Intellectual Disciples Are Not Mahayana Bodhisattvas on the Path of Seeing

The Sixth Patriarch addressed the assembly in the Platform Sutra, saying: "I have a thing, without head or tail, without name or character, without back or front. Do you recognize it?" The young novice Shenhui replied: "It is the source of all Buddhas, the Buddha-nature of Shenhui." The Sixth Patriarch said: "I told you it has no name or character, yet you still speak of the source and Buddha-nature. You will only become a scholastic adherent, nothing more."

What is meant by a "scholastic adherent"? Both knowing and understanding are functions of the conscious mind. If the mental faculty neither knows nor understands, there is no realization. Although the young novice Shenhui's consciousness knew it was the source of Buddha-nature, he had not realized the source of Buddha-nature. Thus, the Sixth Patriarch called him a scholastic adherent and predicted that he would remain one in the future—able only to intellectually comprehend the Dharma but never to realize it, no matter how much or what Dharma he expounded.

The Sixth Patriarch and all Chan masters of that time opposed mere intellectual understanding without earnest cultivation and realization. They opposed indulging in conceptual thinking and intellectual interpretations, and opposed neglecting genuine Chan practice while showing off with clever speech. Such an approach can only produce a scholastic adherent, not a true Mahayana bodhisattva. Nowadays, the disposition of sentient beings is even more restless and less earnest. They do not cultivate meditation at all. With the advancement of modern information technology, many people know everything yet realize nothing.

It is evident that no matter how much Dharma the conscious mind knows, it remains useless. One still earns the reproach of the patriarchs and gains not the slightest benefit toward liberation. One must apply diligent effort, engage in genuine cultivation and actual realization, earnestly practice meditation (dhyāna), cultivate śamatha and vipaśyanā, and sincerely engage in Chan practice to awaken to the truth. Do not play clever tricks or show off Buddhist knowledge. Even if one knows all twelve divisions of the Tripiṭaka and can recite them by heart, even if one can expound all twelve divisions of the Tripiṭaka, it is still less substantial than the down-to-earth realization of no-self.