Xue Jian's voice did not allow for the slightest bargaining: "In this case, master, you must follow me to the capital tomorrow, otherwise, my head will not be saved! The lives of my whole family, old and young, will not be saved!"
The Sixth Patriarch Huineng's old eyes were fixed, he thought for a while and said, "Your Majesty, it is not difficult to save your head."
Xue Jian thought he had changed his mind and was overjoyed: "Ah, you are finally willing to go to Beijing with me!"
"No. I am determined to live in the mountains to recuperate from illness and practice Taoism."
Xue Jian's tone was firm: "If you don't go to the capital, what will happen? In order to see the master and listen to your Dharma face to face, Emperor Zetian hurriedly issued an edict and sent me to the south immediately. Come. I guess that the emperor is now in the capital looking forward to your arrival, just like looking at the clouds during a severe drought. As a special imperial envoy, I went back empty-handed to reply to the order. It will definitely make the emperor furious, and the only result of waiting for the old minister will be to behead him. No pardon. Please note that the emperor’s law is ruthless!”
"Don't take things so absolutely." The Sixth Patriarch Huineng first comforted Xue Jian, and then said in a consultative tone, "You are a close minister of the Emperor. Let me ask you, the Emperor asked me to come to Beijing. Is it because I am seeking Buddhist teachings?"
Xue Jian nodded: "Yes!"
"In this case, this matter can be solved. It should be noted that within Buddhism, the Dharma is supreme." Huineng came up with an idea, "Let's do this! I will teach the Dharma, and you should record it and organize it in my Baolin Temple. Then , you return to the capital with the Dharma I taught you and return the edict, and attach the petition form I wrote. In this way, the imperial envoy, you will no longer return empty-handed. The Holy One will not convict you."
"Okay, okay, okay!" Xue Jian was like a drowning man who suddenly grabbed a life-saving straw and smiled brightly. "Over the years, I have followed the emperor and often heard the Zen masters in the palace talking about Buddhism and Taoism. But after listening to it, , Your Majesty and I both feel very troubled about some issues, and today I just want to ask you, the Sixth Patriarch, for advice."
The Sixth Patriarch Huineng: "If you have any questions, sir, please ask me."
Xue Jian scratched his fat head with his hand and remembered something: "Those Zen masters in Kyoto all said that if you want to understand Mahayana Buddhism, you must practice concentration by sitting in meditation. If you want to get liberation without sitting in meditation, it has never been possible." Matter. Disciple, I don’t know what the Dharma the master said is like?”
The Sixth Patriarch Huineng said solemnly: "Buddhism is realized from the bottom of the heart. How can it be said that it is only achieved by sitting in meditation?"
Xue Jian blinked with puzzled eyes: "Ah, master, as soon as you started speaking, it was different from what the great Zen master in Kyoto said. It was completely different. Please explain it to me in detail."
"Okay!" The Sixth Patriarch Huineng explained, "It is said in the Buddhist scriptures that if someone says that the Tathagata seems to be sitting or lying down, this person is practicing evil. Why? Because everything does not come from anywhere, and it does not arrive at anything. There is no birth and no death. This is the pure meditation of the Tathagata Buddha. All dharmas are originally illusory and empty. This is the pure meditation of the Tathagata Buddha. Ultimate liberation cannot be achieved, let alone sitting meditation."
Xue Jian scratched his head again out of habit: "Master, what Buddhist teachings are you talking about?"
The Sixth Patriarch Huineng pointed his hand directly at his heart: "I am talking about the method of telepathy."
Xue Jianxuan asked: "Teach the Heart Dharma? Disciple, when I return to Beijing, the emperor will definitely ask me what I learned when I came to Caoxi. I hope the master will be compassionate and give instructions to teach the most essential meaning of the Heart Dharma so that I can report it to Zetian." The Great Sage Emperor told all those who studied Taoism in the capital. Just like a lamp can light hundreds of thousands of lamps, making dark places light up, and causing the light to spread endlessly."
Seeing that he spoke very sincerely, the Sixth Patriarch Huineng said: "Buddhism itself has no difference between light and dark. Light and dark are just the meaning of mutual metabolism. There is no end to the transmission of light, and it is because there is an end and the two treat each other that they appear. It’s just two different names. Therefore, the Pure Name Sutra says that Buddhism is incomparable because it has no corresponding name.”
Xue Jian said: "The metaphor of light is wisdom, and the metaphor of darkness is trouble. If people who practice Buddhism do not use the light of wisdom to break the troubles, how can they escape from birth and death in the eons without beginning?"
The Sixth Patriarch Huineng replied: "Trouble is the enlightenment of Bodhi. Don't divide trouble and Bodhi into two kinds. There is no difference between them. If you want to use the light of wisdom to illuminate the troubles, this is the view of the two-vehicle people. Sheep Cart The deer and the chariot have the same root, and no one with the highest wisdom and the greatest virtuous roots will have this understanding."
Xue Jian: "What is the Mahayana view?"
The Sixth Patriarch Huineng explained: "Light and darkness refer to two completely different situations for ordinary people, but wise people understand clearly that there is no difference in the nature of light and darkness. This undifferentiated nature is True Buddha nature. The so-called true Buddha nature means that it does not decrease in ordinary people and fools, does not increase in sages and saints, does not scatter when troubled, and does not remain silent during meditation. It is constantly annihilated. It does not exist forever, it does not come or go, it is neither in the middle nor inside or outside. There is no birth, no death, the nature is the same, and it always remains unchanged. This is called the Buddha's way."
Xue Jian asked persistently: "What is the difference between what the master said about immortality and what heretics say?"
The Sixth Patriarch Huineng replied: "The non-birth and non-destruction that heretics talk about is to use cessation to prevent birth, and use birth to show cessation. Destruction equals immortality, and birth can also be non-birth. And what I mean by non-birth and non-destruction , means that the Buddha-nature has no birth in the first place and will not be destroyed now. Therefore, what I say about non-birth and non-destruction is different from the teachings of heretics. If you want to know the most essential meaning of Buddhism transmitted from heart to heart, don’t think about it. All good and all evil. In this way, one will naturally realize that the pure mind of Dharma is clear and ever-quiet, and its subtle uses are more than the sand of the Ganges."
When Xue Jian heard this, he suddenly realized that every pore in his body was open, exuding the radiance of his own nature. He sincerely praised: "Listening to the master's words is better than listening to those Zen masters in the palace. Several years of scripture and meaning.”
Xue Jian returned to the Buddhist monastery where he stayed and worked at night by burning a lamp. He wrote down the Buddhist teachings and teachings taught by the Sixth Patriarch Huineng all night long until dawn.
The next day, Xue Jian handed those notes to the Sixth Patriarch for review and marking, and then wrote them in this chapter.
On the third day, the Sixth Patriarch Huineng handed Xue Jian the seal he requested and led the monks from Baolin Temple to escort Xue Jian out of the mountain gate.
When Xue Jian left, the Sixth Patriarch said to him meaningfully: "I would like to ask the envoy to show my Zen method to the present saint. Troubles are Bodhi. If your mind is pure and you don't seek troubles, you will be liberated immediately. In addition, worldly affairs Impermanence and full of variables, you must let go when it’s time to let go, and be mindful of all the people in the world!”
Xue Jian heard the implication of the Sixth Patriarch and asked sensitively: "Master, has there been any change in the political situation?"
"It doesn't harm the overall situation. Father-in-law will naturally understand it when he returns to the capital."
"Master's decree, I will definitely convey it to the Holy One. Disciple, take leave!"
Before Xue Jian returned to the capital, he had already learned on the way: an earth-shattering event had occurred in the capital - Wu Zetian was forced to abdicate, and Prince Zhongzong ascended the throne - as expected, the situation was unpredictable.
Returning to Xue Jian, he led the official mission, traveled day and night, and flew back to the capital to return his orders to Wu Zetian.
Let me add to the narration here: In the first month of the first year of Shenlong, a turmoil broke out in the court: the civil and military ministers of the court had long been dissatisfied with Wu Zetian's arrogance, lewdness, and dictatorship. Taking advantage of her serious illness, he launched a palace coup and led his troops to kill Wu Zetian's husband. The brothers Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Zongchang welcomed the restoration of Prince Li Xian and respected Wu Zetian as the "Great Sage Emperor Zetian". In February, the country's name was restored to Tang.
