One is the story that he took over the mantle of five ancestors. When he was in the temple, he heard a little novice monk chanting Buddhist poems: "I am like a bodhi tree and my heart is like a mirror." Wipe frequently, and don't create dust. "Huineng listened, and felt that this poem didn't understand the true meaning of Buddhism, so he said," Bodhi is not a mirror, and a mirror is not a stage. Nothing. Where's the dust? "So the five ancestors chose him as the sixth ancestor and inherited his mantle.
The second is the story that he inspired two little monks. He went to the temple to give a lecture and met two young monks quarrelling. It turned out that the two of them saw the wind swaying, and one said, "It's the wind moving." One said, "The fan is moving." No one can convince the other side of the argument. The sixth ancestor smiled and said, "It's not the wind, it's not the movement, it's your heart."
Before the Sixth Ancestor, Zen advocated "meditation", paid attention to form, and regarded "sitting" as an important way of cultivation, but the Sixth Ancestor opposed this rigid method. He believes that walking, living, sitting and lying are all practices, and there is no need to stick to a fixed form. Liang Jie's "Six Ancestors Cut Bamboo" clearly shows this flexible cultivation idea.
Kai Liang is not a monk. He is a famous Zen painter in the Southern Song Dynasty. He is reckless and depraved, and his paintings seem rough, just like a game. When we look at this painting, we feel that the content of the picture is extremely simple and enjoyable, and we never elaborate. At the bottom of the painting, an old man crouched there in a coarse short coat, with an extremely steady figure; He is holding a bamboo pole in his left hand and waving a knife in his right hand, and he is burying his head in cutting bamboo. On his back, there are just cut bamboo leaves, but now, his knife is not cut on the bamboo pole, but parked in the air. He was so absorbed that he seemed to be thinking about something. Could it be that he had an epiphany when he was chopping bamboo?
This is the Zen meaning contained in this painting. You see, Huineng, the sixth ancestor, realized Buddhism even when he cut bamboo, which shows that cutting bamboo with a knife is also a kind of practice. Such a natural state of life is the southern religious significance of Zen advocated by him. He emphasizes natural epiphany from daily life, rather than sticking to some rigid forms. It seems that you can't become a Buddha without chanting. Kai Liang chose this theme form to express master Huineng's thoughts, which shows his profound understanding of Nanzong jurisprudence.
The bamboo in the painting is slender and tall, seemingly scribbled, but it shows the charm of bamboo; There is also a stout tree on the left, which seems to be painted by hand with a few strokes, and the tree will show strength; Even the vines wrapped around the trees are so simple and smart. As for the sixth ancestor Huineng, just like the stick figure, a few pen and ink lines outline a human figure with both form and spirit. I think, on the one hand, this painting method is related to Kai Liang's wild and unruly personality, but more importantly, he wants to convey his understanding of Zen through this seemingly rough painting: the Tao is extremely simple, and the elephant is invisible. Even such a simple image can make the Sixth Ancestor understand Zen, so why pay attention to red tape and strict rules? As for why the sixth ancestor Huineng was dressed so simply and even in rags, it was because he was born in poverty. He is a woodcutter, he doesn't know a word, but he also knows Buddhism well. It can be seen that Buddhism lies in the human heart, not in the form.
This poem is as follows:
I don't know what to do with my eyes, but I'm thinking with a knife.
Walking and sitting are enlightened, and anyone who practices Taoism must learn from books.