In his childhood, Shenhui studied classics and history under a teacher, mastering the philosophies of Laozi and Zhuangzi. Later, after reading the Book of the Later Han, he encountered Buddhism and devoted himself to its teachings.
At age 13, Shenhui traveled to Caoxi in Shaoguan, Guangdong, to meet Huineng, the Sixth Patriarch of Chan.
Huineng:”You’ve journeyed a thousand miles. Did you bring the most fundamental thing? If so, you must know its essence. Speak!”
Shenhui: “That ‘thing’ has no essence. Seeing itself is the essence.”
Huineng: “Young monk, your words are sharp indeed.”
Shenhui: “Master, when you sit in meditation, do you see or not see?”
Huineng struck him three times with a staff and asked: “When I hit you, does it hurt or not?”
Shenhui: “I feel both pain and no pain.”
Huineng: “Then I both see and do not see.”
Shenhui: “What does ‘both see and do not see’ mean?”
Huineng: “I ‘see’ because I constantly observe my own faults; I ‘do not see’ because I ignore others’ right or wrong. If you felt ‘no pain,’ you’d be insensible as wood or stone; if you felt ‘pain,’ you’d resent like a common person. ‘Seeing’ and ‘not seeing’ are dualistic attachments; ‘pain’ and ‘no pain’ are fleeting phenomena. You’ve yet to realize your self-nature.”
Shenhui, deeply ashamed, bowed to Huineng.
Huineng: “If your mind is clouded, seek guidance from wise teachers. If awakened, practice accordingly. Your delusions cannot be resolved by my enlightenment, nor mine by yours. Why ask about ‘seeing’ instead of realizing it yourself?”
Shenhui bowed over a hundred times, begging forgiveness, and became Huineng’s most devout disciple.
One day, Huineng addressed the assembly:
“There is a thing without head or tail, name or form, back or front. Do you know what it is?”
Shenhui: “It is the source of all Buddhas—my Buddha-nature!”
Huineng: “I said it has no name, yet you call it ‘Buddha-nature.’ You remain a monk who merely annotates the Dharma.”
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