菩提達摩祖師來中國
The Patriarch Bodhidharma”s Advent in China
一華開五葉，結果自然成。
One flower blossoms with five petals, and the fruit will come ripe all by itself.
梁武帝普通元年(公元五二○年)九月，菩提達摩祖師(中國禅宗初祖)從印度乘船來到中國，抵達廣州豋岸，來到金陵(南京)，和梁武帝問答。因不契機，離開金陵，北往洛陽。路過神光法師講經處，順便進來，發現神光法師辯才無礙，有天華亂墜、地湧金蓮的境界，知道是載法之器。此時，神光法師見一位印度和尚來聽經，不禁生起我慢之心。講完經之後，就在達摩祖師面前打個招呼。
In a.d. 520 in China, during the ninth month of the initial year of the Putong reign-period of the Emperor Wu of the Liang Dynasty, the first Patriarch of the Chan School, Venerable Bodhidharma, arrived in Canton by boat from India. He traveled to Jinling, which is modern Nanjing, and had an interview with Emperor Wu. But the two of them had a misunderstanding, and he left Jinling, heading north to Luoyang. En route, he passed by Dharma Master Shen-guang”s (Holy Light) Sutra-lecture gathering. Since time allowed, the Patriarch stopped in to listen. He heard the Dharma Master”s eloquence and appreciated that he could make celestial flowers fall from the sky and inspire the earth to send forth golden-hued lotuses. He recognized in Master Shenguang the capacity to be a vessel of the Dharma. Master Shenguang saw the Indian Patriarch Bodhidharma walk into his assembly, and he could not restrain a feeling of superiority and pride. When his lecture was finished, he caught the eye of the Patriarch.
達摩祖師提出問題：「請問法師，你在這裏做什麼？」
Patriarch Bodhidharma asked him, "Excuse me, Dharma Master, what exactly are you doing here
"
神光說：「正在講經。」
Master Shenguang replied, "I”m explaining Sutras."
達摩又問：「你講的是什麼經？」
"What Sutra are you explaining
" asked Patriarch Bodhidharma.
神光不耐煩地說：「你從什麼地方來？」
Master Shenguang impatiently retorted, "Where are you from
"
達摩說：「從印度來。」
"I”m from India," answered the Patriarch Bodhidharma.
神光又問：「難道印度不講經嗎？」
"Do you mean to tell me they don”t explain Sutras in India
"
達摩說：「當然要講經。不過，講的是『無字真經』。」
"Of course they do, but the Sutras they explain are the wordless, true Sutras," replied the Patriarch.
神光又問：「什麼是無字真經？」
"And what is a wordless, true Sutra
"
達摩說：「無字真經，就是一張白紙。你所講的經，黑的是字，白的是紙，你講它做什麼？」
The Patriarch replied, "It”s simply a piece of blank paper. In the Sutra you”re explaining, what”s black are the words and what”s white is the paper. What in the world are you explaining that for
"
神光一聽，心裏不高興，就說：「我講經，教人了生死。」
This question angered Master Shenguang, and he replied, "My Sutra lectures teach people to put an end to birth and death!"
達摩說：「你憑什麼教人了生死？你自己的生死還沒有了呢！」
Patriarch Bodhidharma asked, "How are you qualified to teach people that
You haven”t put an end to your own birth and death yet!"
神光一想，這個黑和尚一定是魔王化身，來毀謗叁寶，我要試一試他的法力如何？于是用念珠(鐵製，作爲降魔武器)朝達摩祖師臉上打去。此時，達摩沒有防備，不幸被擊中，門牙被打掉兩顆。菩提達摩一想，聖人(達摩祖師是證果聖人)的牙齒如果落在地上，那裏就會大旱叁年。爲慈悲衆生起見，于是他將兩顆門牙吞到肚中，所以留下「打落門牙和血吞」的成語。達摩一言不發，轉身走出道場，踩一蘆草，渡過長江，來到河南嵩山少林寺，面壁九年思禅機。
Master Shenguang reflected, "This dark-skinned monk must certainly be a demon-king who”s transformed to come slander the Triple Jewel. I had better put his Dharma-power to the test!" At that, he pulled out his iron recitation beads, which served as a suitable weapon for quelling demons, and swung them hard against the Patriarch Bodhidharma”s face. The Patriarch was caught unprepared, and the sudden attack knocked out two of his front teeth. Bodhidharma was a sage who had realized the fruition of the spiritual path, and he reflected, "Whenever a sage”s teeth fall to the ground, that place will have a drought for three years." Therefore, out of compassion, he swallowed the two teeth instead of spitting them out. This event was commemorated in the proverb, "One just swallows his loose teeth, blood and all." Bodhidharma said nothing, but simply turned on his heel and left the monastery. He stepped on a reed to ford the Yangtze River and went to Shaolin Monastery on Sung Mountain in Henan Province. There he…
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