The Zen master's eyes flashed with a bright light, pointed directly at Zhang Cambodia, and asked, "Donor, are you telling the truth?" ”

The corners of Zhang Cambodia's mouth pulled slightly, smiled slightly, pointed to his chest, and said: "The master has been studying and meditating for many years, and he should know that the mind is a Buddha." Who am I, you can go straight to your heart, understand yourself, and you don't need to spend your lips and tongues to ask questions. ”

The Zen master must have heard the story of the Buddha Shakyamuni smiling with flowers and spreading his heart from Master Dinghui: when the Buddha Shakyamuni said the Dharma in the Vulture Mountain, he held the golden Bora flower given to him by the Great Brahma King to show the public, and his attitude was peaceful, but he did not say a word. All the disciples who were waiting to listen to the scriptures were at a loss, and only the disciple Moagaya smiled slightly. Shakyamuni announced on the spot: "I have hidden the Dharma with my eyes, and I have carefully studied the Dharma, which is a mysterious mental method, and now it has been transmitted from the heart to the heart. On the spot, he gave the robes and bowls to the Moagaya. This is the classic story of Buddhism.

The Zen master must have heard Zhang Cambodia say this, and saw that he pointed directly to the hearts of the people, and understood a little in his heart, and couldn't help but think of the three schools of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism that have a great influence in traditional Chinese culture. So, throwing bricks and stones: "With Confucius as the founder and representative figure, Mencius and Xunzi as the inheritance and supplementation of Confucian culture." Confucianism first believed that 'human beings are inherently good', believing that human beings are born with a good nature, and that everyone has compassion and compassion. The reason why there is chaos in society and serious selfishness is that people's conscience and kindness have been lost and they want to get it back. That's why Mencius preached: 'Someone who has lost his chicken and dog knows how to look for it, but there are people who have lost their hearts and don't know how to look for it. This leads to the moral culture, ethics and filial piety culture established by Confucianism, so Confucian culture is based on morality, ethics and filial piety. ”

After hearing this, Zhang Cambodia smiled slightly and asked, "So, what is the Buddhist culture?" ”

The Zen master must have replied; "Buddhism in China is the sinicization of Buddhism. Speaking of which, it should be the pride of Lingnan Xinzhou people. Because Huineng, who was born in Lingnan Xinzhou, Buddhism, which originated in India, really began to embark on the road of sinicization, and made Zen Buddhism the most far-reaching and longest-spreading Chinese Buddhism. ”

The Zen master must have paused at this point, tasted a sip of Zen tea, and then continued: "The reason why Huineng was able to become the sixth ancestor of Zen Buddhism is inseparable from his enlightenment and understanding of Buddhism in Jintai Temple since he was a child. ”

Then, the Zen master must have narrated the whole process of Huineng going north to become a Buddha-

After Huineng comprehended Buddhism in Jintai Temple, he traveled thousands of miles to Huangmei Temple in Hubei, and the five ancestors of Zen Buddhism, Hongren, asked him: "Where do you come from, what do you want to do?" ”

Huineng replied: "I am from Lingnan Xinzhou and want to learn to be a Buddha. ”

Hong Ren said: "You Lingnan people have no Buddha nature, and you are a fang, how can you learn Buddhism?" ”

Huineng replied, "There is a distinction between north and south, but Buddha nature is not divided between north and south, so why can't I learn Buddhism?" ”

After hearing this, Hongren felt that the person who came was not an ordinary person. So he left Huineng to go to the kitchen to do chores and do rice cooking. One day, Hongren said to his disciples in the Dharma Hall, "Have you understood the true meaning of Buddhism after studying for so many years?" Each of you will write me a verse, and if anyone can really understand the Dharma, I will pass on the mantle to him and make him the Six Patriarchs of Zen Buddhism.

So the god show wrote a verse:

The body is a linden tree

The heart is like a mirror

Always try it out

Don't mess with the dust

The meaning of this verse is that the human body is like a Bodhi tree, and the human mind is like a mirror, and it is necessary to always be careful to wipe it and not to be contaminated with the dust of the world.

After reading this, Hongren said to the disciples, "Each of you should copy a copy and study it well, and you will gain great benefits from practicing according to this." But Hongren thought in his heart: Shenxiu has not yet comprehended the true nature of Buddhism.

He said to Shenxiu: "According to your opinion of this poem, you are only in front of the door, not in the door. ”

After Huineng learned about it, he also asked someone to write a note on his behalf:

Bodhi has no tree

Nor is Spiegel a platform

There was nothing

Where to stir up dust

Huineng believes that Buddha nature is originally pure, and it is not a physical thing in the first place, and the Bodhi tree and the mirror platform are all illusory things born in the human heart. As long as we thoroughly understand the true meaning of "pure mind" and "Buddha-nature in the heart", we will understand that the "always pure" Buddha-nature mind cannot be expressed in words such as "dyeing" and "wiping".

If you carefully analyze the verses of Shenxiu and Huineng, you will know that the one has a higher understanding of Zen and Buddhism.

Shenxiu's verses are:

The body is a linden tree

The heart is like a mirror

Always try it out

Don't mess with the dust

It can be seen that Huineng's comprehension and realm are indeed one class higher than Shenxiu. At that time, the fifth ancestor Hongren thought that Huineng not only said the original meaning of Zen, but also understood more deeply and thoroughly than Shenxiu, more "empty", more "nothing", more idealistic, and thought that he was the ideal candidate to receive the law, and personally went to the room to imply that Huineng went to the abbot hall at night at three watches.

It was the third watch in the evening, and Hongren preached the "Diamond Sutra" to Huineng, to "should go nowhere, and give birth to his heart", Huineng realized. Hongren preached the teachings and mantle, and said to Huineng: "You are the sixth ancestor of Zen Buddhism. In this way, the "Six Ancestors of Zen Buddhism" was born.

Hongren passed the position of the six ancestors to Huineng, and sent Huineng down the mountain to return to the south overnight, telling Huineng to "stop when you meet (Huaiji), and hide when you meet (Sihui)". After 16 years of hiding in the Huaihui area, Huineng founded the far-reaching Southern Buddhism of Zen Buddhism, which was a milestone in the sinicization of Buddhism.