Huineng is the Sixth Patriarch of Zen Buddhism. He received the mantle of Fifth Patriarch Hongren, inherited the Dongshan Dharma lineage and established the Nanzong. He promoted " He advocated the "sudden cultivation method that directly points to the human heart" and said that "if you don't know the original heart, learning the method will be useless." Hui Neng believed that what is cultivated is the heart, not the form, so Huineng often warned his disciples: they should understand their original heart more and not be too attached to the external form.
Group Six Huineng once said three sentences to his disciples. These three sentences are very important. If you understand them, you will not be far away from enlightenment.
1. Kindness means filial piety and support for parents, while righteousness means compassion for one another.
This sentence is telling everyone that filial piety to parents is a very important thing. Many people actually go far away from the near and like to go to temples to burn incense, but few people often go home to accompany and be filial to their parents. Being filial to your parents is also a part of your study, even a very important part. If you don't do this well, all your efforts will be in vain.
The first of the three blessings of pure karma is to be filial to your parents, and the second is to serve your teachers. It only makes sense to treat the people around you well first, and then burn incense. No matter which sect you belong to, they all talk about filial piety and the way of being a teacher, and filial piety to parents is the first priority. You must know this,
2. There is no need to work hard to observe the precepts if the mind is calm, and there is no use practicing Zen if the mind is straight.
This sentence is also what we need to know. If we don’t know this sentence, it is easy to take detours. We must first know the purpose of keeping the precepts and sitting in meditation. Don’t take the process as the purpose, otherwise it will be easy to go astray.
We have all heard of the butterfly effect . The butterfly effect has another meaning, that is, the starting point has a very large impact on the future. A slight difference is a thousand miles. If you start in the wrong direction, your efforts will be further away from the end point, so every choice we make at the beginning is very important.
The classics say: "The law should be abandoned, let alone illegal." What does it mean? The Dharma we study is actually just a tool to help you cross the river. The Dharma is like a boat. If we want to cross the river, we need to get on the boat. When we cross the river, we have to get off the boat. Don’t put the boat back on the shore. Many people regard boating as their purpose, but they ignore their real purpose of crossing the river.
What we do every day is to keep our minds calm and upright. Never regard what you do as learning itself. Everything you do is to quiet your mind. When you understand this truth, you will not be attached to a certain thing, but will integrate learning and life. Practice in life, live in practice, eating, working, and cleaning housework are actually all a kind of practice.
3. Bodhi can only be found in the heart, so why bother seeking mysteries from outside.
Why is self-nature called self-nature and not other-nature? Because it is within yourself. The pure nature is not outside or in the temple. It is within yourself. Stop looking for it outside everywhere. Instead, look into your own heart and search deep inside. Only then will you have the opportunity to see your true nature.
Real learning is to do everything in the moment, and observe your own heart in the current things. You don't have to go to the mountains and forests to retreat. As long as your heart is quiet, no matter where you are, it will not affect your heart. As long as your heart is quiet, it makes no difference whether you are sitting or lying down, whether you are working or living. Living your mind in the present is the best practice in life.
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