The dispute over the robe
When Hong Ren took out the kapok robe, he solemnly said to Hui Neng, “This robe is a treasure brought by the ancestor Dharma from the Tianzhu country. The robe is the credentials of the Dharma. The robe follows the Dharma, and the Dharma must be passed on. Today I will give you this robe, and you will be the sixth generation of Zen masters. “
Hui Neng respectfully accepted the robe and took a closer look at it, it was indeed a rare treasure. The robe was made with exquisite workmanship, bright in color, and as smooth and light in the hand as a gel, and was sewn from the cotton cloth of Tianzhu. He waited until after the fourth night, then he put on his clothes and quietly slipped out of the mountain gate and hurried towards Lingnan.
He saw hundreds of people shouting and chasing after him. He was the first one to rush out of the mountain gate to grab the robe, and he was so far ahead of the others that he felt happy, as if he could see the unparalleled cotton robe on his own body.
He understood that he would not be able to escape from these people no matter what, so he put the bundle with the robe on a stone by the roadside and shouted at them: “The robe is a token of Dharma transmission, how can you rob it by force? There is no way to have clothes, like a flower in a mirror! He turned around and went into the grass by the roadside.
When Huiming came to see the robe on the stone, he reached for it, but a miracle happened. But a miracle happened. It was like a bundle had taken root, and he couldn’t move it with all his strength. Huiming was so shocked that he realized the infinite power of the Buddha’s teachings in an instant, so he respectfully bowed to Hui Neng and asked him to speak for him.
Hui Neng parted from Huiming and set foot on the land of Lingnan, arriving at Baolin Temple. One night, a few months later, a group of monks quietly came down from the back of the mountain, all dressed in short clothes and carrying torches, and came to the back of the temple door and smashed it hard. Hui Neng hurriedly rolled over and got up, and when he listened carefully, an unfamiliar voice called out: “Hui Neng’s son, hand over the robe, or we will not be polite! “
Another robbery! Huineng didn’t have time to think about it, so he picked up the robe and hurriedly went out the front door and ran like hell towards the hillock in front of the temple. When he ran up the hill, he looked back and saw dozens of torches like a long snake, wriggling quickly this way. Huineng was too tired to run anymore and went into a large rock crevice.
I don’t know how long it took, Huineng suddenly smelled a pungent smell of smoke. He stretched his head to see that the whole hillside had become a sea of fire. It turned out that those monks searched the mountain slope, but did not see Huineng’s shadow, and in a fit of anger, they set fire to the mountain, thinking that Huineng would be able to come out obediently.
In a time of great danger, Huineng’s first thought was the robe in his hand. His own life was not enough, but this important Buddhist treasure must not be damaged, what should he do? In an emergency, he remembered how Huiming couldn’t hold the robe when he grabbed it. The robe in my hand is a treasure, a magic weapon! It cannot be burned by natural fire. Thinking of this, Huineng looked at the approaching fire, put on the robe without panic, sat on a stone, and closed his eyes to meditate. Immediately, he felt his whole body sinking down, everything around him was far away from him, the fire was gone, the smoke dispersed, the world was surprisingly silent ……
About two hours later, Hui Neng was a strong light stinging eyes, open eyes, a round of red sun rose from the eastern mountains. Yesterday was still lush grass and trees, at this time all burned to ashes. The robe was not damaged in the slightest, despite the soot that had fallen on it.
When he turned to leave, Huineng suddenly glanced at the stone at his feet, and he was startled. Only to see two knee-pressed indentations clearly appearing on the stone, and on closer inspection, even the texture of that cotton cloth was imprinted on the stone, and Hui Neng once again felt the power of Buddhism. Later, when Hui Neng returned to Cao Xi, his disciples took the stone back and worshiped it, calling it the “stone of refuge”.
Before Huineng passed away, he told his disciples that there was a verse from the Dharma Master: “I came to this land to pass on the Dharma to save the lost love. One flower blossoms into five leaves, and the result becomes natural. From Dharma Master to Hui Neng, there were exactly five generations. The Fifth Patriarch, Master Hongneng, also instructed me: “Clothes are a dispute, stop you from passing them on”, so the robe of Zen Buddhism was passed on until Hui Neng, and no longer passed on. The mantle is no longer passed on, so naturally this school of Zen Buddhism has come to an end.
● Assassin
As Hui Neng’s name spread throughout the land of Lingnan, monks and laymen, many dignitaries and officials everywhere longed to hear Hui Neng speak. His growing popularity caused great anxiety among the Shenxiu school, which was located far away from the Jade Spring Temple in Jingnan. Shenxiu himself was not too concerned, but his disciples were panicked and wanted to show Hui Neng something. They thought of many ways, and a monk named Zhiming came up with an idea, saying he had a lay friend named Zhang Xingchang, who liked to fight for justice and had a good martial art, so he could teach Huineng a lesson for everyone.
The crowd felt that this approach is not good, but can not think of another way, they repeatedly urged: “point to the end, so that Hui Neng have regard for it, do not do things to the end. So Zhiming went to Zhang Xingchang and told him about Huineng’s many faults and asked him to give Huineng some color. He said he would send ten taels of gold as a reward after the matter was completed.
That night, Zhang Xingchang took a little care of himself and came to Cao Xi with a sharp knife in his pocket, traveling day and night. On that day, Hui Neng ascended to his seat as usual to teach the Dharma, and suddenly he saw a man with a murderous look on his face, hurrying towards Cao Xi.
Huineng immediately understood what was going on, but he did not make a sound and spoke as usual. At night, Hui Neng took out ten taels of gold and put it on the meditation chair next to his couch, then covered the door of the abbot’s room, blew out the light and candles, and lay down peacefully.
Zhang Xingchang hid outside the temple and waited until nightfall, then he crossed the wall and entered. After two more hours, he gently pushed open the abbot’s door, heard the sound of even snorting from under the window, he raised the knife, suddenly remembered that Zhiming repeatedly told him not to do things to the end, so he put the knife down again. But on second thought, since I came on this trip, why not do something thorough, I killed Huineng today, and maybe they will give me more gold when I get back.
A thought, Hsing Chang evil to the side of courage, he an arrow step to grab forward, according to Hui Neng’s neck is a knife. Just heard a sound, Xingchang felt like cutting on the stone, the knife was bounced back, shocked his tiger mouth tingling. He did not have time to think carefully, and cut two more knives, were bounced back. He wanted to cut again, when Hui Neng spoke: “Bold villains, do not put down the butcher’s knife! The righteous sword is not evil, the evil sword is not right, you are being used to assassinate the good, can not hurt me a hair! I owe you only ten taels of gold, does not owe you a human life! “
Xingchang was shocked and hurriedly threw down his sword, fell on the ground and bowed down, begging Huineng for forgiveness, willing to become a monk and serve Huineng for the rest of his life. Hui Neng took ten taels of gold and handed it to him, saying, “Leave quickly, for if my disciples know that you are an assassin, they will surely harm you. If you want to become a monk, come back another day with a new outfit. Xingchang thanked him with tears and soon became a monk.
●Prediction
On the first day of the seventh month of the second year of the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (713), Hui Neng suddenly gathered all the monks in the temple together and said to them, “The poor monk is leaving the world in August, so if any of you have any questions, ask them early. “After a few days, a disciple asked, “Tell me, Master, will there be any disaster in the future? “
“Five or six years after the death of the poor monk, someone will come to steal my head, what will happen? It can be predicted in four sentences: raising relatives on the head, having to eat in the mouth, meeting the difficulty of fullness, and having a willow as an official. “On the third day of the eighth month, Huineng stopped talking and sat there until the third hour, saying: “I am leaving! ” and passed away peacefully.
After Huineng’s death, did the head theft happen or not? According to historical records, nine years after Huineng’s death, that is, in the tenth year of Kaiyuan, a monk named Jin Dabei from the Silla Kingdom, who had heard of Master Huineng’s fame, wanted to bring back Huineng’s head to make offerings, so he hired a man named Zhang Jingman to steal the head. This Zhang Jingman was a filial son who had an elderly mother at home, so he agreed to steal the head in order to support his mother and provide for his family. When he sneaked into Cao Xi Po Lin Monastery, he was caught and arrested instead of stealing the head. As predicted by Hui Neng, the Shao prefect who heard the case was called Liu Wu Jien, and the magistrate of Qujiang County, where Cao Xi is located, was called Yang Kan, just like “Yang and Liu as officials”!
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