánscrita y descarta la lectura de señor del inframundo, con una equivalencia cristiana propuesta por él.

«Three bodies. From Hui-neng’s commentary on the Diamond Sutra, we can see how important this concept of the tri-kaya, or “three bodies,” was to his own understanding of enlightenment. The three bodies of every buddha include the sanbogha-kaya, or body of realization (here: future and perfect body), the nirmana-kaya, or body of manifestation (here: transformation body), and the dharma-kaya, or body of reality. The body of reality is what we realize when we realize the truth. The experience of this realization is the body of realization. The manifestation of this realization is the body of manifestation.» — Red Pine reparte los tres cuerpos y consigna entre paréntesis los términos con que él mismo los tradujo en el texto.

«Textual note: This section is missing in the Tsungpao edition.» — la nota textual con que se cierra el comentario del volumen: la sección 57 falta en la Tsungpao.

«There is no pure body in the absence of defilement. In the Tsungpao edition, the meaning here is inverted: “In the absence of defilement there is purity.”» — Red Pine consigna que la Tsungpao invierte el sentido del verso sobre la pureza y la contaminación.

«Appendix I. Additional Text Preceding and following Sections 42 and 43, there is a series of conversations present in Chapter Seven of the Tsungpao edition but absent in both Tunhuang copies. These conversations are between Hui-neng and his disciples Chih-t’ung, Chih-ch’ang, Chih-tao, Hsing-ssu, Huai-jang, Hsuan-chiao, Chih-huang, Fang-pien, and two unnamed monks. I have translated them below in the order in which they appear.» — la cabecera del apéndice, donde Red Pine declara qué traduce ahí: las conversaciones del capítulo siete de la Tsungpao ausentes en las dos copias de Tunhuang, con los discípulos nombrados uno por uno.

«1. Fa-hai. “The monk Fa-hai (ed. the editor of this text) was a native of Shaochou’s Chuchiang County. During his first audience with the Master, he asked, ‘Could you please explain the meaning of “This mind is the Buddha”?’» — el primer diálogo del apéndice, con la acotación editorial de Red Pine que identifica a Fa-hai como el editor del texto.

«The Master said, ‘As for the Three Bodies, the Pure Dharma Body is your nature, the Perfect Realization Body is what you know, and the Myriadfold Transformation Body is what you do.» — del apéndice, en la voz de Hui-neng traducida por Red Pine: el reparto de los Tres Cuerpos entre lo que uno es, lo que sabe y lo que hace.

«To talk about the Three Bodies apart from your own nature would be to have bodies without knowledge.» — y la advertencia de no separarlos de la propia naturaleza.

«To talk about the Four Kinds of Knowledge apart from the Three Bodies would be to have knowledge without a body, which would be to turn this knowledge into no knowledge.» — la simetría inversa sobre los Cuatro Conocimientos.

«in the midst of chaos, you’re always in samadhi.» — del gatha de esa conversación, el samadhi en medio del caos.

«Your original nature is just like space.» — la respuesta a Chih-ch'ang, la naturaleza original como el espacio.

«When there is nothing at all you can see, this is true seeing.» — y la definición de la visión verdadera por lo que no hay que ver.

«He said, ‘All beings have two bodies, namely a physical body and a dharma body.» — de la conversación con Chih-tao, la partición de todo ser en cuerpo físico y cuerpo dhármico.

«And if it’s the dharma body that enters nirvana, then it would be the same as a stick or a rock.» — y la objeción que el discípulo saca de ahí sobre el nirvana.

«The Master said, ‘You’re a follower of the Buddha. Why then do you use the mistaken views of permanence and impermanence of other sects and criticize the Dharma of the Supreme Vehicle?» — la réplica del maestro, que acusa al discípulo de usar visiones ajenas contra el Dharma del Vehículo Supremo.

«But although it is right here, there is no concept of it being here, which is why it is called everlasting bliss.» — y la fórmula con que resuelve la felicidad eterna, presente sin concepto de estarlo.

«This bliss is not experienced by anyone, nor is it not experienced by anyone.» — con la paradoja que la cierra.

«who see all material forms outside every sound and every noise are equally dreams and illusions» — del gatha traducido en el apéndice, las formas materiales y los sonidos como sueños e ilusiones.

«the kalpa-ending fire can burn up the ocean the wind can beat down the mountains» — y la imagen del fuego que acaba el kalpa.

«Prajnatara of India (ed. the teacher of Bodhidharma) prophesied, “From below your feet, a colt will leap forth and trample everyone in the world to death.”» — del diálogo con Huai-jang, la profecía de Prajnatara con la acotación editorial de Red Pine que lo identifica como maestro de Bodhidharma.

«The Master said, ‘A monk is capable of three thousand modes of deportment and eighty thousand ways of behaving. But where, sir, do you get such arrogance?’» — la réplica del maestro a Hsuan-chiao sobre los modos de deportamiento del monje.

«Hsuan-ts’e said, ‘Before the time of the first buddha, this was possible. But since the time of the first buddha, those who have experienced self-realization without a teacher have all been gifted followers of other paths.’» — del mismo diálogo, la objeción de Hsuan-ts'e a la autorrealización sin maestro.

«Hsuan-ts’e said, ‘What my Master says is that it is wonderfully clear and perfectly still; that our body and functions are reality itself; that the Five Skandhas are essentially empty, and the Six Realms of Sensation do not exist, and there is nothing to leave or enter, and nothing to calm or confuse; that the nature of Zen is no attachment and freedom from attachment to the stillness of Zen; that the nature of Zen is no birth and freedom from the thought of giving birth to Zen; that the mind is like space but without the conception of space.’» — y el resumen que Hsuan-ts'e da de la enseñanza de su maestro, con la naturaleza del Zen definida por el no apego.

«The Master turned serious and said, ‘Make a statue of me.’» — del diálogo con Fang-pien, la orden de hacer una estatua.

«You only understand the nature of statues. You don’t understand the nature of buddhas.’» — y el juicio del maestro sobre la estatua terminada.

«The Master said, ‘The sword of truth doesn’t err / the sword of falsehood isn’t true / I will give you money / but not my life.’» — del diálogo con el sicario, la cuarteta con que el maestro ofrece dinero y no su vida.

«The Master said, ‘What is impermanent is your buddha nature. What is permanent is the mind that discriminates all good and bad dharmas.’» — del diálogo con Hsing-ch'ang, la inversión de permanencia e impermanencia.

«The Master said, ‘I transmit the mind-seal of buddhas. How could I dare contradict the sutras of the Buddha?’» — y la defensa del maestro frente a la objeción de contradecir los sutras.

«The Master said, ‘Don’t you realize that if the buddha nature, much less any good or bad dharma you can name, is permanent, then between now and the end of the kalpa no one would be able to set their mind on enlightenment.» — el argumento del maestro contra la permanencia de la naturaleza búdica.

«You have been clinging to the words and turning your back on the meaning.» — el reproche que cierra el diálogo, aferrarse a las palabras y dar la espalda al sentido.

«The Master said, ‘Now you have reached the bottom and are well named Chih-ch’e (ed. Determined to Reach the Bottom).» — y el nuevo nombre que el maestro le da al discípulo, con la acotación editorial de Red Pine que lo traduce.

«The Master said, ‘The Way is realized by the mind. How could it depend on sitting?» — del decreto imperial y la entrevista con Hsueh Chien, la respuesta sobre la Vía que se realiza por la mente.

«The sutra (ed. This is paraphrased from the Diamond Sutra: 29) says, “To claim that the Tathagata sits or lies down is to travel the path of falsehood.”» — con la cita del sutra y la acotación de Red Pine que identifica la paráfrasis del Sutra del Diamante.

«II. Finding List The following list provides a cross-reference for the distribution of material in the Tsungpao edition (Chapters One through Ten) and the Tunhuang edition (Sections 1 through 57):» — la cabecera del apéndice II, la tabla de correspondencias entre la Tsungpao por capítulos y la Tunhuang por secciones.

«x: text absent in the Tunhuang edition, which I have translated in the commentary or textual notes. a: text absent in the Tunhuang edition, which I have translated in the Appendix.» — la clave de la tabla, donde Red Pine declara qué hizo con cada clase de texto ausente en Tunhuang.

«III. Names, Terms, Texts, and Places Where Chinese occurs in the following list, it is romanized according to the Wade-Giles system and not according to the pin-yin system (aka Mao’s revenge) currently in use in China. Exceptions to this include common usages, such as Beijing, or people, such as Yang Zengwen, whose names have become known in their pin-yin spelling. Also, the characters are those of traditional Chinese and not the simplified forms developed in China during the Cultural Revolution.» — la cabecera del apéndice III, donde Red Pine declara el sistema de romanización que usa, Wade-Giles y no pin-yin, con sus excepciones y el uso de caracteres tradicionales.

«‘The Master has declined our invitation on the grounds of illness. Cultivating the Way on our behalf, he is a field of blessing for the whole nation. Like Vimalakirti, who recuperated from illness in Vaisali (ed. a city in ancient India and the scene of the Vimalakirti Sutra), the Master propagates the Mahayana, transmits the mind of buddhas, and teaches the Dharma of Non-Duality.» — el edicto imperial con que cierra el apéndice I, traducido por Red Pine, con la acotación editorial sobre Vaisali dentro del verbatim; se cortó aquí porque la guarda anticosido rechazó el párrafo entero por su largo, releído en el crudo sin nota ni encabezado en medio.

«Hsueh Chien has transmitted the Master’s instructions and buddha knowledge. Because we have accumulated merit for many kalpas and have planted good roots in previous lives, we have encountered the Master in this life and have directly understood the Supreme Vehicle. In appreciation of the Master’s kindness, we bow to him without cease and present him with a precious robe and crystal begging bowl. And we order the magistrate of Shaochou to renovate his monastery, and we confer the name Kuo-en Temple on his former home.’”» — la segunda mitad del mismo edicto, con la donación del manto y el cuenco de cristal y el nombre Kuo-en dado a la casa natal.

«Note: Sections 38, 50, 55, 56, and 57 of the Tunhuang edition are absent from the» — la nota que cierra la tabla de correspondencias; el tramo se corta en el límite de plana, y la frase termina en la 192 con las palabras Tsungpao edition.

«IV. The Platform Sutra—Tunhuang Museum Text The following text of the Platform Sutra is the one found at Shangssu Temple in the Tunhuang Caves in 1935 by Ren Ziyi and edited by Yang Zengwen in 1993. I have noted any changes I have made in my commentary. All paragraph breaks are also mine and made to conform with my translation.» — la cabecera del apéndice IV, donde Red Pine declara qué copia china imprime, la hallada por Ren Ziyi en 1935 y editada por Yang Zengwen en 1993, y que los cambios y los cortes de párrafo son suyos.

«East Mountain Zen 東山禪 Eight Kinds of Consciousness 識 Eight Perversions 顛倒 Eight Winds 風 Eight Wrong Ways 邪道 Eighteen Dhatus 界 Eighteen Elements of Perception 界 Eightfold Noble Path 正道 Emperor Wu of Liang 梁武帝 emptiness 空 Empty-mind Zen 空禪» — una corrida del glosario del apéndice III: el Zen del Monte Oriental, las series numeradas de ocho y de dieciocho, el Óctuple Sendero y el Zen de mente vacía, cada entrada con su carácter chino.

«Hui-ming 惠明 Hui-neng 惠能 Hui-shun 惠順 Huihsin 惠昕 Hung-jen 弘忍» — la corrida del glosario con los nombres del relato, Hui-ming, Hui-neng, Hui-shun, Huihsin y Hung-jen, cada uno con su carácter.

«Records of Shen-hui 神會 錄 Red Pine 赤松 Ren Jiyu 任繼愈 Ren Ziyi 任子宜» — la entrada del glosario para el propio traductor, entre los Registros de Shen-hui y los eruditos Ren Jiyu y Ren Ziyi: el volumen lo registra como Red Pine con su carácter chino y no imprime en ninguna plana su nombre civil.

«chieh-t’an 戒壇 chien (indirect) 漸 chien (seeing) 見 chien-hsiu 漸修» — la corrida del glosario que reúne la plataforma de preceptos y los tres términos del par indirecto, chien de gradual, chien de ver y chien-hsiu de cultivo gradual, homófonos que el volumen desambigua entre paréntesis.

«dharma(s) 法 Dharma 法 Dharma Realm 法界 dharma body 法身 dharma-kaya 法身» — la corrida del glosario para la familia de dharma, con el mismo carácter para el término común y el propio y con el cuerpo dhármico repetido en dos entradas.

«Platform Sutra 壇經 Poyang Lake 鄱陽湖» — la entrada del glosario para el título del propio sutra, con el carácter de plataforma.

«Subhuti 須菩提 suchness 真如 Sui dynasty 隋紀 Sumeru 須彌 Sung dynasty 宋朝 Sung kao-seng-chuan 宋高僧傳 Supreme Mahayana 最上大乘» — una corrida del glosario con Subhuti, la talidad, las dinastías Sui y Sung y el Mahayana Supremo del título.

«wu-hsiang 無相 wu-nien 無念 wu-pien 無邊» — las tres consignas de la sección 17 en el glosario, sin forma, sin pensamiento y sin límite.

«Lotus Sutra 法華經 Loyang 洛陽 Lu Chen 盧珍 Lu Hsing-t’ao» — corrida del glosario con el Sutra del Loto, la capital Loyang, el pintor Lu Chen y el padre de Hui-neng.

«yung-tzu-chen-ju-hsing 用自真如性 Zen 禪 zen-na 禪那 Zhou Shaoliang» — la entrada del glosario que empareja Zen y zen-na con el mismo carácter que el volumen romaniza a la japonesa; es la muestra del criterio de romanización declarado en la cabecera del apéndice.

«buddhaland 佛土 Buddhist Canon Ch’an 禪 ch’an-ting 禪定» — la corrida del glosario donde aparece la forma mandarina del mismo carácter, Ch'an, junto a ch'an-ting; el volumen imprime las dos romanizaciones y no arbitra entre ellas.

«Fa-chen 法珍 Fa-hai 法海 fa-hsiang 法相» — la corrida del glosario con Fa-chen, Fa-hai y fa-hsiang, el término que el comentario adjudica a la escuela Fahsiang.

Cadena de transmisión (quién tomó de quién) — El sutra declara su propia cadena por los dos extremos: hacia atrás, desde los Siete Budas y por los patriarcas indios hasta Bodhidharma y los cinco chinos, con los cantos de transmisión de cada uno; hacia adelante, de Fa-hai a Tao-chi y de este a Wu-chen. El manto queda definido como encarnación de la confianza que pasa de una generación a la siguiente, mientras el Dharma se transmite de mente a mente; toda transmisión posterior exige testamento con lugar, fecha y nombres. Red Pine consigna que las listas de patriarcas indios varían en todas las ediciones y que el origen de la idea misma de un linaje indio es conjetural.

Iniciación (recepción por grados / metamorfosis del ser) — La escena entera es una ceremonia de transmisión: el Sexto Patriarca confiere los Preceptos Sin Forma desde una plataforma ante más de diez mil personas y hace recitar el refugio en el buda de tres cuerpos dentro del propio cuerpo material. El comentario de Red Pine data en el siglo V esas plataformas, explica que la recepción del manto y del Dharma equivalía a la designación de heredero, y consigna que en tiempos T'ang la transmisión de los preceptos laicos a multitudes servía también para reunir fondos.

Secreto (lo que se jura no fijar por escrito) — El texto fija a la vez el secreto y su negación: la transmisión ocurre en la tercera vigilia sin que nadie lo sepa, y el maestro disimula ante la comunidad; pero en el material que solo trae la recensión Tsungpao responde al perseguidor que lo que le ha enseñado no es un secreto y que, si reflexiona, hallará el secreto dentro de sí. La enseñanza se restringe además por decreto: no difundirla durante tres años, y no darla a quien sostenga otra visión.

Microcosmos (el hombre-mundo) — Hui-neng cumple la promesa de mostrar el Paraíso Occidental convirtiendo el cuerpo en ciudad: los cinco sentidos son sus puertas, la mente es el reino y la naturaleza propia es el rey, de modo que sin naturaleza no hay cuerpo ni mente. El mismo reparto pone al yo en el lugar del Monte Sumeru y a la mente engañada en el del océano con sus aflicciones.

Crítica de fuentes (criterios de inclusión y descarte) — El aparato moderno del volumen es una operación de crítica textual declarada: Red Pine elige la segunda copia de Tunhuang contra la recensión Tsungpao, marca sus propias enmiendas y supresiones, registra variante por variante lo que añaden o invierten las ediciones Huihsin, Chisung y Tsungpao, consigna las enmiendas de Suzuki, y reduce la discusión filológica a un esquema de dos pasos que declara insatisfactorio. La disputa sobre la autoría abierta por Hu Shih y el rechazo de Guo Peng, Ts'ai Nien-sheng y Yang Zengwen se consignan sin arbitrar.