What’s A Bodhi Tree?

Chris Black, SFTS fellow (and long-time Zen practitioner) led a conversation centered on two texts, the Autobiography of Hui-Neng, the Sixth Patriarch, and the Hsing Hsing Ming. Chris led off by telling the remarkable story of how Hui-Neng came to be the Sixth Patriarch. Chris spoke about Samadhi and Prajna, using an analogy from Hui-Neng, saying that the two were like the light and the latern, but he didn’t know which was which. He also spoke about the so-called Sudden and Gradual Schools. Meaning some people get “there” faster than others, but when “it” finally happens, “it” is all called grace. If enlightenment is an accident, you can practice to become accident-prone. Chris then passed out copies of the Hsing Hsing Ming, and each person in the circle took turns reading a few lines from the short masterpiece, with discussion of the meaning of the text interspersed. (Adapted from the Lodge Secretary’s Minutes)

Here is an audio recording of this delightful hour -