Biography
Huang Po (also known as Huangbo Xiyun) was a Chinese Zen master whose teachings represent some of the most direct and uncompromising expressions of Ch'an (Zen) Buddhism. A successor in the lineage of the Sixth Patriarch, he was the teacher of Linji (Rinzai), founder of one of the major schools of Zen.
His teachings, preserved in "The Zen Teaching of Huang Po," present the Buddha-mind as our original nature, present in all beings but obscured by conceptual thinking and the habit of seeking outside oneself. His style was often shocking and iconoclastic, using paradox and even physical gestures to jolt students out of their conceptual minds.
Huang Po emphasized that ordinary mind is Buddha-mind and that no special practices or attainments are necessary—only the cessation of the mind's habitual seeking and grasping. His teachings have influenced Zen practice for over a millennium.
Teaching and methods
Huang Po taught that the One Mind is all that exists and that it is already your own nature. He discouraged reliance on practices, scriptures, or progressive paths, instead pointing directly to the mind that is reading these words right now. He emphasized that seeking enlightenment creates the illusion of someone who lacks it, while simply stopping the seeking reveals what was never lost.
Selected quotes
“ Many people are afraid to empty their minds lest they may plunge into the void. They do not know that their own mind IS the void. ”
— The Zen Teaching of Huang Po