Xuanzang and Huineng: The same Buddhist monks, why did they have a different influence on later generations?

Source: Guoxuetang

Xuanzang and Huineng are both from the Tang Dynasty. They are the ancestors of Ci'enzong and Zen respectively. They are regarded as the two peaks in the history of Han Buddhism. .

Master Xuanzang (602-664) is one of the greatest translators in the history of Chinese Buddhism. He is the founder of Dharma Xiang Wei Shi Sect and his Buddhist cultivation is unparalleled in the world.

He was born in a distinguished family and a family of Confucianism. He received a good education since he was a child. After he became a monk, he visited the world's eminent monks and worked diligently on the basis of Buddhist theories.

traveled to the Western Regions as an adult. During the 17-year long journey, I learned about more than 130 countries and brought back more than 600 classics. He has a rich experience of studying abroad and he is proficient in Sanskrit. Respected as the largest monastery in India at that time and the largest Buddhist research center-Nalanda Temple is one of the "ten virtues" of the Tripitaka, and enjoy the guest's courtesy.

In 642 AD, the famous Jieri King in Indian history specially organized for him the debate Dafa meeting in the capital Qunu City (now Ganaugi). Unanimously, the Mahayana believers respect him as the "Mahayana" (that is, the "Mahayana god"); the Theravada who argued with him the most intensely had to be convinced by his feet and respect him as the "Liberation Heaven" (that is, the "liberated God"). God").

A Chinese scholar, with such profound talents, has made such brilliant achievements in Indian forums, which impressed the thousands of masters present, which greatly shocked the Indian Buddhist community. It not only marks that Chinese Buddhism has surpassed India, but also that Master Xuanzang has become the world's leading master of Buddhism development to the highest peak. This has epoch-making significance in the history of world Buddhism. Therefore, the Qunvcheng Dafa Conference was recorded as an important historical event in the annals of Indian history.

After returning from the Western Regions, Master Xuanzang, with the support of the Tang Dynasty, presided over the translation of countless scriptures, especially the intricate mysteries and complex logical speculations of Weishi Sect. His talent and spiritual temperament can be said to be rare in ancient and modern times.

Let's take a look at Huineng again.

Hui Neng (638-713), born in Hanwei, grew up cutting and selling firewood for a living. In his youth, he had almost no contact with Buddhist scriptures and no systematic education. Not to mention familiarity with Sanskrit, even the level of Chinese characters is extremely low, and you can even say that you don’t know big characters. He grew up in a remote Lingnan village. Before going to the Dongshan Temple in Huangmei, Hubei to pay homage to the fifth ancestor Hongren, he only heard some Buddhist scriptures such as "Diamond Sutra" from others sporadically, but it was just a few words. He has neither stayed abroad nor translated scriptures. He is an out-and-out "turtle".

According to them, these two people can't be compared.

But what is unbelievable is that the Faxiang Weizhi Sect founded by Master Xuanzang, after a short period of glory in China, was soon put on the pavilion, and declined at the end of the Tang Dynasty, and became almost extinct after the Song and Yuan Dynasties. However, the Zen Buddhism founded by Master Huineng has been popular in the world, showing strong vitality, and has become the main body of Chinese Buddhism thought that has been unique and enduring since Li Tang. All fields of the motherland's culture have flourished because of its casting. His "Altar Sutra" has passed through thousands of years, carried forward and passed on from generation to generation, and has even become synonymous with Chinese Buddhism.

How to explain this confusing phenomenon? Is this just an accident?

Speaking truthfully, Huineng does excel. His greatest strength is not in the instant, but in his realization of the civilianization of Buddhism. This is a revolution of Buddhism in China.

For example, his idea of ​​"everyone has Buddha nature" is very clear. When he first met Hongren, he clearly confessed: " People have north and south, but Buddha nature has no north and south." Different monks, why is there a difference in Buddha nature? " For example, his Zen theory of "seeing nature through the mind, self-cultivation and self-enlightenment", believes that "Bodhi must seek from the heart. Buddhas and sentient beings are almost indistinguishable.” For example, his "Episode" theory, he thinks that you will realize instantly and become a Buddha by seeing one’s nature, simplifying the time and process of becoming a Buddha; and he believes that “fascinating and gradually concluding, enlightening peopleSudden cultivation.” Being able to have an epiphany is not only simple, but it also shows that this practitioner has the root device and the root of wisdom. If so, why not do it? For example, he integrates sitting meditation practice in daily life, the so-called "walking, sitting, sitting and lying "It’s nothing more than Zen", "carrying water and firewood, nothing more than righteousness", does not talk about the external form, only emphasizes the inner "no thought, no dwelling, no phase", which is very popular with civilians and the public.

There is a very important concept in the Buddhist tradition called the "Three Jewels of Refuge". These three Jewels are Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. Buddha is enlightenment, and Refuge to Buddha means "aware but not lost"; Dharma is righteous, and surrendering to law means "right but not evil." ; The monk is pure, and the refuge of the monk means “clean but not dyed.” According to the traditional Buddhist interpretation, these three refuges are all outward, external to the person, and the process of refuge is a process of assiduous practice.

But Huineng’s explanation is different, "The Sixth Patriarch Dharma Treasure Altar Sutra · Confession No. 6" cloud: Good knowledge! The four great wishes are issued today, and it is more incompatible with the teaching of good knowledge. Three return to precepts. Good knowledge! Return to awareness, two-legged respect; return to righteousness, free desire respect; return to purity, respect among all. From today onwards, enlightenment is called a teacher, let alone a return to evil spirits. With the three treasures of self, always self Prove that persuades good knowledge to rely on the Three Jewels of Self-nature. The Buddha is aware, the Dharma is righteous, and the monk is pure. Self-reliance awareness, evil and obsessiveness, less desire for contentment, ability to be free from wealth, name and bipedal respect. The heart returns to righteousness, the innocence of innocence, and the innocent to see what is wrong, that is, no one tributes high, greed, attachment, fame and respect. The heart returns to the pure, all dusty work, the state of love and desire, and the self is not affected. The most respected among the many. If you practice this trip, you will be self-returning, but ordinary people will not, from day to night, receive the three-return precepts. If you say turn to the Buddha, where is the Buddha? If you don’t see the Buddha, how can you return? False.

That is to say, he believes that conversion to Buddha is conversion to enlightenment, and people will not have delusion when they are awakened, so they will be clear of heart. Refuge to the monk is to take refuge in purity, and one will not be tainted by the mortal thoughts.

Huineng’s greatest contribution to Zen is the theory of enlightenment to Buddhahood. This doctrine denies the existence of external authority beyond oneself and makes the individual The mind and nature are freed, and the existence of the subject is above all else. The theory of enlightenment to Buddha makes the tedious rituals and the vast Buddhist scriptures meaningless. "Pointing to the human heart and seeing nature as a Buddha" simplifies Buddhism and adapts to the psychology of common people. And spiritual needs.

The Zen Buddhism of Hui Neng did not require to sit in the academy, nor to contemplate in the study room. His epiphany was completed in the stone mortar on his waist, and he was working. The epiphany. This obviously caters to the vast majority of the people, and has become the Sanskrit sound of thousands of hardworking people. It should be said that the reason why Hui Neng is great is that he pulls the Buddha nature back to human nature and also takes Buddhism from high to above. Heaven has returned to the world.

In history, the more profound the thought, The more complex theories, the harder it is to resist the frenzy of realism.