Chapter 2 The heart is like a mirror, free from dust

It has always been believed that there is only a threshold between the world of mortals and the world of Buddhism. Inside the threshold is the cloud and water of the Zen mind, and outside the threshold is the torrential and turbid waves.Buddhism believes in fate, so this threshold is far away from people, the distance between past life and present life; it is also very close to people, only between one breath and one breath.Many people spend their entire lives, but cannot reach the door of Prajna.Many people, with one eyebrow lowered and one glance back, realize the meaning of Zen.The sixth patriarch, Huineng, belongs to the latter. A Bodhi plant and a bright mirror are destined to be a Zen legend in his life.

The Sixth Patriarch Huineng in my memory is like a green lotus sitting on a cloud platform, with a clear heart and a sense of nature, free and harmonious.Before that, he, like all other living beings, was a tiny speck of dust floating in the mortal world.His father died early, and his mother depended on each other, chopping firewood to survive, life is as ordinary as grass and trees, and as humble as ants.Fate had arranged it long ago, and only gave him a short tour of the world of mortals, and waved goodbye.Buddhism and wisdom are flowing in his blood, so on the way home from selling firewood, he came across the "Diamond Sutra", and formed an inextricable bond with Zen Buddha.He knows very well that he is just a Ping Ping in the world, and everything in the world is just a scenery that can be forgotten after seeing it.He just said goodbye so easily and abandoned all the tastes of life. From then on, the five aggregates were all empty, and the six dusts did not exist.

There was no reason for his departure, but after I read the "Diamond Sutra", I vaguely understood that everything comes and goes, and there is a cause and effect. The "Diamond Sutra" says: "All appearances are illusory; if you see that there are no appearances, you will see the Tathagata." All dharma appearances are not the reality itself. Everything is for ease.There are four verses at the end of the scriptures: "All conditioned dharmas are like dreams and bubbles, like dew and lightning, and should be viewed in this way." The implication of this time is to see the Buddha-nature.

The Buddha saves predestined people, not all of them, holding the scriptures in their hands and listening to the Sanskrit sounds, they can eat the marrow to know the taste, and realize the emptiness of nature.Everyone, in the rolling dust waves, is a ship on a long voyage. The Buddha said that turning back is the shore, but where is the shore you want to anchor?The Buddha would definitely say that there is no owner in the world, and the lotus platform is the destination of all living beings.Is it obsessive to tie a boat to the willow bank in the world?Appreciating the autumn moon and spring breeze all over the place, is it greed, anger, desire and ignorance?Since each has its own predestined relationship, you sit on a futon, a green lamp, a wooden fish, a few volumes of scriptures, devote yourself to practicing, and live indifferently.I can also be greedy for fireworks, a wealthy family, a few tile-roofed houses, a small courtyard in four squares, guarding the fleeting years, happiness and well-being.

Those who swear to live and die together with the world of mortals, their eyes blurred by the smoke and fire of the world, and they are riddled with wounds by wind, knives, frost and swords, can't help complaining that life is so playful and the world is too impermanent.They lamented that the reality is too cruel, all utilitarianism, love and prosperity are just illusions.They claimed to be able to withstand being thrown by the streamer, and they could drink this cup of strong tea mixed with world flavors in one gulp. However, a brief farewell and a little indifference in human feelings caught them off guard.In a panic, I had no choice but to escape, looking for mercy in a certain corner where lotus blossoms opened and closed.

It was a bodhi time, with the clarity and peace that the world yearns for, which can soothe our weak souls.At that time, the fifth patriarch Hongren was old and eager to pass on the mantle, so he ordered his disciples to write verses to test their practice.Shenxiu wrote a verse: "The body is a bodhi tree, and the heart is like a mirror stand. Always wipe it diligently, so as not to stir up dust." After hearing this, Huineng also recited a verse: "Bodhi does not have a tree, and the mirror is not a stand. There is no one Where does the dust come from?" After Hongren learned about it, he passed on the mantle of Huineng and designated him as the successor.Huineng's practice is not as old as Shenxiu's, but his verses are clearer and clearer, and they are not stained with dust.It can be seen that practice lies in the heart, everything comes from awareness and sudden enlightenment, there is no thought in the heart, and there are no worries.Meditating on Zen is not about sitting quietly on a futon and concentrating on emptiness.It should be noted that in all ordinary times such as food, clothing, housing and transportation, one can experience the realm of Zen.

The Sixth Patriarch Huineng knew his original mind and reached all Buddhist principles.Life's joys, sorrows, sorrows, birth, old age, sickness, and death have all been penetrated. He has even forgotten his own existence, and has reached a state of giving up thoughts and tranquility, which is what Buddhism calls Nirvana state.How many people can achieve such meditation and detachment?There are very few people who can really understand the verses of the Sixth Patriarch Huineng.But we can get rid of some distracting thoughts in his verses and get a little refreshment.There were several monks preaching scriptures together, and there was a wind blowing the flags in the hall from time to time, one monk said the wind was moving, and the other monk said the flags were moving.During the endless debate, Huineng said: "It is neither the wind nor the banner, but the heart of a benevolent man." It can be seen that when the heart moves, everything moves, so you experience all kinds of suffering in the world;

After reading a chapter, Baochai ordered a play, and the song "Parasite Grass" in the play is very Zen-like. "Long tears of heroes, separated from the family of scholars. Thank you for your compassion. I was shaved under the lotus platform. There is no fate, and I am separated in a blink of an eye. I am naked, come and go without any worries. Where to ask, smoke, rain, hat and roll alone? As I am, straw sandals and broken bowls follow the fate Transformation!" After hearing this, Jia Baoyu seemed to have enlightenment, and after returning home, he also wrote a verse: "You prove me, your heart proves your mind, there is no proof, Si Keyun proves. There is nothing to prove, it is a foothold After reading it, Daiyu added a sentence: "If there is no place to stand on, it is clean." Because of this, Baochai was drawn to tell the story of the sixth patriarch Huineng's practice of Zen, as well as this Bodhi verse.Later, Baoyu jumped out of the world of mortals and escaped into Buddhism. He really woke up and realized it thoroughly.His enlightenment has experienced vicissitudes of life, and he knows that the prosperity of yesterday is just a dream. When he wakes up from the dream, he knows he has returned.

The Sixth Patriarch Huineng not only practiced meditation for personal practice, but also his gatha and the "Sixth Patriarch Altar Sutra" left after his death are all Zen classics.He is not you and me who advocate the world of mortals, let go of everything, and choose to escape from the world.I just hope that we, who live in the mundane world, will be calm and self-sufficient, less obsessive, and more Zen minded.In this way, you can save a little bit of trouble in the world, and you can also practice One Leaf Bodhi together with Zen Buddha in ordinary and mediocre days. In the mundane world, we are like nightingales imprisoned by fate, wearing gorgeous feathers, but we will never fly out of the vast night.All things are sentient, and all sentient beings have Buddha nature. If we behave in the world with a normal mind, there is no need for incompleteness or perfection.We may be just a speck of dust, never going back and forth; maybe we are just a glass of plain boiled water, colorless and tasteless; but in the end, we are all just a mound covered with years of green moss and a simple life.

After the sixth patriarch Huineng passed away, his real body was not damaged. It is still preserved in Nanhua Temple and enshrined in the Lingzhao Pagoda.Just like his gatha, it was written into the scriptures by an inkstone and a plain brush, and then passed down through the dynasties. The characters presented on the rice paper are still black and white.He sat upright on the futon, drank it head-on, his heart was like a mirror, and he didn't stir up dust.We should also live in the world of mortals, calm in mind, sober and calm, free and peaceful.