Huineng Quotes & Sayings

To be bigoted & argue with others, is to subject one's essence of mind to the bitterness of mundane existence. — Huineng

The complete teachings of all Buddhas - past, present, and future - are to be found within the essence of every human being. — Huineng

The secret is within your self. — Huineng

Zazen is seated meditation-the opposite of contemplation-the emptying of the mind of all thoughts in order simply to be. In the midst of all evil, not a thought is aroused in the mind-this is called za. Seeing into one's Self-nature, not being moved at all-this is called Zen. — Huineng

It is your minds that are moving. — Huineng

By amending our mistakes, we get wisdom. By defending our faults, we betray an unsound mind. — Huineng

Sit all together in meditation. Become peacefully calm and quiet, without motion, without stillness, without birth, without destruction, without coming or going, with no judgments of right or wrong, neither staying nor going. This, then, is the Great Way. — Huineng

Look within! ... The secret is inside you. — Huineng

Good friends, how then are meditation and wisdom alike? They are like the lamp and the light it gives forth. If there is a lamp there is light; if there is no lamp there is no light. The lamp is the substance of light; the light is the function of the lamp. Thus, although they have two names, in substance they are not two. Meditation and wisdom are also like this. — Huineng

When our mind works freely without any hindrance, and is at liberty to 'come' or to 'go', we attain Samadhi of Prajna, or liberation. Such a state is called the function of 'thoughtlessness'. But to refrain from thinking of anything, so that all thoughts are suppressed, is to be Dharma-ridden, and this is an erroneous view. — Huineng

Because wisdom is innate, we can all enlighten ourselves. — Huineng

A finger points at the moon, but the moon is not at the tip of the finger. Words points at the truth, but the truth is not in words. — Huineng

Before you think good or evil, who are you? — Huineng

Within our impure mind the pure one is to be found. — Huineng

The truth is to be lived, not just mouthed. — Huineng

The capacity of the mind is broad and huge, like the vast sky. Do not sit with a mind fixed on emptiness. If you do, you will fall into a neutral kind of emptiness. Emptiness includes the sun, moon, stars, and planets, the great earth, mountains and rivers, all trees and grasses, bad people and good people, bad things and good things, heaven and hell; they are all in the midst of emptiness. The emptiness of human nature is also like this. — Huineng

As one lamp serves to dispel a thousand years of darkness, so one flash of wisdom destroys ten thousand years of ignorance. — Huineng

There is no Bodhi tree,
Nor stand of a mirror bright.
Since all is void,
Where can the dust alight — Huineng

Since in reality all is void, Whereon can the dust fall? — Huineng

The meaning of life is to see. — Huineng

Words are not truth. Truth is like the moon, and words are like my finger. I can point to the moon with my finger, but my finger is not the moon. Do you need my finger to see the moon? — Huineng

To meditate means to realize inwardly the imperturbability of the Essence of Mind.
The reason why we are perturbed is because we allow ourselves to be carried away by the circumstances we are in. Those who are able to keep their mind unperturbed, irrespective of circumstances, have attained Inner Peace. — Huineng

Our Essence of Mind is intrinsically pure,
and if we knew our mind and realized what our nature is, all of us would
attain Buddhahood. — Huineng

Confused by thoughts, we experience duality in life. Unencumbered by ideas, the enlightened see the one Reality. — Huineng