Origin of Buddhist languageOrigin of Buddhist language

In the Tang Dynasty, Zen Buddhism was transmitted to the fifth ancestor, Master Hongren, who was lecturing at the temple of Huangmei in Hubei Province and had more than 500 disciples under his command, among which the leader was the great disciple Master Shenxiu. Shenxiu is also widely recognized as the heir to the Zen mantle. As he grew older, he wanted to find an heir among his disciples, so he told them to make a kiko (a Zen poem), and to see who did well, he would pass on the mantle. At this time, Shenxiu wanted to inherit the mantle, but was afraid that because of the purpose of inheriting the mantle to do this Gi Zi, it was illegal to do nothing and do artistic conception of Buddhism. So he got up in the middle of the night and wrote a song on the wall of the courtyard: the body is a bodhi tree, the heart is a mirror. Always wipe, do not provoke dust. This means that you should always take care of your mind and mood, and resist external temptations and all kinds of evil spirits through constant practice. It is a mentality of entering the world, emphasizing the role of spiritual practice. And this understanding is not very consistent with the enlightenment of the Zen Mahayana sect, so when everyone saw this Kiko the next morning, they all said yes, and they all guessed that it was Shenxiu and were very impressed, and Hiroren did not make any comments after seeing it. Because he knew Shenxiu had not yet had an Epiphany.
At this time, when the monks in the temple were talking about this first Ki Zi, they were heard by a fire-headed monk in the kitchen – Huineng Zen Master. Huineng at that time asked someone to take him to see this Kiko, here it needs to be explained that Huineng is an illiterate, he can not read. When he heard someone say this, he said that this person had not yet realized the true meaning. So he himself made a Kiki, begged others to write it next to the Shenxiu Kiki, bodhi this no tree, mirror is not Taiwan, originally nothing, where to provoke dust. It can be seen from this first Kiki that Huineng was a man of great wisdom (some later generations say that he was the reincarnation of the tenth Bhikshu), and his Kiki fits well with the Zen concept of enlightenment. It is an attitude of being born, which mainly means that the world is originally empty, everything in the world is an empty word, and if the mind is originally empty, there is no need to resist the temptation outside, and anything passes through the mind, leaving no trace. This is a very high level of Zen, and those who have experienced this level are called enlightened.
When Hiroshi saw the kiki, he asked the people around him who had written it, and the people around him said that Huineng had written it, so he called Huineng and said in front of him and the other monks, “The writing is a mess, nonsense, and personally erased the kiki.” Then he hit Huineng three times in the head and left. At this time, only Huineng understood the meaning of the five ancestors, so he went to Hongren’s zen room on the third watch of the evening, where Hongren explained to him the Diamond Sutra, one of the most important Buddhist scriptures, and passed on the mantle to him. Then in order to prevent the Shenxiu people from hurting Huineng, let Huineng escape overnight. So Huineng left for the south overnight, and after 10 (some say 16) years of seclusion, he founded the South School of Zen in Nanhua Temple. And Shenxiu in the next day after knowing this matter, had sent someone to chase Hui, but did not catch up. Later, Shenxiu became a master in defense of the Tang Dynasty and continued to promote the northern school of Zen.