and the Fifth Patriarch asked : Where do you come from and what are you seeking?" Huìnéng said "I am coming from Xin province in order to seek to become a Buddha.
The master said : "You are a person from south of the Pamir and do not have Buddha-nature. [Huìnéng] answered : "For men there is a difference between South and North but in terms of the Buddha-nature there is no South and North.
The master said : [If you are from] Xin province then you are a Géliáo person(ie. a barbarian), how can you possibly have Buddha-nature?" [Huinéng] answered “The nature of the Tathāgatagarbha extends to insects, how can it be that only the Géliáo barbarians do not possess it?" The master said : "Since (Supposing that) you have Buddha-nature, why do seek my instructions?"
[Huinéng] considered his words as deep and unusual and did not ask any further. From this he attained the mind-seal. Zutang ji 1.089
This account of Huineng's meeting with the Fifth Patriarch in his Zutang ji biography differs significantly from the Platform Sutra version of the story. Unlike the Platform Sutra where Huineng's response about barbarians having buddha-nature impresses Hongren, in this version Hongren rejects Huineng's answer, and his statement that almost sounds like Joshu's is what actually enlightens Huineng.
Is this more in accordance with later zen records of the Sixth patriarch about his Tathāgatagarbha teachings, like this, than the standard version of the platform sutra?
Submitted February 16, 2022 at 02:57AM by spinozabenedicto https://ift.tt/TswNynp
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