As the Sixth Patriarch Washes His Sash,

　　Fang Bian Relates a Strange Tale

　　六祖浣衣　方辯述奇

　　In the Sixth Patriarch”s Platform Sutra is a passage that mentions how one day when the Sixth Patriarch was in the mountain forest washing the sash which he received from the Fifth Patriarch, a monk came and bowed to him. After paying his respects, the monk said, "My name is Fang Bian. I am a native of Sichuan. A few days ago, I saw Patriarch Bodhidharma in South India. He told me to come back here to the Land of Tang [China]. The Patriarch said, ”From Great Kashyapa onward to me and down through the generations, the Proper Dharma Eye Treasury has been transmitted along with the Patriarch”s robe, the twenty-five piece sash--the sanghati. It is now in China, having been transmitted to the sixth generation who is at Cao Creek of Shaoguan. Go quickly to that place and pay obedience to that Sixth Patriarch!”"

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

　　Think about it. The First Patriarch Bodhidharma already died in China, but this monk Fang Bian met him in India during the Sixth Patriarch”s time. Is it not strange

　　 Actually, it”s not that surprising because up to now, no one knows where Patriarch Bodhidharma has gone.

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