Huineng

Huineng (638–713) is remembered as a Chan teacher in southern China, associated with Caoxi and Baolin Monastery. Later lineage accounts identify him as Hongren's successor and the sixth Chinese patriarch. The Platform Sūtra presents teachings in his name on sudden awakening and the inseparability of meditation and wisdom. Shenhui promoted his lineage in the eighth century, helping establish its later prominence. Much of his biography survives in retrospective religious narratives, whose details cannot all be treated as historical fact.

六祖慧能 · 唐 · 638-713

Also known as: 惠能、六祖

Works and Translations

• 六祖壇經

Part of: The Eight Schools of Chinese Buddhism, Chan Buddhism: From Bodhidharma to the Platform Sutra and the Lamp Records