The , or "Mind Inscription" (), also rendered in the Wade-Giles romanization as ''Hsin ming'', is a

Chan Buddhist Chan (; of ), from Sanskrit ''dhyāna in Buddhism, dhyāna'' (meaning "meditation" or "meditative state"), is a Chinese school of Mahayana, Mahāyāna Buddhism. It developed in China from the 6th century CE onwards, becoming especially popula ...

text attributed to Niutou Farong (; 594–657), whom the

Oxhead School The Oxhead school (牛頭宗 ''Niu-t'ou zong'') was an important tradition of Chinese Chan Buddhism in the Tang dynasty, which claimed to have been founded by Niutou Farong 牛頭法融 (594–657), whom the tradition regards as a Dharma heir of t ...

regarded as its founder. The can be found in chapter thirty of the . It is not to be confused with the famous , or "Faith-Mind Inscription" (also found in chapter thirty of the ), which is a related but separate text.

Question of authorship and relationship to other texts

Although attributed to Niutou Farong (; 594–657), the can be grouped together with a number of early Chan texts which were probably composed sometime during the eighth or ninth century. These texts exhibit a similarity of lexical terms and doctrinal content, and include: the (), the (), the (), and the (). John McRae doubts that the ''Xin Ming'' can be attributed to Niutou Farong. According to Henrik Sorensen, although no definitive proof exists that the was authored by Niutou Farong, a number of points, as well as style and content, allow for the text to be associated with Farong and the Oxhead School. Sorensen also observes the similarity between it and the , and says According to Yanagida Seizan, the is either by Farong or one of his close disciples. Sorensen further notes the close affinity, both in content and style, between the and the famous (Faith-Mind Inscription). Additionally, Robert Sharf points out that the well-known closely resembles the and it has been suggested by some scholars that the was intended as an "improvement" on the earlier . Although the famous is traditionally attributed to the third Chan patriarch

Sengcan Jianzhi Sengcan (; Hànyǔ Pīnyīn, Pīnyīn: ''Jiànzhì Sēngcàn''; Wade–Giles: ; Romanization of Japanese, Rōmaji: ) is known as the Third Chinese Patriarch of Chán after Bodhidharma and thirtieth Patriarch after Siddhārtha Gautama Buddh ...

, this is not taken seriously by scholarship, and both it and the earlier are considered to be associated with the

Excerpts and analysis of contents

Sharf observes that the ''Xin Ming'' and the slightly later, and more famous, ''

Xinxin Ming (alternate spellings or ) (; Pīnyīn: ; Wade–Giles: ; Rōmaji: ), meaning literally: "Faith-Mind Inscription", is a poem attributed to the Third Chinese Chán Patriarch Jianzhi Sengcan (; Pīnyīn: ; Wade–Giles: ; Romaji: ) and one of th ...

'' (Faith-Mind Inscription), bear a close resemblance to each other, and points to the

associations of both texts. A term that occurs in both works is self-illumination (自照, ''zizhao''), and in the ''Xin Ming'' one finds the following:

Bodhi exists originally
It has no need of being preserved
Afflictions have no intrinsic existence
They do not need to be eradicated
Numinous knowing is self-illuminated ��照, ''zizhao''br />The myriad dharmas return to Thusness
There is no return, no receiving
Cut off contemplation, forget preservation

One can also find in this passage a rejection of the notion of "maintaining" or "preserving" (). According to Kuno, the exhibits opposition to

Northern School East Mountain Teaching () denotes the teachings of the Fourth Ancestor Dayi Daoxin, his student and heir the Fifth Ancestor Daman Hongren, and their students and lineage of Chan Buddhism. ''East Mountain Teaching'' gets its name from the East ...

contemplative practices, such as "maintaining mind" (). Henrik Sorensen likewise observes that the contains references to, and rejections of, the Northern School practice of . For example: Sorensen also notes the presence of terms commonly associated with

Daoism Taoism or Daoism (, ) is a diverse philosophical and religious tradition indigenous to China, emphasizing harmony with the Tao ( zh, p=dào, w=tao4). With a range of meaning in Chinese philosophy, translations of Tao include 'way', 'road', ...

in the , such as '' wuwei'' ():

Enjoying the Dao is calming
Wandering at ease in the truly real
Nothing to do [], nothing to attain
Relying on nothing, appearing naturally

Likewise, Sorensen observes that the Daoist term () can also be found in the ''Xin Ming''. This term occurs twice in the text, both times in connection with brightness (明, ''míng''):

Without unifying, without dispersing
Neither quick nor slow
Bright, peaceful and naturally so ��寂自然, ''míng jì zìrán''br />It cannot be reached by words

And also:

Do not extinguish ordinary feeling
Only teach putting opinions to rest
When opinions are no more, the heart ceases
When heart is no more, practice is cut off
There is no need to prove the Void
It is naturally bright and penetrating ��然明徹, ''zìrán míng chè''/blockquote>

English translations
The has been translated into English by Henrik H. Sorensen in the Journal of Chinese Philosophy Vol.13, 1986, pp. 101–120; and also by Chan Master
Sheng Yen Sheng Yen (), born Zhang Baokang (), (January 22, 1931 – February 3, 2009) was a Taiwanese Buddhist monk, religious scholar, and writer. He was one of the mainstream teachers of Chan Buddhism. He was a 57th generational dharma heir of Linji ...
in ''Song of Mind: Wisdom from the Zen Classic Xin Ming'', Shambhala Publications 2004. See also Sheng Yen, ''The Poetry of Enlightenment, Poems by Ancient Chan Masters'', pages 31–43, Shambhala Publications, 2006. Most recently, it has been translated into English by Randolph S. Whitfield in ''Records of the Transmission of the Lamp, Volume 8, Chan Poetry and Inscriptions'', pages 89–95, Books on Demand, 2020.

Notes

References
{{Authority control Zen texts Chinese poems 8th-century poems Buddhist poetry Chinese Buddhist texts