Xinxin Ming


Xinxin Ming , meaning literally: "Faith-Mind Inscription," is a poem attributed to the Third Chinese Chán Patriarch Jianzhi Sengcan and one of the earliest Chinese Chan expressions of the Buddhist mind training practice. It is located in section T2010 of the Taisho Tripitaka.
The poem expresses the practice of taking pleasant and unpleasant life experiences with a sense of equanimity. Broadly speaking, the Xinxin Ming deals with the principles and practice of non-duality, that is, with the application of nonduality and the results of its practice. As an early expression of Chan Buddhism, the Inscription on Faith in Mind reveals the Buddhist missionary use of expedient means in China by adapting Daoist terminology to the Buddhist context of awakening. It also draws on the Wisdom sutras as well as the Avatamsaka Sutra and Lankavatara Sutra to express the essential unity of opposites and the basic nature of emptiness. The Xinxin Ming has been much beloved by Chan practitioners for over a thousand years and is still studied in Western Zen circles.

Authorship

Although Sengcan has traditionally been attributed as the author, modern scholars believe that the work was written well after Sengcan's death, probably during the Tang dynasty . Some scholars note the similarity with a poem called the Xin Ming attributed to Niu-t'ou Fa-jung of the Oxhead school of Chan and have speculated that the Xinxin Ming is an abridged version of the Mind Inscription. Sharf observes that the Xinxin Ming may have been intended as an "improvement" on the earlier Xin Ming. The Xinxin Ming can be found in chapter 30 of the Transmission of the Lamp.

Themes

Bernard Faure observes that the Xinxin Ming exhibits criticism of the Northern School practice known as "maintaining the one" or "guarding the one", which was falling out of fashion with the eclipse of Northern Chan. Such criticism can be seen in the following passage from the Xinxin Ming: "If there is even a trace of ‘is’ or ‘is not,’ the mind will be lost in confusion. Although the two comes from the One, do not guard even this One." It has also been pointed out that the Xinxin Ming closely resembles the short Oxhead School work, the Xin Ming, a text taken to contain criticisms of the similar Northern School practice of "maintaining the mind" by some scholars, such as Kuno Hōryū and Henrik Sorensen.
Likewise, Dusan Pajin observes that both the Xinxin Ming and the Xin Ming contain similar admonitions against using the mind to hold the mind and using the mind to maintain tranquility. Pajin also points out that the Xinxin Ming exhibits influences from Daoism and he notes the inclusion in the text of such terms as wuwei, as well as ziran, which Pajin says "has a completely Taoist meaning." Pajin writes that this aligns with the Chan tendency, influenced by Daoism, "to stress spontaneity, at the expense of rules, or discipline." Pajin also writes that the Xinxin Ming's emphasis on faith in mind could be understood as a Chan response to Pure Land practice in which one puts one's faith in Buddha Amitābha.

Meaning of ''xinxin''

Xinxin has commonly been interpreted as "faith" or "trust." For example, one translation is "Faith in Mind".
Yoshida Osamu translates xinxin as "faith-mind," and says, "Although xin and xin in the conventional sense are concerned respectively with object and subject, in ultimate reality they are not different." Similarly, Joanne Miller writes, "Xinxin refers to the conviction that the searching mind is the object of its own search i.e., buddha nature. In terms of a process or a practice, this faith is the experience of the mind when we experience non-duality. In this state, the trusting mind itself becomes the object of trust." R.H. Blyth also says that the believing mind is not a belief in something. It is not a matter of one thing believing in another. Rather, Blyth quotes the Nirvāṇa Sūtra which says, "The Believing Mind is the Buddha nature." Blyth comments that, "It is perfect because it is single, unique, complete, all-including."
McRae translates xin 信 as "to rely on," noting this entails faith or conviction. However, he also points out, following Yanagida, that in the compound xinxin 信心, the first character can also have a meaning similar to "true," and should be translated along the lines of "perfected." He suggests that the title Xinxin Ming be translated either as Inscription on Relying on the Mind or Inscription on the Perfected Mind.
From the Chan/Zen point of view, the true mind is perfect as it is. It is only false views that obscure the true mind's inherent perfection. As the text states,
Moreover, the passage that follows immediately after explicitly warns against losing the original, true mind:
Whether translated as Faith in Mind, Believing in Mind, Trust in Mind, or The Truthful Mind, the central message of the Xinxin Ming is the same: to point directly to Mind by giving up one-sided views so we can see the One Suchness of reality as it is.

Excerpts

Opening verse

The opening verse, variously translated, sets out the fundamental principle:
Alternatively:
And also:

Last verse

The poem ends with:
Alternatively:
And also:

Works cited