| Over a period of 5,000 years, through the | | | | shall find only penitence in the end. |
| lineage of Tao, there are 64 Patriarchs and | | | | |
| one of them is Hui Neng. On the Essence of | | | | If you wish to find the true way, right |
| Mind, he said that it is pure by nature and | | | | action will lead you to it directly but if |
| it is the seed of enlightenment. By making | | | | you do not strive for Buddhahood, you will |
| use of this mind alone we can reach Sainthood | | | | grope in the dark and never find it. He who |
| directly and one of his saying is "Sentient | | | | treads the Path in earnest, sees not the |
| beings who sow the seeds of enlightenment in | | | | mistakes of the world. If we find fault with |
| the field of Causation will reap the fruit of | | | | others, we ourselves are also in the wrong. |
| Sainthood. Inanimate objects void of | | | | When other people are in the wrong, we should |
| Godly-nature sow not and reap not." | | | | ignore it, for it is wrong for us to find |
| | | | fault. By getting rid of the habit of |
| This is one of Hui Neng's beautiful stanzas | | | | fault-finding, we cut off a source of |
| (teachings): | | | | defilement. When neither hatred nor love |
| | | | disturb our mind, serenely we sleep. Those |
| "A master of the Buddhist Canon as well as of | | | | who intend to be the teachers of others, |
| the teaching of the Dhyana School, may be | | | | should themselves be skilled in the various |
| likened unto the blazing sun sitting high in | | | | expedients which lead others to |
| his meridian tower. Such a man would teach | | | | enlightenment. |
| nothing but the Dharma for realizing the | | | | |
| Essence of Mind. And his object in coming to | | | | When the disciple is free from all doubts, it |
| this world would be to vanquish the heretical | | | | indicates that his Essence of Mind has been |
| sects. We can hardly classify the Dharmas | | | | found. The Kingdom of Buddha is in this |
| into 'Sudden' and 'Gradual' but some men will | | | | world, within which enlightenment is to be |
| attain enlightenment much quicker than | | | | sought. To seek enlightenment by separating |
| others. For example, this system for | | | | from this world, is as absurd as to search |
| realizing the Essence of Mind, is above the | | | | for a rabit's horn. |
| comprehension of the ignorant. We may explain | | | | |
| it in ten thousand ways, but all those | | | | Right views are called 'transcendental' |
| explanations may be traced back to one | | | | erroneous views are called 'worldly.' When |
| principle. | | | | all views, right or erroneous, are discarded, |
| | | | then the essence of Bodhi appears. |
| To illumine our gloomy tabernacle, which is | | | | |
| stained by defilement, we should constantly | | | | This stanza is for the 'Sudden' School. It is |
| set up the Light of Wisdom. Erroneous views | | | | also called the 'Big Ship of Dharma' (for |
| keep us in defilement, while right views | | | | sailing across the ocean of existence). Kalpa |
| remove us from it, but when we are in a | | | | after kalpa, a man may be under delusion, but |
| position to discard both of them, we are then | | | | once enlightened, it takes him only a moment |
| absolutely pure. | | | | to attain Buddhahood." |
| | | | |
| Bodhi is immanent in our Essence of Mind and | | | | In the practice of Tao of Heaven, Hui Neng is |
| attempt to look for it elsewhere is | | | | one of my spiritual teachers. He is the |
| erroneous. Within our impure mind the pure | | | | reincarnation of Bodhisattva Ti-Tsang, also |
| one is to be found, and once our mind is set | | | | known as The Holy Teacher of the Underworld |
| right, we are free from the three kinds of | | | | or Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha. |
| beclouding (defilement, evil karma, and | | | | |
| expiation in evil realms of existence). | | | | Author: T.A Chew |
| | | | |
| If we are treading the Path of Enlightenment, | | | | Website: |
| we need not be worried by stumbling-blocks, | | | | |
| provided we keep a constant eye on our own | | | | T.A Chew, an accountant by profession, years |
| faults. We cannot go astray from the right | | | | ago after a very bright flash of light, saw a |
| path. Since every species of life has its own | | | | holy being from the underworld and then |
| way of salvation, they will not interfere | | | | realized that there are holy beings too in |
| with or be antagonistic to one another. But | | | | the underworld. The teaching of the Essence |
| if we leave our own path and seek some other | | | | of Mind in the spiritual sense was taught by |
| way of salvation, we shall not find it, and | | | | Hui Neng, the reincarnation of Ti-Tsang Wang |
| though we plod on till death overtakes us, we | | | | Pusa in Chinese. |