The Sixth Patriarch Zen Master Hui Neng said, over than a
millennium ago...
“Each mortal is a Buddha;
each annoyance is a wisdom.”
Below, I will use “ordinary people” to replace “mortal” and
“mind irritants” to replace “annoyance”, to describe my understanding of his
teaching. Comments are appreciated.
The Nature of Buddha, Wisdom, Ordinary Person and mind irritant.
Every ordinary person can become a Buddha, every mind irritant can
become a wisdom. A Buddha is an evolved ordinary person; a wisdom is an evolved
mind irritant.
Sometimes a mind irritant resolves itself; sometimes a mind
irritant is resolved or removed with assistance from others. One doesn't
benefit from such resolutions. It is only through the permanent change of
perspective that mind irritants can lead to wisdom. (How to permanently change a perspective to evolve a mind
irritant? We may discuss it in another post.)
An evolved mind irritant becomes one’s wisdom; however, an unresolved
mind irritant is inherent in being an ordinary
person.
Growth of Wisdom
Wisdom grows after a mind irritant is resolved through the
maintaining of a new perspective. Wisdom withers when a new perspective is not
remembered and reverts to the old one.
Without Mind Irritants, There is No Buddha.
Mind irritants are the essential raw material to building
wisdom.
Stressed? In trouble?
I wish one of
the lines could help.
Notes:
I use
“Mortal” to represent the meaning of“凡夫”. In Chinese, it means ordinary people that are
prone to irritations from annoyances.
I use “annoyance” to represent the meaning of “煩惱”.
In Chinese, it means “mind irritants”, includes annoyance, troubles, stressors
and distress.
