[ above left: the body of Master Hui-neng at Nan-hua Monastery, prior to desecration
above right: after reconstruction ]
[ above left: the body of Master Hui-neng at
Nan-hua
Monastery, prior to desecration
above right: after reconstruction ]
( Hui-Neng, Hui-neng, Dajian Huineng, Hui-Neng Liu-Tsu-ta, Wei Lang )
Hui Neng( Yeno, Eno [ in Japanese ] )
( The Sixth Patriarch, The Sixth Ancestor )( Chinese line )
( 638 - 713 )
According to D.T. Suzuki 2 "The Sixth Patriarch, Hui-neng, was a great religious genius, and his life marks an epoch in the history of the Zen Sect in the Far East. It was due to him that his Sect, hitherto comparatively inactive and rather tending to ascetic quietism, now assumed a more energetic role in the demonstration of its peculiar features, and began to make its influence more and more felt, especially among the thoughtful class of people.," (not to mention Enlightenment to the prepared few).
According to Fa-hai 3 , (early biographer and contributor to the Hui Neng legend) in his introduction to the Platform Sutra: " When he was born beams of light rose into the air and the room was filled with a strange fragrance. At dawn two mysterious monks visited the Master's father and said: "The child born last night requires an auspicious name; the first character should be 'Hui,' and the second, 'Neng'".
"What do 'Hui' and 'Neng' mean?" inquired the father.
The priest answered: "'Hui' means to bestow beneficence on sentient beings; 'Neng' means the capacity to carry out the affairs of the Buddha." When they had finished speaking they left, and there is no one who knows where they went." (3)
(for a continuation of Hui Neng's biography see links below)
Notes
1. Photo coutesy hsuyun.org; taken prior to Red Guards smashing it with their rifles.
Priests of Nan Hua Monastery reassembled the bones and what was left of the skin, etc. and lacquered the surface, particularly the skull. It now rests in the temple is dedicated to him in the Monastery complex of Nan Hua Si near Shao Guan, Guangdong Province, China.
2. The Zen Sect of Buddhism. D. T. Suzuki. 1906.
3. The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch. Phillip B. Yampolsky. 1967
links:
Dajian Huineng (wiki)
Legends in Ch’an: the Northern/Southern Schools Split,
Hui-neng and the Platform SutraPlatform Sutra of Hui Neng
(Translated by A.F.Price and Wong Mou-Lam)bibliography (and excerpts)
Platform Sutra of the 6th Patriarch:
The Text of the Tun-Huang Manuscript
Philip B. Yampolsky (Translator), Hui-Neng Liu-Tsu-ta
Published 1978
information and order from:
amazon.com | * | barnes and noble | * | powells | * | ABEThe Diamond Sutra and the Sutra of Hui-Neng
(Shambhala Dragon Editions)
Wong Mou-Lam (Translator), A. F. Price / Paperback / Published 1990
information and order from:
amazon.com | * | barnes and noble | * | powells | * | ABEThe Sixth Patriarch's Sutra:
Great Master Hui Neng
Tripitaka Master Hua (Editor) / Hardcover / Published 1977
information and order from:
amazon.com | * | barnes and noble | * | powells | * | ABEThe Zen Doctrine of No Mind :
The Significance of the Sutra of Hui-Neng (Wei-Lang)
Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki, et al.
Paperback / Published 1991
information and order from:
amazon.com | * | barnes and noble | * | powells | * | ABEThe Diamond Sutra and the Sutra of Hui-Neng
A. F. Price (Translator)
Published 1990
information and order from:
amazon.com | * | barnes and noble | * | powells | * | ABEThe Sutra of Hui-Neng:
Grand Master of Zen — Hui-Neng
Thomas Cleary (Translator)
information and order from:
amazon.com | * | barnes and noble | * | powells | * | ABEEnlightenment : mother of spiritual independence:
the teachings of Hui Neng
Hua Ching Ni
information and order from:
amazon.com | * | barnes and noble | * | powells | * | ABEThe Sutra of Wei Lang (Or Hui Neng)
Hui-Neng / Published 1973
information and order from:
amazon.com | * | barnes and noble | * | powells | * | ABEEssays in Zen Buddhism, First Series
Daisetz T. Suzuki / Paperback / Published 1986
information and order from:
amazon.com | * | barnes and noble | * | powells | * | ABEEssays in Zen Buddhism, Third Series.
D. T. Suzuki
York Beach, Maine: Samuel Weiser, 1985.The Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch on the Pristine Orthodox Dharma.
Fung, Paul and George, trans.
San Francisco: Buddha's Universal Church, 1980.
Hui Neng cutting bamboo
