Talk:Huineng

Inclusion of an anecdote

Extra material

i think the ending of the last paragraph should include the story that once he was given the robe and the begging bowl(the symbols for becoming the next Zen pratiarch) he was asked to leave straight away by the 5 patriarch, as other contenders were going to kill him(out of jeaulousy). And while on scaping he was pursued by one of the monks who was renown for his bad temper, he managed to catch up to Hui Neng. Hui Neng, decided to leave the robe and begging bowl to his pursuer, but it turn out this monk was pursuing Hui Neng because he wanted to learn from Hui Neng, rather then harming him.

And if im not wrong he actually spent almost 10 years living with hunters to disguise his true background as the 6th Zen patriarch.

Im sorry that the above information i dont have source from were it was acquired from officially. This was told on a chinese based literature.

The proper Pinyin transcription for this name is Huineng, and not Hui Neng. This should not have been turned into a redirect. It is this kind of activity on the part of people who do not know what they are doing that discourages me from further participation in this project. -- Charles Muller

wrong translation

The line:"Bodhi is no tree, nor standing mirror bright. Since all is originally empty, where does the dust alight?" is according to my opinion incorrect. The subject of the first sentence is "Bodhi" and it is also the subject of the second sentence.

It should be: "There is no Bodhi-tree, Nor stand of a mirror bright. Since all is void, Where can the dust alight?" [1] (wereldburger758)

change of content

By simply adding the words:" Nor is the mind a standing mirror bright, I made the poem correct. (wereldburger758)

References

There are no references for the story of Huineng receiving transmission. This should be referenced so that the story can be checked. The gatha translation should also be referenced. Who translated this? Thinman10

Huineng Gatha Translation

The body is a Bodhi tree,

the mind a standing mirror bright.

At all times polish it diligently,

and let no dust alight.

The gatha of Shenxiu speaks about the body being the Bodhi Tree and the mind being like a bright mirror. Most people would agree about the translation in the second line of the Huineng gatha, which states that the "bright mirror also has no platform." This is drawing a similarity between the second line and the first line. In the first line (菩提本無樹), the word 本 is used, which has several meanings. The most common of which is the roots of a plant. With these two points in mind, we should expect that Huineng would be speaking about the Bodhi Tree and the bright mirror of Shenxiu's gatha, and using the lines in similar ways to address both. Since he states that the bright mirror has no basis (platform), then what about the Bodhi Tree? Naturally, since the lines are used in similar ways, he is saying that it also has no basis (roots). In the third and fourth lines, he uses the first two lines to question Shenxiu's instruction. Shenxiu's gatha is correct, but it is not the best. Huineng's gatha is also correct, but it is still not the highest. Hongren is correct that neither has yet seen his true nature, which is why Huineng still needs to be instructed about the meaning of the Diamond Sutra.

菩提本無樹,

明鏡亦非台;

本來無一物,

何處惹塵埃?

Translating the words simply:

bo-dhi root-less tree

bright mirror also/likewise no platform

fundamentally not one thing

what place cause/provoke dust

In other words:

The Bodhi Tree has no roots,

The bright mirror also has no platform;

Fundamentally there is not one thing,

From where can any dust arise?

If we say "Bodhi isn't a tree", or "The roots of Bodhi are not a tree", where did that come from? It isn't consistent with Huineng's own stated similarity (亦非台) between the first and second lines, the usage of the word 本, or with the respective subjects of Shenxiu's gatha (body: Bodhi Tree, mind: bright mirror). In some ways, I'm guessing that people are not familiar with the various uses of the word 無, which can apply to words before it, as "-less". Hence, "rootless", rather than "no tree".