「獦獠作佛」公案與東山禪法南傳 -- 讀敦煌寫本《六祖壇經》劄記=The "Geliao Becomes a Buddha" Gongan and the Southward Spread of the Dongshan Lineage: Notes on the Dunhuang Version of the Platform Sutra
The word geliao 獦獠 in the Platform S?tra of the Sixth Patriarch has been explained in many ways throughout history，but there has not yet been a definitive interpretation. Recently，Pan Chonggui潘重規 has argued that the character ge 獦 is the commoner variation of the character lie 獵 (to hunt) and the character liao 獠 refers to the "barbarian" yiliao 夷獠 peoples, who earn their livelihood by hunting and fishing. The meaning of geliao would thus be the Liao who hunt and fish. This is very near to the original meaning in the text; however，a fuller explanation is possible. The current paper agrees that geliao 獦獠 should indeed be read as lieliao 獵獠 (the hunting Liao)，but adds that it should be interpreted as the "head-hunting Liao" (lietou liaoren獵頭獠人). "Head-hunting" refers to the long-standing cultural custom of the Liao of taking human heads to offer in sacrifice to deities. There is a large amount of documentation proving that this custom of the Liao has existed for a long time. It originates in magical blood-sacrifice behavior，and is related to the extreme psychology in aboriginal culture relating to skull worship. It was also well-known by Han Chinese in northern China, and that is the reason for singling out this gruesome custom，and indentifying the Liao with a special appellation. It was this custom that also caught fifth Patriarch Hongren's attention. From the Buddhist perspective of "universal substance and great compassion," [tongti dabei 同體大悲] if hunting and fishing are evil，then the hunting of human heads is the worst of evils, and it relates directly to the problems of whether or not Buddha-nature exists, and whether buddhahood can be attained. Hongren had already considered the severity of this issue，and that is why he asked：“You are a native of kwangtung，a barbarian( geliao ). How can you expect to be a buddha? From the perspective of “there is not a single being without tath?gatawisdom，but it is not attained，sixth Patriarch Huineng’s answer fully complies with the original intention of the buddha, and it also possesses strong philosophical and universal components：“Although there are northern men and southern men，north and south make no difference to their buddha-nature. A barbarian is different from your holiness physically，but there is no difference in our buddha-nature.” Even though they have the custom of head-hunting and are immersed in evil，the humanity within the liao possesses the necessity and potential for self-purification and for self-transcendence. As soon as they put their mind to cultivating the path, there is enlightenment in that very thought，and the excluded. They gain an awakening of their original nature and mental nature (mingxin jianxing明心見性)，and realize the existence of the possibility of achieving the ultimate goal，the attainment of buddhahood. What is more important，however，is that hongren’s intentional questioning indicates that he foresaw that chan teachings were gradually moving south, the trend that，with Guandong as its center，Chan was continuall
