Legend of the Sixth Patriarch Huineng

Author: Zhang Zhijun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: Huineng (638-713 AD), also known as Huineng, was a famous Buddhist reformer during the Tang Dynasty, the actual founder of Chan Buddhism, and one of the few great thinkers in Chinese history. Born into poverty and illiterate, he became the 33rd patriarch of Buddhism in the lineage of Shakyamuni Buddha at the age of 24 as a traveling monk. Later, he was pursued and killed, forced to go into hiding for 15 years, during which time he nurtured the seeds of Zen left by Bodhidharma into a towering tree, making it flourish into a dense forest. It was he who realized the sinicization of Indian Buddhism, the secularization of metaphysical Buddhism, the democratization of aristocratic Buddhism (urban Buddhism into mountainous Buddhism), and the practicalization of philosophical Buddhism. It was he who made significant reforms to traditional Buddhism, raising the banner of "sudden enlightenment to Buddhahood." Like the wind causing grass to bend, this not only brought all other schools of Chan Buddhism under his fold but also made the Zen he founded almost synonymous with Chinese Buddhism. It is said that the essence of Chinese Buddhism lies in Zen. Subsequently, Chan Buddhism flourished with various schools competing in splendor, with masters emerging one after another, and the Five Houses and Seven Schools were successively established, creating a glorious era that would shine through the ages. Huineng, from an illiterate woodcutter, became a renowned master in history, called the "Jesus of the East" by Westerners. This unique historical phenomenon is truly thought-provoking! Numerous records state that Huineng attained enlightenment after hearing a line from the Diamond Sutra: "Should one not abide in nothing and yet give rise to the mind." Without a doubt, the Sixth Patriarch Huineng was a natural genius, yet his talent and his thoughts were closely tied to his special experiences. He lost his father at the age of three and lived by cutting firewood from a young age. It was the shaping of hardship and the inspiration of nature that enabled him to grasp Zen from life and enter the truth of the universe through natural phenomena. Therefore, this biography, with a mysterious religious aura, describes Huineng's image from the perspective of a vivid, flesh-and-blood person, exploring the origins of his unique Zen teachings. In other words, the author aims to depict how an ordinary Chinese person, like Shakyamuni, achieved sudden enlightenment to Buddhahood!