One day the Fifth Patriarch told his monks to express their wisdom in a poem,
and that whosoever evinced realization of original nature would be ordained the
Sixth Patriarch. Only one poem was found posted on the temple wall the
following day, quietly posted by the head monk, Shen Hsiu.
It read:
"The body is the wisdom-tree,
The mind is a bright mirror in a stand;
Take care to wipe it all the time,
And allow no dust to cling."
The poem was praised. Everyone knew that Shen Hsiu was the temple favorite for
receiving the lineage and had posted the poem. But the Fifth Patriarch realized
from reading the poem that Shen Hsiu had yet to find original nature.
Upon reading Shen Hsiu's poem, Hui Neng, the illiterate kitchen monk, asked one
of the acolytes to transcribe his response to the patriarch's challenge:
"Fundamentally no wisdom-tree exists,
Nor the stand of a mirror bright.
Since all is empty from the beginning,
Where can the dust alight?"
All the monks in the temple dismissed Hui Neng's poem, and Hui Neng, being
rather humble, conceded that his poem wasn't that of a learned monk.
But late that night the Fifth Patriarch summoned Hui Neng and, advising him to
flee into the night and establish a new monestary, gave Hui Neng the insignia
of his office, the Patriarch's robe and bowl.
Source - Facebook Buddhist Humor Community
...Bill!
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