The Tantra sutra is a very controversial Buddhist scripture, which has a very big relationship with the Six Patriarchs Huineng and a very big relationship with the content of its text.
According to Buddhist regulations, all the writings of the ancestors or great commentators should be reduced to the "treatises." However, only the Chinese monk Huineng wrote this "Altar Sutra", which is called "Jing" in a dignified manner. At the same time, the text of the Tantra has always been questioned by many people because of its strong literary nature.
Many Buddhist scholars believe that the famous "north-south dispute" in the history of Zen Buddhism was actually deliberately created by Huineng's disciple Heze Shenhui, and the text of the Tantra Sutra was also processed and tampered with by Heze Shenhui. The implication is that the heze gods will use public opinion to create a big momentum and provoke the confrontation between the north and the south to create a split, and then let the "Six Ancestral Altar Sutra" stand for it.
So, is this view objective? What kind of earth-shattering secrets are hidden behind the dispute between the north and the south of Zen Buddhism? This is the topic that the Master will discuss with all of you in this chapter.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="5" > the dispute between the north and the south is an inevitable contradiction within Zen Buddhism</h1>
First of all, there are similarities and differences between the master's views on the Tantra and the Buddhist scholars.
The text of the Tantra that is now in use has indeed undergone a very long period of change, which is the view agreed with by the master. It is even said that the Southern Zen disciples have carried a lot of private goods in this quotation of Huineng, which is also in line with certain objective facts.
According to the more representative Tantra texts such as "Dunhuang Ben", "Zongbao Ben", "Fahai Ben", "Qi Song Ben" and "Hui Xin Ben", we can clearly understand that there is a rheological process. The earliest book, the Dunhuang BentanJing, is the most concise and the least literary. This text basically only records huineng's French, and does not describe too much public cases such as "night passing on clothes" and "Huineng running".
By the late Tang Dynasty's Huixin BentanJing, the original text of more than 12,000 words was increased to more than 14,000 words, and literary nature began to appear. The more than 21,000-word "Qisong BentanJing" appeared in the Song Dynasty, and the popular altar scripture text we have now is the 24,000-word Zongbao Bentanjing, compiled by the monks of the Yuan Dynasty.
Since then, the Six Ancestral Tantras have been formally finalized, and to this day, Zen disciples have read the Zongbao Bentan Sutra. Compared with other versions, the biggest feature of the "Zongbao Ben TanTra" is that it is very literary, and it is full of drama and picture.
For example, a series of stories such as "Passing on the Robes at Night", which has been repeated countless times by posterity, and "Running Away All Night" by Master Huineng later, are actually mainly from the Zongbao Bentan Sutra. The earliest to tamper with the contents of the Tantra was historically verified as Huineng's disciple Heze Shenhui Zen Master.
However, this does not mean that the Tantra was made up by the Shenhui or later Nanchan disciples, because its core point is still "Huineng's Zen".
That is to say, from the perspective of history and communication, the text of the Tantra is indeed constantly revised by posterity in the process of circulation through the ages, but its core is basically the same as that of Huineng when it was propagating the Fa. However, at the level of literature, the Gods and others have made a relatively large adaptation.
So, does this mean that heze shen will deliberately provoke a "dispute between the north and the south" to consolidate the position of Huineng and Nanchan? In fact, such a view is also biased, and the master believes that the "north-south dispute" of Zen Buddhism is an inevitable historical development, and no one has provoked it.
The root of this contradiction lies in the Five Patriarchs of the Huangmei Zen Lineage. When Huineng went to see Hongnin, the Five Patriarchs said to him, "You are a Lingnan native, how can you be a Buddha?" ”
Of course, Huineng answered this question very well, saying that "people have north and south, and Buddhas have no north and south."
From here, we can see that in the era when the five ancestors and six ancestors lived, the northerners actually did not have much respect for the southerners. This has a lot to do with the development of history at that time, when the north was the political center and economic center of the Tang Dynasty, while most of the southern region was not developed.
Although Hirohito was a monk, he also had to think about worldly things. However, Hirohito is a high monk after all, and he eventually chooses Huineng as his "heir apparent". Of course, this involves the issue of Shenxiu's and Huineng's son, which has been discussed in the previous article of the Master of the Nunnery, and will not be repeated here.
All in all, there is no controversy that The Five Patriarchs passed on their Dharma heirs to Huineng. As for some specific details, such as "whether Hirohito passed on the kapok robes to Huineng", "whether Shenxiu hunted down Huineng", etc., are within the scope of historians' examination and have little to do with this article.
Huineng, who represented the south, received the Dharma heir, which caused dissatisfaction among the monks in the north. The Shenxiu Master, who was the head of northern Zen, may not be angry, but the ordinary monks in the north did not think so. Therefore, Huineng hid in the Lingnan area for many years after obtaining the Fa Heir, and the authenticity of this matter is beyond doubt.
"Since ancient times, the fa has been passed down, and life is like a hanging silk!" If you live here, someone will harm you. ”
Hirohito obviously knew the stakes, which is why he said such a thing to Huineng. Of course, this is the record in the Tantra, and it is not known whether it is the original words of Hongnin. In fact, the biggest flaw of the Zongbao Ben Tantra is its greatest merit, because this text is really too meticulous. Even Hye-neng's dialogue with Hirohito's midnight transmission of the Dharma and Hye-neng's mental activities are depicted in a beautiful way, which is hard not to suspect that it is a forged novel.
However, at that time, the concept of "Taoist unification" was already deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and the propagation of the Fa to Huineng must have meant that Shenxiu's Northern Zen was not orthodox. But if Hirohito does not choose to pass on the Fa alone, then the Zen lineage will be severed. Therefore, the dispute between the north and the south is actually a social contradiction that inevitably arises within Zen Buddhism, and Northern Zen has also made great efforts in this regard.
We have to look at this matter from a broader perspective, that is, Zen Buddhism was not the mainstream of Buddhism at that time, and it struggled to survive among many old or emerging sects. As the ancestor of Zen, Hongjin was well aware of the importance of "Root Zheng Miao Hong", and zen buddhism was completely completely completed as soon as the Dharma pulse was broken.
Hirohito's focus is on Zen Buddhism as a whole, while Huineng and Shenxiu each represent the north and south. It should be emphasized here that Huineng and Shenxiu did not have a past of attack, and the relationship between them was quite good. For example, Huineng was very impressed with Shenxiu, and Shenxiu, who later became a wu Zetianguo teacher, invited Huineng to go to the Chang'an area to promote the Dharma.
However, personal friendships and sectarian struggles must be separated, and Huineng and Shenxiu could not influence the development trend of the times at that time. Contradictions are inevitable, it always ushers in a day of complete outbreak, and the person who ignited the flames that erupted within Zen Buddhism was the Zen master of the Lotus Shrine who later went north.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="27" > 60 years later, the heze gods who go north will cause contradictions to break out</h1>
According to the above, the most basic and important information we can learn is that the Dharma lineage of Hongnin was passed on to Huineng without a doubt. Therefore, the public case of the high disciple Pu Shun Zen Master who appeared in the Tantra Sutra to send people to the Baolin Temple in the south to "steal kapok robes" did not cause great opposition from the northern disciples.
The northern monks objected to the fact that "stealing" was not in line with the facts, but they recognized the fact that "the treasure robe was in Huineng in the south". Readers, please think carefully about this passage of the Master of the Nunnery, because this is very important for the following line.
In addition to this fact that both the northern and southern Zen monks admit, there is another thing that many people do not know, that is, Northern Zen has remained the mainstream for a long time. Master Shenxiu was not only the representative figure of Northern Zen, but actually represented the entire Zen Buddhism at that time, so Wu Zetian and others would worship him as a national master.
"Since Huineng went south for 60 years, the monks in the world only know about Shenxiu, not Huineng."
That is to say, for a period of up to 60 years, the contradiction between Southern Zen and Northern Zen was only limited to the inside, and it was not poked out. Even, the Northern Zen once had to replace the Southern Zen as the "Bull Ear Bearer" of Zen Buddhism, which was the main reason why the god Heze would later come out.
Shenxiu, the "Master of the Two Capitals and the Master of the Three Empires", was highly respected by the authorities at that time, and he was even directly canonized as the "Six Ancestors of Zen Buddhism". Shenxiu's successor, Zen Master Pu, called himself the "Seven Ancestors of Zen Buddhism" after his master's death, which led to opposition from the Nan Zen disciples who had been hiding in the deep mountains and old forests.
Hirohito's dharma heirs were passed on to Huineng, but Shenxiu became the Six Patriarchs, which was unacceptable to the Disciples of Nanchan. At this time, Huineng's disciple Heze Shenhui appeared on the scene, and he held a "no-cover conference" after he went north.
What is the "Unobstructed Assembly"? This is actually a Kind of Buddhist Festival that everyone can attend, and the famous one xuanzang attended in Qunu City was the one that Xuanzang attended. However, the purpose of the unobstructed assembly held by the Heze Divine Association was not to debate the scriptures or pray for blessings, but to "clear the source of the original" and explain the affairs of the Dharma in front of the monks and laymen.
Therefore, in this place of The Slide, the heze gods would preach the "Theory of Southern Sect Determination and Wrong" in the form of an uncovered assembly, and then go to Luoyang Heze Temple to continue the propaganda. At that time, Beizong Shenxiu's disciple, Master Pu Shun, was still alive, but he was already very old. At that time, Zen Master Pu Shan did something that made the gods very angry--he erected a monument on Mount Song, built the "Seven Ancestral Halls" and practiced the Book of the Magic Treasure.
Therefore, the Divine Society built the "Six Ancestral Halls" without hesitation, and invited Wang Wei, a famous scholar and great resident, to help him as a monument. The Divine Society was still relatively self-aware, and he did not claim to be the "Seven Ancestors", but the experience of obtaining the Dharma Heir of the Great Book Huineng.
Of course, it is inevitable that some untrue and exaggerated descriptions will appear between the two sides in the public opinion war, which is also an important reason why the later "Tantra" and the Zen historical materials are not matched.
However, Heze Shenhui is much younger than Zen Master Pu, and although he has been reprimanded and attacked many times for 13 years, he eventually survived his opponent.
After that, the disciples of the Pushun Zen Master were no longer opponents of the Heze Divine Society in this regard, and this protracted public opinion offensive or "Zen Gate True Origin Qingyuan Activity" finally ended with the complete victory of the Heze Divine Society.
Since then, the Six Ancestors Huineng has gradually become well known to the people of the world, and the disciples of Nanchan have spared no effort to "add lights and cheers" to the ancestors' deeds, and the name of Master Huineng has since resounded all over the world. From the end of the Tang Dynasty to the beginning of the Song Dynasty, the world suddenly changed, other Buddhist sects went into decline or even extinction and the Zen family was dominant, and at this time, the Northern Sect had long disappeared into the barren smoke and grass of history.
So, how to evaluate the important but not very famous Southern Zen monk of heze Shenhui? Can it be said that Nanchan's victory was based solely on "public opinion warfare"? In fact, it cannot be said in this way, and the master thinks that everyone should still look at the problem from a more macro historical perspective.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="43" > all three arguments about god's deeds are biased</h1>
Although heze Shenhui Zen master is not well known to ordinary Buddhist disciples, his great name can be said to resound throughout the history of Zen Buddhism. As far as Buddhist researchers are concerned, there are three main arguments in the evaluation of the Hozawa Shrine.
The representative of the first argument is Mr. Hu Shi, who evaluates the Shenhui as "the destroyer of Northern Zen and the hero in the history of Zen Buddhism." However, Hu Shizhi's view was very one-sided, and the master thought that the victory of the god would only be the victory of Nan Zen, and that the role of the god Heze would not be as great as he thought.
The real victory of Zen Buddhism was the creation of the jungle system by Matsu Daoyi after the rise of Southern Zen, and the formulation of the Qing rules and precepts by Baizhang Huaihai, which led to the heyday of "five sects in unison and seven schools flourishing" in the future.
The second argument represents a "conspiracy theory," the idea mentioned in the title of the article. This part of the scholars considered the problem completely from the perspective of man, attributing the division of Zen Buddhism to the Shinkai alone, believing that his constant provocation led to the disappearance of the Northern Sect. For this point of view, the owner has already explained it in detail in the first part, and I will not repeat it here.
The third argument belongs to the "conciliatory faction", but this conciliation is obviously the same as the popular "and thin mud" style of persuasion, and it is not very meaningful. Scholars believe that the gods will overthrow the Northern Sect and establish the Southern Sect, which is a contribution to the development of Zen Buddhism. But he and his disciples made unbridled tampering with the text of the Tantra, and could even say that they had a large amount of bootlegs, belonging to "careerists within religion."
Hu shi
This view sounds reasonable at first glance, but if you think about it carefully, you can see the absurdity of it. I would like to ask, how can God not go through the arduous "battle of public opinion" and compete with the Zen master Pu Shun, who was almost a victor at that time? Artificially dividing this history and then evaluating the characters is obviously unfair to the Heze God.
Moreover, as the master has already said at the beginning of the article, the Divine Society has only made a more serious revision to the literary part of the Altar Sutra, and still follows Huineng's thought in the Buddhist part. At the same time, the Divine Society was actually very highly cultivated, and the "Mindless Zen" he founded was very clever in the land of insight.
Regarding the life of the shrine, the master of the temple has time to talk to the readers in detail, and this legendary monk is still worthy of everyone's admiration. Judging from the information collected by the master of the temple, it is obvious that the positioning of a high monk like the Heze Shenhui as an "ambitionist" is obviously excessive, or it is quite different from the facts.
So, how exactly do we evaluate the performance of the heze god in the "dispute between the north and the south"? The owner of the nunnery gives his own opinion here, of course, this can only be said to be a kind of "throwing bricks and leading jade". You have different opinions, you can leave a message below to discuss.
We should admit that the defeat of the Northern Sect has a considerable relationship with the background of the times. As far as Northern Zen itself was concerned, Shenxiu and his disciples were attached to the imperial power, and the way of mission had deviated from the people of Li. As a result, Beichan not only lost its deep folk foundation, but also laid a deep curse for itself.
Tang Wuzong, who launched the "Huichang Fa Difficulty"
If we compare it with Xuanzang's Soteriological Method, we will find that the two are strikingly similar. The profound principles of Theory of Fa Xiang not only made ordinary people hear the Heavenly Book, but even intellectuals who were not deeply educated, and even ordinary monks, could not understand its main purpose. The so-called "cold in the heights" and the spread of powerless Fa Xiangxue were lost after Xuanzang and Peggy.
At the same time, Xuanzang's excessive reliance on official support led to Li Shimin's involvement in political strife after his death. Xuanzang's translation of the scriptures did proceed smoothly with the help of Li Shimin, but the struggle between Wu Zetian and Li Tang gradually caused the Xuanzang monastic order belonging to the "Lao Chen" faction to gradually lose support. The situation in Northern Zen was basically the same, Shenxiu was a Buddhist representative who was supported by Wu Zetian to suppress Li Tang's former subjects, and he could be said to have enjoyed the benefits of official support during his lifetime.
However, after the destruction of the Buddha in Huichang, the first to bear the brunt of it were the disciples of Beichan, and the proud disciples of Shenxiu were all presiding over the great monastery in Chang'an, and they had lost the spirit and ability of hard struggle and self-reliance since Dharma to Hongnin. Even without the appearance of the Lotus Divine Society, Northern Zen lost most of its vitality during the destruction of the Buddha in Huichang, and it can even be said that it was in a slump.
The Tang rulers after the "Anshi Rebellion" could not take care of themselves, so where would they care about the lives and deaths of the monks? Official monks like Beichan, without exception, declined or perished after the shock.
Instead, nanchan disciples, who had been working in the fields and countryside, survived because they were far from the political center. At the same time, they have mastered many skills in their long-term missionary practice, which are very beneficial to the future growth of Southern Zen. In fact, through the contest between the Divine Society and the Northern Zen, we can see that the Divine Society is obviously much better in all aspects, which is an ability exercised under difficult conditions.
An Lushan, who launched the "Anshi Rebellion"
The Northern Zen, which had always been in the greenhouse, could not compete with the Southern Zen disciples such as shenhui after the death of the capable masters such as Shenxiu and Pu shun. Even without mentioning such a heavyweight text as the Tantra, the historical records of Zen Buddhism account for more works by southern Zen disciples, while the writings of northern Zen disciples are obviously few.
More importantly, Huineng's origin and his reform of Zen religious principles made Nanchan have a large number of followers among the vast number of people. If you think about it, a person who can't read big characters can become a Buddha, how attractive is this to ordinary people?
Hearing a sentence in the Diamond Sutra, Huineng who has a clear mind not only denies the role of burning incense to worship the Buddha and reading the scriptures and debating, but also advocates the epiphany of "enlightenment in the moment, pointing directly to the human heart", and publicizes the "Buddha-nature theory" of "all sentient beings have Buddha-nature, put down the butcher's knife and become a Buddha". This has greatly changed the image of Buddhism among the people, and it is no longer the supreme and unreachable religion it used to be, but a convenient method that can be deeply rooted in life and can be realized everywhere.
It was precisely because of the reform of the teachings and teachings that Nanchan was able to get rid of its dependence on all external objects such as temples and Buddhist scriptures, and quickly took root in the vast number of people. The Divine Society has always endorsed and carried forward the concept of Huineng Ancestor, and he has not tampered with the most core part of the Altar Sutra.
On the contrary, in addition to using the "Dharma Heir" as a weapon, the Divine Society also used the "DunZhi" as a weapon to vigorously refute the teachings of the Northern Sect. The Northern Sect disciples who had been ascending to the throne for a long time were powerless at this point and quickly lost, which was the credit of both the Divine Society and Huineng.
Therefore, the Divine Society is neither an ambitionist nor a revolutionary, he is an excellent successor under Huineng and an important promoter of the sinification of Buddhism. The Divine Society fully grasped the opportunity of history, causing the contradiction between the north and the south of Zen Buddhism to erupt, and then won the final victory by means of superiority. From this point of view, the contribution of the Divine Society to Chinese Buddhism and Zen Buddhism is unquestionable, and his greatness is no less than that of Matsu Daoyi and others who followed.
However, the most puzzling aspect of the Shinkai is that the "Heze Sect" he founded later embarked on the path of Northern Zen and relied on official offerings to maintain the lineage. As a result, the "Heze Sect", like the Northern Zen and even other sects, disappeared into the barren grass of history with the arrival of the "Huichang Fa Difficulty".
How to evaluate the historical merits of the Heze Divine Society, there is no unified answer in the academic circles and the people. Of course, there is no standard answer in this world, especially things that happened a thousand years ago, and everyone can only see each other. The "Small Circle of Nunners" is being formed, and interested readers can join on their own, and after reaching a certain number of people, the Nunners will systematically share the history of Buddhism and Buddhist philosophy in the circle.
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