A Life of Hui Neng by John M Evans. In the Zen Masters Series.

As the fame of the sixth Patriarch spread throughout the Middle Kingdom, he became known to the Imperial Household. The story is told of dharma masters Hui An and Shen Hsui (none other than Hui Neng’s old rival, the leader of the Northern school) modestly suggesting that the Emperor and dowager Empress should consult the Patriarch. The Emperor then issued an edict requesting that “His Holiness” graciously favour them with an early visit to the capital. When Hui Neng declined on grounds of ill-health, the courtier began to question the master on his method of meditation. Hui Neng was typically iconoclastic.

The Tao is to be realised by the mind, and does
not depend on the sitting position…Strictly speaking,
there is even no such thing as “attainment”; why then
should we bother ourselves about the sitting position?

The courtier then asked what he should report to Their Majesties about Hui Neng’s teaching.

From the point of view of ordinary men, enlightenment
and ignorance are two separate things. Wise men
who realise thoroughly the essence of mind know that
they are of the same nature. This same nature or non-dual
nature is what is called the “real nature”, which neither
decreases in the case of ordinary men and ignorant
persons, nor increases in the case of the enlightened
sage.

It is reported that the courtier became enlightened on hearing the teaching from the lips of the master. On his return to the palace another edict was released, this time honouring Hui Neng to the nation.

“Devoting his life to the practice of Buddhism for our benefit, he is indeed the ‘field of merit’ of the nation. Like Vimalakirti … he widely spreads the Mahayana teaching…and expounds the system of the Non-Dual Law … In appreciation of the graciousness of the Patriarch, we present to him herewith a (Korean Buddhist robe of great value) and a crystal bowl.”

Moreover, the local Prefect was ordered to renovate his monastery and convert his residence into a temple. Honoured by the people and his Emperor, the old sage was rapidly approaching his paranirvana (leaving his body at death). His sutra records that in the 7th Moon of the year of Jen Tzu, the 1st year of T’ai Chi or Yen Ho Era (712 AD), the Patriarch ordered his disciples to build a stupa (Buddhist shrine). When it was completed the following year, he addressed the assembled monks and told them that he would depart this life before the next moon. At this news most of the assembly burst into tears. The one exception was praised by the Patriarch.

“(He) is the only one here who has attained that state of mind which sees no difference in good and evil, knows neither sorrow nor happiness, and is unmoved by praise or blame.”

He castigated the others for the lack of enlightenment in their response. Still teaching and passing on his wisdom, he continued:

“Are you worrying for me because I do not know whither I shall go? But I do know: otherwise I couldn’t tell you beforehand what will happen … (If you knew) there would be no occasion for you to cry. In suchness there is neither coming nor going, neither becoming nor cessation.”

The head monk Fa Hai asked Hui Neng who would inherit the robe and bowl of the patriarchate. The master replied that all his sermons should be copied into a volume entitled Sutra Spoken on the High Seat of the Treasure of the Law, and the book circulated and passed down from generation to generation.

The practice of the transmission of the robe was to be discontinued, as he had been instructed by his own master, the fifth Patriarch, Hung Yen. All his disciples were to propagate the Dharma from his own words and from the teachings contained in his sutra. He then quoted a stanza of Bodhidharma to justify his decision:

The object of my coming to this land (China)
Is to transmit the Dharma for the deliverance of those
under delusion.
In five petals (i.e. patriarchates) the flowers will be
complete.
Thereafter, the fruit will come to bearing naturally.

Much of this, of course, has the flavour of later, pious additions. Hui Neng’s own transmission to the world and to us is contained in the deceptively simple words which spring out from his sutra:

It is not impossible for … men to realize the
Buddha-nature, provided they acquaint themselves with
the nature of ordinary sentient beings … Within our
mind there is Buddha (enlightenment), and that
Buddha within is the real Buddha. If Buddha is not
to be sought within our mind, where shall we find the
real Buddha?

His last stanza reveals the nature of the Buddha-mind:
Imperturbable and serene the ideal man practises no virtue.

Self-possessed and dispassionate, he commits no sin.
Calm and silent, he gives up seeing and hearing.
Even and upright his mind abides nowhere.

At the third watch of the night, Hui Neng said to his disciples: “I am going now”.

In The Zen Doctrine of No-Mind, Suzuki writes, “Prajna … becomes one of the chief issues discussed in the (Platform Sutra), and this is where the current of Zen thought deviates from the course it had taken from the time of Bodhidharma.”

Hui Neng’s teachings on prajna begin his sutra of the Treasure of the Law, and runs like a connecting thread throughout his subsequent life and work. It constitutes his main legacy to human understanding.

You should know that as far as Buddha-nature is
concerned, there is no difference between an
enlightened man and an ignorant one. What makes the
difference is that one realises it, while the other
does not … Those who recite the word “prajna” the
whole day long do not seem to know that prajna is
inherent in their own nature … You should know that
the mind is very great in capacity, since it pervades
the whole (universe). When we use it, we can know
something of everything, and when we use it to its
full capacity we shall know all. All in one and one
in all. When the mind works without hindrance, and is
at liberty to “come” or to “go”, then it is in a
state of prajna.

Down the years, many Buddhists have reported that their first flash of enlightenment came through the reading of the Sutra of Hui Neng.