Chapter Overview
"Imperial edict" (xuanzhao, 宣诏) refers to the court's summons. This chapter records how Empress Wu Zetian and Emperor Zhongzong of the Tang Dynasty each sent envoys to invite Huineng to the capital (Luoyang/Chang'an) for offerings, and how Huineng declined, citing old age and illness. The court then sent envoys with gifts and offerings and asked Huineng's disciples to bring back the essence of his Dharma teaching.
Although this chapter is not long, it has important historical value, recording the interaction between Chan Buddhism and the Tang Dynasty court.
1. The Court's Summons
Sutra Text
On the fifteenth day of the first month in the first year of the Shenlong era, Empress Wu and Emperor Zhongzong issued an edict: "We have invited the two Masters An and Xiu to be supported within the palace. In the leisure between our myriad duties, we constantly study a single word of their teaching. The two masters humbly deferred, saying: 'In the south there is Chan Master Neng, who secretly received the robe and Dharma from the Great Master Ren, transmitting the mind-seal of the Buddha. You may invite him for questioning.' We now dispatch the inner attendant Xue Jian with an urgent edict to invite you. We humbly request the Master's compassionate attention and swift journey to the capital."
In the first year of the Shenlong era (705 CE), Empress Wu Zetian and Emperor Zhongzong jointly issued an edict inviting Huineng to the capital. The edict stated that they had previously invited the two Chan masters Shenxiu and Hui'an to the palace for offerings, but both masters deferred, saying: "In the south there is Chan Master Neng, who secretly received the robe and Dharma from the Fifth Patriarch Master Hongren, transmitting the mind-seal of the Buddha. You may invite him for questioning." The court then dispatched the inner attendant Xue Jian to Caoxi to extend the invitation.
2. Huineng Declines Due to Illness
Sutra Text
The Master submitted a memorial declining due to illness, wishing to remain in the forest at the foot of the mountain. Xue Jian said: "All the Chan masters in the capital say: 'If one wishes to attain the Way, one must practice sitting meditation and cultivate samādhi. If one can attain liberation without meditation and samādhi, that has never been seen.' I wonder what the Master's teaching says about this?" The Master said: "The Way is awakened to by the mind — how does it depend on sitting? The sūtra says: 'If one speaks of the Tathāgata as sitting or lying down, one walks a heterodox path.' Why? Because there is nowhere from which the Tathāgata comes and nowhere to which he goes. Neither arising nor ceasing — this is the Tathāgata's pure dhyāna. All dharmas are empty and still — this is the Tathāgata's pure sitting. Ultimately there is no realization — how much less so sitting?"
Huineng submitted a memorial declining on grounds of old age and illness. Xue Jian asked: "The Chan masters in the capital all say that to awaken to the Way one must practice sitting meditation and cultivate samādhi — liberation without meditation has never been seen. What does the Master think?"
Huineng's answer was incisive: "The Way is awakened to by the mind — how does it depend on sitting?" "Neither from anywhere does the Tathāgata come, nor to anywhere does he go." "Neither arising nor ceasing — this is the Tathāgata's pure dhyāna."
3. Teaching the Dharma to Xue Jian
Sutra Text
Xue Jian said: "When your disciple returns to the palace, His Majesty will surely ask. I humbly request the Master's compassion to instruct me in the essentials of the mind, so that I may report to the two palaces and to the students of the Way in the capital. It is like one lamp lighting a hundred thousand lamps — the darkness all becomes light, and the light is endless." The Master said: "The Way has no light or dark. Light and dark are alternating concepts. 'Light is endless' is also finite — they are established in mutual dependence. Therefore the Vimalakīrti Sūtra says: 'The Dharma has no comparison, because it is not relative.'"
Xue Jian requested Huineng to teach him the essentials of the mind so he could report to the emperor. He used the metaphor of "one lamp lighting a hundred thousand lamps." Huineng pointed out: "The Way has no light or dark" — the Way has no distinction of light and dark; light and dark are concepts that alternate. "'Light is endless' is also finite" — even endless light is finite, because light and dark are established in mutual dependence.
Xue Jian said: "Light is a metaphor for wisdom; dark is a metaphor for affliction. Those who cultivate the Way — if they do not use wisdom to illuminate and destroy afflictions, by what can they escape the beginningless cycle of birth and death?" The Master said: "Affliction is bodhi; they are not two and not different. If one uses wisdom to illuminate and destroy afflictions, this is the view of the two vehicles (Śrāvakas and Pratyekabuddhas), the capacity of the sheep and deer carts. Those of superior wisdom and great capacity are not like this."
Xue Jian further asked: light metaphorizes wisdom, dark metaphorizes affliction — how can one escape birth and death without using wisdom to destroy afflictions? Huineng's answer was stunning: "Affliction is bodhi; they are not two and not different." Affliction and bodhi are not two separate things but two aspects of one reality. Using wisdom to destroy afflictions is the view of the two vehicles (Śrāvakas and Pratyekabuddhas), not the Dharma gate for those of superior capacity.
4. The Significance of Declining the Edict
Huineng's declining the imperial edict has multiple significances:
- Maintaining independence — Chan practice does not depend on political power; it maintains spiritual independence
- Leading by example — Huineng demonstrated through action that true practice is in the mind, not in external glory
- The Dharma among the people — The Buddha Dharma should circulate among the people, not be monopolized by the court
- The Way does not depend on sitting — Through teaching Xue Jian, he spread the core idea that "the Way is awakened to by the mind"
5. The Court Bestows Gifts
Xue Jian received the instruction and was suddenly greatly awakened. He bowed, took his leave, returned to the palace, and reported the Master's words. On the third day of the ninth month of that year, an edict of praise was issued to the Master: "The Master declines on grounds of old age and illness, cultivating the Way on our behalf — a field of blessings for the nation. The Master is like Vimalakīrti, feigning illness at Vaiśālī, expounding the Mahāyāna, transmitting the mind-seal of all Buddhas, and teaching the non-dual Dharma. Xue Jian has transmitted the Master's instruction on the Tathāgata's knowledge and vision. We have accumulated blessings from past deeds and planted good roots in previous lives. Encountering the Master's appearance in the world, we have suddenly awakened to the supreme vehicle. Grateful for the Master's grace, we bow in endless reverence. We hereby present a kāṣāya robe and a crystal bowl. We order the Prefect of Shaozhou to renovate the temple buildings and bestow the Master's former residence as 'Guo'en Temple' (Temple of National Grace)."
After Xue Jian returned to the palace and reported Huineng's teachings, the emperor issued an edict praising Huineng as "cultivating the Way on our behalf — a field of blessings for the nation." The court bestowed a kāṣāya robe and crystal bowl, ordered the Prefect of Shaozhou to renovate the temple, and bestowed Huineng's former residence as "Guo'en Temple" (Temple of National Grace).
6. Key Themes of This Chapter
The core ideas of the Imperial Edict chapter can be summarized as:
- The Way is awakened to by the mind — Awakening comes from within, not from external forms
- Affliction is bodhi — Affliction and bodhi are not two separate things
- No light, no dark — The Way has no distinction of light and dark; light and dark are relatively established
- Maintaining independence — Chan does not depend on political power; it maintains spiritual independence
Further Reading
→ Chapter 5: Sitting Meditation
→ Chapter 2: Prajñā
→ The Philosophy of the Platform Sutra