The Buddha poem made by the Sixth Patriarch Hui Neng, "Bodhi has no tree, the mirror is not a platform, there is nothing originally, where to stir up dust!" It is a classic in Zen Buddhism. Although Huineng can't read a word, he has a spiritual root and becomes a Buddha because of enlightenment.
When the fifth ancestor of Zen Buddhism, Master Hongnin, chose to inherit the mantle, he gave up the highly regarded master Shenxiu at that time, and chose Huineng who had not yet been shaved. The reasons behind this choice have sparked speculation and thought.
However, since Huineng became the Sixth Patriarch, there has never been a Seventh Patriarch in Zen Buddhism. This phenomenon is confusing, is it because after the six ancestors Huineng, the Buddhist lineage has declined, resulting in Huineng's failure to find a suitable successor to inherit the mantle?
Today, let's take this question together: Why has there been no seven ancestors of Zen Buddhism since the sixth ancestor Huineng?
Zen Buddhism is an important school of Chinese Buddhism, and its adherents advocate the practice of meditation while studying the Dharma, hence the name Zen Buddhism. Zen Buddhism calls itself "Transmission of the Buddha's Heart Seal", emphasizing the realization of the inherent Buddha nature of all beings, so Zen Buddhism is also known as the Buddha's Heart Sect.
Legend has it that the Tianzhu monk Bodhidharma carried the Buddha's law all the way to the Central Plains. After three years of penance on the back mountain wall of Shaolin Temple, he finally achieved the Buddha's fruit. Bodhidharma is revered as the founder of Zen Buddhism and is revered as the first ancestor.
After Bodhidharma, Zen Buddhism has successively appeared the second ancestor Master Hui Ke, the third ancestor monk Can, the fourth ancestor Taoist monk and the fifth ancestor Hongren Zen Master. Since the beginning of the inheritance of Zen Buddhism by the four patriarchs, believers have spread all over the world. In the period of the Five Patriarchs Hongren Zen Master, it was officially recognized by the imperial court, and its Zen method was called the "Dongshan Method".
The Fifth Patriarch Hongren Zen Master compassionately passed on the mantle to him because he valued the understanding of the Sixth Patriarch Huineng, even though he had not yet been ordained. However, Shenxiu, the disciple of the Fifth Patriarch Hongnin Zen Master, was regarded as the most qualified person to inherit the mantle, and this unexpected change naturally made Shenxiu unhappy.
Therefore, starting from the Sixth Patriarch Huineng, Zen Buddhism was divided into two schools: the Southern Sect and the Northern Sect. On behalf of the Southern Sect, the Sixth Patriarch Hui Neng emphasized the original purity of the mind, advocated that enlightenment does not need to be sought externally, did not attach importance to precepts and zazen, and was not attached to words, emphasizing "no thought" and "no appearance", believing that "the heart is the Buddha", emphasizing "seeing nature to become a Buddha", and calling himself "Dunmen".
On behalf of the Northern Sect, Master Shenxiu emphasized "sweeping the dust and seeing the purity", advocating "wisdom and resting thoughts", calming distracting thoughts through zazen, eliminating external interference with a firm state of mind, and achieving the purpose of purifying the mind, which is called "gradual enlightenment".
After Zen Buddhism was divided into north and south, the mantle was still passed down, after all, the sixth patriarch Hui Neng was recognized as the orthodox inheritor of Zen Buddhism. Therefore, most of the methods of Zen practice in China originate from the inheritance of the time.
However, what is puzzling is that since the Six Patriarchs Huineng, there have never been Seven Patriarchs in Zen Buddhism. Even after the passage of thousands of years, until today, there has not been a suitable person to inherit the mantle and become the seventh ancestor of Zen Buddhism.
Is it really because of the scarcity of Zen talents that it has not been possible to find a suitable successor for thousands of years to become the seventh ancestor of Zen Buddhism?
We mentioned the six patriarchs of Zen Buddhism, namely Bodhidharma, Hui Ke, Seng Can, Daoxin, Hongren and Huineng. However, since Huineng, there have been no Seven Ancestors in Zen Buddhism, let alone the Eight Ancestors that followed.
Zen Buddhism attaches great importance to inheritance, but the patriarch of Zen Buddhism has been cut off at the six ancestors Hui Neng. This phenomenon is worth pondering. Many people try to find out why, but the answer is often that the high monks of the past generations failed to reach the realm of Zen patriarchs, so there are no more seven ancestors in Zen Buddhism.
However, this explanation is hardly convincing, because there have been quite a few enlightened monks throughout history. In modern times, there have been eminent monks like Master Xuyun. Therefore, the explanation that the withering of Buddhism led to the absence of the Seven Ancestors is absolutely untenable.
I think perhaps the answer is simple: the kapok robe, which symbolizes the heritage of Zen Buddhism, has never been passed down.
In the history of Buddhism, there is a very important experience that the Buddha taught the Dharma to others. At that time, the Buddha said, "I have the Dharma Eye, Nirvana, the Reality without Appearance, the subtle Dharma, I don't set up words, I don't teach outside the teachings, and I give instructions to the Mokokya Leaves." ”
The crowd could not understand these words, and only Mokogaya understood the true meaning of the Buddha. So the Buddha passed on both the robes and the bowl to the Mokogaya. This vestment is the Buddha's golden bowl and kapok robe.
Subsequently, this vestment was passed on to Mokogaya, Ananda and others, and finally to Bodhidharma, becoming a symbol of Zen Buddhism. Bodhidharma, as the first ancestor of Zen Buddhism, passed on this Dharma robe to five descendants, including the sixth ancestor Huineng.
However, the mantle of the Buddha, the symbol of the Zen lineage, suddenly disappeared after the six patriarchs Huineng. All this is attributed to one woman, she is the only female emperor in the history of our country, Wu Zetian.
Sixth Ancestor Huineng had already been aware of Wu Zetian's covetousness for the kapok robe in his heart. Although she is only a woman, she is no less courageous than any man. After Tang Taizong Li Shimin passed the throne to his son Li Zhi, although Tang Gaozong was nominally the emperor, in fact many things were to seek Wu Zetian's opinion.
In the later years of Tang Gaozong, due to Li Zhi's deteriorating physical condition, the government was basically controlled by Empress Wu Zetian. Therefore, after Li Zhi's death, Wu Zetian intended to succeed him as emperor. She deposed the crown prince Li Xian and Li Dan successively, but at this moment, although Wu Zetian held real power, he did not have the official title of emperor.
Since ancient times, China has been a tradition of men being emperors, and women have ascended to the throne like never before. If Wu Zetian wants to become emperor, he must find a reasonable reason. So, she set her sights on the kapok robe, the symbol of the Zen Buddha's heritage.
Wu Zetian believed deeply in Buddhism, and there were many people who believed in Buddhism among the ministers of civil and military affairs in the Tang Dynasty. She claimed to be an incarnation of the future Buddha Maitreya, claiming that the Mandate of Heaven had given her power. To substantiate this claim, she needed to obtain a kapok robe as evidence. However, as a symbol of the Zen tradition, the kapok robe is not readily available.
In order to obtain the kapok robe, Wu Zetian first pretended to invite the sixth ancestor Huineng to Luoyang to give a lecture. However, Huineng knew her true purpose and kept refusing her invitation. But Wu Zetian was not a soft-hearted person, and she threatened with a Mana robe and 500 silk horses to force Huineng to hand over the kapok robe.
Although Huineng is proficient in Buddhism, he is still an ordinary man. He had so many believers under his command that it would be painful for him to be harmed by the protection of the kapok robe. In order to avoid harm to innocent people, Huineng finally had to hand over the kapok robe to Wu Zetian.
After Wu Zetian got the kapok robe, he successfully ascended the throne and became the first and only female emperor in Chinese history. For her, the kapok robe is only a symbolic object, and it no longer has practical significance. So one day, she happily gave the kapok robe to a Zen master.
After receiving the kapok robe, Zen Master Zhixu quietly brought it back to his hometown of Sichuan in order to monopolize this precious gift. Before he passed away, he passed the kapok robe to the ** Chu Lone, and the Chu Lone passed it to the Wuxiang Zen Master. Then, the Wuxiang Zen master passed the kapok robe to his ** Wuzhu, a total of four generations.
However, since the absence of the house, the whereabouts of the kapok robe have become a mystery. For thousands of years, there have been many different theories about where the kapok robe went. Some people say that Wu Zetian did not give the kapok robe to others, but buried it with her in the Qianling underground palace after his death. There is also a theory that the kapok robe was destroyed in a fire. Whatever the truth, the kapok robe has disappeared into the long river of history.
After the kapok robe disappeared, the sixth ancestor Huineng could only "pass on the law but not clothes". Everyone in Zen Buddhism thinks that their Buddhist cultivation is possible to become the Seven Patriarchs, so after the Six Patriarchs Huineng, there is a phenomenon of one flower blooming and five leaves.
When Zen Buddhism was passed on to the sixth patriarch Huineng, due to the disappearance of the kapok robe, the Dharma transmission failed to pass on the mantle. This led to the interruption of the mantle lineage of the Buddha, so that after Zen Buddhism to the sixth patriarch Huineng, there were no seven ancestors. The reason for this is that the mantle of inheritance has disappeared without a trace. List of high-quality authors