Huineng composes a poem and becomes the Sixth Patriarch: Where do you get this dust?

In trying to decide to whom to transmit the robe and bowl of his lineage, the Fifth Patriarch asked the monks at his temple to compose a poem.¹ Shen Hsiu offered:

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"The body is the bodhi tree

the mind is like a clear mirror²

always wipe it clean³

don't let it gather dust."

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To this, Hui-neng countered,

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"Bodhi isn't a tree

what's clear isn't a mirror

actually there isn't a thing⁴

*where do you get this dust."⁵

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As a result, Hui-neng became the Fifth Patriarch's successor.

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[Translated by Red Pine, source: Terebess]

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Wandering Ronin commentary and questions:

1. The Fifth Patriarch would know that the very words we choose are a direct revelation of our minds.
2. "The mind is like a clear mirror" seems in line with the teachings; why would the Fifth Patriarch reject it?
3. "Always wipe it clean," was the critical mistake in Shen Hsiu's poem. There is absolutely nothing to 'do' in Zen.
4. Less advanced students of Zen may mistake Huineng's words for mere nihilism. How unseemly!
5. Huineng's victory is absolute. Shen Hsiu caused his own complications, and Huineng cut him in half.

Submitted May 10, 2019 at 09:41PM by WanderingRoninXIII http://bit.ly/2JuMfI1