The Dharma Transmission Verse of the Sixth Patriarch Micchaka

Original text: 无心无可得，说得不名法；若了心非心，始解心心法。

Explanation: After realizing the original mind, one gradually discovers that this original mind is different in nature from the deluded minds of the first seven consciousnesses; it is not a mental activity within the three realms. This mind cannot be obtained—it was not acquired from outside; it is the inherent treasure of the five aggregates themselves, merely discovered through another's pointing it out. If one says that enlightenment means obtaining some mind that did not exist before but now exists, one that was born later, then it must be a mistaken realization—one has realized the realm of the mind consciousness, which can arise and perish. Through cultivating meditative concentration, the mind consciousness occasionally sees emptiness and takes the state of emptiness as the original mind. This "original mind" is acquired from outside, obtained through cultivating concentration; when concentration scatters and the emptiness ceases, this "original mind" disappears, so one then cultivates concentration again to preserve and sustain it, keeping the emptiness ever-present. This method of realizing the Way is not the Path; it is disordered practice. If one clearly understands that the original mind is not the mental activity of the worldly seven consciousnesses, that it is distinct from the first seven consciousnesses, and knows all eight consciousnesses, then one begins to understand the various dharma-marks and various functions of the original mind, and gradually comes to possess the wisdom of specific characteristics and the wisdom of the varieties of paths.