Hui-neng’s Chan Buddhist Concept of “Directing at the Mindâ€

Abstract

As the Sixth Patriarch of Chinese southern Chan Buddhist School, Hui-eng’s sudden-Enlightenment concept of “directing at the mind†had exerted a tremendous, profound and far-reaching influence upon the history of Chinese Chan Buddhism and Neo-Confucianism during Song and Ming dynasties. Scholars have given ample affirmation to the value and position occupied by Hui-neng’s sudden-Enlightenment Chan. In spite of the fact that there has been a great deal of research done on his sudden-Enlightenment Chan, there remain areas, such as sudden-Enlightenment path of “directing at the mind,†yet unexplored. Therefore, this paper taken Hui-neng’s Chan Buddhist concept of “directing at the mind†as its objects of research; the research will be approached by focusing on two aspects: 1) directing at the mind, and 2) the purpose of directing at the mind: to see into One's nature and become a Buddha.