Mahayana Buddhism has six sects, namely, Zen, Tiantai Sect, Huayan Sect, Faxiang Sect (also known as "only knowing Sect"), Pure Land Sect and Tantric Sect (also known as "truth Sect"). Although the doctrines and practice methods of Zen, Heaven, China and Wei are different, they all talk about "mind" and "emptiness", so they belong to one system. The systematic concept of emptiness can be seen from the name of the Mahayana Buddhist master Long Shu, "The Dharma born by karma, I say, is empty, also known as pseudonym, also known as virtue"; "No birth, no death, no frequency, no difference, no coming or going." Everything is born of karma, there is no ontology, it is empty. The name of everything is just a code name, because they have no entity. Mahayana's famous saying "color is emptiness, emptiness is color" also expresses the same belief. "Rufa" refers to "things" or "visible things", and "emptiness" refers to "things have no body". The meaning of this sentence is that everything that can be seen has no entity; Everything that has no substance is visible. This kind of empty view is hard to understand not only by ordinary people, but also by many monks. It is said that the emperor shunzhi once asked Tong Xiu (Yulin), a Zen monk in the Qing Dynasty, "Mountains and rivers are born of delusion and rest in delusion. Are there any mountains and rivers? " Tong Xiu can only vaguely answer: "If something happens in a person's sleep, it is yes or no" 5.
If everything is empty, how can we explain all the phenomena and activities in the world? Mahayana attributed all this to the people's heart, which is the so-called "idealism". Everything comes from the people's heart. There are many expositions in Buddhist scriptures. "The three realms are illusory, one heart, and the twelve edges are all based on the heart" (Hua Yanjing); "in today's three realms, only the mind is there ... my heart is a Buddha, my heart is a Buddha ... if you miss your heart, you will become life and death, and if you don't miss your heart, you will become nirvana" (big episode); "The heart is heaven, the heart is man, the heart is a ghost, and the beast is hell." (Like mud classics). People often say that "everything is empty" originally comes from Mahayana's empty view, which holds that the four elements of the universe, namely, earth, water, fire and wind, are also empty without substance. Mahayana's thought of universal salvation is also based on this, "all beings aim at becoming Buddhas." People's hearts are pure and innocent, and it is only because of "ignorance" that they have all kinds of delusions; As long as you concentrate on practicing and get rid of "ignorance", you can restore your true nature ("Buddha's heart" or "Buddha's nature") and become a Buddha.
A story quoted by Pastor Gong in An Introduction to Buddhism can reflect the empty and idealistic views of the four major sects of Mahayana Buddhism. Hongren, the fifth ancestor of Zen Buddhism, asked his disciples for advice in order to choose the sixth ancestor to take over. Disciple Shen Xiu sighed, "The body is a bodhi tree, and the heart is a mirror platform. Always wipe, don't get dust. " The fifth ancestor thought that Shen Xiu had not practiced at home. The handyman Huineng also sent a message: "Bodhi has no trees, and the mirror is not a stage. There's nothing. Where can it cause dust? " Five ancestors established Huineng as the sixth ancestor of Zen. Afraid of being hurt by the magic show, Huineng fled back to Guangdong to remain anonymous. 15 later, I went to Guangzhou Hojoji when the wind was strong. Some monks say it's the wind, and some monks say it's the wind. Huineng corrected it, "It's not the wind, it's not the wind, it's the heart of the benevolent" (Six Ancestors Tanjing). This allusion profoundly describes the fundamental doctrine of Mahayana Buddhism, that is, nothing exists and everything is created by idealism.