Huineng\'s Platform Sutra When it

Huineng's Platform Sutra

When it comes to the attainment of enlightenment, there has always been a division among Buddhists as whether or not it was something that could be achieved quickly, or if enlightenment was something that only years of learning and practice could bring about. Huineng was a Buddhist master who believed that if people followed his teachings they could achieve enlightenment instantaneously. But in order to achieve enlightenment suddenly a person had to learn his Platform Sutra. The Platform Sutra was composed of four main principles which include the idea that all human beings were naturally pure and were made impure by their actions in the world, the practice of "straight-forward mind," (which was necessary for people to recognize this "truth"), the idea that delusions, or deluded thoughts, were caused by attachments to the world, and the shedding of worldly delusions was at the core of enlightenment. These four main elements were at the basis of the Platform Sutra and if people truly learn and understand them, people could achieve enlightenment suddenly.

The first element of Huineng's Platform Sutra was the "truth" that all people were born pure. Huineng taught that human beings were intrinsically pure, but it was the delusions of the world that caused them to fail to recognize this simple fact. Those delusions caused the mind to be "covered over by deluded thought," obscuring people's true nature. (Huineng Reader p.43) in this state it was impossible for people to realize the truth that they were already intrinsically pure.

The second element of the Platform Sutra was called the "one practice Samadhi" which Huineng described as "the constant practicing of straightforward mind in all circumstances, whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying." (Huineng Reader p.41) Straightforward mind was a state where the mind allowed truth to flow freely, unobstructed and without delusions. Huineng taught that there was no need to spend years practicing the dharma in the hope of attaining enlightenment, this only further deluded people. Those who were deluded thought that closely following the dharma would lead to enlightenment, but instead Huineng taught that the dharma was only there to help people recognize the mind's "intrinsic nature:" that of purity. (Huineng Reader p.41)

According to Huineng, people could recognize the inner purity of their minds if they learned to be without attachments; the third element of the Platform Sutra. Huineng used the term "without characteristics" as a way a to stress the fact that people need to avoid attachments to the physical world as well as those things which caused deluded thinking. Things, people, and places were all part of the world and could defile people if they allowed themselves to become attached to them. Only by ridding themselves of attachments could people rid themselves of the delusions that obscured their purity. Huineng's use of the term "without abiding" was an attempt to explain how people who focused on specific events, or happenings, became bound to them. but, as Huineng stated, "if successive thought moments follow one another without abiding in any dharma, then you are free from bonds." (Huineng Reader p.42) Thirdly, his use of the term "without thought" meant to be free of thoughts that were generated by the attachments of the outside world. According to Huineng, when people were free of thoughts of the world, then there was only the "arising of thought from within its own nature, thusness." (Huineng Reader, p.43) in other words, if people freed themselves from the attachments of things, events, and thoughts, then the truth of human purity could flow freely and be recognized.

Finally, the fourth element of Huineng's Platform Sutra was the idea that if people followed the teachings set forth in the Platform Sutra, then enlightenment did not need to take years but could come at any time. Unlike other Buddhists, Huineng taught that it did not take a lifetime of studying and practice to attain enlightenment, in fact, it was people's devotion to the dharma that often became a form of attachment. Instead, it took the recognition of the intrinsic nature of the mind and the liberation from attachments; which could come through the practice of non-thought. If people could accomplished these things, then they could attain sudden, or instant, enlightenment. As Huineng declared to his disciples "those in later generations who obtain my teachings will see and practice this teaching of instantaneous [awakening] just like me." (Huineng Reader, p.44)

Mazu was another Buddhist master who agreed with Huineng that enlightenment could be achieved suddenly and discussed a number of the concepts that Huineng put forth in the Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch. For instance, Mazu recounted a tale of attempting to attain enlightenment by sitting and polishing a tile. This tale could be considered a parable meant to teach that enlightenment was not achieved by practicing the dharma for years, but instead came from a recognition of the truth. When he stated that "Truth is not something that is in need of cultivation-it's just that you mustn't defile it," Mazu was clarifying Huineng's view that truth was something people already possessed in the form of the intrinsic purity of the mind.