The Zen Buddhist Philosophy Of Shenxiu

Shenxiu is a famous monk of the Tang Dynasty. He is also the founder of Zen northern. Both Huineng and Shenxiu were disciples of Hongren. Shenxiu is very cultural,and also he is very brilliant in Zen.He inherit and develop the Zen thinking from Damo to Hongren. Relying on the achievements of the Buddha, Shenxiu was called as the spiritual leader of two capitals and also as a teacher of three Kings. As a useful complement,the Zen buddhist philosophy of Shenxiu had an important impact on the development of Zen.There are two reasons for that Shenxiu achieved great success in Zen.First,he worked very hard by the guidance of Hongren. Second,he has a rich experience of studying before he met Hongren.So, there are two theoretical origins for the Zen buddhist philosophy of Shenxiu.One of them is the mastery of the classic,another one is the footsteps of the seniors. In addition to these parts,Shenxiu also inherited the traditional of Chinese culture, especially the Taoism culture. Shenxiu’s thoughts emphasis on the inner.So, the Zen buddhist philosophy of Shenxiu make the theory of human nature as the theoretical basis. Shenxiu believed that all the people has the Buddha nature.and he also believed that inner is a fundamental of the world. On this basis, he attaches great importance to Zen meditation. On the one hand,it is in contrast to Huineng. On the other hand,it is a supplement to Huineng. Shenxiu make a development on Dongshan Dharma by his five meditations. In Sui and Tang Dynasties,Buddhism has an unprecedented development in China.There’s a lot of sectarians,but Zen has achieved a mainstream status. In large part because the Zen buddhist philosophy of Shenxiu had an important impact on the development of Zen.