Direct and Gradual - 6th Patriarch of Zen Hui Neng

8/11/2019 Direct and Gradual - 6th Patriarch of Zen Hui Neng

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Direct and Gradual [1]

The Platform Sutra tells the story of how, after a split in the sangha,the Northern school sends a spy to steal teachings from itssouthern counterpart.

Master Huineng

The Platform Sutra , a classic of Zen Buddhism attributed to the Sixth Patriarch Huineng,tells the story of the aftermath of the religion's split into two schools: Northern and Southern.In this selection, the Northern Master Shenxiu sends a spy to gather teachings from theSouthern Master Huineng. But the reconnaissance does not go as planned.Ed.

While the Patriarch [Huineng] was living at Jewel-Wood Monastery in Caoxi, theVenerable Master Shenxiu resided at Jade Spring Monastery in Jingnan. Both teachers'
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schools flourished in their time, and everyone called them Southern Neng andNorthern Xiu. So it was that there came a division into two schools, northern andsouthern, "direct" and "gradual." Their students, however, did not understand themeaning of this distinction.

The Master [Shenxiu] said to the assembly,

The dharma is originally a single school; it is people who think north and south. The dharma is of one kind; but the understanding of it may be direct or gradual. So why the terms direct and gradual? Dharma itself is neither direct nor gradual. Rather it is people who are sharp or dull. Hence the terms direct and gradual.

The followers of Shenxiu, nevertheless, often criticized the southern Patriarch for

being illiterate, and questioned his achievement. But Shenxiu himself said, "He hasreached awakening without the benefit of a teacher and deeply understands thesupreme vehicle; I am not his equal. Furthermore, my master, the Fifth Patriarch,personally bequeathed the robe and teaching to himhow could that have been inerror? I regret that I cannot make the long journey to be close to him, yet I receive statepatronage without deserving it. You should not linger here; go to Caoxi and resolve your doubts."

One day Shenxiu instructed his close disciple, Zhicheng, You are bright and very knowledgeable; go to Caoxi for me and listen to his teaching. Remember and recordeverything you hear, so you can tell me all of it when you come back.

As ordered, Zhicheng went to Caoxi; there he joined the assembly without saying where he had come from. At that time, the Patriarch [Huineng] announced to theassembly, Today there is a thief hiding among you who has come to steal theteaching. Zhicheng immediately stepped forward, bowed, and told the whole story behind his mission. The Master said, You are from Jade Spring; you must be a spy.Not so, he replied. The Master asked, How can you not be? He answered, Before Iconfessed, I was; but now that I have admitted to it, I am not."

The Master asked, "How does your master [Shenxiu] instruct his followers?" Zhicheng replied, "He always instructs his students to stop the mind and contemplate stillness;and to sit upright at all times without lying down."


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good is wisdom; and, that purifying one's own mind is concentration. This is how heexplains them. I wonder, High Master, what teaching do you give?

The Master said, "If l said I had a teaching to give others, I would be deceiving you.Depending on the situation, I merely use expedients to untie people's bonds, andprovisionally call it samadhi. Your master's explanations of morality, concentration,

and wisdom are truly wonderful; I see morality, concentration, and wisdom somewhatdifferently. Zhicheng said, There can only be one kind of morality, concentration,and wisdom. How can there be a difference?

The Master said:

Your master's morality, concentration, and wisdom are meant for Great Vehiclepractitioners; my morality, concentration, and wisdom are meant for those of the

Supreme Vehicle. Awakening and understanding are not the same; seeing may comeslowly or immediately. Listen to my explanation, and see if its the same as his.

My teaching never departs from the essential nature; to depart from the essentialnature in explaining the dharma is teaching superficially, and this only leads toconfusion. You should realize that the ten thousand dharmas all flow from our ownessential nature. This is the true teaching of morality, concentration, and wisdom. Listen to my verse:

Mind-ground free from error: essential natures morality. Mind-ground free from delusion: essential natures wisdom. Mind-ground undisturbed: essential natures concentration.It never increases or decreases: indestructible as vajra.The body comes and goes, [yet] you're rooted in samadhi.

Hearing this verse, Zhicheng apologized, and in gratitude offered a verse of his own:

The five heaps, an illusory body And how could an illusion be ultimate? Even wanting to reach the truly so Means the method is not yet pure.

The Master approved, and further said to Zhicheng:


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Your master's morality, concentration, and wisdom exhorts those with lesser capacities for wisdom; my morality, concentration, and wisdom motivates those witha greater capacity for wisdom. If you awaken to your essential nature, you do not set up [ideas of] bodhi or nirvana, or liberated knowing and seeing. Only when youunderstand there is nothing to attain, can you set up all the myriad teachings. If youunderstand this, you are embodying the Buddha; it is also called bodhi and

nirvana, and liberated knowing and seeing. Those who see their essential naturecan set these up or not as they choose. They can come and go freely, unhindered and spontaneous. Everything they do and all their words are appropriate, timely, and according to need. Wherever and however they appear, they never depart from theinherent nature. They are just realizing the spiritual powers of self-mastery, and the samadhi of playfulness. This is called seeing the nature.

Zhicheng further asked the Master, What is the meaning of not setting up?

The Master replied:

When your essential nature is free from error, unobstructed, undisturbed, and unconfused, when prajna [wisdom] oversees and illuminates your every thought, and you are far removed from the superficial appearances of things, independent and free absolutely everywhere and anywherewhat is there to set up?

Awaken by yourself to your own essential nature; awaken directly by cultivating directly. There are no gradual stages; nor anything to set up. All things are still and emptyhow could they be arranged in a sequence?

Zhicheng bowed, and vowed to attend on the Master morning and night without fail.

The Sixth Patriarch's Dharma Jewel Platform Sutra with commentary by Tripitaka MasterHsuan Hua, edited by Martin Verhoeven and Rev. Heng Sure. Published withpermission of the Buddhist Text Translation Society [2].

The Buddhist Text Translation Society (BTTS) is dedicated to making the principlesof the buddhadharma available to Western readers in a form that can be directly applied to practice. Since 1972, the Society has been publishing English translations of sutras, instructional handbooks on meditation and moral conduct, and biographies.
http://www.buddhisttexts.org/http://www.buddhisttexts.org/http://www.buddhisttexts.org/

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Direct and Gradual - 6th Patriarch of Zen Hui Neng