Ancient Cultivation Stories: Hui Neng's Robe

There was a legendary monk in Chinese history named Hui Neng. He was the sixth in the line of chiefs of the Chang Zhong sect of Buddhism. Hui Neng became enlightened in terms of Buddhism. At the time, Hong Ren, the fifth chief, took out a kasaya (robe) made of silk and cotton. It was the symbol of the level of attainment in the Chang Zhong sect.

He said to Hui Neng, quite seriously, "Our master Da Mo brought this precious kasaya from Tian Zhu. The kasaya is not the Buddha Law but it is closely connected to the Law. The kasaya is a manifestation of the Buddha Law (Fa). It follows the Fa and the Fa is passed down together with the kasaya. The kasaya exists only when the Fa exists. Today I pass the kasaya down to you and you become the sixth generation chief of Chang Zhong."

Hui Neng accepted the kasaya in a respectful manner. He looked at it carefully and found that it was precious. It was delicately made, very silky, and the colours were bright and light. It was made of the silk and cotton cloth of Tian Zhu.

Hui Neng realised that his inheritance of the symbolic object from the fifth generation chief would cause his fellow monks to become jealous. Therefore, at dawn, he took his luggage, quietly squeezed out the door, and hurriedly ran towards the south.

Hui Neng was travelling at double speed for days and nights. When he was about to approach Da Yu Hill, he suddenly saw that hundreds of people were chasing and shouting at him. The monk who ran in the front was Hui Ming, who was the first one of his chasers to grab for the kasaya. He ran at the front and thought that the unique kasaya would magically be his. Hui Ming rushed up quickly. By then, Hui Neng was too hungry to run any more. He realised he was unable to run away from them. He put the parcel in which the kasaya was wrapped down on a stone along the road and shouted at the approaching crowd, "This kasaya is the symbol of dissemination of the Buddha Fa. Why do you people want to snatch it by armed might? Possessing the kasaya without the Fa is just like having a flower in a mirror!" Then he hid himself in the bushes along the roadside.

Hui Ming quickly approached him. He saw the kasaya on the stone and tried to pick it up. A miracle happened in that the parcel was so stuck that it could not be removed no matter how hard Hui Ming tried. He was shocked and in a flash he experienced the infinite power of the Buddha Fa. He bowed respectfully to Hui Neng and asked him to lecture on the Fa to him.

Hui Neng left Hui Ming and went to the Ning Nan area. He settled down at the Baolin Temple. One night, after several months, a crowd of monks spewed from the back of the mountain. They wore short tops and held torches. They were knocking at the back gate of the Temple. Hui Neng got up from bed and heard a voice shouting, "Hui Neng, hand us the kasaya or we'll take action." Another attempt to grab the kasaya! Hui Neng did not have time to think about what to do, but picked up the parcel and hurriedly ran away from the front gate. He ran as fast as he could to the hill that was located in front of the temple. He ran up the hillside and looked back to find the long queue of torches, like a snake wriggling rapidly towards the hill. Hui Neng was too tired to move any more. He hid himself in a crack between rocks. He did not know how much time had passed until he smelt a heavy smoke. He stretched out his head to have a look. He saw the whole hillside had become a sea of fire. The crowd of monks had searched the hillside but couldn't find Hui Neng. They were angry and set fire to the hill. They thought Hui Neng would come out by himself because of the fire.

At this crucial junction, the first thing that came into Hui Neng's mind was the kasaya in his hand. He put aside the danger to his own life, not wanting any damage at all to come to the precious Buddhist kasaya. He was wondering what to do. In this state of emergency, he recalled the situation where Hui Ming was unable to move the parcel. He realised that the kasaya in his hand was a precious cloth and a Fa weapon. The fire would not be able to burn it. Hui Neng saw the big fire approaching closer and closer, so he calmly put on the kasaya, sat on a rock and closed his eyes to meditate. At this moment, he felt his body sinking downwards. Everything around him was disappearing. The fire disappeared. The heavy smoke vanished and the world became extremely quiet.

About four hours passed. Hui Neng was awakened by a strong light in his eyes. He opened his eyes and found the Sun was rising from the east of the mountain. The green grass and trees that had been there yesterday were burnt into ashes. He looked at himself and found that the kasaya was still bright and had no damage at all, although a layer of ashes had fallen on it. When he was getting ready to leave, Hui Neng accidentally glanced at the rock where he had been sitting and was shocked to see two deep marks from his knees. He watched more closely and found that the creases of the cotton of the kasaya were also clearly pressed on the mark. Hui Neng experienced again the mighty power of the Buddha Fa. Later Hui Neng returned to Caoqi. His disciples moved the rock to their place to show their respect and to pray near it. They called the rock "Shelter from danger rock"

Before he passed away, Hui Neng advised his disciples that their first master, Da Mo, had left a message about, "Disseminating the Buddha Fa to save sentient beings. The school of the Buddha Fa was just like a flower that blossoms five times only. In fact, the leadership of the school of the Buddha Fa had been passed down for exactly five generations since the first Master Da Mo when it got to Hui Neng. The fifth chief, Hong Ren, also advised me to stop passing down the kasaya, because it causes confrontation and jealousy." Therefore, the kasaya for the Chang Zhong School stopped being passed down since then. The kasaya followed the Buddha Fa. Passing down the Fa meant passing down the kasaya. The kasaya existed only when the Buddha Fa existed. It meant that the school of Chang Zhong automatically reached its end because the kasaya stopped being passed down.