"Bodhi is no tree"
"Bodhi is originally no tree, the bright mirror is no stand; from the first there is not one thing — where could dust alight?" With this verse Huineng surpassed Shenxiu’s gradualism and established sudden awakening.
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Huineng
Sixth Chan patriarch; founder of "sudden awakening"
Those Who Ground an Idea Into a Whole System · Disciples & School-Builders
Chan (Zen)Sudden awakeningMind-nature
Who they are
Huineng (638–713), the Sixth Patriarch of Chan and founder of the Southern school of sudden awakening, was an illiterate woodcutter who won the patriarch’s robe with a single verse. Teaching "see your own nature and become a Buddha," he thoroughly sinicized Indian Buddhism; his Platform Sutra is the only Chinese patriarch’s discourse honored as a "sutra."
Primary sourcesThe Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch
Key stories
Relationships
Mentor
Echoes today
Below are how modern works borrow or reinterpret this name or story — not the original material. The two differ, so keep them apart.
"Sudden awakening"Southern Chan’s "see your nature and become a Buddha" deeply shaped East Asian Buddhism and culture.