As the Sixth Patriarch Washes His Sash,
Fang Bian Relates a Strange Tale

六祖浣衣　方辩述奇

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《六祖坛经》上有一段文提到，有一天六祖大师在山林里，洗五祖传给他的衣钵时，来了一个和尚，向六祖大师叩头顶礼说：“我名叫方辩，是四川西蜀的人，前几天在南天竺──就是南印度，看见达摩祖师了。他教我回到唐朝这个地方来。他说：‘我由大迦叶那儿一代一代传下来的正法眼藏，和祖衣──就是二十五条衣僧伽梨──现在在中国传到第六代，在韶关曹溪那个地方，你赶快到那里去瞻仰礼拜第六代祖师！’”

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，初祖达摩在中国已经死了，但是这个方辩和尚在六祖这个时代，又在印度看见达摩祖师，你们说这件事情是不是很奇怪？其实这不足为奇，因为达摩祖师到什么地方去了？到现在一般人也不知道！