Xiao Huizhan didn't know what kind of medicine the Sixth Patriarch sold in the gourd, so he learned the lesson of being smart and nodded truthfully.
The Sixth Patriarch said: "Well, now I will ask the waiter to bring some snacks, I will eat them myself, and then I will tell you how I feel after eating the snacks. Will your stomach be full?"
"How is this possible!" Hui Zhan swallowed once and shook his little head like a salesman's drum.
"The same principle." The Sixth Patriarch smiled and continued, "Now, you are confused by ignorance and do not see your own nature, but you ask me if you can see your nature. I know whether I see your nature. How can I eliminate it from your mind? Doubts? If you have already seen nature, you cannot replace me! You have to know that everyone has his own food, and his own life and death are his own. Therefore, the most important thing for you now is to understand your nature, not to ask me to see it. No sex.”
The Sixth Patriarch's compassionate words moved Xiao Huizhan to tears. From then on, he stayed with the Sixth Patriarch, growing like a seedling bathing in rain and dew.
One evening, the Sixth Patriarch took his disciples for a walk on the bank of Cao River outside the temple. There is a moon in the sky and a stream on the ground. The moonlight is bright and clear, the Zen heart is quiet, and the sound of the stream is noisy orchid is still.
After all, Xiao Huizhan was a child at heart. Suddenly she pointed at the crooked half-moon and said, "Master, look, as we walk, the moon also follows us, like a small boat, rocking and rocking."
"What about the half?" the Sixth Patriarch Wu Feng Qi Lang suddenly asked.
This is using the moon as a metaphor for Zen.
"That half" refers to Buddha nature. Our body is moving, but that half is moving?
As a result, the fresh Zen spirit was like an oncoming breeze, slowly blowing the disciples' hearts...
The Sixth Patriarch pushed the great Zen concept to a higher level. He asked Huizhan: "Can you point out this half with your finger, and can you point out the other half?"
Yes, how can we realize Buddha nature?
Xiao Huizhan’s answer was wonderful: “If you see this half clearly, you will understand the other half.”
The Sixth Patriarch smiled and said: "Xiao Huizhan, theoretically you have understood that the key is to reveal the 'half' of yourself. Things in the world are often like this: there are more understandings and less actions. Zen is not a kind of It is not a mysterious theory, but the true meaning of life, and it must be applied throughout every moment of daily life.”
Xiao Huizhan nodded solemnly, thinking about something silently.
After a while, he asked the Sixth Patriarch: "Master, the ancients often used the moon as a metaphor for the Zen mind, such as 'the Zen moon is so round', 'the Zen moon is clear', etc. I can feel that wonderful artistic conception. But , how can we realize our own Zen mind like the bright moon?"
The Sixth Patriarch did not answer, but pointed to the moon in the sky and said, "Think about it, how can you catch the moon in the sky?"
Xiao Huizhan chuckled: "Master, aren't you trying to make things difficult for others? Let me ask you, who in the world can catch the moon in the sky!"
The Sixth Patriarch actually said: "I can do it."
Xiao Huizhan naturally had a look of disbelief.
The Sixth Patriarch did not explain, but walked to the Cao River, held up a puddle of water with both hands, and showed it to his disciples.
Sure enough, there was a bright moon in his hand - the moon reflected in the water!
The talented Fa Hai was inspired by the poem, and his heart for poetry and Zen moved together. He couldn't help but recite: "Holding the water and the moon in your hands, let the fragrance of flowers fill your clothes."
Xiao Huizhan also shouted excitedly: "Master, I understand! The Zen mind is invisible, it is real when it happens; its nature has no form, it appears according to the heart."
The Sixth Patriarch nodded and said: "We Zen practitioners must fully understand the relationship between 'finger' and 'moon', and we cannot favor one over the other."
The so-called "finger" and "moon" refer to "finger" as a metaphor for language, sermons, and classics, and "moon" as a metaphor for Buddhist dharma and Zen essentials.
Because with the guidance of fingers, it is easy to see the moon in the sky. Zen Buddhism regards the state of "originally nothing" as the superior state, and "all considerations are empty" as the supreme virtue. It is advocated not to establish words or footnotes, but to verify the truth with one's own eyes to achieve the ultimate conclusion.
He believes that all teachings and scriptures are only for the convenience of showing people, such as pointing a finger at the moon so that people can see the moon by pointing. The truth is revealed through teaching, but teaching itself is not the reality. But it is also emphasized that this must not despise or abandon the teachings of the classics, because after all, it is a tool for referring to the moon.
The Sixth Patriarch and his disciples stopped talking and sat quietly on the bank of Cao River, admiring the dream-like and real moon in the sky, listening to the real stream flowing, and savoring the beauty. The magical realm of Zen...
The artistic conception of Zen can only be understood but cannot be expressed; and the self-nature that understands this state is even more invisible and formless.
Therefore, on the way back to the monastery, the Sixth Patriarch Huineng said to his disciples: "I have something. It has no head or tail, no name or characters, no back and no front. You can understand what it is. ?"
Huizhan reacted most wittily and said first: "This is the origin of all Buddhas, and it is Huizhan's Buddha nature."
The Sixth Patriarch shouted: "I have already told you that it has no name and no words. Why do you still talk about the origin and Buddha nature?! You, you, you, you kid, even if you have an abbot of a small temple in the future, he will just be a person who talks about words and names. I’m just an apostle seeking knowledge and understanding!”
The teachings of the Sixth Patriarch were so flexible, correcting the biases of his disciples at all times.
Huizhan lowered his head and said nothing.
…
ps: Supplementary chapter No. 5.
