洪州宗=Hong Zhou Sect; 平常心=Calm Mind; 道=Dao; 即心=The Truth is the Mind; 即佛=The Truth is the Buddha ; 無心=No Mind ; 有情=Animate ; 無情=Inanimate; 佛性=Buddha Nature
The Hong Zhou sect was a branch of Zen thinking propagated by Matzu Dao-yi and his followers. The sect's ideology was advocated by Ma-tzu Dao-yi and his disciples Bai-jiang Huai-Hai, Dazhu Hui-hai. It was also advocated by Huai-hai's disciples Huang-bo Xi-yun and Gui-shan Ling-you. Finally, it was advocated by Ling-you's disciple Yang-shan Hui-ji, among others. The sect's main tenet held that ”the calm mind is the Dao”. Achieving this tenet was through such notions as: ”Direct intuition is the Dao”, ”the truth is in the mind, the truth is in the Buddha” and its corollary ”the truth is not in the mind, the truth is not in the Buddha”, ”pure mind” and its corollary ”sense direct knowledge”, ”the mind is the Buddha” and its corollary ”no mind is the Dao”, and finally ”even animate things do not possess the Buddha nature” and its corollary ”even inanimate things possess the Buddha nature”. After addressing these above tenets, this article would then like to explain some of specific characteristics of the Hong Zhou Zen Sect: (1)Advocated development of the subject's own spirit, emphasizing that cultivating the subject is the deciding factor in the realization of the Zen-nature. The subject's consciousness (the mind,心)is the basis for the internal cultivation of the Zen-nature. Their motto was ”directly to the mind of the person, releases the mind's nature”. Thus bringing completely into play the capacities of the consciousness. (2)Promoted a principle of natural cultivation. The sect considered people's everyday behavior to be a complete expression of an internal Buddha nature, all is truth. From this aspect, the sect particularly advocated a cultivation of a godly-nature. They believed that in everyday activities one is able to find a transcendence. (3)Expressed a distinct Zen lifestyle. In everyday, practical existence, one's goal is to realize a transcendent nature. This inherent, transcendent spirit eliminated a pursuit of other worldliness. (4)A methodology that was anti-analysis. The sect advocated a direct intuition of one's mind, seeing your nature and completing your Buddha-self. Any sect emphasizing this direct, intuitive understanding of the subject has no use for a broad-based analytic approach to knowledge. In a cultivation methodology with no set norms, knowledge is expressed in such things as riddles and rousing people into understanding. This they did to prove the inability of language in coming to understand the Dao.
