In those days, Sakyamuni picked a flower for everyone to see at the Lingshan Fa Conference. Everyone didn't understand its meaning, only disciple Mahagaya smiled.
So Sakyamuni said, I have a right eye, which has been passed on to Ye Jia. What Sakyamuni preached was a mental method that could not be expressed in words, and Mahayana was the early ancestor of Zen.
Therefore, Zen says that it is to communicate with the heart to teach people, not to write.
After Sakyamuni's nirvana, Mahayana passed on his teachings to another disciple of Sakyamuni: Ananda, the second ancestor of the western heaven.
At present, there are statues of two monks, an old man and a young man, on the left and right sides of the statue of Sakyamuni in many temples. The old man is Mahayana, and the young man is Ananda.
Zen Buddhism has been passed down for 28 generations in the Western Heaven, that is, India, and is called the Twenty-Eight Ancestors of the Western Heaven.
The 28th generation is bodhidharma. Dharma came to China to preach the law, landed in Guangzhou and went to Nanjing first.
Because the Southern Emperor Liang Wudi believed in Buddhism at that time, Dharma went to see Liang Wudi. However, these two lovers are lovers, because Liang Wudi is bent on seeking blessings, not real liberation.
So Dharma left Nanjing, crossed the Yangtze River with a reed and came to Shaolin Temple, where he stayed for nine years.
At this time, a monk named Hui Ke came to the Dharma Institute. Buddhism has always ignored him, saying that those who really seek Dharma must tolerate the intolerance of others.
Hui is a cruel person. Without saying anything, she cut off one of her arms and put it in front of Dharma. So Dharma knew that Wisdom was a true weapon, so he passed on Zen to him. Therefore, Buddhism is called the ancestor of Zen, and Hui is the second ancestor.
Hui Ke, the fifth ancestor of Zen Buddhism, preached monks, preached faith and forbearance.
One day, Hong Ren said to his disciples, Write me a poem, and I will let the well-written one be my successor.
At that time, Hongren's disciples all recognized that Shen Xiu was a master of learning, so everyone dared not write, waiting for Shen Xiu to write.
Shen Xiu wrote a song: "The body is a bodhi tree, and the heart is a mirror platform. Wipe it from time to time to avoid dust. " Hiroshi saw it and told Shen Xiu that you haven't seen sex yet. Go back and think about it.
At this time, the coolie Huineng (that is, a Buddhist who has not yet officially become a monk) heard about this and wrote a song: "Bodhi has no trees, and it is not Taiwan in the mirror. There is nothing, so there is no dust. " Every word hits the beautiful face.
After Hongren saw it, he invited Huineng to his room in the middle of the night to pass on the Zen method to Huineng, and also gave Huineng the cassock and alms bowl symbolizing the founder status of Zen. Huineng is the sixth ancestor of Zen.
Later, Huineng gave a lecture to the public, and his disciples wrote down the contents of the lecture. This is the famous altar sutra.
After Huineng, Zen gradually divided into five schools: Luyang, Lin Ji, Cao Dong, Fayan and Yunmen. This is the so-called one flower and five leaves. Since then, Zen has spread all over the world.