Bai Gui Ye Xing

After hearing this, the Fifth Patriarch knew that Huineng had a good root and was not an ordinary person. He wanted to continue talking to him, but because the disciples were all around, he was worried that Huineng would be jealous and rejected by everyone in the future, so he took the He sent to Duifang to pound rice.

Pounding rice was hard work. Huineng was short and underweight. In order to step on the pestle, he had to tie a stone around his waist. In this way, Huineng worked tirelessly day and night to pound rice for eight months.

One day, the Fifth Patriarch gathered the people together and told the people: "Life and death matters, and they are often swift. I am already old. I will be elected as a successor to ensure that the Dharma lineage of the Patriarch will continue. The Dharma is incredible. Don't think that if you memorize the French I speak, it's nothing. You go down and write a gatha according to your own practice experience for me to see. If anyone has realized the Buddha's intention, I will pass on the dharma clothes to you. Pay him and make him the sixth patriarch!"

At that time, there were more than 700 monks under the Five Patriarchs Association, among which the most outstanding one was Shenxiu.

Master Shenxiu is a professor who is well versed in both internal and external knowledge. He often lectures on scriptures for the public, and has won the respect of the Fifth Patriarch and the admiration of the people. Who else can afford it besides Your Majesty Xiu? We don’t need to bother to write any gatha, and when Your Majesty Xiu gets the vestment and becomes the Sixth Patriarch, we will all rely on him and we’ll be done!"

Hearing the public's discussion, Shenxiu thought, the reason why they dare not write the gatha is because I am their teacher, and I should present the gatha to the great monk.

Of course, I present the gatha to seek the Dharma, not to seize the ancestral throne. If I don’t present the gatha to the great monk, how will the great monk know the depth of my insights?How can I get the Dharma transmitted by the Fifth Patriarch?After tossing and turning, thinking left and right, and tossing for two or three days, Shenxiu came up with a gatha all day long, and secretly wrote it on the corridor wall in the dead of night, writing:

"The body is a bodhi tree, and the heart is like a mirror stand. Wipe it diligently at all times, so as not to stir up dust!"

The next morning, when the Fifth Patriarch passed by, he suddenly saw this gatha and knew that it was written by Shenxiu. Those who have fallen into evil ways, therefore, the Fifth Patriarch praised this gatha in front of everyone, and asked the public to burn incense and recite this gatha, and practice according to it. [

However, in private, the Fifth Patriarch still told Shenxiu: "This gatha of yours has not yet clarified the mind and seen the nature, and the view is not yet in place, and it is still outside the door. Bodhi must be realized from the original mind at the moment, and to be seen from the original nature!" After speaking, the Fifth Patriarch ordered Shenxiu to write another verse.

However, several days passed, and Shenxiu did not write any new gatha.

Then one day, when Huineng was pounding rice in Duifang, he heard a boy outside reciting Shenxiu’s gatha. Tell Huineng one by one.

Huineng heard this, and begged the boy, "Master, I also want to recite this gatha, so that I will be reborn with Master Xiu. Since I came here, I have been pounding rice for more than eight months. I have not been to the hall. Master, please lead me to worship in front of the corridor wall where Shenxiu's gatha is written!"

Therefore, the boy led Huineng to the gatha, and Huineng said, "I don't know how to read, so please read it to me!" Recite that gatha.

Huineng heard this, and said, "I also have a gatha, please don't write it down for me!" Don't listen to it, and was very surprised, "It's rare that you, a rice pounder, can also compose a gatha!"

Huineng said sternly: "If you want to learn Bodhi, you should not take it lightly. The lower people have the upper and upper wisdom, but the upper ones don't have the wisdom of mind. If you look down on others, you will be guilty of immeasurable crimes!" Don't listen, and quickly apologized: "You recite the gatha, and I will write it for you. If you obtain the Dharma in the future, don't forget to save me first!" So Huineng recited the gatha:

"The bodhi is a tree, and the mirror is not a stand. It is originally a thing, where can the dust be gathered?"

The gatha had just been written, and the public was not surprised. The fifth patriarch saw that everyone was like this, and worried that someone would hurt Huineng, so he erased Huineng's gatha with the sole of his shoe, and said, "I haven't seen sex yet." Said, also do not mind.

The next day, the fifth patriarch came to Duifang in private, saw Huineng with a stone hanging from his waist to pound rice, and said: "A person who seeks the way and forgets his body for the Dharma should be like you." Have you done it?" Huineng replied, "The rice has been cooked for a long time, and it still needs to be sieved!"

The Fifth Patriarch then tapped the pestle three times with his stick and left. Huineng understood the meaning of the Fifth Patriarch, so he sneaked into the Fifth Patriarch's room at the third watch of the night. Huineng surrounded him to prevent others from finding out, and explained the "Diamond Sutra" to him.

When it came to "Giving one's mind according to where one lives", Huineng suddenly realized that all dharmas are inseparable from the self-nature. Huineng said five "how" in a row to express his surprise and insights when he realized the Tao:

"How self-nature is self-purified, how self-nature does not arise and perish, how self-nature is self-sufficient, how self-nature is shaken, and how self-nature produces all dharmas!"

The Fifth Patriarch knew that Huineng had become enlightened, so he passed on the Dunjiao method and the mantle of the patriarch to Huineng, saying: "The birth of all Buddhas is a big event, so they are guided randomly, so there are ten places, three vehicles, and sudden steps. The purpose is to teach the sect, but the above subtle, secret, enlightening, and true Dharma eye collections were given to the head of the Venerable Kassapa, and passed on to the 28th generation, until Bodhidharma came to this land, and the master can inherit it. Until now, Now I will give you the dharma treasure and the cassock that I passed on to you, protect yourself well, and order it to be cut off. Listen to my verse: "If there is a sentient being, plant it, and the fruit will come back to life. Once the affection is planted, the nature will also be born!"

After Zen Master Huineng knelt down to receive the clothes, he asked, "Since the rules are accepted, who will pay for the clothes?" [

It means that I have already accepted the Dharma, so who should I deliver the ancestral clothes in the future?

The Fifth Patriarch replied: "Master Dharma, when he first came to this land, people didn't believe in it, so he passed on this garment as a body of faith, and passed it down from generation to generation. The Buddha only transmits the original body, the teacher and the teacher share the original heart, the clothes are a dispute, stop you from passing them on, if you pass on the clothes, your life is hanging by a thread, you must go quickly, lest someone will harm you!"

Chan Master Huineng asked again, "Where should I hide?"

The Fifth Patriarch replied: "Stop when you are pregnant, and hide when you meet!"

After finishing speaking, the fifth patriarch personally sent Huineng to Jiujiang Station overnight. Before leaving, the fifth patriarch told Huineng: "In the future, Buddhism will prosper through you. Three years after you leave Huangmei, I will die. You go quickly." Go south, take care of yourself, don't be in a hurry to spread the Dharma, you will be in trouble!"

Chan Master Huineng paid homage to the Fifth Patriarch again, and then traveled southward, reaching Dayuling in less than two months.

After the fifth patriarch sent Huineng away, he did not attend the hall for several days. Everyone wondered if the old monk was ill. It has already spread to the south!" Everyone was shocked and asked, "Who got the mantle!" The Fifth Patriarch replied, "He who can get it!"

Only then did everyone suddenly realize that hundreds of people went to the south to chase and kill Zen Master Huineng in order to seize the mantle. In order to avoid accidents, Zen Master Huineng once joined the hunter team for 15 years. When the karma was ripe, Zen Master Huineng came to Faxing Temple in Guangzhou, shaved under the seat of Master Yinzong, and began his brilliant career of propagating Dharma.

This is the story of Master Huineng, but he also built some small temples when he traveled south. I think the Nanhua Temple where Fang Shineng is located was built by Master Huineng, and this Zen staff should be the sixth patriarch of Buddhism. , the Buddhist vessel left by Master Huineng,