Master Hung-jen Requested a Gatha From Each of His Students to Demonstrate Their Understanding

Shen-hsiu wrote:

My body's like the Bodhi Tree*
My mind is like a mirror stand
From all dust to keep it free
I wipe it off with a cloth in hand


Hui-neng saw this was not complete understanding and wrote the following in response:

In the state of bodhi there is no tree**
Nor does a mirror need a stand
We have nothing at all originally
So where could dust possibly land?


Study these words. Sit with these words. Master Hui-neng says we don't originally have anything, so asks where could dust land. 


*The tree under which the Buddha realized Awakening.

**Bodhi means "Awakening"

The poems are translated by Brad Warner.