Hui Neng

If we rely on the assumptions that there is one reality and that this reality is understandable – and those seem to be the assumptions Buddhism relies on - then the most advanced climbers will have the same in front of them when they reach the summit. Although this is true, they will describe their view with different languages, terms and concepts. The authors at the root of the Pali Canon and the Platform Sutra seem to have reached the same position what we assume to be the summit of human existence.

This highest goal is for Eckhart and Hui-Neng a state of highest bliss. In both cases, this is a breakthrough in which consciousness is fundamentally changed. If one considers these elementary parallels, one can only come to one conclusion: Eckhart and Hui-Neng have independently arrived at an extremely similar solution to the human problem: seclusion and non-attachment as the path to peace of mind.