The Dharma of Prajna (poem)

Hui Neng said:

People under illusion recite
the 'Mahaprajnaparamita'
with their tongues, and
while they are reciting it,
erroneous and evil thoughts arise.
But if they put it
into practice unremittingly,
they realize its 'true nature'.
To know this Dharma is
to know the Dharma of Prajna,
and to practice this is
to practice Prajna.
He who does not practice it
is an ordinary man.
He who directs his mind to
practice it even for one moment
is the equal of Buddha.
For ordinary man is Buddha,
and defilement is enlightenment.
A foolish passing thought
makes one an ordinary man,
while an enlightened second thought
makes one a Buddha.
A passing thought that clings
to sense-objects is defilement,
while a second thought that frees one
from attachment is enlightenment.

---

Originally posted: January 20, 2013 9:19 PM

References:

Prajna == spiritual wisdom

Hui Neng: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hui_Neng

Sutra of Hui Neng:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platform_Sutra

Source:
http://www.mycrandall.ca/courses/grphil/ephil/Platform.htm

Transforming Evil into Good

On the journey to the Pure Land accounting for what has been accomplished is as important as focus on burning the evil karma accumulated. A sure way to remain stuck in Samsara is to falsely believe just one call to Amida is as good as ten.

This is why Buddha Recitation is important to a Pure Land Buddhist.

Yet Zen Patriarch Hui-Neng is correct about creating good thoughts right now.

So rather than counting my blessings, I count each recitation as the seed of today's good thoughts.

"Good and evil" isn't about "good or evil" fixed both in both time and space.

It's about how we color what we create by thoughts and action.

The Last Stanza of Hui-Neng

Before his Mahaparinirvana, the Sixth Patriarch Hui-Neng said:
The Essence of Mind or Tathata (Suchness) is the real Buddha,
While heretical views and the three poisonous elements are Mara.
Enlightened by Right Views, we call forth the Buddha within us.
When our nature is dominated by the three poisonous elements,
We are said to be possessed by Mara;
But when Right Views eliminate from our mind these poisonous elements,
Mara will be transformed into a real Buddha.
The Dharmakaya, the Sambhogakaya and the Nirmanakaya --
These three Bodies emanate from one — the Essence of Mind.
He who is able to realize this fact intuitively
Has sown the seed, and will reap the fruit of Enlightenment.
It is from the Nirmanakaya that our 'Pure Nature' emanates;
Within the former the latter is to be found.
Guided by 'Pure Nature,' the Nirmanakaya treads the Right Path,
And will some day attain to the Sambhogakaya, perfect and infinite.
'Pure Nature' is an outgrowth of our sensual instincts;
By getting rid of sensuality, we attain the Pure Dharmakaya.
When our temperament is such that we are no longer the slaves of the five sense-objects,
And when we have realized the Essence of Mind even for one moment only, then Truth is known to us.
Should we be so fortunate as to be the followers of the Sudden School in this life,
In a sudden we shall see the Bhagavat of our Essence of Mind.
He who seeks the Buddha (from without) by practicing certain doctrines
Knows not where the real Buddha is to be found.
He who is able to realize the Truth within his own mind
Has sown the seed of Buddhahood.
He who has not realized the Essence of Mind and seeks the Buddha from without
Is a fool motivated by wrong desires.
I have hereby left to posterity the teaching of the Sudden School
For the salvation of all sentient beings who care to practice it.
Hear me, ye future disciples!
Your time will have been badly wasted if you neglect to put this teaching into practice.

---

Reference:

Last Stanza of Hui Neng: http://www.sinc.sunysb.edu/Clubs/buddhism/huineng/huineng10.html

Mahaparinirvana is not Death

Hui Neng, The Sixth Patriarch, said:
The Supreme Maha Parinirvana
Is perfect, permanent, calm, and illuminating.
Common people and ignorant ones miscall it death,
While heretics hold arbitrarily that it is annihilation.
Those who belong to the Sravaka Vehicle or the Pratyeka Buddha Vehicle
Regard it as 'Non-action'.
All these are mere intellectual speculations,
And form the basis of the sixty-two fallacious views.
Since they are mere fictitious names invented for the occasion
They have nothing to do with the Absolute Truth.
Only those of super-eminent mind
Can understand thoroughly what Nirvana is, and take up the attitude of neither attachment nor indifference towards it.
They know that five Skandhas
And the so-called 'ego' arising from the union of these Skandhas,
Together with all external objects and forms
And the various phenomena of sound and voice
Are equally unreal, like a dream or an illusion.
They make no discrimination between a sage and an ordinary man.
Nor do they have any arbitrary concept on Nirvana.
They are above 'Affirmation' and 'Negation' and they break the barrier of the past, the present, and the future.
They use their sense organs, when occasion requires,
But the concept of 'Using' does not arise.
They may particularize on all sorts of things,
But the concept of 'Particularization' does not arise.
Even during the cataclysmic fire at the end of a Kalpa, when ocean-beds are burnt dry,
Or during the blowing of the catastrophic wind when one mountain topples on another,
The real and everlasting bliss of 'Perfect Rest' and 'Cessation of Changes'
Of Nirvana remains in the same state and changes not.
Here I am trying to describe to you something which is ineffable
So that you may get rid of your fallacious views.
But if you do not interpret my words literally
You may perhaps learn a wee bit of the meaning of Nirvana!

---

Reference:

The Supreme Maha Parinirva: http://www.sinc.sunysb.edu/Clubs/buddhism/huineng/huineng7.html

Meditation, Dhyana and Samadhi

Hui Neng said:

What is sitting for meditation? In our School, to sit means to gain absolute freedom and to be mentally unperturbed in all outward circumstances, be they good or otherwise.

To meditate means to realize inwardly the imperturbability of the Essence of Mind.

What are Dhyana and Samadhi? Dhyana means to be free from attachment to all outer objects, and Samadhi means to attain inner peace. If we are attached to outer objects, our inner mind will be perturbed. When we are free from attachment to all outer objects, the mind will be in peace. Our Essence of Mind is intrinsically pure, and the reason why we are perturbed is because we allow ourselves to be carried away by the circumstances we are in. He who is able to keep his mind unperturbed, irrespective of circumstances, has attained Samadhi.

To be free from attachment to all outer objects is Dhyana, and to attain inner peace is Samadhi. When we are in a position to deal with Dhyana and to keep our inner mind in Samadhi, then we are said to have attained Dhyana and Samadhi. The Bodhisattva Sila Sutra says, "Our Essence of Mind is intrinsically pure."

Let us realize this for ourselves at all times. Let us train ourselves, practice it by ourselves, and attain Buddhahood by our own effort.

Dhyana

Hui Neng said:
In our system of meditation,
we neither dwell upon the mind
in contradistinction to
the Essence of Mind nor upon purity.
Nor do we approve of non-activity.
As to dwelling upon the mind,
the mind is primarily delusive;
and when we realize that it is only a phantasm
there is no need to dwell on it.
As to dwelling upon purity,
our nature is intrinsically pure;
and so far as we get rid of all delusive 'idea'
there will be nothing but purity in our nature,
for it is the delusive idea that obscures Tathata (Suchness).
If we direct our mind to dwell upon purity
we are only creating the delusion of purity.
Since delusion has no abiding place,
it is delusive to dwell upon it.
Purity has neither shape nor form;
but some people go so far as to invent the 'Form of Purity',
and treat it as a problem for solution.
Holding such an opinion, these people are purity-ridden, and
their Essence of Mind is thereby obscured.
Those who train themselves for 'imperturbability' should,
in their contact with all types of men,
ignore the faults of others.
They should be indifferent to others' merit or demerit,
good or evil, for such an attitude accords with
the 'imperturbability of the Essence of Mind'.
A man unenlightened may be unperturbed physically,
but as soon as he opens his mouth he criticizes others and
talks about their merits or demerits, ability or weakness,
good or evil; thus he deviates from the right course.
On the other hand, to dwell upon our own mind or
upon purity is also a stumbling-block in the Path.

Judgment (poem)

He who earnestly treads the path
Sees no error in the world.
When we find fault with others,
Who is in the wrong but us?
When others are in the wrong,
We overlook, and even condone it.
For it is wrong to condemn it!
By removing the habit of fault-finding
We cut off a source of defilements.
When only hate or love disturbs our mind,
Nightmares and daydreams will plague us.

— after Sutra of Hui-Neng

Imagine Your Mind to be the Pure Land

Hui Neng said:

This physical body of ours is a city. Our eyes, ears, nose, skin and tongue are the gates. There are five external gates, while the internal one is ideation. The mind is the ground. The Essence of Mind is the King who lives in the domain of the mind.

While the Essence of Mind is in, the King is in, and our body and mind exist. When the Essence of Mind is out, there is no King and our body and mind decay.

We should work for Buddhahood within the Essence of Mind, and we should not look for it apart from ourselves.

He who is kept in ignorance of his Essence of Mind is an ordinary being. He who is enlightened in his Essence of Mind is a Buddha.

To be merciful is Avalokitesvara (one of the two principal Bodhisattvas of the Pure Land). To take pleasure in almsgiving is Mahasthama (the other Bodhisattva).

Competence for a pure life is Sakyamuni (one of the titles of Gautama Buddha). Equality and straightforwardness is Amitabha. The idea of a self or that of a being is Mount Meru.

A depraved mind is the ocean. Klesa (defilement) is the billow. Wickedness is the evil dragon. Falsehood is the devil. The wearisome sense objects are the aquatic animals. Greed and hatred are the hells. Ignorance and infatuation are the brutes.

If you constantly perform the ten good deeds, paradise will appear to you at once. When you get rid of the idea of a self and that of a being, Mount Meru will topple.

When the mind is no longer depraved, the ocean (of existence) will be dried up. When you are free from klesa, billows and waves (of the ocean of existence) will calm down. When wickedness is alien to you, fish and evil dragons will die out.

Within the domain of our mind, there is a Tathagata of Enlightenment who sends forth a powerful light which illumines externally the six gates (of sensation) and purifies them.

This light is strong enough to pierce through the six Kama Heavens (heavens of desire); and when it is turned inwardly it eliminates at once the three poisonous elements, purges away our sins which might lead us to the hells or other evil realms, and enlightens us thoroughly within and without, so that we are no different from those born in the Pure Land of the West.

Now, if we do not train ourselves up to this standard, how can we reach the Pure Land?

Paramita (poem)

Hui Neng said:
What is Paramita?
It is a Sanskrit word,
meaning 'to the opposite shore'.
Figuratively, it means
'above existence and non-existence'.
By clinging to sense objects,
existence or non-existence
arises like the up and down
of the billowy sea, and
such a state is called
metaphorically 'this shore';
while by non-attachment
a state above existence
and non-existence,
like smoothly running water
is attained, and this is
called 'the opposite shore'.
This is why it is called 'Paramita'.