Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch

Introduction

The text presents itself as a sermon by Huineng at the Dafan temple in Shaozhou, framed by his life story: an illiterate firewood seller from the far south who, in a verse contest at the monastery of the Fifth Patriarch, outdid the senior monk Shenxiu and secretly received the robe of succession. The oldest version, found at Dunhuang, was probably compiled around 780 in circles close to Shenhui’s “Southern School”, which promoted sudden awakening against what it called the gradualism of the “Northern School”. Modern scholars treat the biography as largely legendary. Later, expanded versions such as the Zongbao edition of 1291 became the standard text of Chan and Zen.

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• Secrets on Cultivating the Mindc. 1205 · Jinul