Sudden Teaching in Chan or Zen
The famous student of the Sixth Patriarch, Huineng, Shenhui carried forth the essence of the Sudden Enlightenment teaching devoid of practices or study. This is the Chan lineage I received in China from Chan master Yen Wai Shih, who gave me instructions to teach this tradition after certifying it’s correct transmission to me, in 1978 in China.
Shen-hui:
“Do not [practice] mindfulness of the Buddha, do not grasp the mind, do not view the mind, do not measure the mind, do not meditate, do not contemplate, and do not disrupt (interfere) [the mind]. Just let it flow. Do not make it go and do not make it stay. Alone in a pure and ultimate location (i.e., the absolute), the mind will be naturally bright and pure.”
“Shen-hui summarized the gradual approach of the northern school in his famous four verses, which clarified the position of this school regarding meditation practice. These verses say that one is to 1) enter into samâdhi by concentrating one’s mind, 2) view tranquility by settling one’s mind, 3) illuminate outwardly by arousing one’s mind, and 4) verify inwardly by controlling one’s mind. It is this position that Shen-hui rejected. He maintained that such meditation practice was for low-level people, and argued that no Patriarch from Bodhidharma ever attained enlightenment in this manner. According to Shen-hui’s position as long as one tries by any form, such as the method of concentrating, settling, arousing, and controlling, one is still attached to the very fact that one is trying.”
“For Shen-hui the highest teaching is a sudden enlightenment where one unintentionally becomes aware of his or her Buddha nature, which is originally inherent in the person. This awareness is obtained by giving up all the practices and just seeing into one’s true nature. For the deluded mind an obstacle to enlightenment is the attachment to the attempt to get rid of that delusion. Attachment takes place as soon as one attempts to overcome it. Using the metaphor of polishing (practice) a mirror (Buddha nature), the gradual approach tried to polish the mirror in order to make it clean. According to the sudden approach, however, since the mirror is originally clean as it is, the act of polishing it only makes it dirtier. Both the gradual and the sudden schools accepted the notion of the Buddha nature.8 According to the northern gradual school, as defined by Shen-hui, the Buddha nature can be understood as something like a possibility or a seed of becoming a Buddha. One attains enlightenment by making this possibility a reality. Just as a seed grows, so a person can become enlightened through practices of concentration. On the other hand, according to the southern sudden school, the Buddha nature is enlightenment itself. All one needs for enlightenment is simply to become aware of the Buddha nature one already is. Any attempt to become enlightened is seen as a deluded struggle. Rather one has to cast away all attempts to realize Buddha nature. At the very moment of casting away everything and thereby seeing into one’s real nature, one is enlightened--the Buddha nature manifests or reveals itself suddenly.”
“While Shen-hui does not provide explicit practical aids for practice, on careful reading of his works, we find an indication of a form of practice. What Shen-hui suggests is that we just become aware of whatever occurs in our minds. For example, “when afflicted mind arise, become aware of it,” because this “awareness (rigpa) is the original nature of non-abiding-mind.”
“....it rejects practice as preventing one from seeing into his or her true nature. For the southern school we just become aware of our true nature without any intentional attempt or method of practice. If we faithfully follow the southern school position, we must realize that if we “try” to become aware of our true nature (it seems one has to try at some point), this very attempt becomes the practice that Shen-hui rejects as preventing us from actually seeing our true nature. The southern school tells us that such attempts will not work. Because we must begin somewhere, we confront the problem of the sudden teaching. One of the important concepts of the southern school is wu-nien or no-thought, which is used to convey the idea of true thought or thought without attachment. As the main doctrine of the Platform Sutra, no-thought is “to be unstained in all environments.” The text further explains: “The Dharma of no-thought means: even though you see all things, you do not attach to them, but, always keeping your own nature pure, cause the six thieves to exit through the six gates. Even though you are in the midst of the six dusts, you do not stand apart from them, yet are not stained by them, and are free to come and go.” No-thought is, therefore, neither a human construct nor an intentional method like concentration for the attainment of enlightenment, rather it is natural, free, unbounded (beyond) thought. The text continues by saying that “being free and having achieved release is known as the practice of no-thought”; however, if you “cause your thought to be cut off, you will be bound in the Dharma,” which points to the fact that intentional methods prevent a person from seeing his or her true nature. Following the Platform Sutra, Shen-hui claims that “Tathatâ is the substance (or essence) of no-thought.... If there is someone who sees into no-thought, although he is accompanied by seeing, hearing, feeling, and knowing, [his thought is] always empty and tranquil.” Thus, no-thought is un-intentional and non-purposive. It is identical with the Buddha nature as the function of Tathatâ, because Tathatâ is its substance. Therefore, if one becomes aware of no-thought, one’s mind becomes empty and, thus, enlightened. For Shen-hui, in the experience of no-thought, “śîla, samâdhi, and prajñâ simultaneously become identical, ten thousand practices are endowed with, and one’s knowledge becomes the same as knowledge of Tathâgata....” Therefore, in becoming aware of one’s true nature--“being free and having achieved release,” all the practice that is needed--“the practice of no-thought” is contained in the moment. In this enlightened experience, there is no difference among śîla, samâdhi, and prajñâ. For Shen-hui this practice is direct, immediate, and sudden, taking place spontaneously. Thus, the enlightened experience, which is clearly different from the gradual practice used as a means for enlightenment, is not a means. The experience simply happens--sudden practice.”
JP