The Bodhi tree has no tree, and the mirror is not a stand. The Bodhi tree has no tree, and the mirror is not a stand. It is originally nothing, so how can it be stained with dust. The Sixth Patriarch Hui Neng said: Under the Bodhi tree is the place where the Buddha attained enlightenment. The bodhi tree is not a tree, and the mirror stand is not a stand. There is nothing in the first place, so how can it be stained with dust? Before Huineng wrote this verse, Shenxiu, the sixth ancestor of the Northern Sect, had a verse: The body is a bodhi tree, and the mind is a mirror stand. All the time Wipe diligently to avoid dust. Huineng's poem is mainly about Shenxiu's verse, which proves that Huineng has nothing in his heart and has a higher understanding. Let's talk about the origin of this poem. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Zen Buddhism spread to The fifth ancestor, Master Hongren, was giving lectures in Huangmei, Hubei Province. He had more than 500 disciples, among whom the leader was undoubtedly the eldest disciple, Master Shenxiu. Shenxiu is also recognized as the heir to the Zen mantle. Hongren was getting old gradually, so he wanted to find a successor among his disciples, so he told his disciples that everyone should make a Jizi (a poem with a Zen feel), and whoever did it well would pass the mantle to him. At this time, Shenxiu wanted to inherit the mantle, but he was afraid that doing this Jizi for the purpose of inheriting the mantle would violate the Buddhist concept of doing nothing. So he got up in the middle of the night and wrote a stanza on the wall of the courtyard. The body is a bodhi tree and the heart is a mirror stand. Wipe it frequently to avoid dust. The meaning of this verse is to take care of your own soul and state of mind at all times, and to resist external temptations and all kinds of evil spirits through continuous practice. It is a worldly mentality that emphasizes the role of spiritual practice. This understanding is not consistent with the enlightenment of the Zen Mahayana sect, so when everyone saw this Jizi the next morning, they all said yes, and they all guessed that it was made by Shenxiu and admired it very much. Hong Ren I didn’t make any comments after seeing it. Because he knew that Shenxiu had not yet had an epiphany. At this time, when the monks in the temple were talking about this gatha, they were overheard by a fire-headed monk in the kitchen, Zen Master Huineng. Huineng asked others to take him to read this gatha. What needs to be explained here is that Huineng was illiterate and could not read. He heard others talk about this Jizi, and at that time he said that this person had not yet realized the true meaning. So he made another Jizi himself and begged others to write it next to Shenxiu's verse. The bodhi tree has no tree, and the mirror is not a stand. There is nothing in the first place, so how can it cause dust. From this gatha, we can see that Huineng was a man of great wisdom (some people in later generations said that he was the reincarnation of the tenth monk). His gatha is very consistent with the concept of enlightenment in Zen Buddhism. It is a transcendent attitude. The main meaning is that the world is inherently empty. Everything in the world is empty. If the heart is inherently empty, there is no need to resist external temptations. Everything will pass by the heart without leaving any trace. This is a very high state of Zen Buddhism. People who understand this state are called enlightened. This Buddhist verse is to prove the emptiness. After Hongren saw this verse, he asked the people around him who wrote it. The people next to him said that it was written by Huineng, so he called Huineng and wrote it in front of him and other monks. Mian said: The writing was messy and gibberish, and he personally erased the verse. Then he hit Huineng three times on the head and left. At this time, only Huineng understood the meaning of the Fifth Patriarch, so he went to Hongren's Zen room at three o'clock in the evening, where Hongren explained to him the Diamond Sutra, one of the most important classics of Buddhism, and passed on the mantle Give it to him. Then in order to prevent Shenxiu's people from harming Huineng, Huineng escaped overnight. So Huineng traveled south overnight, and after living in seclusion for 10 years, he founded the Southern School of Zen in the Putian Shaolin Temple. After Shenxiu learned about it the next day, he sent someone to chase Huineng, but he failed to catch him. Later Shenxiu became the protector of the Liang Dynasty and founded the Northern Sect of Zen. There is another saying about Huineng's verse, which says that his verse says: "Bodhi has no tree, and the mirror is not a stand. The Buddha's nature is always pure, and there is no dust anywhere." How Huineng's verses were written is still debated in academic circles, but this is not the main content we are talking about now. What is the meaning of "There is nothing in the first place, so where is the dust"? We know that the internal system of Chinese Buddhism is very complex. There is Mahayana, Hinayana, Kong and You sects, and most Chinese Buddhist sects are a fusion of the Kong and You sects. Mahayana Buddhism's Emptiness School, known as the Madhyamaka School in India, is a major change in the history of Buddhist thought. It mainly talks about Emptiness, destroys superstition, and sweeps away all forms. It believes that all dharmas are empty in nature. Whether in the world or beyond the world, all phenomena, including spiritual phenomena and material phenomena, also include various pseudonyms we get in secular cognitive activities. Buddhism focuses on liberation. The so-called liberation means to cut off all kinds of ties. Therefore, the Madhyamaka school’s teaching on emptiness has indeed played a great role in breaking down the bonds, especially in breaking up the bonds of “view” (cognition). However, everything always has its opposite. The Madhyamika school talks about emptiness, and finally goes to the extent of denying everything (especially Nirvana liberation), which undoubtedly shakes the theoretical foundation of the entire Buddhism. Therefore, the transition of Buddhism from the "vacuity" of Madhyamaka to "wonderful existence" has become an inevitable trend. Therefore, after the middle period of Mahayana Buddhism in India, a series of classics that preached the theory of "wonderful existence" began to appear, such as the Lotus Sutra, the Nirvana Sutra, etc., which promoted an eternal, universal, and absolute Buddha nature. As the basis for the existence of all living beings and all things.

In China, these two ideas were introduced almost at the same time. During the Jin Dynasty and the Southern and Northern Dynasties, through the elaboration of Daosheng and others, they synthesized emptiness and existence, combined the "emptiness of dependent origin" in "Prajna" and the "wonderful existence of Buddha nature" in "Nirvana", and thus proposed a universal sense. The idea that "all living beings have Buddha nature". The core of its theory is that the so-called "Buddha nature", which is the internal basis and internal reason for all living beings to become Buddhas, is an absolute, universal and eternal existence. It has the function of sensing everything and can communicate with all living beings. All things correspond to each other, so it can be held in all living beings and all things. Therefore, in this sense, "Buddha nature" is shared by all living beings. All living beings have "Buddha nature" and can become Buddhas. However, the "Buddha-nature" mentioned here is not something special in their view. It is the principle of "empty nature of dependent origination" in Prajna theory, which can also be called "reality", "Dharma-nature", "Dharma-nature" and "emptiness". "Empty", "True" and so on. In this way, in the highest sense, the "emptiness" of Prajna and the "being" of Nirvana are completely unified. In other words, the eternal "Buddha nature" is actually "emptiness". Starting from this idea, we can see that in the worldly sense, all living beings are the product of the combination of the five aggregates; and in the highest theoretical sense, that is, the sense of "reality", all living beings can be said to be There is nothing, all there is is the unique "empty" principle in the universe. This void principle is the only reality in the universe. When it is among all living beings, it is manifested as the "Buddha nature" of all living beings. When it is manifested in all things, it is the "Dharma nature" of things. As for the "Buddha-nature" of "emptiness", because it is only a kind of empty principle, it cannot be distinguished by language and thinking, but it exceeds the specific characteristics that can be expressed by all language and thinking. The so-called "dyeing and purity" is exactly one such distinction. After understanding this, we can understand Huineng's "originally nothing, how can it cause dust". meaning. Huineng accepted the idea of ??emptiness in Prajna and the idea that all living beings have Buddha-nature in Nirvana, and integrated the two into one. It was under the guidance of this understanding that Huineng uttered the famous verse "There is nothing in the first place, where is the dust". The so-called "originally there is nothing" means that everything in the world is an illusion, and no dharma is real; the so-called "where to cause dust" specifically emphasizes that "dust" is not real, and there is no distinction between tainted and untainted. In short, he advocated that the Buddha nature is originally pure and is the only reality, so there is no dust and no dust to stain it. Because everything is expressed by the "empty" principle, only this is true, and everything else is false. Therefore, as long as all sentient beings understand their own Buddha nature, that is, they understand the principle of "emptiness", they can awaken and become Buddhas. Huineng's view was opposed to what Shenxiu said. Shenxiu regards the body as a "Bodhi tree" and the mind as a "mirror stand", and affirms the existence of things from the front. This is advocating "existence", thus violating the Prajna principle of "empty nature of dependent origination". On the other hand, Shenxiu emphasizes the existence of "dust", that is, regarding things that can be stained in the world as real, which is also contrary to the principle of prajna. In addition, from Huineng's verses, we can see that his idea is to simplify the practice process. Since the mind does not have the problem of purity, it is not necessary to cultivate the mind to get rid of the troubles of lust. Therefore, practice can be carried out in daily life. Become enlightened in your daily life. Shenxiu's practice method is to practice gradually, which is "wiping diligently all the time." This also reflects the difference in their practice methods.

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