And then, when the Master saw Huineng’s verses, He knew immediately this guy was already truly highly enlightened. But what did He (Hongren) do? He used His shoes to erase it, like, “This is garbage.” He said, “This is also nothing. Yes, it’s nothing.” […] But then at night, He went to Huineng’s room… to where He was polishing rice. When He saw Huineng working very hard, He was very touched. He said, “Oh, because of enlightenment, You really, really bear all this.”
The two of Them had a talk. Then He (Hongren) knew. Later, He passed down the mantle and alms bowl to Huineng. Because Huineng had… The Fifth Patriarch Hongren asked all the disciples… You know the story. But I’m still going to tell it anyway, so that I can answer his question. OK? He asked all His disciples to write a poem, so that He could see how they conveyed their inner wisdom. And no one dared to write because they knew they weren’t really any good. Ah, good thing that they had a sense of humbleness and shame, right? If it were my disciples, I’m not sure how many hundreds of poems would be written, completely covering the walls to compete with one another. I don’t know what would be written, either. Might even say that he’s on the Seventh, the Eighth, the Ninth (Level), or surpassed the Fifth. Understand? So on and so forth. And that he’s an enlightened master or something. So boring. Hmm, OK.
Ah! The competing desire for fame and fortune always fools people so badly, not only at the time of the Fifth Patriarch Hongren, but in my time as well. You all have seen it and heard about it. There were one or two so-called brothers and sisters among us who started, after practicing for no more than a few days, claiming to be on the Fifth, the Seventh, or the Eighth (Level). And trying to be an enlightened master, saying that one can get liberated by reciting his (her) name. But the more people recited, the darker they became. There was no Light. As soon as he or she touched someone, the person became black. That’s why I scolded at him (her) afterward. If they hadn’t messed around with other people, it would have been fine. But some people complained, “After he touched me, I couldn’t see the Light anymore.” That was why I scolded. Understand? Remember? (Yes.) OK.
So, no one dared to write a poem except the relatively brightest, and the most reputable and brilliant monastic disciple, I forgot his name. (Shenxiu.) Shenxiu, OK. Only Shenxiu was considered great and good enough to write a poem. It was best for the rest to not write, so they wouldn’t be laughed at. So, they made Shenxiu write one. Shenxiu also knew he wasn’t any good, but people thought much of him and pressured him. So, he casually wrote one, stealthily leaving out his name. He was afraid of being taunted, so he wrote something casually. If his Master acknowledged it the next day, he would come out, claiming it to be his work. If not, it would save him the embarrassment. Therefore, he wrote one quietly in the middle of the night and ran away after he finished, leaving no name on it, not even a word. No one knew who was the one that wrote it and left it there.
The next morning, people came out and saw it. Wow! Everyone praised it, “It’s amazing, it’s amazing.” Originally there is what? “A bodhi is a…”? “A bodhi is a… a tree. Wisdom is like a mirror stand. One must polish it and clean it often to obtain the wisdom,” and so on. I don’t want to recite it. It’s too boring; I won’t recite it. Ah, everyone came and gasped in admiration. And the Master, the Fifth Patriarch Hongren, also came to have a look. He knew it was nothing, but He said, “OK. Not bad! Everyone, come copy it, and recite it every day.” Just to pass time, so that they wouldn’t bother the Master. Understand? If they recited the poem every day, they wouldn’t bother Him.
If one of you comes out and writes a poem, I’ll also ask all of you to recite it together like that, so that you won’t bother me. You bug the heck out of me now. Different every day, with miscellaneous things. You even bugged me about putting up and taking down the tents, and the toilets and bathrooms. And you also bugged me about the quality and the flow of the water. Strange! I am busy with work. How can one person take care of so many things? The ones among you who know how to build houses can fix those things. Right? They can do them. Why did you have to bug Master? What are contact persons for? We have many skilled tradesmen. Many people can build houses and stuff. Why would you bug me? So, I’ll find someone to write a poem too, and ask you to recite it every day, so that you won’t make so much noise. You have nothing to do, and you bug me.
So, the Fifth Patriarch Hongren also knew the allegedly great disciple of His hadn’t attained it yet. Understand? He hadn’t attained it. He was only talking. His heart wasn’t opened. He’s not enlightened yet. But He was OK with it. Everyone thought much of him. He didn’t want to embarrass him either. Being a Master is like that. He had a big heart. Since no one else wrote anything, He had no choice. So, He could only tell everyone, “Ah, this is good. If you recite it, you’ll surely… Slowly and gradually, you will become enlightened.” OK. Fine.
Then a high-ranking official from another place also came to have a look at the poem. He also wanted to copy it and bring it back to recite in order to get enlightenment. And for some reason, he went to the back and bumped into Huineng. I also forgot how. Maybe Huineng was there pounding rice. There were no rice milling machines back then; people pounded rice to break hulls, remove bran layers on the outside, and make white kernels of rice, so that steamed rice could be made. It took so much hard work before. Everything was done manually. Nowadays, machines are very convenient. We enjoy a lot of conveniences in our current era, more so than the kings in the old times. So, Huineng was there pounding rice. It wasn’t really that easy a job. He had to tie a stone to Himself so that He was heavy enough to pound the hulls off, and that the rice would be white enough.
The high-ranking official happened to pass by the place. And he was asking around and said, “I’ve come for the poem.” And Huineng asked others, “I’ve never passed by the front door, nor have I been allowed in the big main hall. I’ve been busy here. Brothers, could you take me there to have a look? I also want to have a look at the poem and admire it.” Someone took Him there. After reading it, He also knew it wasn’t any good, but neither did He say anything. He just went to the high-ranking official who could write… At that time, not everyone knew how to write. Not everyone had the money or the opportunity to become learned. It was a long time ago. Things were difficult in all countries then. There were few learned people. So, He said to the high-ranking official, “I also have a poem to contribute and to offer. Can you please write it down for me?” The official said, “You? How can you compose a poem? You?” He said, “It doesn’t matter. Please, everyone is equal. Master said whoever wanted to, could write one. Why can’t I? Please write it for me because I don’t know how to write.” He was from the South and didn’t know how to write Chinese. The official listened and thought it made some sense. It should be fair. Right? Fairness does not discriminate. So, he helped Him. “OK. You recite it, and I’ll write it down for you.”
Then He wrote the immortal poem that you all know. “Bodhi originally has no tree, The mirror (like the mind) has no stand. There is no need for it. Nothing is there from the beginning. On what would the dust alight?” What He meant was, the wisdom has no tree. Originally, it is not a tree. And your heart is brightened, meaning the inside, your heart is brightened. It’s not like a mirror that needs…. because the other guy said, “it’s like a mirror, you have to every day clean it.” He said the inside brightness, inside Light, it has no frame. Originally, nothing exists, how would you even have any karma? Because the other guy said you often have to clean the mirror, so that the dust will not alight on it. He (Huineng) said there’s nothing. How can the dust alight anywhere? Ah, God! You see the difference. One is still binding and just repeating, like reading from the sutra. Reading from the sutra, like Buddha said, “You have to practice, and clean yourself.” and stuff like that.
But that is just by the way. Because we live in the society, we have to act accordingly, have to be humane, have to be a good citizen. So, we have to do this good, do that good. But nothing’s really important, except being enlightened and seeing your Self-Nature. But Huineng, He already knew, He already achieved this state of emptiness, of no attachment. Not because He said that, but because He knew it. So even if I repeat the same or I write similar verses, but I don’t realize it, that’s a different thing. It’s not like, because I write like that, I copy or I mimic Him, then I am as enlightened as Him. It’s not like that. So, this is a thing from inside.
It’s just like when He (Huineng) was at home in Âu Lạc (Vietnam), at that time, He heard one sentence from the Diamond Sutra and He was already somewhat enlightened. He understood the nature of it. It says in the sutra your heart, meaning your mind, your thoughts, should not dwell on anything, then you’ll achieve the Wonder. Something like that. So, He understood immediately. Understanding, realizing, and knowing are all different things. Not like, “Oh, He read that and I heard that, I can repeat it.” It’s different. It’s different from your realization inside. Therefore, He immediately wanted to go to find a Master who’d give Him more, who’d facilitate Him to be more enlightened, to see His Buddha Nature.
So, when He went there, the Master asked Him, “What do you want that You came from such a far away…? What is it that you want?” He said, “I want to become a Buddha, nothing else.” And then they put Him in the back mountain, doing all the labor work, like chopping wood, polishing rice, cooking for everyone, like a nobody. A newcomer is like that. Also, He was from Âu Lạc (Vietnam); He didn’t speak much Chinese at that time; some maybe, but not written. Now, where was I then, oh my God. Catch me quick, before I forget everything again. What was it then? (Enlightenment.) Enlightened. Ah, yeah, different the... You stretch it out, my love, do it. Come on, (you) sit too long, and cramped. Stretch out if you want, OK? Lay down on your brother behind if you want. Relax, relax. You see, that’s why we don’t have any temples anyway. And no Buddhas around here, so we just stretch it out. In the temple, you have to sit straight, you cannot do anything. Here, you do anything you want.
OK, now… And then, when the Master saw Huineng’s verses, He knew immediately this guy was already truly highly enlightened. But what did He (Hongren) do? He used His shoes to erase it, like, “This is garbage.” He said, “This is also nothing. Yes, it’s nothing.” He used His shoes even. Means very disrespectful, like very low kind of class. He used his shoes to erase everything that Huineng had written. He said, “Ah, this also goes nowhere. It’s nowhere.” Meaning Huineng is nowhere yet. Not enlightened, nothing, nobody.
But then at night, He went to Huineng’s room… to where He was polishing rice. When He saw Huineng working very hard, He was very touched. He said, “Oh, because of enlightenment, You really, really bear all this.” And then, He didn’t say anything more. He used His staff... Normally, the Master has a staff, a symbolic staff. I also had a staff. Last time, I had to give my staff away to somebody who was talking nonsense. Alright. He used His staff to bang on the floor three times, and then He left. He didn’t say anything more. Huineng understood. On the third watch of the night, Huineng went to the Master’s room. You know that means on the third watch; He went after midnight.
And then the Master said to him all this and gave Him all the instructions necessary to be a successor. Then He said, “You have to leave. This is the cloth passed on from Bodhidharma,” the first Master of Zen. They called it Zen at that time. “Now You take it and go out there and help sentient beings, enlighten them to save them from suffering. From now, You will do that. But after You take this, this is Your job. But don’t hurry to preach the Dharma (Teaching) yet, because that would be bad for the Teaching. You have to be patient and hide for a while, otherwise, Your life will be in danger also, because of the cloth.” That’s why Bodhidharma said not to give the cloth anymore after that. And the Fifth Patriarch…
I’m speaking English now? (Yes.) Is it OK? You have translation? (Yes.) You have translation? (Yes.) I don’t know when I switched to English; I don’t even know. Alright, so… I continue to speak English, OK? (Yes.) Do you all have translation? (Yes.) OK. Good. Any language won’t do anyway. If I speak Aulacese (Vietnamese), you people won’t understand. If I speak Korean, they won’t understand.
