As the Sixth Patriarch Washes His Sash,
Fang Bian Relates a Strange Tale
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!'"
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.
