The Ch'an Patriarch Lineage.

[Shi Da Dao]

28



The Twenty-eight Indian Patriarch Bodhidharma
(The First Patriarch of China)

Gatha chanted when transmitting the Dharma to the Twenty-ninth Patriarch Hui K'o:

My aim in coming to this country
Was to transmit the Dharma and liberate all beings.
A flower of five petals
Cannot fail to fruit.

[Shi Da Dao]

29



The Twenty-ninth Patriarch Hui K'o
(The Second Patriarch of China)

Gatha chanted when transmitting the Dharma to the Thirtieth Patriarch Seng Ts'an:

From the seed-bed (of your mind)
(The Dharma) raises flowers.
Yet there is no seed
Nor are there flowers.

[Shi Da Dao]

30



The Thirtieth Patriarch Seng Ts'an
(The Third Patriarch of China)

Gatha chanted when transmitting the Dharma to the Thirty-first Patriarch Tao Hsin:

The sowing of flower-seeds requires a causal ground
From which the flowers will grow.
If no one sows there will be
Neither ground nor flowers.

[Shi Da Dao]

31



The Thirty-first Patriarch Tao Hsin
(The Fourth Patriarch of China)

Gatha chanted when transmitting the Dharma to the Thirty-second Patriarch Hung Jen:

Growth is latent in the seed
Which sprouts when planted in the causal ground.
This Great Cause unites with nature
At the time of growth, yet nothing growths.

[Shi Da Dao]

32



The Thirty-second Patriarch Hung Jen
(The Fifth Patriarch of China)

Gatha chanted when transmitting the Dharma to the Thirty-third Patriarch Hui Neng:

The seed sown by a sentient being
In causal ground will soon bear fruit.
Without sentience there is no seed
And no fruit without nature.

[Shi Da Dao]

33



The Thirty-third Patriarch Hui Neng
(The Sixth Patriarch of China)

Gatha chanted when transmitting the Dharma to his disciples:

The Mind-ground holds the (flower) seeds
Which sprout when falls the all-pervading rain.
The wisdom-flower of instantaneous awakening
Cannot fail to bear the Bodhi-fruit.