Abstract:

The formation of The Sixth Patriarch Platform Sutra was a process of continuous supplement, and its editorial style was modeled on translated Buddhist sutras. However, at the very beginning when it was called “Platform Sutra”, Huineng might have borrowed the name from the Buddhist and Taoist ritual texts in the Tang Dynasty. Teaching the non-phase precepts and preaching dharma are two different religious practices, since the former is characterized by internal transmission while the latter by publicity. Hence, there are two different titles of The Platform Sutra, that is, The Sixth Patriarch’s Dharma Treasure, and The Platform Sutra of Preaching Dharma. After The Platform Sutra was called as a “sutra”, Huineng and Shenhui used the it to comprehend preaching dharma, realizing true dharma, and the transmission from the master to disciples. Shenhui’s disciples were criticized by the Buddhist community because they used the “secret book” of registration to maintain the internal transmission of The Platform Sutra. The fact that The Platform Sutra’s becoming a “sutra” is one of the most significant events in the Sinicization of Buddhism, and it is also an iconic event in the southern turn of Chinese Buddhism as well as in the transformation from the Tang Dynasty to the Song Dynasty.

Key words: The Platform Sutra, Huineng, true dharma, transmission from the master to disciples