Introduction to Master Hui Neng: Also known as "Hui Neng", a monk in the Tang Dynasty, the founder of the Southern Sect of Zen, and known as the sixth ancestor of Zen in Buddhist history.
According to the Biography of Song Monks and other records, the common surname is Lu. Originally from Fanyang (the county is located in the southwest of Beijing), he was born in Xinxing, South China Sea (now Guangdong). He lost his father at the age of three, and lived a little longer by selling firewood and adopting his mother. Because I heard people read the Diamond Sutra, I learned that it was taught by Huang Mei Hongren, so in the first year of Longshuo (661, talking about Xianheng), I went to Huangmei to see Hongren, became a "walker", plowed rice in a shack, and later Hongren was a disciple of the method of selecting heirs, and ordered the monks of the temple to make one for each.
in contrast to the "gradual enlightenment" advocated by Shenxiu in the north, it is known in history as "Southampton gradually spreading to the north" and "Southern Energy and Northern Show". Wu Zetian and Tang Zhongzong once called Huineng to Beijing, but both resigned. After their death, Tang Xianzong posthumously named Huineng as a "great Zen master", and Huineng had many disciples. There were 43 inheritors in The Record of Jingde Chuandeng and The Record of Authentic Chuanfa.
Characteristics of Zen
Huineng's Zen thoughts can be found in the Tanjing of Six Ancestors (referred to as Tanjing for short) recorded by his disciple Fahai. Later, this sutra was once adapted by the Department of Divinity as a canon for spreading Buddhism, so it was mixed with the theory of later generations, but in general, it can be seen that Huineng advocates giving up the meaning of words and clarifying the source of the heart.
He said that this kind of state is "like a person drinking water, knowing oneself in cold and warm", and he also said: The mind is vast, and the dharma circles are everywhere, and the freedom to come and go, and the mind and body are not stagnant, which is the Prajna. All universal wisdom comes from self-nature, not from the outside. If you know your self-nature, you can transcend the three realms when you realize it.
Huineng's meditation is based on wisdom. He thinks that there is awareness and there is no trouble. If you directly prove awareness, it is epiphany. He said that the self-mind can neither climb up to good or evil, nor can it remain silent, that is, it is necessary to learn and hear more, know from the self-mind and reach the principles of Buddhism. Therefore, he does not consider meditation as Zen, but he can also experience the realm of Zen in all the movements of sitting and lying.
This is different from the Northern Sect's teaching people to sit still and look at the mind, thinking that dividing the mind into two parts in that way can't lead to wisdom. He taught people to start from nothing, not just to sit still.
above content reference: Baidu Encyclopedia-Huineng