Sixin Wuxin

Sixin Wuxin was a Yangqi line master of the Song dynasty whose name itself—Wuxin meaning "No-Mind"—points to the core teaching of the Chan tradition. He was known for a teaching approach that relentlessly directed students back to the investigation of their own minds, refusing to offer anything that might serve as a substitute for direct personal experience.

Sixin's emphasis on the mind as both the obstacle and the path to awakening reflects the Linji tradition's fundamental orientation. The school teaches that the ordinary, functioning mind—the mind that eats, sleeps, and goes about daily business—is itself the Buddha-mind, and that the only thing preventing the student from recognizing this is the habit of looking elsewhere for something special. Sixin's teaching hammered at this point with characteristic Linji directness.