"The tree is a thousand feet high, and the fallen leaves return to their roots. The tired birds know they are returning, and the wandering children miss their relatives." It comes from the "Sixth Patriarch's Altar Sutra" by Huineng of the Tang and Song Dynasties, which means: the fallen leaves fall at the roots of the trees. Metaphor that things have a certain destination. It mostly refers to people who live in a foreign country and will eventually return to their hometown. No matter how far or how long you leave, you will one day return to the most fundamental and original place.
It means that things have a certain destination. It mostly refers to people who live in a foreign country and will eventually return to their hometown.
When Master Huineng was about to enter Nirvana, he told his disciples that he wanted to return to his hometown in Xinzhou and asked his disciples to quickly prepare a boat for him. His disciples begged the Sixth Patriarch to persuade him to stay. Master Huineng said: "The appearance of all Buddhas is like showing Nirvana. What comes and goes must be the same. This body of mine must return somewhere." The Sixth Patriarch also said to his disciples: "The leaves fall and return to their roots. When they come, they have no mouth. "Later, "the fallen leaves return to their roots" was used as a metaphor that things always have a certain destination.
Extended information
Creative background
Hui Neng advocated the method of enlightenment in Caoxi, and advocated not establishing words, teaching external teachings, directly pointing to the human heart, and seeing the nature. To become a Buddha, using simple and simple practice methods to replace complicated moral studies has become increasingly popular and has become the official line of Zen Buddhism. Huineng could not write or read scriptures, but he was familiar with the Diamond Sutra, Vimalakia Sutra, Lankavatara Sutra, Avalokitesvara Sutra, Lotus Sutra, Nirvana Sutra and Brahma Net Sutra. 》Quite clear.
The "Sixth Patriarch's Altar Sutra" first originated when the Sixth Patriarch Huineng was invited to Dafan Temple to teach the Mahaprajnaparamita Dharma. Fahai recorded this event as "The Sixth Patriarch's Mahaprajnaparamita Sutra" "Master Huineng's Dharma Practice at Dafan Temple in Shaozhou". After Huineng returned to Caoxi Mountain, he taught the "No-Phase Precepts", so Fa Hai added "Concurrently Teaching the No-Phase Precepts" to the title of the book. At this time, the "Tan Sutra" began to be spread externally, commonly known as "The Record of the Sixth Patriarch's Dharma Treasure".
"Altar" is a high platform. Huineng once sat on a high platform in Dafan Temple in Shaozhou and preached to everyone. Huineng's disciple Fahai followed Huineng's instructions and recorded the contents of his sermons and compiled them into a book, thus creating the "Sixth Patriarch Altar Sutra". This classic not only records Huineng's Buddhist theories, but also records his life experience, experience, and the process of acquiring and spreading the Dharma.
When Huineng was invited to Dafan Temple to give a lecture on "Maha Prajna Paramita" to everyone, the lecture he ordered his disciple Fahai to give was originally not called "The Tantra Sutra", but was called "Maha Prajna Paramita Dharma". A volume of the Prajnaparamita Sutra taught by Master Huineng, the Sixth Patriarch of the Prajnaparamita Sutra, at the Dafan Temple in Shaozhou.
After Huineng returned to Caoxi, he taught the "No-Phase Precepts". Fahai also incorporated this part of the content into the book, so the title of the book became "The Sixth Patriarch of the Maha Prajna Paramita Sutra" Huineng The master performed a volume of Dharma and taught the No-Phase Precepts at the Dafan Temple in Shaozhou. This is the second version of the Tan Sutra.
After the death of Huineng (638-713), Fahai added other lecture records of Huineng on the basis of the first two Tan Sutras. When this version came out, it was called "The Supreme Mahayana Maha Prajnaparamita Sutra of the Southern Sect. Master Huineng, the Sixth Patriarch of the Southern Sect, Consecrated the Dharma Altar Sutra in Shaozhou Dafan Temple and Conferred the No-Phase Precepts in one volume". There was also a sentence at the end of the book: "The Southern Sect A volume of Sutras and Dharma on the Supreme Mahayana Altar of Dunjiao."
This is the first time that Huineng’s sermons on scriptures have been titled with the word “经”. From the earlier book title "Casting Spells and Teaching No-Phase Precepts" to the "Tan Sutra" at this time, it should be said that this version has a substantial breakthrough.
In the hands of Fa Hai, several different hand-copied versions of the "Tansu Sutra" have been produced. During the circulation of these manuscripts, some changes occurred. According to the earliest manuscript of the "Tan Sutra", when Huineng gave a speech at Dafan Temple, the audience of monks and laymen reached more than a thousand people, including many of Huineng's disciples.
Before and after this, Huineng also gave many lectures. When his disciples copied the "Tan Sutra", they often added the contents of Huineng's lectures that they had heard with their own ears. The transcript is much slower than Huineng's dictation, so many of the contents in the "Sixth Patriarch's Altar Sutra" must have been added by Fahai and other disciples based on their memory afterwards.
The "Sixth Patriarch's Altar Sutra" was continuously added to by his disciples during the process of transmission and copying, and the writing skills of those who copied and added the text varied greatly. In addition, Huineng had a very strong accent. There must be many errors and misunderstandings in what I heard, understood and wrote down.
Huixin in the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty said in the "Preface to the Altar Sutra": I, the Sixth Patriarch, taught his disciples the Dharma of seeing one's nature directly, and always ordered them to achieve self-enlightenment and become a Buddha. Sutra", which was passed down to later generations. The ancient texts are complex, and those who read them will be disgusted at first. I am Tai Sui and Ding Mao, the month is in Ruibin, on the 23rd of Xinhai, I am in Siyingta Courtyard, divided into two volumes and eleven gates.
When Huixin was compiling and editing the "Sixth Patriarch's Altar Sutra", because "the ancient text is complicated, and those who read it will be tired of it first and later", he had to make it based on the various versions he could see. Only by cutting out the complex and simplifying it, clarifying the text, and clarifying the meaning can the "Sixth Patriarch's Tantra Sutra" be divided into two volumes and eleven chapters. The "Tan Sutra" compiled and processed by Huixin has more than 2,000 words more than the Dunhuang version.
The extra text may be due to Huixin's additions based on other versions, or it may be his own performance. In short, when the "Sixth Patriarch's Altar Sutra" came into Huixin's hands, a moderate change took place. This version of the "Sixth Patriarch Tan Sutra" spread to Japan and has been preserved.
Huixin did a lot of work in compiling and publishing the "Sixth Patriarch's Altar Sutra". This classic has been widely circulated since then, and Hui Xin has indeed contributed a lot to it. About 90 years after the Huixin version was published, the "Qisong version" and the "Sixth Patriarch Tan Sutra" appeared.
Lang Jian, the minister of the Ministry of Industry in the Song Dynasty, wrote a preface to it: "However, I respect the teachings of the Sixth Patriarch, but I worry that they have been enriched and detracted from the customs, and the writing is vulgar and complicated, making it almost impossible to test. Hui Shamen Qi Song wrote "Praise to the Tan Sutra" because he said to Master Song: "If you can correct it, I will make a fortune and make a copy of it to spread it widely." The words of the Sixth Patriarch are no longer absurd, but he ordered the carving boards to be used to gather his great events."
Since Lang Jian "respected the teachings of the Sixth Patriarch Huineng", he also said, "It is a custom to suffer from it." "There are additions and deletions, but the writing is vulgar and complicated." I must have seen many versions of the "Sixth Patriarch's Tantra Sutra", including the Huixin version. Therefore, when he saw the "Praise to the Tan Sutra" written by Qi Song, he was willing to pay Qi Song to "rectify it".
This is the "Sixth Patriarch's Altar Sutra" known as the Qisong version in the history of Zen Buddhism. Since then, the Deyi version published in the Yuan Dynasty and the Zongbao version published in the Ming Dynasty have had some changes in chapter text, but the content does not differ greatly from the Qisong version. It should be said that both the Yuan and Ming editions were based on the Qisong edition.
The Dunhuang version of the Tan Sutra has 12,000 words, the Huixin version has 14,000 words, and the Ming Zang version (Qisong version) has 21,000 words. The Huixin version has 2,000 more words than the Dunhuang version, and the Qisong version has more than 9,000 words more than the Dunhuang version.
Comparing the Huixin version and the Dunhuang version, although the Huixin version has added more than 2,000 words, there is no substantial change between the two versions. According to Hu Shi's calculations, the extra 9,000 words in the Qisong version are almost equivalent to an increase of 40% of the length of the original book. This is a huge change for a book.
The content added to the Qisong edition should come from the "Caoxi ancient edition" mentioned in the preface to Lang Jian. According to Hu Shi's research, the "Ancient Edition of Caoxi" is the "Biography of Master Caoxi".
"The Biography of Master Caoxi" is also called "The Biography of Master Caoxi", one volume. It was probably written around the second year of Jianzhong (781) of Emperor Dezong of the Tang Dynasty. "The Biography of Master Caoxi" contains Huineng's biography, the purpose of teaching, the emperor's edict, the construction of Baolin Temple and six kinds of supernatural rumors about the Sixth Patriarch. If we compare the Tan Sutra handed down by the Dunhuang version, we can clearly see that there are big differences between the two.
For example, in terms of ideological system, in the Huixin version and various previous Dunhuang versions, the theory expounded by Hui Neng originated from the Diamond Sutra, and the ideas expressed by Hui Neng in the "Biography of Master Caoxi" It belongs to the Nirvana Sutra.
Although "The Biography of Master Caoxi" contains many obvious errors and mistakes, and the content is very different from the Dunhuang version, it is still a relatively complete record of Huineng's words and deeds.
While the Dunhuang version became popular, Huineng’s lectures and sermons, which belonged to another faction, were also popular. This is "The Biography of Master Caoxi". This book is also compiled by Huineng's disciples based on the records or postscripts of Huineng's lectures and sermons at different times and occasions. With the passage of time and changes in society, Master Huineng's knowledge and understanding of Buddhist scriptures has also improved. Therefore, his words are different on different occasions, at different times, and to different audiences.
So "The Biography of Master Caoxi" can be regarded as another kind of "Tan Sutra". Master Qisong combined these two Tan Sutras into one through editing, additions and deletions, thus creating the Qisong version.
The "Tan Sutra" records not only the Buddhist teachings Huineng taught at Dafan Temple in Shaozhou, nor the Buddhist teachings he taught at Baolin Temple after returning to Caoxi, but It has become a comprehensive Buddhist classic that includes the continuous improvement of Zen theory by Huineng's many disciples and later monks and laymen over a period of more than 200 years. It can be called a milestone work in the history of Chinese Zen Buddhism.
Baidu Encyclopedia-Sixth Patriarch Altar Sutra