I Signed in at Shaolin for Ten Thousand Years

"I signed Wannian novel in Shaolin ()" to find the latest chapter!

(This chapter mainly discusses some history, mixed with some personal opinions and private goods summarized by the author based on the materials, and explained the foreshadowing of the previous article. Readers, please forgive me, if you only pay attention to the plot trend, you can directly read next chapter.)

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"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 sound of Buddha's gatha sounded.

After Su Cheng stepped into the heart dust, the old voice slowly sounded.

The voice was somewhat gentle, as if it was an elder's advice.

He was taken aback for a moment, and then suddenly realized the source of the voice.

The Sixth Patriarch of Zen Buddhism, Shenxiu!

Yes.

This famous Buddhist gatha is undoubtedly the same as the four-line Buddhist gatha of the "Sixth Patriarch Huineng" well-known by Su Cheng in the previous life: "There is no tree for Bodhi, and the mirror is not a stand. There is nothing in the first place. The relative four sentences "cause dust everywhere"!

According to the legend that Su Cheng learned, Hongren, the fifth patriarch of Zen Buddhism, wanted to pass on the Dharma, and Shenxiu first wrote the four sentences "body is a bodhi tree".

Immediately after hearing these four sentences, Huineng, a handyman monk at that time, uttered the four sentences "Bodhi does not have a tree".

Hongren considered it carefully for a long time, and finally felt that Huineng's Buddha nature was more profound. Therefore, the ancestral throne was passed on to Huineng, that is, the sixth patriarch Huineng!

Here is another very interesting anecdote, that is, when Hongren decided to pass on the throne, he hit Huineng three times like "Bodhi Patriarch passed on the Dharma to Sun Wukong", which is actually a metaphor for Huineng to go to find him at three o'clock. .

That night, after Hongren passed on the position of the sixth patriarch to Huineng, he asked Huineng to return home quickly to avoid being jealous.

On the second day, Shenxiu was indeed chased by people, but they failed to catch up.

However, in Su Cheng's view, this period of history is just an anecdote.

In fact, the history of the world he experienced was completely different.

in this world,

The Sixth Patriarch of Zen that Shaolin Temple recognizes is not Huineng, but Shenxiu!

Regarding this point, Su Cheng had already noticed it four years ago when he quoted the four sentences of Master Huineng's "Bodhi has no tree".

At that time, Master Huichen had never heard of these four Buddhist verses, so he knew that there might be some secrets in this world.

After that, Su Cheng learned more from Buddhist scriptures.

Huineng in this world is indeed a Zen monk with profound Buddhist teachings.

And, indeed, some people think that he is the sixth patriarch of Zen.

But in Shaolin Temple, it is always recorded that the Sixth Patriarch of Zen is not Huineng, but Shenxiu!

As for why this is...

Later, Su Cheng combined his understanding of Shaolin Temple in this life and the memory of his previous life, and came to a conclusion.

It is very likely that there were originally two Sixth Patriarchs of Zen.

In the previous life, since the dispute between Shenxiu and Huineng, Zen was divided into "Northern Zen" and "Southern Zen".

Among them, the founder of Southern Zen is Huineng.

And the founder of Northern Zen is Shenxiu!

Although in the previous life, the mainstream view was that Huineng was the sixth patriarch of Zen.

However, in the original history, many researchers also speculated based on literature and historical records that it is very likely that the history of the dispute between Shenxiu and Huineng was not true in the first place.

Su Cheng also agrees with this point.

This story comes from the "Six Patriarch Altar Sutra", and the Six Patriarch Altar Sutra is probably the words of a family of Master Huineng's disciples.

The Sixth Patriarch Altar Sutra also deliberately portrays Shenxiu as a person with a heavy mind and a strong attachment, and even clearly records his inner thoughts of "entangled, persistent, restless, and deep in thought".

It's a bit too dark.

In contrast, there are also records in documents such as the stele of "Tang Zhongyue Shamen Interpreting the Dharma as a Zen Master" and other documents, Shenxiu is the successor of Hongren's orthodoxy.

In Su Cheng's view, this story does have a big loophole.

First of all, the tolerance of the three monks Hongren, Huineng, and Shenxiu is too narrow.

Teaching the Dharma is upright, why is there any reason to favor the private interests of the village?

Especially Shenxiu. Historically, Shenxiu was revered as "the ruler of the two capitals and the teacher of the three empires", and he successively spoke for Wu Zetian, Zhongzong, and Ruizong. It can be seen that his Buddhist attainments are high.

Even Empress Wu Zetian "kneeled" to him!

That is to bow down to him! !

How could such a divine monk send someone to chase after the sixth patriarch Huineng out of jealousy?

The reason why Huineng's influence was higher than Shenxiu's later was also because Huineng's disciple Hezezong Shenhui argued against Shenxiu's disciples Chongyuan and Puji, which made "Southern Zen" become the orthodoxy of Chinese Zen.

But that is a dispute between the disciples of later generations, and has nothing to do with the current generation.

Of course, this is a historical discussion.

On the other hand, Su Cheng is now a person who has a deep understanding of Buddhism. Naturally, it can also be distinguished.

"There is no bodhi tree" and "the body is a bodhi tree", in fact, there is no distinction between depth and depth.

"The body is a bodhi tree" represents the Hinayana method of self-cultivation.

"Bodhi has no tree", which represents the method of enlightening the mind in the middle vehicle.

The two, in fact, are aimed at different directions.

Although in terms of realm, it is true that "Bodhi has no tree" is higher.

However, there is no opposition between the two, and it is simply an explanation of the realm of Buddhism, not an argument!

What Shenxiu talked about was recitation of what he saw and heard, and what Huineng talked about was understanding the law and explaining meaning, which is the basis for practicing Buddhahood.

Although the relationship between Hinayana's "do-it-yourself method" and the middle vehicle's "non-action method" is explained in one sentence, these realms are the foundation of the foundation for Buddhist eminent monks.

The reason why Master Huichen was so shocked by his four-line Buddhist gatha back then was not because he had not reached this level, but because he was surprised that these four lines were so simple and clear, and that they were uttered by himself, a "little novice monk". !

This sentence has weight, but in Master Huichen's view, it only proves that he has "profound Buddha nature", nothing more!

It would be an exaggeration to say that this sentence is really worth a Zen ancestor.

you can say it this way. It is impossible to determine the depth of the state and then decide to pass on the ancestor's position based on these two Buddhist verses!

For more than a thousand years, people have been discussing whether Huineng or Shenxiu has more profound Buddha nature.

But the actual interpretation should be like this: Observing the precepts will lead to samadhi to gain wisdom, and dependent origination, nature and emptiness are enlightenment!

The two are complementary and interdependent. Equivalent to the material base and superstructure, inseparable! !

In summary.

In this world, both Shenxiu and Huineng do exist, and both are indeed Shaolin monks.

And later Huineng also left Shaolin and went to the south to teach the Dharma, and his reputation was so great that some people even considered him the "Sixth Patriarch of Zen".

However, in this world, Master Huineng said many times that he is not the sixth patriarch of Zen.

Master Shenxiu was also very humble, and never admitted that he was the sixth patriarch of Zen.

Because the ancestral position is "empty" to them.

In history, the two masters can be said to be very harmonious, and there are not so many disciples in later generations who caused orthodox disputes.

So Shaolin Temple is the Northern School of Zen, but there is no Southern School of Zen in this world, as well as a series of Buddhist sects such as "Southern Shaolin" influenced by it.

Therefore, Master Shenxiu will be recognized as the Sixth Patriarch of Zen!

Su Cheng certainly agrees with this point.

Regardless of whether Master Shenxiu is the real Sixth Patriarch of Zen Buddhism, Su Cheng feels that he, like Master Huineng, is worthy of this title!

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