The True Meaning of "Polishing a Brick Cannot Make a Mirror, and Sitting in Meditation Cannot Make a Buddha"

Long ago, when the Patriarch Mazu Daoyi did not yet understand the cultivation and realization of the Buddha-dharma, he believed that becoming a Buddha could only be accomplished through sitting meditation, not knowing that becoming a Buddha is the result of the union of samādhi and wisdom—only when samādhi and wisdom are perfectly integrated can one forge and transform the body, mind, and world. When Chan Master Huairang was seeking outstanding talent for Buddhism and encountered Mazu Daoyi, he saw that Mazu sat in meditative absorption all day long. Observing his extraordinary countenance and dignified bearing, endowed with the heroic spirit of a patriarch, he wished to guide him to become a dragon and elephant of the Buddhist gate. Chan Master Huairang sat down opposite Mazu Daoyi and took a brick, grinding it vigorously, which drew Mazu's attention. Chan Master Huairang explained that he was grinding the brick into a mirror. Mazu shook his head and said that grinding a brick cannot make a mirror. Chan Master Huairang replied that sitting in meditation likewise cannot make one a Buddha.

Thereupon Mazu Daoyi humbly asked how one could become a Buddha, and Huairang then explained to Mazu Daoyi the theory and path to Buddhahood. To become a Buddha, one must first understand the fundamental Buddha-nature; only after seeing one's true mind and awakening to the nature can one become a Buddha. How does one see the true mind and awaken to the nature? Through Chan investigation. Of course, within Chan investigation there must be not only samādhi but also wisdom; with the equal cultivation of Samādhi and Prajñā, neither biased nor leaning to one side, can one open great wisdom, see the true mind and awaken to the nature, and thereby become a Buddha. On the path of cultivation, one must be perfectly complete with all dharmas, without deviation, in order to become a Buddha. Lacking wisdom and solely cultivating meditative concentration, wisdom cannot be opened. Yet without meditative concentration, merely engaging in reasoning, sentiment, and intellectual interpretation, one likewise cannot open great wisdom. Only when the two are combined can one be endowed with all wisdom and perfectly become a Buddha. After Mazu Daoyi understood the principle of becoming a Buddha, he diligently practiced day and night, finally saw his true mind and awakened to the nature, and became a patriarch of his generation.