After hearing this, the Fifth Patriarch knew that Huineng had a good foundation and was not an ordinary person. He wanted to continue to talk to him for a few more words, but because his disciples were all around, he was worried that Huineng would be envious and rejected by everyone in the future, so he sent him to the mill to pound rice.

Pounding rice is a chore. Huineng was short and not weighed enough. In order to step on the mortar, he had to tie a stone around his waist. In this way, Huineng pounded rice diligently day and night.

One day, the Fifth Patriarch summoned the masses and told them: "Life and death are great, impermanence is fast, I am old, and I am elected as a Dharma recipient to ensure that the ancestors have continuous Dharma lineage. The Dharma is incredible, and the key is to prove it. Don't think that you remember the French I speak. Just forget it. Let's go on and write a verse for me based on your own experience of practicing. If someone understands the Buddha's will, I will pass on the robes to him and make him the Sixth Patriarch!"

At that time, there were more than 700 monks under the Fifth Patriarch's Association, among which Shenxiu was the best.

Shen Xiu was a professor and was knowledgeable in both internal and external studies. He often preached to the public. He was respected by the Fifth Patriarch and admired by everyone. Therefore, after the public retreated, they discussed: "Who can afford the title of Sixth Patriarch except Xiu? We don't have to work hard to write any verses. When Xiu Xiu gets the robes and becomes the Sixth Patriarch, we will all rely on him and be done!"

When he heard the public's discussion, Shenxiu thought that the reason why they dare not write verses was because I was their professor and I should present verses to the monk.

Of course, I presented the verses to seek the Dharma, not to seize the ancestral position. If I did not present the verses to the great monk, how could the great monk know the depth of my opinion? How could I get the teachings of the Fifth Patriarch? After going over and over again, thinking about it, and after two or three days, Shen Xiu wrote a verse in the end, and secretly wrote it on the wall of the corridor while it was late at night, writing:

"The body is a Bodhi tree, and the heart is like a mirror platform. Wipe it frequently and don't let the dust get involved!"

The next morning, when the Fifth Patriarch passed by, he suddenly saw this verse and knew that it was written by Shen Xiu. Although this verse did not understand the mind and nature, if later generations practiced according to this verse, they could still gain great benefits to heaven and avoid falling into the evil path. Therefore, the Fifth Patriarch still praised this verse in front of everyone, and asked the public to burn incense and read this verse and practice according to the verse.

However, in private, the Fifth Patriarch still told Shenxiu: "Your verse has not yet realized your mind and nature, and the view is not yet in place, and it is still outside the door. If you want to find the supreme Bodhi, you cannot obtain it. The supreme Bodhi must be recognized in the present mind and the nature of your own!" After that, the Fifth Patriarch ordered Shenxiu to write another verse.

However, a few days passed, and Shenxiu did not make any new verses.

Later one day, Huineng pounded rice in the mill. He heard a boy outside reciting Shenxiu's verses, so he came forward to inquire. So the boy told Huineng about the Fifth Patriarch's order to write verses and asked the public about the verses of the Fanxiang worship Shenxiu.

After hearing this, Huineng begged the boy, "Master, I will also recite this verse to make a lifelong relationship with Master Xiu. Since I came here, I have been pounding rice. For more than eight months, I have not arrived in the hall. Please ask Master to lead me to the wall where the verse of Shenxiu is written to worship!"

So the boy led Huineng to the verse, and Huineng said, "I can't read it, so please read it to me!" At that time, Zhang Riyong, a bare driver in Jiangzhou, was right beside him, so he chanted the verse for Huineng loudly.

After hearing this, Huineng said, "I also have a verse, please don't write it for me!" After hearing this, he was very surprised, "It's really rare that you, a rice pounder, can write verses!"

Huineng said seriously: "If you want to learn the supreme Bodhi, you should not be lighter than beginners. The subordinates have the highest wisdom, but the superiors have no intentional wisdom. If you are inferior to others, you will have infinite and boundless sins!" After hearing this, he quickly apologized and said, "You recite the verse, I will write it for you. If you obtain the Dharma in the future, don't forget to save me first!" So Huineng recited the verse and said:

"There is no tree in Bodhi, and the mirror is not a platform. There is nothing in it, so where can dust be caused!"

As soon as the verse was finished, the public was shocked. Seeing that everyone was like this, the Fifth Patriarch was worried that someone would hurt Huineng, so he wiped Huineng's verse with his shoe and said, "I have not seen the nature." Everyone didn't care when they saw the Fifth Patriarch say this.

The next day, the Fifth Patriarch went to the mill privately and saw Huineng pounding rice with a stone hanging around his waist. He said, "A person who seeks the Tao should forget his body for the Dharma, so he should be like you." He asked, "Is the rice pounded?" Huineng replied, "The rice has been ripe for a long time, but I still have to sieve it!"

The Fifth Patriarch then knocked on the head of the mortar three times with a stick and left. Huineng understood the meaning of the Fifth Patriarch, so that at the third update that night, he secretly came to the Fifth Patriarch's room. The Fifth Patriarch surrounded Huineng with a cassock to prevent others from discovering it, and explained the Diamond Sutra to him.

When talking about "the mind should be born without dwelling on anything", Huineng suddenly realized that all things are inseparable from one's own nature. Huineng said five "what" in a row to express his surprise and insight when he realized the truth:

"How can the self-nature be pure, how can the self-nature not be born and destroyed, how can the self-nature be fully possessed, how can the self-nature be unshakable, how can the self-nature produce all dharmas!"

The Fifth Patriarch knew that Huineng had already realized greatness, so he gave the sudden teaching method and the robe and mantle of the ancestor to Huineng, saying: "It is a major event for all Buddhas to be born, so they guided them at random, and thus the ten stages, three vehicles, and sudden and gradual orders were given to the teachings, but with the supreme subtlety, secrets and brightness, the true Dharma eye, he gave to the superior master, and passed on the twenty-eighth generations. When the Bodhidharma reached this land, he could inherit it. So, now he used the Dharma treasure and the robes he passed on to you, so that he would protect himself and not be cut off. I heard from my verse: sentient beings come to seed, and the result of the cause is reborn. Since there is no mercy, no seed, no nature or no birth!"

After Zen Master Huineng kneeled to receive the garment Dharma, he asked: "After receiving the law, who will give it to him?"

It means that I have already received the Dharma. Who should I deliver this ancestral robes to in the future?

The Fifth Patriarch replied: "In the past, Master Bodhidharma came to this land and had not believed it. Therefore, he passed on this garment as a faith body, inherited from generation to generation. The laws are passed on to the heart, and they all make one understand and understand. Since ancient times, Buddhas and Buddhas have only passed on the original body. The master secretly gave the original mind. The garment is a dispute. Stop you and do not pass on it. If you pass on this garment, your life is like hanging silk. You must leave quickly, for fear that others will harm you!"

Zen Master Huineng asked again: "Where should you hide!"

The Fifth Patriarch replied: "Stop whenever you have a love, and hide when you meet!"

After saying that, the Fifth Patriarch personally sent Huineng to Jiujiang Post overnight. Before leaving, the Fifth Patriarch instructed Huineng again: "In the future, Buddhism will prosper through you. Three years after you leave Huangmei, I will be silent. You should go south quickly and do your own things. Don't rush to the present. You will suffer disasters!"

Zen Master Huineng bowed to the Fifth Patriarch again, and then sailed south, and arrived at Dayu Ridge in less than two months.

After the Fifth Patriarch sent Huineng away, he did not attend the court for several consecutive days. Everyone was puzzled whether the old monk was sick, so they went to ask their worries. The Fifth Patriarch told them: "I am not sick. The ancestor's robe and mantra and Dharma veins have been transmitted to the south!" Everyone was shocked and asked: "Who got the robe and mantra!" The Fifth Patriarch replied: "Those who can get it!"

Everyone suddenly realized that there were hundreds of people going to the south to chase and kill Zen Master Huineng to seize the mantle. In order to avoid accidents, Zen Master Huineng once stayed in the hunter team for fifteen years. After that, the fate of the cause and condition was ripe. Zen Master Huineng came to Guangzhou Faxing Temple, slaughtered under the seat of Master Yin Zong, and began his glorious career in spreading the Dharma.
Chapter completed!