It is said that the fifth ancestor, Master Hongren, wanted to pass on his mantle to future generations, so he asked his disciples to write a Buddhist verse. The eldest disciple, Zen Master Shenxiu, was very wise. He wrote on the wall: The body is like a Bodhi tree, and the mind is like a mirror stand; brush it diligently at all times and don’t let it stir up dust! It means to control your heart at all times, resist external temptations and evil spirits through continuous practice, and prevent your true heart from getting lost and dusty. Obviously, this is a mentality of actively engaging with the world and emphasizing the role of spiritual practice.
This Buddhist verse later spread to the temple kitchen. Zen Master Huineng, a young novice monk who was working in the kitchen at that time, heard this Buddhist verse and thought that Shenxiu was not fully enlightened. He wrote next to this Buddhist verse: Bodhi has no tree, and the mirror is not a stand. There is nothing in the first place. Where to stir up dust. It can be seen that Huineng has a transcendent mentality. He believes that everything in the world is inherently empty, including his own heart. If the heart is originally empty, there is no point in resisting external temptations, and anything passing by the heart will leave no trace.
After the Fifth Patriarch saw this Buddhist verse, he was pleasantly surprised and felt that he had found a candidate to inherit the mantle, but he was also afraid that his disciples would kill each other. So the Fifth Patriarch pretended to criticize Huineng's ignorance of Buddha's verses in front of everyone, and hit Huineng three times on the head. Huineng understood what the Fifth Patriarch meant, so he went to the Fifth Patriarch's Zen room in the middle of the night and inherited the Fifth Patriarch's mantle there. Later, Huineng went south to promote Buddhism and founded the Southern Sect of Zen, known as the Sixth Patriarch. Shenxiu founded the Northern School of Zen.
What insights can we gain from the story of the Fifth Patriarch and the Sixth Patriarch? The different mentality of the two disciples determines their different cultivation methods. Shenxiu's cultivation method focuses on restraining one's inner mind to resist the temptations of the world, while Huineng's cultivation method focuses on the pure land of the mind and pursues a pure heart and few desires. Just like the famous saying that Jigong often said: After the wine and meat pass through the intestines, it remains in the heart of the Buddha.
As secular mortals, it is difficult for us to be as indifferent to fame and wealth as the Buddhist masters, and to see through the world of mortals. However, we might as well learn from the cultivation methods of the two disciples of the Fifth Patriarch. Learning Shenxiu is always like facing an abyss or walking on thin ice, restraining one's own desires and resisting external temptations. Only by learning Huineng and emptying your heart can you be magnanimous with tolerance, and strong without desire.