A Phrase from Platform Sutra
(六祖壇經句)
70 X 31 cm in Standard Script (楷書)
Translation
Original Chinese
English Translation
一燈能除千年暗;
A single light can wipe out ten centuries of darkness,
一智能滅萬年愚.
A single Wisdom can eradicate ten millennia of foolishness.
(Translated by KS Vincent POON, April 2022, revised October 2023)
Background information
These words were spoken by the venerable Zen-Buddhist Sixth Patriarch Huineng (禪宗六祖惠能) and documented in the canonical Platform Sutra (六祖壇經).
"Wisdom (智, 般若, Prajñā)", according to Huineng, is inherent (1) and manifested when one recognizes the intrinsic "non-duality (不二/無二)" of all matter (2). "Non-duality" means the two sides of any contrasting pair (like "good" vs "evil", "tall" vs "short", "light" and "dark", etc.) actually do not exist, and so it is foolish to favour one side over the other (3,4). Huineng further elaborated that all such contrasting pairs are mere tools to facilitate human understanding. Ultimately, these tools should be let go once enlightened (5).
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1. 六祖云:「菩提般若之智, 世人本自有之.」見宗寶編 《六祖大師法寶壇經》. 臺北: 中華電子佛典協會(cbeta), https://cbetaonline.dila.edu.tw/T48n2008_p0350a11.
2. 佛言:「善根有二: 一者常, 二者無常, 佛性非常非無常, 是故不斷, 名為不二. 一者善, 二者不善, 佛性非善非不善, 是名不二. 蘊之與界, 凡夫見二, 智者了達其性無二, 無二之性即是佛性.」Ibid., https://cbetaonline.dila.edu.tw/T48n2008_p0349c26.
3: 六祖云:「 善惡雖殊, 本性無二, 無二之性, 名為實性. 於實性中, 不染善惡, 此名圓滿報身佛.」Ibid., https://cbetaonline.dila.edu.tw/T48n2008_p0354c10.
4: 六祖云:「明與無明, 凡夫見二; 智者了達，其性無二. 無二之性, 即是實性. 實性者, 處凡愚而不減, 在賢聖而不增, 住煩惱而不亂, 居禪定而不寂. 不斷不常, 不來不去, 不在中間及其內外, 不生不滅, 性相如如, 常住不遷, 名之曰道.」Ibid., https://cbetaonline.dila.edu.tw/T48n2008_p0360a04.
5. 六祖云:「天與地對, 日與月對, 明與暗對…長與短對, 邪與正對, 癡與慧對, 愚與智對…此三十六對法, 若解用即道, 貫一切經法, 出入即離兩邊. 自性動用, 共人言語, 外於相離相, 內於空離空. 若全著相, 即長邪見; 若全執空, 即長無明.」Ibid., https://cbetaonline.dila.edu.tw/T48n2008_p0360b09.
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