Bodhi Tree & Bright Mirror
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One day, the Fifth Patriarch, Hung Jen assembled all his disciples and said,"Go and seek for Prajna in your own mind and write me a stanza (gatha) about it. The one who understands the reality of Buddhist nature will be the Sixth Patriarch."
The head disciple, Shin Shau composed his stanza and wrote it on the wall of the corridor, so that the Patriarch might know what spiritual insight he had attained. The stanza read:
Our body is the Bodhi tree,
And our mind is like a bright mirror with stand,
Diligently we wipe them all the time,
And let no dust alight.
Shen shih p'u t 'i shu
Hsin ju ming ching t'ai.
Shih shih ch'in fu shih,
Mo shih jo ch 'en ai
Later, Hui Neng who worked in the kitchen heard a young man reciting the stanza. At once, he realized that the stanza did not reveal the reality of Buddhist nature.
As he was illiterate, he asked people to scribe his stanza, which reads:
There is no Bodhi Tree
Nor the stand of a bright mirror,
Since all is void,
Where can the dust alight?
P'u t 'i pen wu shu
Hsin ching i fei t'ai
Pen lai wu i wu,[s]
He ch 'u jo ch 'en ai
Eventually, Hui Neng received the robe and Dharma from Hung Jen, and became the Sixth Patriarch of Zen Sect in China -
The story here didnt really clearly what is in the Platform Sutra
Shen Shiau Zen Master who is the Chief Disciple of the Fifth Patriach in terms of wisdom and practice was hesistant in producing gatha when the Fifth Patriach
Hong Ren have issued .Shen Shiau knows that he would like to answer
Hong Ren by showing the level of wisdom he have .But in a way , he fall into the 2nd thought of showing his level of wisdom (which is part of ego in the culmination )
This gatha produced by shen shiau is known as the Gradual School of Zen which everyone will still have to emulate upon
The Sudden School of Zen expounded in Hui Neng No Bodhi tree and Non-existence Mirror
looks deep into the reality of the Tathagathagarbha
Chan is a very deep level of wisdom ,those who have the worldly knowledge may not be able to understand the "suchness" of the Buddha's teachings
The issue about sudden and gradual Chan have always been a topics of interest among Chan Buddhism
what Hui Neng reacted is based on the "realisation
Where Satori or jiriki are part of the learning process in our persuit of happiness ,away from samsaric entanglement
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Both of their poems are not yet there
Only after Hui Neng went into hiding did he further deepened his realisation. -
Agree and GasshoOriginally posted by An Eternal Now:Both of their poems are not yet there
Only after Hui Neng went into hiding did he further deepened his realisation.