On Hui-neng’s Ontology That Regards Xin as the Origin

Li Bingquan,Du Haixin,Zhang Xudong

doi:10.11648/j.ijp.20190702.16

Abstract

Hui-neng, the sixth patriarch of Chinese Ch’an (Zen), traced the origin of the world where human beings exist, and made the explanation with unique Chinese cultural characteristics. He put forward the ontological thought of Xin (mind or heart), which can be reduced to the following two aspects. (1) Human Xin creates the world, which means “the world where human being lives and everything in it are created by human mind.” It does not mean that people’s Xin create the universe, but creates the world in which they live or the universe in their mind. In other word, the world where everyone lives and all things in it are created by his Xin. Because everyone’s Xin is unique, the world created by his Xin is particular. In other words, anyone has his own unique world. (2) “Human Xin is empty”. Hui-neng took “Xin is Buddha, Buddha is empty” and “all dharmas are empty” as the core and foundation of his thought, and attributed the Xin down to emptiness. Because he attributed the world's origin to the Xin that was originally empty, the world’s origin is able to be come down to emptiness at long last. It is the reason that Xin was empty, so that it is so large enough to hold (or accept) everything and produce everything. Because everything is empty, people do not have to pursue them, they are only external objects. Anyone who thinks in this way would not be troubled by external things. As the result, he keep his mind peaceful and ethereal.

Highlights

Ontos, Ontology and Hui-neng’s Ontology of XinThe Sixth Patriarch‘s Dharma Jewel Platform Sutra laid the foundation of Ch’an [1], which author is Hui-neng who is regarded as the true initiator of Chinese Ch’an [1,2,3]
Its philosophical concept is a concept opposite to phenomenon, which refers to the fundamental entity forming phenomenon, the true nature of objects and the entity that constitutes them or the fundamental entity behind the phenomenon
“Ontology” is a word coming from the Latin “ontos”, and its English equivalent is “To Be” or “Being”

Summary

Introduction

Ontology and Hui-neng’s Ontology of XinThe Sixth Patriarch‘s Dharma Jewel Platform Sutra laid the foundation of Ch’an [1], which author is Hui-neng who is regarded as the true initiator of Chinese Ch’an [1,2,3]. Li Bingquan et al.: On Hui-neng’s Ontology That Regards Xin as the Origin unique, absolute and stable property, attribute or feature of the subject, which is essential attributes or features. Ontology is human’s inquiry or exploration of the unchanging nature of things or the origin of the world.

Results

Conclusion