famous zen buddhists Dajian Huineng Quotes and History

famous zen buddhists Dajian Huineng Quotes and History.

Dajian Huineng (638-713)


The Sixth Ancestor is a pre-eminent figure of the Zen heritage. The five traditional schools of Chinese Buddhism all trace their origin through this famous master. The generally accepted story of Huineng's life reveals an iconoclastic personality whose defiance of religious convention sharpened the Chinese cultural flavor of Zen.

The main source of information about Huineng's life is the text of his teaching known as the Platform Classic. This work is traditionally regarded as a lecture by Huineng, as recorded by his disciple named Fahai. The earliest extant copy of the work was found among papers taken from the Dun Huang caves in China, and dates to the early 800's, about one century after Huineng's death. The details of Huineng's life were central to political intrigues and factional religious struggles that occurred in the eighth century. This has led some prominent modern scholars, such as Dr. Hu Shih, to regard the Platform Classic as having been fabricated by Huineng's spiritual descendants to support the legitimacy of their tradition.

While early versions of the Platform Classic contain authentic and insightful material, later versions include more and more fanciful amendments. The work grew in size as time went on.

Although there is scant evidence to support what is traditionally told about Huineng's life, the traditional story about this well-known figure is a cornerstone of Chinese religious culture.

As told in the Platform Classic, Huineng lost his father at the age of three and was forced as a youngster to support his widowed mother by selling firewood in ancient Canton. He is said to have instantly gained enlightenment when he overheard someone reciting the Diamond Cutter Sutra. Resolving to follow the Dharma he set off to seek out the Fifth Ancestor, Daman Hongren, who resided on Mt. Huangmei. Upon meeting him, Huineng was assigned to the task of grinding rice for the monastery.

Months later, Hongren invited the monks to each write a verse which would display their individual understanding of the Buddha-Way. In the famous episode that followed, the head monk Shenxiu wrote the following verse on a wall in the monastery:



The body is the Tree of Wisdom,

The mind but a bright mirror,

At all times diligently polish it,

To remain untainted by dust.



According to the legend, Huineng, who was illiterate and had not yet gained ordination as a Zen monk, enlisted help to write his own verse upon the wall. It read:



The Tree of Wisdom fundamentally does not exist,

Nor is there a frame for the mirror,

Originally there is not a single thing,

So where would dust alight?



Upon reading Huineng's verse, the Fifth Ancestor, Hongren, recognized the author's profound level of spiritual attainment. Afraid of the uproar which would result by bestowing transmission of authority on someone of such low status, Hongren is said to have secretly met with Huineng at night to pass him the traditional robe and bowl of succession, symbols of the "mind to mind" transmission of Zen. Hongren instructed Huineng to leave the monastery to avoid repercussions from the congregation.

Upon learning what transpired, the monks are said to have rioted and set out in pursuit of Huineng. Fleeing Mt. Huangmei, Huineng remained in obscurity for many years before beginning to teach publicly.

This story is the kernel of elaborate legends concerning Huineng's life and teaching. The story is of an individual, uncultured and unlettered, who injects a strong element of non-conformity into the traditional and structured religious hierarchy. If Bodhidharma's teaching of "directly pointing at Mind" was misplaced among the more labored practices that gained entry into the Zen tradition, the story of Huineng's life moved the scales back toward the direct and simple teaching of immediate awakening.

By tradition, Huineng represents the "Southern School" of Zen, a term that became synonymous with the teaching of "sudden enlightenment." The so-called "Northern School," which is historically associated with Huineng's poetic rival Shenxiu, came to be regarded as the "gradualist" school. The Platform Classic itself states that fundamentally there is no differentiation to be made between "gradual" and "sudden" as they relate to enlightenment. However, the text then applies inferior status to the "gradual" idea by associating it with persons of lesser ability.

The essentially simple practice of Zen meditation carried little spiritual baggage to impede it from integrating with native Chinese philosophy. "Attaining the Way," is linguistically close to central teachings of the other two great Chinese traditions, Daoism and Confucianism. In Tang Dynasty China, Zen became the pursuit of poets and emperors. Moreover, Zen's tradition of living in a solitary mountain setting was close to native Daoist ideals. The fusion of Zen with Confucianism and Taoism in Chinese society is well known, reaching a zenith in the later Song Dynasty. For these reasons and others, Zen became and remained the most prominent of the Chinese Buddhist schools for centuries thereafter.

Huineng resided as abbot at Bao Lin (Precious Forest) Temple near Shaozhou. According to tradition, he had twenty-six disciples. Among them were Nanyue Huairang and Qingyuan Xingsi, through whom all of the five traditionally "Houses" of Zen traced their ancestry to Huineng.



Many well-known stories and legends about Huineng’s life and teaching have been passed down.

_____
The monk Yin Zong expounded on the Buddhist sutras. One day during his lecture a storm came up. Seeing a banner waving in the wind he asked his audience, "Is the wind moving or is the flag moving?"

Someone said, "The wind is moving."

Someone else said, "The flag is moving."

The two people held fast to their viewpoints and asked Yin Zong to say who was right. But Yin Zong had no way to decide, so he asked Huineng, who was standing nearby, to resolve the issue.

Huineng said, "Neither the wind nor the flag is moving."

Yin Zong said, "Then what is it that is moving?"

Huineng said, "Your Mind is moving." (Ancestral Hall Collection)

_____
Those who would realize the practice of non-action must arrive at the non-perception of the errors of people. This is (true) non-moving nature. Deluded people simply stop the movement of their bodies, but as soon as they open their mouths they are talking about peoples' rights and wrongs, (and thus are) contradicting the Way. (Platform Classic)

_____
In this School of Buddhism, what is it we call 'sitting Zen (meditation)'? In performing this practice no (mental) impediments exist. When no thoughts arise with respect to what is external, this is 'sitting.' When one calmly observes original nature this is 'Zen.' So what is 'sitting meditation?' Detachment from external things is 'Zen.' When internally the mind is composed, this is 'samadhi.' If one clings to external forms, then internally the mind is scattered and confused. If one is unattached to external forms, then internally the mind is composed. Original nature has self-purity and self-composure. It is only when, through causation, some condition is encountered, that confusion arises. Remaining apart from form one remains unperturbed, and samadhi is realized. Externally-Zen; internally-samadhi–together they are called 'sitting Zen.' (Platform Classic)

_____
If in this life you can realize the dharma gate of sudden awakening,

Then you can personally see the World Honored One.

But if you do not grasp this, and go on seeking Buddha (externally),

Who knows when you may finally find true nature?



If you understand that you yourself have buddha-nature,

This is the pivotal cause for becoming a buddha,

Those who don't look in their own minds, but rather seek Buddha externally,

Just waste their effort and are ignorant.



The teaching of sudden awakening formerly was transmitted from India,

To save the people of the world it must be practiced by everyone,

Those of today who endeavor to offer the world the teachings of Buddhism,

But know not this principle, are truly muddle-headed fools.



When Huineng finished speaking these three verses, he said to his disciples, "Each of you practice this well. Today I say good-bye to you. After I die, don't mourn me in the usual manner of the world. If you receive other people's condolences, offerings and observances, or you wear (filial) mourning clothes, then this is not the true School and you are not my disciples. You should act as though I were still in the world–sitting completely upright, not moving nor resting, without creation or passing away, not going or coming, without positive or negative, not abiding or leaving, but just in solitary peace. This is the great Way. After I die, just go on practicing as before, as though I were still here. When I am in the world and you go against my teaching, it is as though my life here as abbot was meaningless."

When he finished saying these words, at the third watch, Huineng suddenly died. He lived to the age of seventy-six. (Platform Classic)