Many modern masters of Chinese culture advocate that young people should read the Analects; In middle age, you should read the Tao Te Ching; In his later years, he should read the "Sutra of the Altar of the Six Ancestors". But I think that "The Sutra of the Altar of the Six Patriarchs" is a classic of Chinese Buddhism, and it is also a treatise on Chinese psychology, which can be read at any period of life. Professor Wang Defeng, the prince of philosophy at Fudan University, once said that when his son asked him what he wanted to read, he told his son: "Then read the "Altar Classic", if you don't have so much time, you should read "The First in Xing Youpin" first." Unexpectedly, it was the "Six Ancestors Altar Sutra" that changed his son's life.
The "Sutra of the Altar of the Six Patriarchs" says: "What its own nature, it is pure and pure; How self-natured, it does not give birth to and perish; What a self-nature, this is self-sufficient; How self-natured, unshakable; What a self-nature, it can give birth to ten thousand laws. "If we can understand our own nature and seek inwardly, we can embark on the sunny road of life.
What a self-nature, self-purity. Self-nature is the true nature of human beings, also called Tao heart and Buddha heart. The heart of man is pure and unpolluted, just as the unborn child is white and blemish. Therefore, Lao Tzu said in the Tao Te Ching: "To the extreme, keep quiet, can be like a baby." "People are influenced by various external environments in society after birth, and they are influenced by the good, and their hearts are good; Under the influence of evil, people's hearts turn to evil, so that there is a distinction between good and evil in people's hearts. "Caigen Tan" said: "The world is shallow, and the dyeing is also shallow; The history is deep, and so is the machinery. That's exactly what I mean. There is no good or evil in the human heart, it is the body of the heart; The human heart has good and evil, and it is the use of the heart. The Tao Te Ching says: "The saint is unkind." "Dacheng is holy, has a Taoist heart, has no benevolence in his heart, and there is no benevolence, this is "what his own nature, this is self-purity".
What its own nature is, it is not born and destroyed. The Tao Te Ching says: "Heaven and earth are long, so that heaven and earth can last and last, because they do not generate themselves, so they can live forever." "The reason why heaven and earth can last so long is that heaven and earth give birth to all things, and do not use all things to grow themselves, so they can be eternal. Heaven and earth have virtue, giving all things sunshine, air, water, fertilizer and other "necessities" for growth, but not asking for a little bit from all things for their own growth, that is to say, only for all things not for themselves, this is heaven and earth "with its own self-generated", so heaven and earth can last for a long time. Just as the water benefits all things without taking anything from them, water energy has a long history and will never be exhausted. On the other hand, everything in the world is always demanding, just for self-generation, so all of them are self-sustaining, and none of them are immortal. This is true of heaven and earth, and so is human nature. If a person has no desires and no desires, and is dedicated to benefiting others and not benefiting himself, then the human heart is not self-generated, so it can live forever, which is the Tao heart. The human heart is self-extinguished, and the Dao heart is immortal. "What its own nature is, it is not born and destroyed", that is, the Tao heart is not born and does not perish.
What a self-nature, this is self-sufficient. A Buddha is an enlightened person; Human beings are unenlightened Buddhas. Everyone is a bodhisattva and has a Buddha heart, which is "what self-nature, self-sufficient". It's just that people's Buddha minds are blinded by the world. The true nature of human beings is obscured by the "five poisonous hearts" of Buddhism's greed, hatred, ignorance, slowness, and suspicion, and they cannot see their nature clearly. Therefore, the "Book of Shang" says: "The human heart is in danger, and the Taoist heart is only small." "Everyone has a Dao mind, and the Dao mind is also self-nature, and self-nature is sufficient.
What a self-nature, this is unshakable. Man's true heart is as if it were not moving. "Unshakable" is what Buddhism calls "always silent light". Constant, that is, eternal; Silence is silence; Light is the clarity of the mind. The true nature of human beings is immovable, just because the six roots touch the six dusts, and the heart is moved, and the heart is moved to become the human heart. The heart of the Tao does not move, and the heart of the person moves in vain.
What a self-nature, it can give birth to ten thousand laws. The Huayan Sutra says: "We should contemplate the Dharma realm, and all things should be created by idealism." "When the mind is born, all kinds of laws are born, and when the heart is destroyed, all kinds of laws are destroyed. What we see is the shadow of all things reflected in the heart, and all things are born from the heart. If we don't have the heart to do it, we can turn a blind eye and turn a deaf ear. "The Altar of the Six Patriarchs" records that when the six ancestors Hui Neng first arrived at Guangxiao Temple, he happened to meet two monks arguing fiercely about the fluttering prayer flags, one said that it was the wind, and the other said that it was the flags. "It is the heart's motivation that makes the difference between the wind and the flag; If the heart is still, how can there be wind and flags?
The Sixth Ancestor Hui Neng said: "All blessings are not far from the square inch; Looking for it from the heart, the feeling is all-incomprehensible. "The heart of Fang Cun is self-nature. Wang Yangming Longchang realized: "I am self-sufficient, and I don't seek anything else." "Knowing one's own nature and seeking inward is the sunny road of life.