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Original Link: https://buddhism.lib.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-BJ013/bj013133067.pdf
Translator's Note: This text is a discourse by Dr. Hong Wenliang exploring the depth of "Just Sitting" (Shikantaza). It critiques reliance on intellectual understanding, clarifies the nature of the "I"-thought as the root of suffering, and draws heavily on the teachings and experiences of Chan/Zen masters like Yaoshan, Huineng, Huairang, and particularly Dōgen Zenji, emphasizing practice as the embodiment of reality itself.
English Translation:
Just Sitting
/Discourse by Dr. Hong Wenliang*
/Compiled by Liu Ying-Hsiao
Original Text:
只管打坐
/洪文亮醫師*主講
/劉英孝整理
English Translation:
The bright moon rises over the high peak at night; turns out it's just this thief
Currently, many people spin around in Buddhist knowledge; this has no relation to liberation. What the Buddha truly wanted to point out is that the illness of sentient beings lies in the inability to get rid of this "thought" [念, niàn]¹ of "I am listening to the Dharma," "I am living," "I am practicing." This is the root source of affliction [煩惱, fánnǎo]. Ordinary people think that if this "thought" were absent, there would be nothing left, fearing falling into emptiness where there's nothing to grasp [恐落空無撈摸處, kǒng luò kōng wú lāo mō chù]. After one Chan master attained awakening [證道, zhèngdào], he said: "The bright moon rises over the high peak at night; turns out it's just this thief." This "thief" is the root of affliction. The five hindrances [五蓋, wǔgài]² – greed [貪, tān], aversion [瞋, chēn], torpor [昏沈, hūnchén], restlessness and remorse [掉悔, diàohuǐ], doubt [疑, yí] – are like five fingers covering the eyes, preventing your native scenery [本地風光, běndì fēngguāng] from manifesting. Many people practice diligently, exhausting all kinds of methods – reciting the Buddha's name [念佛, niànfó], reciting mantras [念咒, niànzhòu], chanting sutras [誦經, sòngjīng], observing vegetarian precepts [持齋, chízhāi], upholding precepts [持戒, chíjiè] – hoping to eliminate the five hindrances one by one, cultivating great purity. However, the five hindrances are not the least bit real [實在, shí zài], just like empty space [猶如虛空, yóurú xūkōng]; what need is there for you to eliminate them? Moreover, even if the five hindrances are cultivated until spotlessly clean, fundamental ignorance [根本无明, gēnběn wúmíng] is still there! Once fundamental ignorance falls away, the five hindrances are like leaves without roots; unable to stay green, they naturally wither. The "thought" [念, niàn] of wanting to cultivate away the five hindrances and afflictions is fundamental ignorance. Fundamental ignorance is without cause.
Original Text:
夜來明月上高峰，原來只是這個賊
現在很多人在佛學知識裡打轉，這與解脫無關。佛真正要指出來的是，眾生的毛病在於
有一個「我在聽法」、「我在活著」、「我在修行」的的這個「念」去不掉，這是煩惱的根源。
一般人都以為如果沒有這個「念」，就什麼都沒有了，恐落空無撈摸處。有一位禪師證道了以
後，他說：「夜來明月上高峰，原來只是這個賊。」這個「賊」就是煩惱的根本。貪、瞋、昏
沈、掉悔、疑五蓋好像五個手指一樣，遮住眼睛，讓你的本地風光不能顯現。很多人拼命修
行，用盡各種辦法，念佛、念咒、誦經、持齋、持戒，希望將五蓋一個個除掉，修的很清淨。
但是五蓋一點都不實在，猶如虛空一樣，你還要去掉它做什麼？而且，即使將五蓋修的乾乾
淨淨，還有一個根本無明在那裡！根本無明脫落了，五蓋就像沒有根的樹葉，無法長青，自
然枯萎。你想要將五蓋、煩惱修掉的「念」，就是根本無明。根本無明是沒有原因的。
Footnotes/Annotations:
- Thought/Sense (念, niàn): Here, "nian" refers not just to a discrete thought, but to the underlying sense, intention, or belief in an existing "I" that performs actions.
- Five Hindrances (五蓋, wǔgài): Mental factors that hinder meditation and insight: sensual desire (often translated as greed here), ill will (aversion), sloth and torpor, restlessness and worry (remorse), and skeptical doubt.
English Translation:
The various discriminations of sages never depart from the Dharmakāya
Our mind's capacity [心量, xīnliàng] is originally vast and immense, its applications infinite. The six sense faculties [六根, liùgēn] respond: the eye sees form, the ear hears sound, the nose smells fragrance, the tongue knows taste, the body knows touch, the mind knows dharmas [mental objects]. All actions and movements are the Dharmakāya [法身, fǎshēn]. The six faculties are fundamentally without any hindrance [无罣碍, wú guà'ài], without love or hate [无爱无憎, wú ài wú zēng], equally and impartially arising and ceasing according to conditions [随缘生灭, suí yuán shēngmiè], naturally liberated [自然解脱, zìrán jiětuō]. The reason we feel there are objects, that things exist, is because there is an "I" [我, wǒ] present. An awakened Chan master speaks of "before the eyes, not a single thing" [眼前无一物, yǎnqián wú yī wù]; he also sees things, but he does not have the illusory thought [妄想, wàngxiǎng] "I see." The "I" arises from illusory thought; if this illusory thought falls away, we will understand very clearly what the state of "before the eyes, not a single thing" is. With the illusory thought [妄念, wàngniàn] of "I," only then does one see independently existing objects – that is "before the eyes, there is a thing." Realizing the emptiness of self [证入无我, zhèngrù wú wǒ - entering realization of no-self], everything is the Dharmakāya. Seeing you, seeing flowers, hearing sounds – all are the Dharmakāya, manifesting upon encountering conditions [遇缘则显, yù yuán zé xiǎn], arising and ceasing instantly [即生即灭, jí shēng jí miè], changing without obstruction, therefore it is empty [空, kōng]. We view the body and mind of the five aggregates [五蕴, wǔyùn] as very real [实在, shí zài]. Studying Buddhism with this attitude, wanting to use the "I" to transform the form body [色身, sèshēn], to realize the Dharmakāya – "If the causal ground is not true, the resultant path will be crooked" [因地不真，果招迂曲, yīn dì bù zhēn, guǒ zhāo yūqū]. From the very beginning, the wrong path has been taken.
Original Text:
聖人種種分別，皆不離法身
我們的心量本來是很广大的，应用无穷。六根应眼見色，应耳闻声 ，应鼻嗅香，应舌知
味，应身知觸，应意知法，一切施為運動，皆是法身。六根本來毫無罣礙，無愛無憎，平等
平等地隨緣生滅，自然解脫。我們之所以感覺有對象、有東西存在，是因為有「我」在。證
道的禪師講「眼前無一物」，他也看到東西，但是他沒有「我看到」這種妄想。「我」是妄想
出來的，如果這個妄想脫落了，我們會非常清楚「眼前無一物」是什麼境界。有「我」的妄
念，才會看到獨立存在的對象，那就是「眼前有一物」。證入無我，一切都是法身。看到你、
看到花、聽到聲音，都是法身，遇緣则顯，即生即滅，變化無礙，所以是空。我們把五蘊的
身心看得很實在，用這個態度學佛，想要用「我」去轉色身、證法身，「因地不真，果招迂曲」，
一開始就走錯路了。
English Translation:
Embodying the Buddha's Dignified Manner [行佛威儀, xíngfó wēiyí]¹
Body and mind are not as minuscule as we imagine; in reality, they are boundless, an existence of infinite possibility. We mistakenly identify the flesh-and-blood body as 'I', desperately trying to make this body as dignified as a Buddha's. The Japanese Master Dōgen Zenji² wrote a work <<Gyōbutsu Iigi>> (Embodying the Buddha's Dignified Manner) precisely to point out this error. Let's cite a passage now to explain:
"All Buddhas unfailingly embody dignified manner; this is the practicing Buddha [行佛, gyōbutsu]. The practicing Buddha is not the Reward Body Buddha³, not the Transformation Body Buddha⁴, not the self-nature body Buddha⁵, not the other-nature body Buddha, not actualized gnosis [始覺, shǐjué], not primordial gnosis [本覺, běnjué]; neither nature-awakening nor non-awakening. Buddhas such as these cannot stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the practicing Buddha. Therefore, the Buddhas' practice of the Buddha Way does not await awakening. Only the practicing Buddha can thoroughly traverse and embody the path leading upward toward Buddhahood. Self-nature Buddhas and the like have not even seen it in a dream."
Now, when everyone sees "dignified manner," they initiate thoughts, thinking how dignified manner ought to be. For example, saying a "hot babe" [辣妹, làmèi] is not dignified enough, or being tired and slumped over, dozing off, having sore legs, crying out in pain – these are not the Buddha's dignified manner. Such judgments of good and bad are all human discriminations. There was a Japanese Zen Master Sugimoto⁶ who attained awakening through farting; is this not embodying the Buddha's dignified manner? All movements and stillness are manifestations of the Dharmakāya, without increase or decrease; all embody the Buddha's dignified manner. A cockroach crawling, a small bird flying, a fish swimming – all embody the Buddha's dignified manner. Sentient beings in hell are not saved only by jumping out of hell; rather, without changing the state of hell, liberation occurs right there [當處解脫, dāng chù jiětuō]. Everything is Buddha. Master Dōgen Zenji said: Reward Body Buddha, Transformation Body Buddha, self-nature body Buddha, other-nature body Buddha, actualized gnosis, primordial gnosis, nature-awakening, non-awakening – all are inseparable from human views [見解, jiànjiě]; memorizing piles of Buddhist terminology are all human discriminations. Having an "I" that wants to become Buddha, that awaits awakening – all are fundamental ignorance. Regarding the practicing Buddha, the true reality of all dharmas [諸法實相, zhūfǎ shíxiāng], they haven't even seen it in a dream.
Original Text:
行佛威儀
身心不是我們想像的那麼渺小，實際上無邊無際，是無限可能的存在。我們認錯皮肉身
軀是我，拚命想將這個身軀弄得像佛一樣莊嚴，日本道元禪師有一篇著作<<行佛威儀>>就是
指出這個錯誤。現在舉一段來說明：
諸佛必定行足威儀，此行佛也。行佛非是報身佛，非是化身佛，非是自性身佛，非是
他性身佛，非是始覺，非是本覺，既非性覺，又非無覺。如是等佛，不得與行佛齊肩。
因之，諸佛之行佛道，不待覺。唯有行佛能於佛向上之道通達行履。自性佛等，夢也
未見在也。
現在大家看到「威儀」，就動了念頭，認為威儀應該是如何。例如說辣妹就不夠莊嚴，累
的東倒西歪、打瞌睡、腿酸、叫痛，就不是佛的威儀。這種好壞的判斷，都是人類的分別。
日本有一個杉本禪師是因放屁而開悟的，難道這不是行佛威儀嗎？一切動靜，都是法身的顯
現，不增不減，都是行佛威儀。蟑螂爬、小鳥飛、魚兒游都是行佛威儀。地獄的眾生不是跳
出地獄才得救，而是不改地獄的境界，當處解脫。一切都是佛。道元禪師講：報身佛、化身
佛、自性身佛、他性身佛、始覺、本覺、性覺、無覺，都離不開人類的見解，佛學名相記了
一大堆，都是人類的分別。有一個「我」要去成佛、待覺，都是根本無明。對於行佛、諸法
實相，夢也未見在也。
Footnotes/Annotations:
- Embodying the Buddha's Dignified Manner (行佛威儀, xíngfó wēiyí): Title of a fascicle in Dōgen Zenji's Shōbōgenzō. It emphasizes that practice itself, the very act ("gyō"), is the Buddha ("butsu"), and this is expressed through dignified manner ("igi"), which encompasses all activities, not just formal postures.
- Dōgen Zenji (道元禪師, Dàoyuán Chánshī): (1200–1253) Founder of the Sōtō school of Zen in Japan, renowned for his profound teachings on Zazen and the identity of practice and realization.
- Reward Body Buddha (報身佛, bàoshēnfó): Sambhogakāya, the "body of enjoyment," which appears to advanced Bodhisattvas in pure lands.
- Transformation Body Buddha (化身佛, huàshēnfó): Nirmāṇakāya, the "manifestation body," which appears in the world to teach beings, like Śākyamuni Buddha.
- Self-nature body Buddha (自性身佛, zìxìngshēnfó): Svābhāvikakāya, sometimes considered a fourth body, representing the inherent nature or essence of Buddhahood, synonymous with the Dharmakāya. The terms "other-nature body," "nature-awakening," and "non-awakening" are less standard Trikāya concepts and likely part of Dōgen's specific polemic against certain conceptualizations of Buddhahood.
- Sugimoto Zenji (杉本禪師): Likely refers to Sugimoto Dainen (杉本大念), a modern Sōtō Zen master known for his direct style. The anecdote illustrates that awakening can arise from mundane events, challenging preconceived notions of proper practice or setting.
- Views (見解, jiànjiě): In this context, refers to intellectual understandings, opinions, or conceptual frameworks, rather than direct experiential insight.
English Translation:
Body and mind dropped off, just sit [身心脫落，只管打坐, shēn xīn tuōluò, zhǐguǎn dǎzuò]¹
Embodying the Buddha's dignified manner is just sitting [只管打坐, zhǐguǎn dǎzuò]. What is just sitting? Let us first look at a story of Master Dōgen Zenji's awakening:
"The Master [Rujing] entered the hall and chastised a monk sleeping during sitting, saying: 'Studying Chan is body and mind dropped off; what are you doing just sleeping?' Upon hearing these words, I [Dōgen] had a sudden great awakening [豁然大悟, huòrán dàwù]. I went straight to the abbot's room to burn incense and make prostrations. The Master [Rujing] said: 'What is this matter of prostrating?' I said: 'Body and mind dropped off has come.' The Master said: 'Body and mind dropped off; dropped off body and mind!' I said: 'This is a temporary skill; Abbot, do not carelessly seal [印, yìn]² it.' The Master said: 'I do not carelessly seal.' I said: 'What is the matter of not carelessly sealing?' The Master said: 'Dropped off, dropped off [脫落脫落, tuōluò tuōluò].' I thereupon rested [休, xiū]."³
Master Dōgen Zenji became a monk at a very young age and studied many sutras, vinaya, and śāstras. His conclusion was only one: "Originally the fundamental Dharma-nature, the natural self-nature body" [本來本法性，天然自性身, běnlái běn fǎxìng, tiānrán zìxìng shēn]⁴. Since everything is primordial gnosis [本覺, běnjué], why must we practice? This question troubled Master Dōgen. He went to China, found Master Rujing [如淨禪師, Rújìng Chánshī]⁵, and resolved this question. One day Dōgen was practicing Zazen. His neighboring Dharma friend was scolded by Master Rujing for dozing off. Dōgen, listening nearby, had a sudden great awakening. Afterwards, he went to the abbot's room and reported to Master Rujing: "Body and mind dropped off!" Master Rujing, truly a clear-eyed Chan master, saw that Dōgen still had a subtle clinging to this very matter of 'body and mind dropped off,' and immediately said to Dōgen: "What 'body and mind dropped off'? It's the originally dropped-off body and mind!" At this point, Dōgen finally shed the last clinging to Dharma [法執, fǎzhí]. But Dōgen was still not quite clear about the great function [大用, dàyòng]. Master Rujing further told him: "Dropped off also dropped off." Dōgen thereupon rested. This is just sitting.
Just sitting is not sitting there thinking of using visualizations of impurity [不淨觀, bùjìngguān], compassion [慈悲觀, cíbēiguān], or dependent origination [緣起觀, yuánqǐguān] to counteract greed, aversion, and delusion [貪、瞋、癡, tān, chēn, chī], wanting to become Buddha. Those are merely the Buddha's expedient means [方便, fāngbiàn]; don't cling tightly to them, thinking that is the Buddhadharma. If one clings to "just sitting," giving rise to the thought of "not wanting" to recite the Buddha's name, chant sutras, observe vegetarian precepts, or uphold precepts, one has already "managed" so much – is that "just" [只, zhǐ]? Therefore, just sitting means: just also has no just, sitting also has no sitting. Seeing is just seeing, hearing is just hearing, smelling is just smelling, tasting is just tasting, touching is just touching, knowing is just knowing. If the 1illusory thoughts of the false self [假我, jiǎ wǒ] have not dropped off, hearing this Dharma and then doing whatever one desires – wouldn't this Dharma then become poison?
Original Text:
身心脫落，只管打坐
行佛威儀，就是只管打坐。什麼是只管打坐？讓我們先看一段道元禪師開悟的故事：
師因入堂，懲衲子坐睡云：「夫參禪者身心脫落，只管打睡作麼？」予聞此語豁然大悟。
徑上方丈燒香禮拜。師云：「禮拜事作麼生？」予云：「身心脫落來。」師云：「身心脫
落，脫落身心！」予云：「這個是暫時伎倆，和尚莫亂印 」。師云：「我不亂印 」。予
云：「如何是不亂印底事？」師云：「脫落脫落。」予乃休。
道元禪師很小就出家，研究了很多經、律、論，他的結論只有一個：「本來本法性，天然
自性身。」既然一切都是本覺，我們為什麼要修行？這個問題困擾了道元禪師，他到中國找
到了如淨禪師，解決了這個問題。有一天道元在打坐，他隔壁的道友因為打瞌睡被如淨禪師
一罵，道元在旁邊聽了，豁然大悟。隨後他就到方丈室跟如淨禪師報告：「身心脫落了！」如
淨禪師不愧是明眼的禪師，看出道元還有身心脫落這麼一回事的微細執著，立刻跟道元說：「什
麼身心脫落，本來脫落的身心啊！」道元至此乃脫去最後的法執。而道元對大用的地方還不
太明白，如淨禪師再跟他說：「脫落也脫落。」道元乃休。這就是只管打坐。
只管打坐不是坐在那裡想用不淨觀、慈悲觀、緣起觀把貪、瞋、癡對治掉，想要成佛。
那只是佛的方便，不要緊抓著不放，以為那個就是佛法。如果執著「只管打坐」，起了「不要」
念佛、誦經、持齋、持戒的念頭，已經「管」了那麼多，那是「只管」嗎？所以只管打坐就
是：只管也沒有只管，打坐也沒有打坐。看就只是看，聽就只是聽，聞就只是聞，嚐就只是
嚐，觸就只是觸，知就只是知。如果假我的妄想沒有脫落，聽了這個法而為所欲為，那麼這
個法豈不是成了毒藥？
Footnotes/Annotations:
- Body and mind dropped off, just sit (身心脫落，只管打坐, shēn xīn tuōluò, zhǐguǎn dǎzuò): A central phrase in Dōgen's teaching, linking the experience of liberation from the sense of a separate self ("body and mind dropped off") directly with the practice of "just sitting."
- Seal (印, yìn): In Chan/Zen, refers to the master's recognition or authentication of a disciple's understanding or awakening.
- Rested (休, xiū): Signifies the cessation of striving, questioning, or seeking – a state of resolution and ease.
- Originally the fundamental Dharma-nature, the natural self-nature body (本來本法性，天然自性身, běnlái běn fǎxìng, tiānrán zìxìng shēn): A phrase encapsulating the idea of inherent Buddhahood or original enlightenment found in some Mahāyāna texts, which initially posed a question for Dōgen about the necessity of practice.
- Master Rujing (如淨禪師, Rújìng Chánshī): Tiantong Rujing (天童如淨, 1163–1228), Dōgen's primary teacher in China, credited with transmitting the practice of Shikantaza (just sitting).
English Translation:
Myriad dharmas come to verify no-self [萬法來證明無我, wànfǎ lái zhèngmíng wú wǒ]
Master Dōgen Zenji once said: Studying Buddhism is just studying the self; studying the self is forgetting the self. Studying the self means not seeking outwardly; one's own precious body and mind are the Way-place [道場, dàochǎng]¹. Forgetting the self, moreover, must absolutely not be done by the "self." So, how to practice? Do not initiate thoughts [起心動念, qǐxīn dòngniàn] to cultivate some supreme Dharma, or use an 'I' to seek verification through the myriad dharmas. Eye seeing, ear hearing, nose smelling, tongue tasting, body touching, mind knowing – these are the myriad dharmas [万法, wànfǎ]. The myriad dharmas constantly change, without a trace; having as if not having [有若無, yǒu ruò wú]; body and mind are completely without hindrance [无罣碍, wú guà'ài]. Where is the need for an "I" to direct or judge in order for seeing, hearing, awareness, and knowing [見聞覺知, jiàn wén jué zhī] to occur? Use the myriad dharmas to kill off the "I," to kill off this "thief" – this is the Great Peace and Joy Dharma Gate [大安乐法门, dà ānlè fǎmén]!
Original Text:
萬法來證明無我
道元禪師曾說：學佛只是學自己，學自己是忘自己。學自己就是不向外求，自己寶貴的
身心就是道場。忘自己又千萬不可用「自己」忘自己。那麼，怎麼修行呢？不要起心動念去
修什麼殊勝的法，或者以我去求證萬法。眼見、耳聞、鼻嗅、舌嚐、身觸、意知，這些就是
萬法。萬法不斷的變化，毫無痕跡，有若無，身心一點都不罣礙，哪裡需要「我」來指揮、
判斷才能見聞覺知呢？以萬法來將「我」殺掉，將這個「賊」殺掉，這是大安樂法門啊！
Footnotes/Annotations:
- Way-place (道場, dàochǎng): Bodhimaṇḍa. Refers to a place of awakening or practice; here, Dōgen emphasizes that one's own body and mind is the true place for practice and realization.
English Translation:
A Drop from Cao Creek [曹溪一滴, Cáoxī yī dī]¹
Huairang² sought the Dharma from Huineng³. Huineng asked him: "From what place do you come?" Huairang replied: "From Mount Song." Huineng asked again: "What thing [何物, hé wù], comes thus [恁麼來, rènme lái]?"⁴ Huairang could not answer. After eight years passed, Huairang attained awakening and only then answered Huineng: "To say it resembles anything is already wrong" [說似一物即不中, shuō sì yī wù jí bù zhòng]. Dōgen mentioned this matter, saying:
"Śākyamuni said: All are sentient beings; all possess Buddha-nature. What is its purport? It is precisely the teaching 'What thing, comes thus?'"
What Śākyamuni Buddha transmitted to Kāśyapa⁵, what Kāśyapa transmitted down through the lineage to Huineng, right up to Rujing, Dōgen, and today's Japanese Sōtō master Harada Sekkei⁶ – what is transmitted is this. The only thing to be taught is how to depart from human views [見解, jiànjiě]. This most fundamental "thought" [念, niàn] of 'I exist' is very difficult to discover. Ordinary people all live based on this "thought," practice based on this "thought." Sentient beings are constantly unwilling, afraid to let go of this thought of the illusory self [妄我, wàngwǒ], thinking that letting go means nothing will be left. The Chan master said: "The bright moon rises over the high peak at night." Using the method of "just sitting," letting the six faculties be [放任六根, fàngrèn liùgēn], entering the selfless state without subject or object [無能知、所知, wú néng zhī, suǒ zhī], one day, encountering a condition, suddenly the old habitual tendencies and illusory thoughts arise – one look [一照, yī zhào]! Ah! "Turns out it's just this thief."
Original Text:
曹溪一滴
懷讓問法於慧能，慧能問他：「什麼處來？」懷讓回答：「嵩山來。」慧能又問：「是什麼
物，恁麼來？」懷讓回答不出來。經過了八年，懷讓證道了，才向慧能回答：「說似一物即不
中。」道元提到這件事，他說：
釋尊道：一切即眾生，悉有即佛性。其宗旨為何？此即是「什麼物，恁麼來」的言教。
釋迦牟尼佛傳給迦葉，迦葉傳下來一直到慧能，直到如淨、道元，以及今天日本曹洞宗
的原田雪溪禪師，傳的就是這個。唯一要講的就是如何離開人的見解。這個最根本的、有我
存在的「念」，很不容易發現。一般人都是依這個「念」而活，依這個「念」而修行。有情眾
生一直不願意、不敢放下這個妄我的念，以為放下就什麼都沒有了。禪師講：「夜來明月上高
峰」，以「只管打坐」的方法，放任六根，進入無能知、所知的忘我境界，有一天遇到一個緣，
忽然間舊有的習氣妄念上來了，一照！啊！「原來只是這個賊」。
Footnotes/Annotations:
- A Drop from Cao Creek (曹溪一滴, Cáoxī yī dī): Metaphor for the authentic Chan/Zen transmission originating from Huineng (the Sixth Patriarch), who resided at Cao Creek.
- Huairang (懷讓): Nanyue Huairang (南嶽懷讓, 677–744), a prominent disciple of Huineng.
- Huineng (慧能): (638–713) The influential Sixth Patriarch of Chan Buddhism.
- What thing, comes thus? (何物，恁麼來, hé wù, rènme lái): Huineng's profound question challenging Huairang to point directly to his fundamental nature, beyond concepts or origin.
- Kāśyapa (迦葉): Mahākāśyapa, considered the first Indian Patriarch of Chan/Zen, who received the silent transmission from Śākyamuni Buddha.
- Harada Sekkei (原田雪溪禪師): Harada Sekkei Roshi (1926-present), a contemporary Sōtō Zen master in Japan, abbot of Hosshin-ji. Mentioning him brings the lineage up to the present day for the audience.
English Translation:
Dr. Hong Wenliang
Education: Graduated from the Faculty of Medicine, National Taiwan University
Experience: Attending Surgeon, Kaohsiung Municipal Datong Hospital
Forensic Pathologist, Kaohsiung District Prosecutors Office
Director, Kaohsiung Hong Surgical Clinic
Original Text:
洪文亮醫師
學歷：國立台灣大學醫學系畢業
經歷：高雄市立大同醫院外科主治醫師
高雄地方法院檢察署法醫
高雄洪外科院長
