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The Sixth Patriarch of the Zen School
The “Precepts Revolution” of the Platform Sutra
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True Body of the Sixth Patriarch Huineng (Nanhua Temple)
Sixth Patriarch’s Hall
Monks in Procession at Baolin Gate (Nanhua Temple)
Zen Origins at Vulture Peak
吾有正法眼藏，涅槃
妙心，實相無相，微
妙法門，不立文字，
教外別傳，付囑摩訶
迦葉
I have the Treasury of the True
Dharma Eye, the sublime mind of
nirvana, whose true sign is
signlessness, the sublime dharma
gate, which without words or
phrases, is transmitted outside of
the [standard] teachings, and
which I bestow upon Mahakasyapa.
Ich besitze die Schatzkammer des
wahren Dharma-Auges, den
wunderbaren Geist des Nirvana, dessen
wahre Essenz die Merkmalslosigkeit ist,
das großartige Dharma-Tor, welches
ohne Worte außerhalb der Schriften
weitergegeben wird, und übertrage es
nun auf Mahakasyapa.
Signless
The meaning of “wuxiang” 無相
The Chinese word used to describe the “sublime mind of Nirvana is
wuxiang 無相, meaning “signless.” This is not the same as the Chinese
word wuxing無形,meaning “formless.”
“Signless” may also be translated as “featureless,” “lacking appearance”
or “lacking marks.”
The important point is that it does not mean the opposite of
physicality i.e. form vs. formless.
A Buddha with a “sign”
手印
Signlessness in Zen Art (Shakyamuni Descending the Mountain)
By Gukei (Jap.)
By Liang Kai
Signlessness in Zen Art (Shakyamuni Descending the Mountain)
14th Century (unknown)
By Lao Weng
Sechsten Patriarchen Huineng Platform Sutra
Platform Sutra of Huineng
The Platform Sutra
begins with the story of
the Sixth Ancestor
Huineng learning of the
Dharma. He hears
someone reciting the
Diamond Sutra. He
awakens to the truth of
Dharma and then travels
to the Fifth Patriarch’s
temple at Huangmei.
Fifth Patriarch’s Temple at Huangmei
There, in a famous exchange with Hongren, the Fifth
Patriarch, Huineng displays his understanding of “selfnature.”
Hongren asked, “What ability do you have. What are you
seeking?”
Huineng said, “I’m a commoner from Xinzhou south of
the mountains. I’ve come from afar to honor you. I only
seek Buddhahood, I don’t seek anything else.”
Hongren said, “You are from south of the mountains and
thus a barbarian. How can you aspire to be a Buddha?”
Huineng said, “Althoug among people there is “south” and
“north,” and there is a difference between you and
“barbarians,” there is no difference in our Buddha-nature.”
祖问曰：“汝何才人。欲求何物？”
惠能对曰：“弟子是岭南新州百姓，远水礼师，惟求作佛，
不求馀物。”
祖言：“汝是岭南人，又是獦獠，若为堪作佛？”
惠能曰：“人虽有南北，佛性本无南北；獦獠身与和尚不
同，佛性有何差
Fifth Patriarch Hongren
Hongren then sent
Huineng to work in the
kitchen, pounding rice.
Later, Hongren organized
a “poetry contest”
whereby monks could
demonstrate their
understanding of the
Dharma.
Rice Pounding Machine at the
Fifth Patriarch’s Temple
In the “poetry contest” the head monk
Shenxiu displayed his understanding
with the following poem:
The body is the Tree of Wisdom,
The mind but a bright mirror,
At all times diligently polish it,
To remain untainted by dust.
Place of Legendary Poetry
Contest at Fifth Patriarch’s
Temple
The illiterate Huineng asked
someone to read Shenxiu’s verse.
Then he had the person brush
Huineng’s own verse. It said,
The Tree of Wisdom fundamentally
does not exist,
Nor is there a stand for the mirror,
Originally, there is not a single
thing,
So where would dust alight?
Ancient tree at the site of the
“poetry contest” that
symbolizes the tree in
Huineng’s poem.
Upon reading Huineng’s verse,
Hongren realized that he had the
superior understanding of Dharma.
Thereupon he secretly passed to him
the robe and bowl of succession.
Hongren advised Huineng to leave,
which he did. The other monks,
upon learning this news, were
shocked. Some set out after Huineng.
The monk Huiming caught up with
Huineng. Huineng threw the bowl
on the ground but Huiming couldn’t
lift it. He then recognized Huineng
as his teacher and is considered to be
his first disciple. Huineng then
dropped out of sight for 16 years,
living in the area of Shaoguan City.
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.”
Guangxiao Temple – legendary site of the
“Flag Waving in the Wind” story
While the “poetry
contest” story is
quite famous, the
real significance of
the Platform Sutra
lies in its
revolutionary
ordination ceremony.
There, Huineng
introduces the
“Signless Precepts”
Why are the
“Signless Precepts”
called
“revolutionary” by
Chinese scholars?
In China, Zen
originally faithfully
followed the home
leaving, world
renouncing ideal of
the mendicant’s life
(Chinese 头陀行).
But in northern climates, and especially in China, cold weather required
the building of monasteries. Thus many Buddhists worked to convert the
emperor to Buddhism to help propagate the religion. Thus the state
would pay for the building of monasteries to house the Sangha.
Emperors naturally wanted to
make use of Buddhism, its
sutras and its philosophy to
enhance their own status and
power. They also controlled the
religion so that it conformed
with the needs of the state.
They did this using several
methods.
1) They controlled who could
become home leavers by
means of examinations.
Prospective monks must
pass a test, usually
consisting of the
memorizing of long
passages of sutras, to
qualify to be a novitiate
monk. Such tests were
controlled by the throne.
2) The emperors appointed
abbots who recognized the
emperor as the head of the
Buddhist religion.
Emperors called themselves
“Tathagatas” and
“Bodhisattvas.” They thus
had exalted spiritual status
in a “home-leaving”
religion.
3) Emperors even determined
what vows would be said by
the monks upon their
ordination. A close
relationship between
emperors and the Vinaya
(Precepts) School of
Buddhism existed through
most of Chinese history.
For example, although Shaolin Temple is the nominal home of Zen
Buddhism, it remained under imperial control as a Vinaya temple for most
of its history.
Shaolin Temple
Emperors needed to keep control of
Buddhism. They needed to limit the
power of the Buddhist church and keep
too many people from becoming monks
and nuns (emperors need taxpayers,
women giving birth, farmers, laborers,
and soldiers more than they need
monks). Also, monks outside the
religious establishment often led
rebellions against the throne. Thus, the
“itinerant” ideal of Zen was often
perceived as a political threat. This was
especially true during the time of
Emperor Xiao Wen, the emperor who
ruled north China when Bodhidharma
arrived in that country around the year
470 CE. Itinerant monks led at least
three rebellions against Emperor Xiao
Wen and his religious establishment.
Emperor Wu (left), revised the
Bodhisattva Precepts,
calling them the “Home
leaving, Home Abiding
Bodhisattva Precepts” This
allowed emperors (and
other lay people) to take the
same precepts as monks
and gain similar exalted
spiritual status. Prior to
Emperor Wu, only homeleaving monks normally
took the Bodhisattva
Precepts.
Emperor Wu of the Liang Dynasty
Bodhidharma and his
first generations of
disciples resisted having
any contact with the
Imperial court. They did
not want the political
strings that
accompanied financial
dependence upon the
emperor and the ruling
class. The story of
Bodhidharma’s sitting
in a cave may have come
in part from his refusal
to sit in Shaolin Temple
or similar temples that
were controlled by the
emperor’s hand picked
abbots.
Bodhidharma’s Cave (near Shaolin Temple)
The first three Zen
patriarchs,
Bodhidharma, Huike,
and Sengcan, all lived
and taught from
temples that were of
other Buddhist schools.
It was not until the 4th
Patriarch Daoxin
established the Zen
school at Potou Shan
(Broken Top Mountain)
that Bodhidharma’s Zen
had its own monastery.
Chinese scholars believe
that Daoxin and his
monks farmed the land
in order to survive and
stay independent.
Fourth Patriarch’s Monastery at Potou
Mountain, where “Farming Zen” Began
The Fourth Patriarch Daoxin
faced a problem. The traditional
Buddhist precepts forbade
manual labor and farming. Thus,
the Zen school, in order to
remain economically
independent, needed to adopt a
different emphasis for their
precepts. The Bodhisattva
Precepts served this purpose. By
emphasizing what was called the
“Single Practice Samadhi” of
“observing mind” Zen
sidestepped ethical questions
related to farming.
Fourth Zen Patriarch Daoxin
“The Tang Dynasty Zen
Master Daoxin of Qizhou
promoted the Zen Gate
throughout the realm.
He used a text of the
Bodhisattva Precepts [for
ordination ceremonies]
and established the
‘Expedient Dharma Gate
of the Serene Mind’ for
those who were ready
and capable to receive
this this teaching.”
…Record of the Lankavatara
Masters
Fourth Zen Patriarch Daoxin
The Fourth
Patriarch Daoxin
in particular
resisted
interference from
the imperial court
and worked to stay
away from
imperial
influence. The
story about this
from the Zen
Lamp Records is
shown at right.
“In the year Gui Mao [643], the emperor
Tai Zong, hearing about Daoxin’s
reputation, invited the master to the
capital city. Daoxin declined the
invitation. Three times the emperor
invited the master and three times he
declined. On the fourth occasion, the
emperor said to his emissary, “This time
if he doesn’t come, bring back his head.”
When the emissary delivered the
emperor’s edict to the mountain, Daoxin
simply exposed and stretched his neck
to allow his head to be cut off, and stood
there in a dignified manner. This
shocked the emissary. When he reported
this situation, the emperor changed his
intention and honored Daoxin. He
presented the master with valuable silk
and venerated him as an example.”
While emperors used the
“Bodhisattva Precepts” to
allow lay people
(particularly themselves) to
gain spiritual status, the
Zen school also used the
same precepts for its own
special purposes. First, this
allowed the central
teaching about “mind” to
take precedence over blind
adherence to the traditional
precepts.
Daoxin, the Fourth
Patriarch, thus started
two critical aspects that
led to Zen’s success in
China. First, he
maintained
independence from the
throne by farming. He
also used the
Bodhisattva Precepts to
give Zen ordination
authority that was
resisted by the Vinaya
School. Daoxin’s
importance to Zen was
very great.
Fourth Zen Patriarch Daoxin
The two Zen “revolutions”
started by Daoxin were further
developed and codified by two
key Patriarchs that followed.
The Sixth Patriarch Huineng
revised the Zen precepts in the
Platform Sutra to better reflect
Zen’s view on Buddha’s
awakening.
Huineng
Later, Baizhang Huaihai
codified the “work ethic” and
rules for a working Zen
monastery that Daoxin had
started.
Baizhang
Sechsten Patriarchen Huineng Platform Sutra
Platform Sutra of Huineng
The Platform Sutra
(Dunhuang version)
was recorded by
Huineng’s disciple
Fahai at Dafan Temple
in Shaozhou (near
Nanhua Temple in
modern Shaoguan).
Sechsten Patriarchen Huineng Platform Sutra
Platform Sutra of Huineng
The Sixth Ancestor
Huineng offered, in the
“Platform Sutra,” a
precepts and
ordination ceremony
aligned with
Bodhidharma’s
teachings on the nature
of the “signless” mind.
What Daoxin called
“Buddha-nature,” and
“mind-nature,”
Huineng referred to as
“self-nature.”
The Platform Sutra has many different versions. Much of the text was
added by later writers over the centuries and different versions have
different content. Therefore, the original text has been amended with
much material that later writers wanted to ascribe to Huineng’s
teaching. In this we see the creation of Zen’s view of itself in history.
The central idea of the text conforms to the idea of “See [mind or self]
nature and become Buddha.”
“This “self-nature” is
the “signless” mind of
nirvana. So Huineng
offers taking refuges
not in the traditional
“Buddha, Dharma, and
Sangha,” but in three
signless aspects of mind
that are the “Zen mind”
equivalents of the Three
Treasures.
Traditional “Refuges” are:
佛 fo
Buddha
法 fa Dharma
僧 seng Sangha
Huineng instructs those taking their
vows as follows: “From today, declare
truth to be your teacher. Don’t take
refuge in some external heretical way.
Instead take refuge in the Three
Treasures of self-nature and always
demonstrate this [in your life]. I
admonish you all to take refuge in the
Three Treasures of self-nature [which
arise from the truth that] Buddha is
enlightenment. Dharma is truth.
Sangha is purity.
从今日起，
称觉为师，更不归
依邪魔外道。以自
性三宝，常自证明，
劝善知识，归依自
性三
宝。佛者觉也，法
者正也，僧者净也。
The “Three Refuges” of the Platform Sutra are Huineng’s “mind”
equivalents of the traditional Three Refuges. They are :
Enlightenment (Buddha)
Truth (Dharma)
Purity (Sangha)
Similarly, versions of the Platform Sutra also recite the four
great Bodhisattva Vows using “mind” as their basis. Huineng’s
version is as follows:
自心众生无边誓愿度，自心烦恼无边誓愿断，
自性法门无尽誓愿学，自性无上佛道誓愿成。
I vow to save limitless beings in my mind,
I vow to cut off limitless delusions in my mind,
I vow to study the limitless Dharma gates of self-nature,
I vow to attain the unsurpassed Buddha Way of self-nature.
In the Platform Sutra Huineng went further and provided, for lay
persons, the “Song of Signlessness.”
When one’s mind is at ease why uphold the precepts?
When one’s actions are true why practice Zen?
Benevolence is the support of one’s parents,
Righteousness is sympathy for all,
Allowance is equally perceiving the noble and the
despised alike,
Forbearance is not complaining about the myriad
faults,
In this manner one is like a tree unmolested by fire,
Like a red lotus growing steadily in mud,
Bitter words are good medicine,
Criticism is faithful speech,
To change is to manifest wisdom,
Holding fast to a narrow view is not noble,
One may spend one’s time concerned with wealth,
But giving dana is not attaining the Way,
For Bodhi wisdom you must only see the mind,
Why belabor pursuing metaphysics?
Practice in the manner I speak,
And heaven will be before your eyes.
无相颂
“心平何劳持戒？行直何用修
禅？恩则亲养父母，义则上
下相怜。让则尊卑和睦，忍
则众恶无喧。若能锁木出火，
淤泥定生红莲。苦口的是良
药，逆耳必是忠言。改过必
生智慧，护短心内非贤。
日用常行饶益，成道非由施
钱。菩提只向心见，何劳向
什求玄？听说依此修行，天
堂只在目前。”
The “Song of
Signlessness” for lay
persons established
a moral equivalence
between correct lay
practice and home
leaving practice.
This broadened and
popularized Zen’s
appeal to the lay
community.
Lay people in lay robes bowing to
Bodhidharma during his annual memorial
ceremony at Empty Form Temple, Henan
Province.
By offering its own
precepts
ceremony, Zen
usurped the
traditional
authority of the
Vinaya School and
at the same time
encroached upon
the prerogatives of
“Imperial
Buddhism,” the
Buddhism of the
emperors.
Zen claimed authority to do this by saying that Zen
represents the essence of Buddha’s teaching, and the
Vinaya school only represents the organization of
Buddhists in the age when Buddha’s original
teaching is degraded (the “mofa” or “mopo” age).
The most famous Chinese Buddhist Vinaya master and scholar
in history, named Dao Xuan (596—667) , was founder of the
unified “South Mountain” school of Chinese Vinaya Buddhism.
He indirectly lent support to this Zen doctrine of being a
superior teaching. In Dao Xuan’s famous work “Biographies of
Eminent Monks” he said…
If someone were to ask, I’d say that the Zen practiced and promoted
[during Bodhidharma’s time] was the true appearance of Buddha’s
teaching. Yet now, at this later time [about 125 years later], the threads of
those arguments are no longer spoken of. Now we are in what is called the
“Dharma-ending age,” in which adherence to the precepts is our practice.
This [precepts practice] is now ascendant. And if you ask me to explain
this, then I must say that the true teaching which reached China due to
the great function of those former [Zen] masters was not understood or
practiced correctly. As a result within the teachings there developed two
types of believers. There was a division between those who are clever and
those who are not. If we all could return to the source and experience the
profound truth [of Buddha’s genuine teaching], then the virtue of those
who study [mind] and the rest of the Buddha world could be unified, as in
the true Dharma of the first thousand years [of Buddha’s teaching]. And
this would be called realizing the unending true enlightenment of Buddha.
“mo fa”
End of
Dharma
The political meaning of the Platform
Sutra
As I explained, by establishing the
“Signless Precepts” Huineng not only
provided Zen with its own
interpretation of ordination, it also
marked the difference between
Imperial influenced Vinaya Buddhism
and Zen.
This should be seen in the context of
the ongoing attempts by
Bodhidharma’s tradition to remain
outside the grasp of Imperial
Buddhism.
The Platform Sutra references the
legendary meeting between Emperor
Wu and Bodhidharma and points out
that Wu’s imperial form of Buddhism
had no merit. This is the “read between
the lines” message concerning imperial
Buddhism that the Platform Sutra
implicitly criticizes.
Bodhidharma
Emperor Wu
However, the Fifth Patriarch’s disciple s
Shenxiu and Lao An succumbed to imperial
pressure and visited the court to teach. In
history, Shenxiu’s teachings were accused of
favoring “gradual” enlightenment as
opposed to Huineng’s “sudden”
enlightenment. However, Huineng himself,
in the Platform Sutra, claimed there was no
such difference. The real difference between
“Northern” and “Southern” Zen lay mainly in
their different relationships with the
emperor. Shenxiu became the “teacher of
three emperors.” Huineng refused to ever
travel to the court. Huineng upheld
Bodhidharma’s avoidance of imperial
interference with the home-leaving ideal.
Traditional portrait of
“Old An,” one of the Fifth
Patriarch’s disciples who
lived on Mt. Song
The “Northern School” was
almost completely
destroyed when the general
An Lushan rebelled against
the imperial court and
destroyed the northern
cities of Luoyang and
Changan. As a result, the
“Southern School” of
Huineng remained as the
primary school of Chinese
Zen. Bodhidharma’s fear of
involvement with the
imperial court was well
founded.
Nine Dragon Springs at Nanhua Temple
– said to be discovered by Huineng.
Nanhua Temple is the site where
the Sixth Ancestor established his
Dharma seat . It remains one of
the most visited temples in China
with thousands of visitors
arriving there daily.