Reply to Huineng

2021-08-10
Type : poem



The tree-trunk is bodhi's body.
Buddha's mind can't stand the mirror.
In chaos nature invented purity.
Dust gathers in my room.



For context this is reply to Huineng's famous stanza.


Bodhi originally has no tree.
The mirror has no stand.
The Buddha-nature is always clear and pure.
Where is there room for dust?

Which he wrote (actually dictated because he was illiterate) in response to Shenxiu's stanza

The body is the bodhi tree.
The mind is like a bright mirror's stand.
At all times we must strive to polish it
and must not let dust collect.

It is my attempt at pointing to how silly and stupid Zen is.