The Psychobiographical Study Of The Sixth Patriarch Huineng

Sixth Patriarch Huineng(638-713),one of the most influential thinkers in Chinese history,was the actual founder of ZEN Buddhism,and his altar sutra is the only buddhist work known as the sutra in China.He is generally regarded as one of the "three eastern sages" along with Laozi and Confucius.At present,there are abundant research achievements about the six ancestors in the academic circle.Among them,some scholars put forward the inherent transcendence of huineng and ZEN thought.But these studies stop at the historical source of its inherent transcendence,or the philosophical concept and the external expression of its inherent transcendence.Starting from the path of psychobiography,The purpose of this paper is to study the life story of huineng by analyzing the historical data and research data related to huineng,so as to reveal the dynamic psychological process of the huineng forming the inner transcendence in his ZEN thoughts,and creating another possibility for a deep understanding of his thoughts.Psychobiography is a branch of knowledge that systematically adopts the theories and methods of psychology to study the life stories of individual characters.In order to make a deep analysis on three important suspense questions of huineng,namely "zuofo","kaiwu" and "jietuo",so as to answer the core question of whether "becoming a Buddha" can truly be liberated,in this study,psychological theories were selected based on the characteristics of "Events of Saliency" in the relevant data of huineng.First,Why does huineng want to―zuofo‖?This study analyzes the psychological dynamic structure of huineng "zuofo" from the aspects of social culture,family "education" and personal internal motivation.The results showed that huineng’s loss of his father made his mother the only attachment object,which made him establish a lasting and strong attachment relationship with his mother in the special "circumstance" of the reconstruction need of sense of security and "oeditis complex".Huineng has developed a deep self-confidence in the process of being immersed in social culture,internalizing the meaning of his name,and pursuing his mother’s approval.And under the action of multiple psychological dynamics,such as self-confidence,the internalization of name meaning,the pursuit of mother’s approval,the compassion-contemplation,etc.,a lasting and strong identification of "Buddha" is formed--consider oneself to be "Buddha".Then,driven by the need of "Ming",huineng had great doubts,so he made a deep and lasting "exploration",and finally realized the ―xinmingbianwu‖,and formed a clear "commitment" to take action to seek "zuofo" in the north.Second,how did huineng achieve ―kaiwu‖?Through the analysis of the mental process of "zuofo" of huineng,and combining with the current research on the altar sutra,meditation and consciousness,this paper analyzes the mental process of "kaiwu" of huineng and tries to construct the psychological mechanism of "kaiwu".The results show that the tenacious personality is the guarantee of huineng’s long-term persistence and ultimate ―kaiwu‖.The essential psychological components of his "kaiwu" are the ability of concentration(the control of attention),the belief of seeking ―kaiwu‖ and the "suspicion".Always focusing on awareness is the core psychological process of huineng’s "kaiwu".The inherent transcendence in the ZEN thoughts of huineng is the result of his realization of "kaiwu" through transcendent "thinking".That is,"thinking" into the transcendent "empty" results.Finally,are huineng "jietuo" ?Based on the analysis of the altar sutra and the research results of psychology on mindfulness,this paper discusses how huineng realized "jietuo".The results show that the psychological basis for the realization of "jietuo" after "kaiwu" lies in the overall promotion and the formation of control and regulation of attention system.On the basis of concentration,the increase of alertness can "see all the thing";the constant maintenance of concentration can "not retreat bodhi".Through the research on the psychological mechanism of ―kaiwu‖ and ―jietuo‖ of huineng,we can obtain two important inspirations: in the aspect of human psychological development or growth,the highest state of human psychological development--"non-ego" can be realized by conducting the mental training of self according to the psychological process of huineng’s ―kaiwu‖.In terms of mental health or psychotherapy,the psychological process of huineng’s ―kaiwu‖ provides a do-it-yourself path for us to carry out self-regulation of emotions,maintain physical and mental health and even psychotherapy.