禅Dajian Huineng

proverb

An Illiterate Patriarch

Tang

Traditionally attributed

Text

I cannot read the sutra you hold; please read it aloud. The sutra is not in the words on the paper. It rises only in the place where listening is empty enough to receive.

tr. Zen Lineage editorial

license: cc_by

Attribution

Lineage: Early Chan

By Dajian Huineng

Sources

  • contentSeeing Through Zen: Encounter, Transformation, and Genealogy in Chinese Chan Buddhism

    John R. McRae

No per-field confidence has been recorded for this teaching yet. Treat individual claims with the caution appropriate to the source list below.

Attribution status: traditional — see editorial policy for what this means.

1 supporting citation on record (see Sources above).

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